Salmon Glacier in Alaska

WRDAFUGAHWENOW

STEWART

Finally, no smoke and we are off to Stewart. Wow what a beautiful drive, especially when you get close to Stewart. The mountains and the scenery become more and more stunning. So grand, green and lush. All the waterfalls and glaciers are so pretty. It was funny because we got a DVD from the Smithers library and the kids were watching it during the drive. I asked Adam to stop so I could get some pictures of the scenery, which do not do any of it justice, and the kids are like “why did we stop?” I told them to look around. “Whoa” they said! They quickly proceeded to jump out of the car to look around. I hope I can steer the boys towards appreciating the beauty of where we are and where we live. 

Stewart is so cute but so run down. The old buildings have character, but there are no new buildings to bring in revitalization. I feel for this beautiful town. You can tell everyone knows everyone as it has a steady population of about 500 people. 50 kids are in school from K-12.

We stayed at Rainey Creek Campground. The manager’s name is Rob and he is a retired doctor that has lived there for 6 years since his retirement.  While listening about the local “must do’s” from Rob, Gibson asked him about the sweaters in the lobby area. Rob proceeds to take us to the back room and let us sort thru all the inventory by ourselves to find a size that would fit. No such luck, so he told us there was another store in town that also sold these sweaters, but the owner is away, so if we wanted to go take a look just ring him up and he would meet us at the shop and open the store for us because he was watching it while the owner was away. Adam and I feel that this is how this town runs. Many people wear many hats.  

After our first night here, Rob came by in the morning and offered up work (carpenter like stuff) to Adam. Adam declined as we were not planning to stay but told him he would do a little job if he needed. When Adam told Rob that he fixed helicopters by trade. Rob told us to check with Yellowhead Helicopters stationed here. We politely declined looking for work.  I felt that this retired physician was trying to welcome us to stay. I told him that Stewart does not even have a proper library. Rob tells me that if we were in the need for any books, he has an extensive library, including children’s books. Then when the conversation died and we told him we were off to see the Salmon Glacier, he again extended the offer of his library to us. I feel like I would love to revitalize this town, but I think you truly have to be a bit different to survive and thrive up here.

To go to the Salmon Glacier and Fish Creek (in Tongass National Forest) you need to cross the border into the almost deserted town of Hyder, Alaska USA. Now I thought Stewart was in need of a facelift and some revitalization, Hyder is way worse. It has a population of 60 people in the summer and 30 people in the winter. 2 business are open, a fudge shop and a fish and chips place (now a tiny wood shack, since she moved out of the bus during covid). Most buildings are boarded up. Even the campground looks decrepit with a neon open sign and overgrown vegetation. The Tongass National Forest where the Grizzly viewing place is has rangers, but half are flown in from Ketchikan or other areas as the jobs are only seasonal (6 months).

The fudge shop was our first stop that day, as Rob our campground manager had told us that a lady named Carolyn ran the place and knew everything about Hyder. So we decided to get the low down and some fudge at the same time. Man was she a riot. I know I talk in run-on sentences but this lady gave me a run for my money! I can’t even remember the entire conversation, but it had many highlights. Favourites were her ‘magic 8 ball’ that we asked questions to. FYI, it turned out to be pretty accurate. She told Wyatt and Gibson that she was happy they were well behaved enough that she did not need to smack them with a ruler stick (which I could see her doing).

The Salmon Glacier was worth the drive to the isolated Stewart/Hyder towns. The ability to get so up close and personal with a glacier of this magnitude and see the ice crevices was breathtaking. Along the way there were so many waterfalls that I could not keep track. Gibson convinced us to buy a gold pan earlier in the day and we tried our hand at it in one of the many waterfalls/creeks. Adam was even into it. He had told the family earlier that his retirement plan was to buy a Powerball lottery ticket in every state we visit in hopes to strike it rich and this gold panning was now his back up plan. He actually made me take the little flecks of shiny rock and put them in a bag as he was optimistic it was gold. We will see!

On the way to and from the Salmon Glacier we stopped at the Fish Creek Observation area. This is where you can watch Grizzly bears come and chase and swipe/catch salmon right out of the river. We were lucky to see a bear that afternoon because when we went back later that evening, we got skunked. The salmon are just beginning to arrive in the river for spawning so the bears are not yet in full fishing mode (best time is in mid August. Then the creek will be full of pink salmon). We were lucky to have seen what we did.

Day three in Stewart and we exhausted our list of things to do. We hit up the museum, which was super informative about the mining and gold rush history in the area. We ate some DELISH halibut fish and chips in Hyder Alaska. It cost us $70 for two meals we shared but so worth it. The kids found some friends at the campsite and played all evening with Alaska (her actual name, from Fort St. John) and Bernard (from Michigan).  That evening while all the kids played Adam and I chatted with fellow campers about the route to choose for going North. I think we have a plan. Fingers crossed it works out as the August long weekend is coming up and I have fears about not getting a camping spot. 

Adam was editing this entry and he told me I missed the Hyder Hides lady and her shop. I told him I left it out for a reason. If 

you want the full experience feel free to come up here and check it out!