Tuesday 20th July 2010…..the journey home commences!!!

I said good bye to Sara and was on the road by 1pm and I had decided to go back to Hyder, Alaska and see if the salmon were running and hence see the bears.

It was lovely,  sunny and warm and the countryside very pretty

until I rounded a corner and was met with this terrible sight

I had read about this truck on an RV forum and sadly the driver did not survive.  Hard to imagine what happened for the truck to be completely overturned and yet so close to the road.

I saw my first black bear of the day but not quick enough with the camera!!!

The great views continued…

and almost 4 hours later I was pulling into the Big Blue Bus for what my guide book claims the best Halibut and Chips in the world!!!!

Boy were they good!!!!!

I arrived at Fish Creek the viewing area for the bears and checked with the warden and he suggested I come back after 8pm…..it was now 6pm.

Esther and Steve had told me that I must go see the Salmon Glacier which was another 16 miles up the road.  Now the road was nasty gravel and I did not want to subject Ramona to such torture so I had a plan.

I put some supplies in my back pack got on my walking shoes and figured I would start to hike and thumb a ride up to the Glacier and thumb a ride back and be in time for the bears.

Had been walking maybe 50 yards when the first vehicle came along so out came the thumb and the Pearson smile…..of course they stopped and I met Myra and Wayne from North Dakota, who happened to be going to the top of the Glacier, how perfect was that?

Views along the way..

old mining equipment.

I think this is a marmot!!

The road was nasty and I was so glad I wasn't driving especially when we reached the summit and I got out and could hear the air hissing out of Wayne’s rear tire.   So before I took photos of the Glacier I helped Wayne change the tire.

Salmon Glacier is the world’s largest glacier that is accessible by car and the 5th largest in Canada…..enjoy the sight!!!

I love this photo with the glacier the sun the mountains and the wild flowers!!!!

The trip down was a bit slow as the spare tire was one of those smaller kind…..we got back to the Fish Creek at exactly 8pm….it was so kind of those folks to take me and bring me back and they were very friendly and they are now the proud owners of 2 Canadian key chains.  Those key chains I take when I go south in the winter they cost 60 cents each and make great thank you gifts!!!!

So in to the walkway for the bear spotting.

First I saw this eagle

There were maybe 12 salmon in the river

After about 45 minutes I heard this commotion and the far end of the walkway and every one including myself dashed up there I did see this huge black bear running up stream chasing a salmon but the photos are not very clear…

I was happy to see one bear.

I decided as it was just after 9.45pm and still light to drive back towards Highway 37 and saw another black bear crossing the road but again too slow with the camera…..photographer Sara where are you???  I actually stopped in the same secluded area as I did when I came two weeks ago.

Had some tea and got cleaned up and did this blog…another incredible day!!!!!   Good night…