Day 19 Rain Oh My Rain!

Lichens and mosses, just like home!

So wet...

226 miles- Camp Run-a-Muck to Tyhee Lake Provincial Park campground today with a late start at 1pm. The rain has poured, and I mean poured, since the early morning hours all through the 5 hour drive until I stopped for the day, around 6pm or so. Hooking up the trailer in a deep mud puddle- not very fun. It also made for a tough drive in tire grooves full of water which grabbed the truck and trailer (2 weeks ago I nearly stopped the trip for this). This time I dodged them and when I couldn’t I took my foot off the gas and held the steering wheel firmly (not white knuckle). Seems I’ve developed some confidence towing the trailer. Don’t think for a minute I like towing it in those conditions though.

View from the boardwalk

I arrived at the Fish Creek Bear viewing boardwalk (about 500 feet long) around 8:15 am and stayed for 2 hours in the pouring rain. I saw no bears just screaming mew gulls (I thought they “mewed”, no they scream!) and lots of dead and dying salmon. There had only been one black bear seen earlier. Apparently, the bear numbers have been down all season. People were seeing both wolves and a grizzly along the river catching salmon so I decided to spend some time looking for them. All I saw were a bunch of bald eagles (okay I do love them, too). I talked for quite a while on the boardwalk with a kiwi family (New Zealanders). Did you know that the only native mammal in NZ is a small bat? There are no predators, no scary snakes, nada, just sheep and a few cows. They've had to adapt a bit to the bears here in Hyder. We talked of their trip of a lifetime and mine; although they came farther. They told me of beautiful coastlines, kiwis, glaciers, etc. and convinced me I should make the 30? hour (ouch) trip to visit New Zealand.

The blue lagoon at Fish Creek

Once I was hooked up I hit the border crossing, again, at Stewart. I was asked if I had any firearms, again (we just went through this yesterday), and said nope. There’s nothing in Hyder so I don’t know where I would get any. The Canadians have the border crossing so when you leave Hyder you have to stop. Even though it’s not staffed 24 hours a day, you still have to pick up the phone and let them know you are crossing if it’s between midnight and 8am. How silly. Apparently, last year they were actually gating and closing the crossing from midnight to 8am. The towns were in an uproar, protesting the cost-cutting measure. They even had BC and Alaska politicians involved. The gating lasted a little over two months.

Mew gull on quite a meal

Spawning and spawned out salmon carcasses

I thought I was on my way when I decided to stop at the only open gift shop in Hyder where I met Caroline at Boundary Gallery and Gifts. I bought more Christmas gifts and chatted with her for quite a while. She encouraged me to get a job with the forest service and move there; not to mention she has a house for sale. Her description of how things are done reminded me of my seasons in Stehekin when I worked for the National Park Service. Mail comes in Monday and Wednesday on the plane from Ketchikan. You order your groceries and their flown in; Amazon Prime is cheap. Once a year you drive to Terrace and stock up (Looks like a 4 hour drive, maybe). The pharmacy in Ketchikan sends 2 months’ worth of prescriptions because sometimes the plane can’t get in. There’s a hospital in Stewart (I wonder if that’s where medical services are provided) but it’s Canadian medical). They get a fair amount of snow but not as much rain as Ketchikan which is 75 air miles over the mountains. Hmmm…tempting.

So many cascades along the highway to Stewart-Hyder

Spawning salmon in Fish Creek

I had noticed that all of Caroline's items had some sort of security tag on them. While chatting she told me that people shoplift from her place. That's sad considering this is how she survives. She also told me that the worst shoplifters are widowed old ladies! She actually locks up the shop when she sees a tour bus full of them. Guess I can't blame her since there is no police force in Hyder.

Finally on the road! I had two different black bears run across the highway which was a surprise both times. Lots of room to enjoy them and not hit the brakes.

Bear Creek Canyon

The well-used southern part of the Cassiar highway has the Nass River bridge on it; a one lane bridge with a wooden deck which seemed out of place considering the amount of traffic.

Once I left the Cassiar Highway and hit the Yellowhead Highway I could really feel civilization again. I miss the wilderness feel already. Sadly, it’ll be this way most of the rest of the drive home.

I missed the ancient totem poles but I didn’t see any directional signs and the weather was miserable. I’ll be going back to Hyder for more time to watch for bears and wolves and to find the totem poles at Gitanyow and Kitwanga. It’s probably a 2 ½ day drive if you get your butt going in the morning.

Cassiar Highway

Made it to Lake Tyhee Provincial Park tonight in Telkwa. Too tired to back in perfectly so we’re trying not to roll out of bed since the trailer is at a downhill angle. LOL. Tomorrow on to the Prince George area and Highway 97, retracing my first two days of this entire adventure.

Lake Tyhee camp site

Wildlife- black bear (2), vole, Swainson’s hawk, belted kingfisher, bald eagles, common mergansers.

Lesson #19 Be confident in your ability to adapt and change.