Stewart

 

8/7/17

 

Today is another driving day – today to Stewart, BC – 246 miles.  In the morning we stopped at Kluachon Centre Store for groceries, coffee, and to mail a card off to my grandson.  However, nothing worked as planned.  No groceries, and no mail out as today is a B.C. holiday.  We did get a cup of coffee and talked with two ladies in the store who had been residents there for over 32 years.  They looked like they were first nation natives.  They had a new rescue puppy, Titan, that was a mix of husky and lab – he was so cute.  Tom leaned over to pet the puppy, and spilled his coffee.  We went back into the store to buy another cup of coffee, and the ladies refused to let us pay for it, they said it was on the house.  When I started to insist on paying, they said it was Canadian hospitality, and I HAD to accept.  I thanked them and we were on our way.

 

Our next stop was Bell 2 Lodge for lunch.  It was the only place to eat on the whole road.  However, when we got there, it was loaded up with all of our rigs along with a second caravan group.  There was no more parking room, and the dining room was jammed, so we left and stopped at the next turnout (about a mile down the road) and had a lovely lunch next to a lake.  Jenny and Maureen joined us. 

 

We were back on the road going down through the canyon.  We saw at least 7 adult black bears and 4 cubs in several locations.  They usually showed up along the side of the road and sometimes walked across the road, and sometimes turned and ran back in the bushes.  Here are some of my pictures.

Black Bear

Black Bear

 

Mama Bear and two cubs

There were glaciers everywhere.  This is the first we saw close up.

On Hwy 37A to Stewart BC

This is Bear Glacier.  We stopped in a turnout and ended up with 5 rigs from our group in the same turnout, taking pictures. 

Bear Glacier

 

3 rigs ahead of in the turnout

 

Tom and our rig; Tom Young behind us

This is a picture of the old road to Bear Glacier.  It was about 60-70 ft above the current road.  The current road would have been under the glacier in the 70’s, and the glacier came up to the old road.  That is how much the glacier has receeded over about 50 years.

the old road above us

 

This is an ice blob at the bottom of a glacier.  It was right next to the road and there was a cave in it at the bottom.

an ice blob with a cave at the bottom

 

There were many waterfalls on the canyon walls.

Waterfall from the glacier above

more waterfalls

 

Arrived at Bear Creek RV Park around 3.  Got set up and had a beer.  Trish came over to visit.  We met with Chris, our Wagonmaster, to book our next tour together in July of 2019 to the Northern Atlantic area – New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Maine.  Then Tom, Trish , and I got in the Jeep and took a drive to Hydar, Alaska (across the border between B.C. and Alaska) to go to Fish Creek bear viewing. 

 

It took about 25 minutes to drive here, but it was certainly worth it.  There was a big mama black and brown grizzly bear feeding on the salmon in Fish Creek. 

Mama Grizzly Bear and her salmon dinner

We watched her for a long time from an enclosed walkway for bear viewing.  The salmon coming up Fish Creek draw the bears out, and this place seems to be a favorite of theirs. The rangers said that they see black and brown bears, along with other smaller animals.  The bears feed all summer to fatten up for the winter.  My best pictures are videos (which I cannot put on the blog), but here is another picture of mama grizzly.

Mama grizzly

 

We also watched a bald eagle feeding from the same creek, but I did not get a picture.  This is a picture of Fish Creek with a ghostly mist over it (I think it is one of my best).

Mist over Fish Creek

 

Back home for a late dinner and type up my blog.  I was hoping that I could get the internet here in Stewart, but no luck.  I will try again tomorrow in town and see if I can get a better connection.

8/8/17

Today is on our own.  We slept in until 9:00 a.m. this morning - best sleep yet.  Then we had tea and toast leisurely, took care of the dogs, and read a bit.  At 10:30, we met up with Trish and Bev to go out to breakfast in town.  I was still trying to mail out my grandson's birthday card, so I brought it along with us.  I also wanted to find out if there were any good internet connections in town.
 

We went to the only café we could find for breakfast.  It took a while to get it, but it was very good.  The café was loaded with antiques, and it took me back to the days I spent at my Grandma's house when I was a child.  She had a wringer clothes washer just like the one they had in the café; and she also had an old ice box with the big coil on top.  The décor was great, and on the front entry table, they had a rose that was absolutely perfect.

Fresh flowers at the café

We made two more trips into town, and I finally got my grandson's birthday card mailed.  It seems most all the businesses in this little town close up from 12:00 to 1:30 for lunch, including the post office.  I also found out that we could get a strong internet signal at the historic B.C. government building in town.  We tested it, and found that it might work, so we will come back after our Wagonmaster meeting tonight.

The meeting went well tonight.  We had Hobo stew, where all the couples added a can of vegetables, or beans, or tomatoes, or whatever they wanted to the ground meat starter.  Whatever we end up with is Hobo stew.  I have never had this before, but it was pretty good. Vince (my friend from New Jersey) brought homemade cinnamon bread, and boy was it good!