We spent four days cruising up the 725 km of the Cassiar highway. The first night was spent at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, which is about 100 miles from the start of the highway. We had not planned to stay there, but decided at the last minute to do it - so we could make the short trip over to Hyder, Alaska. Hyder is a small town of less than 100 people on the very tip of the southern part of Alaska, and is only about 40 miles from the park. The town offers a great place to watch bears feeding on salmon at the Forest Service Fish Creek Wildlife Observation area. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found that the salmon were not running yet, and therefore, no bears.
The Canadian border guard suggested that we should really visit the Salmon Glacier, which is about 20 miles north of Hyder on a dirt road. We took her advice and the views of the Glacier were awesome. We have seen lots of other glaciers before but usually all you can see is the foot or end of the glacier. With the Salmon Glacier, you are well about the glacier and can see the whole thing, which is very interesting. It looks like a river of ice flowing down the mountain.
After leaving Meziadin, we spent the next two nights at Boya Provincial Park, which is located on crystal clear Boya Lake. On the way to Boya, we were fortunate to spot two young bears and one bald eagle.
Before reaching Boya, we stopped in Dease Lake, which is the only real town on the Cassiar Highway, for some fuel. We ended up waiting for over half an hour in line to get gas. There were so many RV's lined up at the pump, as there is only one station in town, and no other choices for at least 100 miles in either direction. Once we got to the pump, we were shocked at the price, which was $6.23 per gallon. We have seen higher prices on previous trips but this is the most we have ever paid. We were pleasantly surprised with the Cassiar Highway, as it was in much better condition than it was in 2014 when we last passed this way. There were a few gravel breaks and a few dirt sections but in general, it was in good condition.
Some very old totem poles at the First Nations village of Gitwangak at the very start of the Cassiar Highway
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Some awesome views at the Forest Service Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area in Hyder AK
Continuing up the road from the wildlife area to Salmon Glacier. It’s awesome how the glacier flows down the valley like a river.
As we were driving north on the Cassiar Highway, we spotted two black bears. Both were fairly small and were likely cubs from this year. Momma was nowhere in sight… but we didn’t look too hard!
We got lucky to spot this bald eagle on the bank of a river just off the highway. He posed for photos for a long time.
A bee collecting nectar from a fireweed plant along the road side. The fireweed is spectacular as it is all along the highways.
Both days we stayed at Boya Lake we were able to watch this guy land and take off from the lake. He would leave in the morning and return in the early evening. We suspect he lives near the lake but commutes to work. The only problem is the closest town of any size is at least 200 miles away.
Track Logs:
Day 12 – July 21, 2018, 307 miles
Day 13 – July 22, 2018, 315 miles
Day 15 – July 24, 2018, 235 miles
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