Alaska 2012
 
 

Day 06

July 10

 
  
 
 
 I get up early again and do my one thousand paces route layout. It takes me around the downtown area a couple of times. There's only a few vagrant folks that are still stumbling around from last night and I just give them a nod and keep walking. A real breakfast is available in the hotel restaurant and for that I am thankful. I get my daily dose so I can keep my cholesterol level up there where it can be easily observed. 
  
 I decide I'll go rogue this morning and skip the fruit offering. Every now and then a feller has to just take that chance. 
  
 I get SweetTreat all packed up and ready to roll. I hate to be the dog's tail so I try to tend to my business first thing.  
  
 As we get ready to set out for Hyder, the streets are pretty empty. It makes slipping out of town that much easier. 
  
 We have the TC16 pretty much to ourselves this morning. 
  
 For now, it's just a long, lonesome road embraced by thick trees on either side. 
  
 And every now and then we run across one of these trucks, flinging tree remnants at us at highway speeds. 
  
 But then it's back to solitude of an empty highway which suits me just fine. 
  
 The beautiful blue of this lake wakes me up from my mental wanderings. It rivals the blue of Crater Lake. 
  
 And every now and then something else grabs my attention - road hazards like this. This sort of surprise will increase the pucker factor exponentially if hit unawares at a good clip. 
  
 

When we roll into this small town, I radio back to Alain -

'"This must be real civilization - they have Kentucky Fried Chicken!"

 
  
 At first I think this is a cotton field til I realize where I am - besides the state of confusion. It's just a lovely field of wildflowers left to fend for themselves - and they seem to be doing pretty well. 
  
 Then it's back to the green scene as we continue on our way to Hyder. 
  
 Every now and then we catch a glimpse of the mountains up ahead. 
  
 When we pull into Houston (not the Texas one), I have to stop and check this out. It is the 'world's largest fly fishing rod'. Maybe they should get connected with the 'world's largest fishing fly'. 
  
 The sign says that it would theoretically be able to pull in a two hundred pound steel head. That is if you could find someone man enough for the job. 
  
 But soon we are back to road riding and mountain watching.  
  
 The road is quiet and all we have to do is to just enjoy the scenery. 
  
 Once again we whizz by another field of 'fake' cotton followed by ... 
  
 a field of 'fake gold'. I'm a bit amazed that the wildflowers do this well in this sort of climate extremes. 
  
 As I have often said, sitting on my ST1100s the way I have them configured is a bit like sitting in an easy chair - except the scenery keeps changing. 
  
 As we pass this bridge, I notice another protest against the pipeline hanging from the bridge. 
  
 The road begins to have a few twists and turns as we approach the Cassiar Highway. 
  
 

This is the very start of the Cassiar Highway, one of the famous runs to Alaska. I'm glad the sign is still there like it was in 2004. The place seems a lot busier now than it was then. As we are taking a break a feller walks up to me to start up a conversation. As it turns out, he is a Goldwing rider traveling with his family via a car.

"Where are you from?" he asks.

:"Nashville, Tennessee and my buddy there is from Quebec" I answer him.

When he finds out that I left Nashville only 5 days ago and came through Banff and took a day off there, he is pretty amazed. We chat for a while then he has to go, so I wish him well in his journeys.

I decide to go inside the store/restaurant for a hydraulic break and pass through the feeding area. The grub looks pretty good to me as I am always ready to eat. When I get back outside, I tell Alain -

"You know, I wish it was closer to supper time. I almost want to eat here the grub looks so good."

We both laugh and get saddled up for the dash up the road to Hyder.

 
  
 I really don't remember much of this highway as we were cooking pretty quickly back in 2004. I had a lot less time to get there than we do on this trip. Almost 4,000 miles in 5 days was a bit much to accomplish. So I purposefully set aside more time this trip to be able to enjoy the views. 
  
 The Cassiar goes through one of the most isolated areas of British Columbia, so traffic is not even a problem. 
  
 Just before we get to the 37A turn off to Hyder, we hit this lovely bridge. It's been a while since I've been on a wooden floored bridge. But this one will not be the last one of these I cross. 
  
