Interesting Collections, Missing Bears and a Gorgeous Glacier

(2018 Alaska Ep 47)

After leaving Skagway, we camped at Six Mile River Resort in Tagish, Yukon on August 31 (RabbiTRAILS Alaska Map, pt #53). The campground has some interesting collections on display.

The most memorable sight during our stay was of boats on the serene Six Mile River – this was taken early the next morning just before we left.

We continued along the Alaska Highway, and because our destination was the Vancouver/Washington area, we turned south on the Cassiar Highway.   Although the entire Cassiar is paved, the first two hundred miles are very narrow with no center line or shoulders.  It has several one lane, wooden decked bridges.

The highway is more remote than the Alaska Highway – it has only five gas stations in 450 miles. We had to plan gas stops carefully.

The Discovery Channel series Jade Fever takes place in Jade City, a small town on the Cassiar Highway.

We took another side trip to Alaska while driving the Cassiar. We spent September 2-3 in Stewart, British Columbia, and crossed the border into the very small town of Hyder, Alaska (map pt 55).

Just outside of Hyder, the US Forest Service manages the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. A wooden platform extends more than 1000 feet along Fish Creek, and when salmon swim up the creek to spawn between July and September, visitors can see black and grizzly bears that frequent the area for an easy meal.

The fish were there – the creek was active with lots of salmon splashing their way upstream to spawn.

The bears weren’t there. We didn’t see bears during three visits to Fish Creek. Perhaps the bears were full from their visits earlier in the week.

From Fish Creek we followed a bumpy and steep dirt road 12 miles to Salmon Glacier. What a view!

We said our final goodbye to Alaska as we left Hyder and continued south. We arrived in the lower 48 on September 7.