Back In The US continued...

Another trip had us watching a lone buffalo leading a line of cars up a hill. When we stopped to let him pass, he looked in our window and came close enough to the car for me to pet him.

Another feature was the downed trees. The Park Service lets nature take its own course. The Park has had some major fires in the past 50 years and if a tree falls, it stays where it falls.

Finally, the color of the geysers and the thermal activity was unbelievable. Every where one looked, the Park had beautiful scenery formed by the heat and bacteria, with colors that an artist would die for.

On a day trip to Mammoth Hot Springs, we spotted a 12 point elk.

On our way home, we saw coyote hunting.

Back In the US, Back In The US, Back In The US Of A!

We left Hyder and are beginning our trip back to the lower 48 and Yellowstone National Park. We will pass through Jasper National Park in Prince George, British Columbia and Banff National Park in Calgary, Alberta. Even though it is the end of August, we are still seeing snow on the mountain tops. We are also still seeing bears on the side of the road. Our lunch stop was at 6750'.

Once we arrived in the USA, the country became less mountainous with more rolling hills in Montana. We entered Yellowstone in Montana and within 2 miles, the Park became part of Wyoming.

One day, on our way to watch Old Faithful erupt, we saw an 8 point bull elk and his harem near the roadside.

Another day, we watched buffalo taking a steam bath in one of the many geysers.

When the bath was finished, a huge bull buffalo acted as a school crossing guard and stopped traffic to walk his herd cross the road. He and his buddy also blocked the cars so they could not move until the herd had crossed.



Continued tomorrow....

Muck Luck Chuck & Larry

We left Haines, Ak., for Hyder, Ak., about a 340 mile trip south, passing through Canada. Nostalgia is setting in as we realize our Alaska adventure is coming to an end.

We also noticed that the mountains had less snow and the days were getting darker earlier.

On our way north, we had stopped at Muck Luck Annies for a salmon bake and it was so good that we stopped again.

However, we were surprised that this was their last day of this season and possibly their last day ever. We had the salmon feast and took the free boat ride with Muck Luck Chuck at the helm. We got to see a momma moose and her baby.

We continued on the Cassiar Hwy, another dusty, bumpy ride with lots of frost heaves. Thanks to the Canadians for placing the little red flags on the side of the road to warn motorists of the dangerous driving conditions. We stayed in Stewart, B.C. and every day we crossed the border into Hyder. No customs into the US because the road dead ends but we had to pass through customs coming back into Canada each day.

We drove along the Glacier Hwy to view the toe and the summit of Salmon Glacier

as well as the icebergs that had fallen off of the glacier when it moved.

In addition to the glaciers, we saw the abandoned Premier copper mines and had some lovely views through the clouds. The next day, we saw a momma bear and her 2 cubs in a tree.

Having a Beary good time

After we left Valdez, we headed toward Haines, Ak. The first night we we stayed at a roadside and were treated to a lovely rainbow.



We had to go back into Canada, where we stayed at Million Dollar Falls at a spot on a river for 3 nights. The first day we took time to go bear watching and we spent about 1 ½ hours watching a black bear gorge himself on berries on the side of the road.



We were about 75' away and we could hear him grunting as he ate.


When we arrived in Haines, we visited Chilkoot Lake. The lake has a salmon counting station that is staffed by a ranger, who stands on a catwalk and counts the fish. The catwalk closes the lake except for a funnel that brings the fish to a central point so he can count them.



Somehow, the bears know to stay on one side of the lake and the humans who fish stay on the other, except for a young black bear who was apparently cut loose from his mother too early. The ranger had to have eyes in the back of his head because the bear wanted to walk onto the catwalk.



It was interesting to watch the ranger run off the bear by standing tall and walking aggressively toward him. We also saw a grizzly a little farther away. We also saw some eagles, but nothing in comparison to the 3500 – 4000 eagles that will arrive in September and spend the winter in the eagle preserve.

You say Valdez I say Valdeez

Our next stop was Valdez (pronounced Valdeez according to the natives). Valdez was struck by the 1964 earthquake which wiped out the town. The town had been built on mud flats and it slid into the ocean. The new town was moved 3 miles to higher ground and rebuilt where it stands today. It is also where the famous Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred a few years later. Without bad luck, these poor people would not have any luck at all. They are hardy souls and seem to have recovered well.

We camped at Allison Point on Prince William Sound, not far from the Alaska Pipe Line terminal. This is where the pipe line ends and the oil gets loaded onto tankers. There is not much to see except for 4 large docks and about 16 huge oil tanks, which held 450,000 barrels, or almost 19 million gallons of oil.

Salmon were spawning, coming into the streams from Prince William Sound, and the streams were so full that you could actually grab the fish by hand. The bears were hand fishing so we made sure to watch from a distance and not get between them and their food.

We took a glacier cruise and we were initially disappointed not to see the glaciers calving. However, we got our money's worth when we saw sea lions, seals and a mother and calf humpback whale playing. Jill also held a piece of glacier ice and no one knows how old it was.




The next day we hiked the Valdez glacier and saw the icebergs in the glacier pond at the foot of the glacier


When we visited the visitor information center, we were invited to the free salmon bake which was held at the end of a week-long celebration, celebrating the rebuilding of the town.