 When we come to the junction, I don't remember the turn off. But then I've slept quite a few times since 2004. 
  
 The road in to Stewart/Hyder, 37A, is even more isolated than 37. But the views are absolutely enjoyable. 
  
 With the snow still on the mountains, I can only imagine how much of the white stuff they really get down here in the valley. 
  
 There are two glaciers in the Stewart/Hyder area - the Bear Glacier here and the Salmon Glacier we will ride to tomorrow. At one time, I've been told, this glacier extended all the way across to the road to where I am standing. 
  
 

Just outside of Stewart, we hit a construction zone. There's a lady in line behind us who runs a bar in Stewart. I ask her -

"Do you by any chance know the lady that runs the Boundary Gift Shop in Hyder? Is she still right at the border?"

"Sure do, Miss Caroline. She's built her a new shop in a better spot."

"I met her when I was up her in 2004" I add.

The flag man's name is David and he wanders over since we are in wait mode. He's an interesting character to say the least. The subject of his hair and beard comes up, so he good naturedly explains -

"Standing out here all day, the bugs will eat you alive. I tried all that bug stuff - deet and the like - and none of it worked. With the hair and the beard, the bugs have a whole lot less to chew on."

And that's his story and he's sticking to it!

 
  
 Finally we get to move on as they've got one of the lanes cleared out for passage. 
  
 They've had to put up a temporary bridge since the original bridge was destroyed during the winter. I can only imagine the forces coming down from the mountains that powered this stream to wash concrete pilings and all away.  
  
 The river seems pretty docile now, but it does not look like something I want to be floating in when winter hits. 
  
 Soon we reach the "Welcome to Stewart' sign and I know this day's journey is about to be over. 
  
 We decide that we'll go ahead and check into the King Edward hotel and unload the bikes before we make a run into Hyder and get my first Alaska state line sign. 
  
 

The room is really nice and well laid out. I tell Alain -

"Well, I never know when I book online as to what we are getting. But looks like we came out okay on this one."

 
  
 The run into Hyder is a short one right along the Portland Canal. 
  
 What is so strange to me is that there is no US Customs going into Hyder, but there is a Canadian Customs coming out. And there is no way to get to Hyder unless you boat, fly, or walk over the mountain range to get there without coming through Canada. I snag my first Alaska state line sign for SweetTreat. In the background is the old building that used to house the Boundary Gift Shop back in 2004. 
  
 This stone building is the first masonry building in Alaska built back in 1896. It's called Storehouse #4. 
  
  But as it turns out, the 1903 Boundary Tribunal moved the line, and now it sits in Canada.  
  
 This marker shows where the national boundary was at the time that Storehouse #4 was constructed,  
  
 

When we cross back into Canada, we make the obliged stop at the Canadian Customs. The lady working there asks me the usual questions, once of which is

"How long do you plan on staying in Canada?"

My reply is simple - "I'll be back here tomorrow after we run up to the Salmon Glacier."

Soon it's back to the hotel where I put SweetTreat up for the evening. She has served well throughout the day and for that I am thankful.

 
  
 

At the hotel, there are two supper options - the meat and three sort of place and the more 'formal' place. Now formal up here ain't nothing like formal back home, but we decide to go 'formal' as the bear is certainly beckoning us. One of the ladies working back there comes out as says

"Follow me."

I tell her "Well, I reckon that's the best invitation I've had all day!" and we both laugh.

 
  
 

Supper is good and the service great. Alain and I talk about our adventure tomorrow up to the Salmon Glacier. Jamie, the son of Miss Caroline that runs the Boundary Gift Shop, tried to persuade me to go up there in 2004. But I just didn't have the time as I had to get back south. I promised him that I would be back one day and here I am. And tomorrow I plan on fulfilling that promise.

With a full belly, I waddle back across the road to catch up on some e-mail and stuff. As a precautionary measure, I upload all my pictures so far to my netbook so I will be sure and have at least the Alaska state line sign. Little do I know how thankful that I will be of this later on. Soon it's lights out for me and I quickly drift off into the pleasant land of the suspension of consciousness.