Rolls Alaska to Argentina & back: 5 - Watson Lake, Yukon to Stewart, BC, Canada

Monday, July 27, 2009

Miles for the day: 248 (399 km) Miles to date: 1,829 (2,943)

This morning as I was checking out of the hotel and Marilynn was loading the car she was approached by a man who said he had a car identical to our Rolls, even the same colours. When she was sceptical he brought out his digital camera and showed her a photo of him sitting in the driver's seat. When I came out of the hotel she told me the amazing news, and I said good morning to the fellow I'd met in the pub last night and photographed in our car - he had Marilynn going, though!

We backtracked to the junction of highway 37 for a great breakfast at a small cafe where we traded notes with a biker who had been from Alaska to Philadelphia and back.

The road was good until we hit the 14 mile stretch under construction mentioned by Button at the information bureau. At Dease Lake we stopped for gas & snacks before negotiating another four miles of construction. On the advice of Button we had made reservations at the Tatooga Lake Lodge, fortunately we got the last cabin with a bathroom. The others required a hike to the communal bathhouse, a situation that caused a very loud argument between husband & wife in the next cabin.

The tiny cabin had a king size bed and a huge TV (but the cord to connect it was not available) taking up 80% of the floor space. A wood stove was the final bit of furnishings. The bedding was feather, to which I'm allergic, so they dug around in a store room to come up with musty foam pillows and very rough wool blankets. As the girls were making the bed, Marilynn asked if they had forgotten the sheet. The reply was that they use sheets only on the bottom, as "washing sheets is a pain in the ass". That probably answered the unasked question as to why we were sharing one small towel! There wasn't much option for places to eat around the area, but the lodge food was OK. It seems locals come here for a meal out, including the mounted police.

After dinner we walked to the lake where there is a small seaplane base. Mosquitoes were a factor in an early retreat to the cabin, but I did brave them to wash the car with a handily located garden hose.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Miles for the day: 222 (357 km) Miles to date: 2,051 (3,301)

The lodge owner joined us at breakfast - they have owned the lodge for only about a year, and still have their home in Vancouver. His wife really likes it there, so becoming year round residents seems to be in their future.

The drive today was through beautiful mountainous country, and the road was quite good. There were few services of any kind - we had planned to gas up at the junction of the road to Stewart, but the gas station was no longer open. The hour's drive to Stewart was with the gauge on empty.

The scenery on this stretch of road surpassed anything yet - there are few places in the world that would match it. Various glaciers could be seen leaning over the top of snow capped mountains, and one which flowed down to our level was separated from the road only by a tiny lake. The road was good except for one stretch of construction.

In Stewart we gassed up and checked into the excellent Ripley Creek Lodge, the best accommodation this trip! The visitor's bureau informed us the road to the huge Salmon Glacier had been washed out, and that evening or early morning were the times to see bears fishing for salmon, so we hired a helicopter for a 20 minute tour of the salmon glacier. The New Zealand pilot gave us an excellent look at the miles of glaciers covering the surrounding mountains, and then landed on the road above the Salmon Glacier so we could explore & take photos. Later we flew close to some waterfalls before heading back. It was great value - we were actually gone for about an hour.

Next we drove the 2 km (1.2 mi) to cross US Alaska border at Hyder. There is no US border post here. The road is good pavement from Stewart to the border, then immediately becomes intensely pot holed dirt. The Glacier Hotel & Bar is almost at the border, and around the corner on the only other street is the other hotel bar. We stopped there for a drink on their patio, where we chatted with the administrator of the town and area. He said the road washes out about every 11 years, as a lake gradually forms under the glacier and when it reaches a certain volume it lifts the ice and empties itself, washing out the bridge. Apparently there is only one other place in the world this phenomena occurs. Canadian and US currency was accepted interchangeably in Hyder.

The drive to the bear viewing area was over brutally rough, potholed, gravel road. Admission to the railing protected boardwalks along the river was $5 US or $6 Canadian, so we paid in US to avoid the unfavourable exchange rate. Eventually a black bear came down to the river, followed a short time later by a female grizzly bear then a big male grizzly, who the park rangers call "dog bear" for some reason. The female they call "Monika".

Back at the border we had to go through a quick, friendly check by Canada customs before heading to the local pub in Stewart for a drink.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

After the low point in breakfast for this trip we made an early start to see the bears. The fellow collecting admissions the night before had kindly put today's date on our pass, so we didn't have to pay.

There are few bears this year, as the salmon run for spawning is very light - about 15% of what was expected. We were lucking this morning, though, as a young grizzly appeared, followed by a large female who sent the young bear galloping off down the river. Apparently grizzlies in the 3-4 year old range are regularly picked on by older bears.

A young cub walked under the raised boardwalk, collected a partly eaten fish on the riverbank and brought it below us to lie down and eat. Monika and Dog Bear showed up to give a great display of teamwork as Monika chased the fish downstream towards the waiting Dog Bear. The fishing wasn't easy due to the small number of salmon.

We stopped at the Glacier Hotel for lunch on the way back, as locals told us they made good burgers. After a couple of beer a biker came in and asked if this was the place to get "Hyderized". This requires the downing of a good sized shot of pure over proof alcohol without pause. This seemed a good idea, so I joined him in the ceremony before having a good talk about his long distance motorcycle trip and various roads we had both travelled.

Back in Stewart we parked at our hotel and walked to the beer parlour. The locals have a big table on the patio where they come and throughout the day. Yesterday we chatted while sitting at an adjacent table but today we were invited to join them. The afternoon was hot - a digital thermometer showed 43 C (109 F).

I asked about the lack of US customs & immigration, yet the presence of Canadian customs. There is nowhere to go on the US side - the road goes past where we saw the bears, then swings back into Canada to access some mining operations. It was explained that Hyder, which during the gold rush had a population of over 10,000, is a duty and tax free zone. Truckloads of liquor and cigarettes used to come into town, and the local merchants had sales in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per month. The Canadian revenue authorities eventually figured out there was no way the 60 to 70 people who lived there could be smoking and drinking that much. It turned out taxies and other vehicles came from Canadian communities hundreds of miles away to provision bootleggers with cheap duty free products.

The first Canada Customs building lasted 6 or 7 months before a miner threw a stick of dynamite through the window when it was closed one night. It was another 5 years before another was built, this time with bullet proof glass. There are still bullet holes from restless locals, but it has controlled the mass import of contraband into Canada.

*The local crowd moved to the other pub in the evening - it seems they spread the wealth in this small, friendly town. Marilynn and I had dinner and went back to the hotel, where she went to bed and I headed out to close the alternate pub with our new friends. Minutes after paying my bill at 2 AM the power went out. This was the start of a blackout that lasted 36 hours. The billions of stars above were incredibly bright and clear as I groped my way back to the hotel in darkness.*