Out-Takes On The Road To Vancouver

We continued driving the interior of British Columbia, at times surpassingly beautiful, at other times not so much, but still interesting...

Possible solution to the problem of staying awake late enough for
the northern lights

Possible solution to a problem yet to be identified

Liquor is much cheaper in Canada, especially BC; just make
sure you drink it all before entering the US

BC wines; couldn't find my photo of Yukon wines

Part of the selection of hockey sticks at the Canadian Tire store where
we had our tires rotated

Another gold rush town

Canadian counsel on "gaming" [we've been in half
a dozen US casinos since...and there is no such concern]

Hot sauces at a Canadian hasty-tasty

Never once in our weeks in Canada was an ill-word or gesture
offered on US/Canadian relations; this, outside someone's homestead,
was the only instance of comment on the US...and we couldn't agree
more

The Chasm, a sort of petit grand canyon in BC

Part of an enormous strip-mine, almost its own grand canyon

Log jam

Still snoey up there, end of August

Do not plant potato seeds...you have been warned!

Miles-long traffic jam trying to get out of Vancouver
for the Labor Day weekend

Sex And Violence On Fish Creek

Fish Creek is in the Tongass National Forest, road access to which is through the Alaskan hamlet of Hyder, adjacent to the Canadian town of Stewart. Just a few miles out from Hyder, the US Forest Service has built a catwalk along the creek, a few hundred meters long, from which you can safely observe the spawning salmon and the feasting grizzlies. We visited this place in 2002 and were knocked out...and knocked out again on August 25th.

Not a huge water-way

But the salmon come here, in the season, by the thousands

Among the many informative displays

They spawn and die, a dance of love and death

As if on cue...

Not a small one

Nor a picky eater

A great show...

Turning Back South

As the two week forecast for central Alaska ranged from mostly cloudy to increasing cloudiness to completely cloudy to total cloud cover...we decided to look elsewhere, back down south, for more opportunities to see the northern lights. We also noted, after a couple tries, that staying out to see the lights exposed us to uncomfortably cool temperatures as well as kept us up way beyond our normal bed times. Thus, we reversed course and in a retiring action headed for our next fun stop, the salmon and bears of Fish Creek, near Hyder, Alaska. 1,238 miles away, neatly compressed into the following several pix.

Still in Alaska, big mountains to the coastal south

Bird bit stuck in the fender of our car; the birds up here are not all
that used cars and trucks, their speed, etc.

Leaf peeping

More mountains, more black spruce

Miles of beetle all over

Mama and two cubs crossing

As we were putting the phone away, a third cub jumped out of the
bushes and scurried across

A few more miles down the road, now in the Yukon; not a cub

At last, just short of the Sign Forest, we turned onto
Route 37, the Cassiar Highway, which we had much 
enjoyed in 2002

Interesting morning clouds on the Cassiar

The Cassiar jade store; I still have my rough jade piece, bought in
2002, to be polished someday into the jadeite axe I have always wanted

Now on the Cassiar/Stewart Highway, glaciers coming down to 
the road...they were much more formidable 20 years ago

High above a huge Canadian gold and silver mine, the tongue of
another big one

Now about to enter Hyder, Alaska, another of the tiny US possessions
along the coast

Leaving Hyder, going back into Canada..."Checkpoint
Charlie"...the wit who posted this apparently is still learning
about the rule of law, life in a full dictatorship...

A glacier hanging above Stewart, where we camped
for our visit to Hyder