I have just returned from an amazing trip to the beautiful remote northwestern area of Stewart, B.C./Hyder, Alaska.
Three days there left me wanting to return.
The trip started over a beer with Chris Svab at a Legion meat draw in May.
Chris worked at the old Granduc Mine 49 years ago and talked about those four years.
Stewart has always interested me for the gold mining industry and the label — grizzly bear capital of B.C.
I said: “I would like to see it.’’
Chris said: “Why don’t we go?”
A week later, we were planning the trip through three mountain ranges and over 1,300 miles one way.
Friends and family thought we were crazy driving that far to maybe see grizzly bears and an abandoned mine site.
Stewart is a tourist centre, among other things. The place is a stopover for travellers to and from Alaska. Many of them stay a few days to take in Stewart’s attractions.
Driving into Stewart through the Bear Pass, one can see the Bear Glacier across the road. Chris noted it is about two-thirds the size it was 49 years ago when the ice came down to the water.
Just across the border in the Alaskan Panhandle, the Fish Creek Conservation Centre has a 3,000 foot long viewing platform to see spawning salmon fighting their way upstream.
And bears... Bears come to the creek to gorge on salmon for the winter hibernation.
We visited the centre three times, each time missing the bear that caught salmon that day.
Just watching the salmon struggle upstream slowly making little headway then splashing and propelling a foot or more was cool.
The chum salmon coming to Fish Creek get up to 40 pounds, about one-third more than other salmon runs.
A park ranger explained the salmon run is so heavy the creek has 30 per cent more nutrients when salmon die — great for small fry to eat when they hatch.
We were a little disappointed the morning we left at not catching a grizzly on camera.
About an hour out of Stewart,we spotted a grizzly with two cubs beside the highway.
Chris pulled the truck over on a level space and it was a photo shoot. Mama grizzly paid no attention to us, continuing to graze while the cubs, about two or three years old, meandered off into the bush.
The nearest bear was 250 feet away so I stepped out of the truck, left the door open while taking photos.
Stewart is two-thirds of a mile from the Alaska border town of Hyder, population 30.
When Chris lived here there were no customs offices. Canada has one now.
We were told Hyder residents were buying guns by mail order and Canadians smuggled them across the border. Thus the Canadian customs stop.
The road to the mining district leads to 20 glaciers, including North America’s fifth largest glacier.
More about Stewart next week
Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
