| August 4, 2007 - 2 Chicks, 2 Wheels - Gravel, Grizzlies, & Glaciers! (Dease Lake, BC to Hyder, AK) - Part 3 |
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Continued From Part 2 - Click Here To Go Back
Gotta give the chick some credit. For not being a fan of shall we say “non-paved” surfaces,
she was a trooper. In fact, when I questioned at this juncture if we should continue I got
a “HECK YEAH!”:
Scenic, desolate, and where you can see for miles....
Salmon Glacier road is just a few miles northwest from the middle of Hyder... as in Hyder, AK of
the United States. I was quite confused when I came upon this sign and pointed it out to Kobi:
I was so hyper-focused on a Grizzly possibly wandering out in front of me that I wasn't expecting
to see the little half-tan/half-black marmot that appeared beside the shoulder of the road. It
made me wonder what large predator (mountain lion, wolf, etc) might be next in the road wanting it for dinner.
Interesting “shoulder” of the road, eh?:
We came across on old mine though I don't know much about it other than the area where we ended up
turning around several miles later was a deserted area called “Happy Valley”, so named according
to one of the USFS folks I met at Fish Creek, “because when the mine was active it was the only
area where the women were allowed.”
After turning the bike around, I parked and walked over to the edge, taking a minute to just be
thankful to be alive.. and of course, able to SEIZE THE JOURNEY!:
This is what I was looking at:
Another stop where Kobi and I basically just repeated the word “WOW!”:
Back on the road and ready to tackle the 25 miles back to Hyder (yes, 50 miles round trip):
The saying is in Alaska is “Everything is bigger here” and as far as potholes goes, I'd say
they're right on:
A side view of Salmon Glacier...
...and a front view:
How often do you see a glacier in your rear view mirror?
On the back, someone else had made it up to the summit, so we stopped and asked if they'd take our photo:
We met Patrick from Manhattan, NY who was most intrigued with our “2 Chicks, 2 Wheels” adventure
and was shocked we had “climbed this treacherous road on a motorcycle”. We met him again
in Hyder and he said he took a few photos with his camera of us riding down. He also offered
to email the photos to us (thanks, Patrick!
After making it back down to sea level, we had to pass Fish Creek again to make it back to our hotel
in Hyder. Of course, we just had to stop again.
Back to the bears... I must say that I didn't realize that Grizzlies were so unsuccessful fishing. I
have no idea what the official word is on the fishing skills of Grizzly Bears, but I can say that of the
countless attempts by several Grizzlies that I witnessed that their success rate was at best 10%, maybe
even as low as 5%. For some reason, I guess I believed if they wanted a fish they'd simply walk
into a river and get it. The river was not jammed packed with salmon like Kobi and I saw in Valdez
(for those river photos, click: HERE) but
there were certainly enough to feed even the most ravenous bear.
Photos from our second stop at Fish Creek:
At one point, there was a Bald Eagle about ten feet away from a Golden Eagle. They were both
enjoying a salmon dinner when a juvenile eaglet landed and perhaps thought kids should eat when they
determine they're hungry. If he had a tail, it would have been tucked as he flew away after the
encounter with both birds! I was unable to capture this exchange on camera but I won't be
forgetting it! We stayed at Fish Creek until both Kobi and I had reached sensory overload,
not to mention a level of physical exhaustion. The day's final GPS reading...
...which certainly doesn't reflect the extent or intensity of today's journey, which we have
named “Gravel, Grizzlies, & Glaciers!”
AGirl
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