Prince George

Prince George has a number of beautiful parks and this sign was in one of them. 

Prince George also has a very nice Railroad & Forestry Museum

Fire Equipment

Durant

And it even had Four Wheel Brakes

Fire Equipment

Chain Saws

Lots of equipment

Besides a snow plow this piece of equipment was on display which is apparently a different type of snow plow. Those heavy metal panels will swing out and push the snow further away from the track. Since it has a coupler in the front it may be pulled behind the more traditional type of snow plow.

 While not apparent this is a railroad turntable and all of that equipment can be moved to any of the surrounding tracks.

Signs

These signs were in a campground office just south of Prince George.

Hyder

Bear watching area. These are chum salmon and the bears least favorite and we missed the few bears that did show up.

Steward has a few stores and Hyder a few less. Both towns are in wind down mode as the tourist season is ending. We crossed into Hyder and then up to the fish viewing area. Plenty of fish but the bears were elsewhere. While the fish look great they are worn out, consumed all of their energy (they don’t eat once they enter fresh water) and aren’t good to eat unless you are a bear. 22 miles up the gravel road is Salmon Glacier where the view is spectacular. Along the way this young black bear was dining along the road and we followed him for about 15 minutes. 

He was likely weaned by mom and about 3 years old. We’ve become such bear experts!

He was close and kept an eye on Diane!

The view up to Salmon Glacier and the glacier itself is spectacular. This and other glaciers are part of the Cambria Ice field. The Salmon Glacier is the fifth largest in Canada. The most recent glaciations period is known at the Fraser Glaciation which covered most of Alaska and British Columbia 14,000 years ago. Then the ice sheet began its slow retreat which continues today.

Canada? We started in BC, crossed into Hyder, Alaska and then the gravel road to Salmon Glacier crossed back into BC. On the return we crossed back into the US – trust me there is nowhere else to go and I’m sure if we tried we would either freeze or starve. So now we have been in Canada, US, Canada and then the US again without any customs. We must be illegal immigrants or tourists or something. But returning to Steward we did go through Canadian Customs. He asked “where are you going” – to our motorhome “do you have any firearms” no “have a nice day”. I’m sure his job description requires him to ask us something! However in 1920-50 when going to the mines in Canada from Hyder there was a Canadian Customs office but apparently a free trip back into the US.

The black spot an the end of the glacier is actually a very large ice cave with the river flowing out of it!

The environment is harsh

Premier Mines along the road has been an active mine off and on since 1910. The mine is again active. And another mine may be active. This was important to us as the signs indicate they maintain the roads.

Since this is our last stop in Alaska I should mention that Alaska has a unique university program where you can get a PHD in Driving as in driving a car!

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PHD – As in Pot Hole Dodging! 

To Hyder

From Skagway we traveled about 200 miles to White River. The tourist season is almost over and many places are closed for the season. The next day we continued east on the Alaskan Highway and then turned south on the Cassiar Highway.  On the map below we met a father and 13 year old son that started their trip at Invuk, Northwest Territories which is north of the Arctic Circle. Their destination is Mexico and their mode of transportation is bicycles! They have already covered about 1,000 miles and only 2,500 more to go.

Cassiar Highway

We stopped just south of Dease Lake and this was the view from our campsite as we went to sleep with the roar of the water from the Tanzilla River. The campground was just a pull off along the road.

The next day we continued on to the turnoff to Steward/Hyder and we stopped in Steward. There was some scenery on the Cassiar but on the road to Steward the Bear Glacier was just across the water. These were taken on the road to Steward. 

We had rain on and off today any yesterday and of course we drove through the obligatory construction, mud and gravel. You cannot see out the windows of the car. We went to a car wash in Steward but it only took loonies and toonies which we didn’t have. We’ll try again tomorrow just before we drive through Hyder and continue 25 miles to Salmon Glacier on a mud and gravel road. So we need enough loonies and toonies for 2 washes.

Haines - Skagway

Fjord Express to Juneau

Leaving Haines and 85 nautical miles to Juneau. This 65' cat boat runs at 30 knots

There are so many glaciers

The dock north of Juneau

Juneau from the Mt Roberts Tram

We came and we saw Juneau. The most prevalent shop which is consistent with the cruise chips are the jewelry stores. Exact copies and people from the Caribbean! There were 5 cruise ships while we were there. So we ducked into the Red Dog Saloon and had some fun! 

We're still trying to figure out what this is!

The local ladies

We don't often think about this in Sun Lakes

Mendenhall Glacier - Very nice USDA Forest Service center and viewing area

Humpback whales. There were 2 adults and a calf.

Bears in Haines

They are not very fat compared to the Valdez bears. Plus this cub is one year old. Note the colar.

This the port side of the ferry after making a U turn from the starboard side. 

Skagway

This is the Skagway ferry offload ramp at the bottom onto the floating dock and then up the ramp to land.