Alaska 2012
 
 

Day 07

July 11

 
  
  
 

Trying to keep my promise, I'm up early and out for a walk. Since I don't know the state of the buggery, I pack a bottle of deet just in case. I figure I'll walk out toward Hyder and stop before I get to the border. It's a little cool so I put on my rain jacket for a little warmth. Not much moving around except me, and that's probably a good thing since this area is known for a lot of bear activity.

Breakfast is a no brainer as they seem to offer up pretty good grub at the hotel. So it's short walk across the street to get my daily fix after my daily walk.

 
  
 This used to be a mining town, so the hotel has appropriately positioned a couple of mine carts in the parking lot.  
  
 This sign explains a bit of the mining history of the area. 
  
 Once breakfast is decimated, Alain and I set out for the glacier. As near as we can tell, it will be a round-trip of over forty miles on some pretty rough roads. But in 2004, Jamie assured me that it was well worth the trip and I believe him to be a honest feller. He was disappointed that we couldn't make it then and it was real disappointment I saw in his eyes. 
  
 Fortunately, the road is mostly hardpacked and not a lot of loose, deep gravel. I do not fancy fighting a front wheel washout for forty miles on SweetTreat today. 
  
 The road is empty and we occasionally pass by lovely water falls. 
  
 And can you imagine - we pass from Alaska back into Canada but there is no customs officials to be seen here. 
  
 Ever a lover of waterfalls, we stop at this one for a short break.  
  
 

As we make our way around the bends and rises, we come upon a sign that is a bit confusing at a junction. It seems to indicate that we cannot go on which is odd to me. About that time a truck comes down from the right so I ask him -

"Can we go on ahead or not?"

"Well, you can't go to the right because they are building a new hydro plant up there. But I really don't know."

With that bit of information, I figure we'll just pull the trigger. I tell Alain -

"The most they can do is make us turn around. Let's go for it" and we do.

 
  
 

After we climb this pretty steep hill, we pull off for a short break. And couple of older men pull in behind us in a pickup truck. They ask us -

"Where are you from?"

"I'm from Nashville, Tennessee"

and Alain adds

"I'm from Quebec."

That usually trips folks up as how a hillbilly and a Quebecer could be riding together. When one of the men hears Tennessee, he says

"I'm McMinnville, Oregon. And it is actually named for McMinnville, Tennessee."

"Yep, McMinnville, Tennessee is one of my favorite places to ride." I tell him.

 
  
 While we're stopped, we take some shots of the beautiful lake below us. I can only figure that the interesting colors of the water must come from the nearby mining operation. But we want to get to the top, so we bid our fellow travelers good-bye and get back to dodging potholes. 
  
 As you near the top, there's a nice pull off where you can see the 'toe' and lowest part of the Salmon Glacier. 
  
 The water from this glacier can raise the level of the Salmon River four to five feet in a short period of time. That may explain why the bridge coming into Stewart was washed out. 
  
 But we came to see the top so we motor on. In some spots the road is smooth enough that you can actually make pretty good time. 
  
 It even has a few twisty bits but you have to watch out for the surprise potholes. If you hit one of those at a good clip, you will find out just how secure are the fillings in your teeth. 
  
 When we reach this sign, we figure we've probably gone about as far as we should be going for the day.  
  
 We have reached the summit and what a view it is. 
  
 Alain and I both have ridden in the Alps, but there is nothing there quite like the view that unfolds before us. 
  
 This is not the biggest glacier in these parts, but it looks mighty big to me. 
  
 Jamie was absolutely right and I am thankful that he persuaded me to make this trip - even though it did take me eight years to do it. 
  
 There's a nice older man at the top selling home made postcards of the glacier. I buy several so I can send one to my eldest granddaughter and keep a few for myself. And we both get our lovely mugs shot with the glacier in the background. 
  
 Of course I think I am the better looking one, but I'll leave that up to future readers to ponder. 
  
 With one last look at the glacier, we are off back down the mountain side. 
  
 

As a riding friend of mine says

"When you ride a road in the opposite direction, it's a different road"

and he's right. You see things that miss coming from the opposite direction like this lovely little waterfall.

 
  
 But with no guardrails and a long way down to the bottom, I have to remind myself that I'd better be tending to business. I don't particularly fancy taking any flying lessons today on my ST1100. The flight would be okay but the landing probably would not be so pleasant. 
  
 But there are still some awesome views that make staying focused on the road in front of me difficult. 
  
 And there are some curves that have to be negotiated on the way back down. 
  
 It's constant challenge to try to watch for potholes, watch for bends in the road and still take in the scenes like this one ... 
  
 or this one. 
  
 But then you come to one of these and all eyes are on the road! 
  
 As we get back down to the valley, we run alongside the Salmon for a little while. I can only imagine what this looks like when it rises four to five feet from the effects of the glacier melt. 
  
 Once we get back into Hyder proper - if there is such a thing, I stop at the new Boundary Gallery And Gifts. Looking from the new front porch you get a view of Hyder.  
  
 

Miss Caroline has done an outstanding job of building and equipping her new place of business. I tell her

"I was here back in 2004 at your old place. And I appreciate the kindness that you showed us to use your Internet and such."

She doesn't remember it but I did not expect that she would.

"Is Jamie, your son, around? I promised him back then that I was coming back to see the Salmon Glacier and we did today.'

It turns out that he was home for the 4th of July this year, so I missed him by a few days.

Miss Caroline is also quite a musician and a teacher of music. I ask her

"How about the little girl named Amanda Lynn that you were teaching to play the Mandolin?"

"She has graduated from college and she still plays a little bit" she tells me.

 
  
 

As it turns out, her husband died while she was in the old shop and she was faced with some tough choices. As she says

"I had to put on my big girl britches and get serious about the shop."

Judging by the excellent quality of merchandise she carries, I'd say she's done pretty well. She focuses on local craftsmen as much as possible.

I wander over to one display and pick out a little something for my wife. And there are some nice socks still made in the USA, so I get me a pair for those cold days this winter back in Tennessee.

 
  
 

And then I see the diet wrecker on display - all sorts of fudge. I tell Alain,

"You know you can't pass this up, buddy."

He replies "I hate you!" with a big smile as he picks out a couple of large helpings for himself.

Miss Caroline assures me she will tell Jamie that I did come back and how much I enjoyed seeing the Salmon Glacier. With our fudge secure in our mitts, we walk back out to the bikes and head for Canadian Customs again.

 
  
 I get the same lady and it's a short interview with me. The ride back to Hyder only takes a couple of minutes and we're at King Eddy's. 
  
 

I figure since we're here early, I'll do a bit of clothes washing. They have a real nice setup in the motel so I get some Canadian coins to get started. As I sit there relaxing, a lady comes limping in, obviously in some pain. Having been there myself, I ask her -

"Bad knees or bad hips? I had a bad limp myself until I got my knees replaced a while back."

"It's my hip. It's been messed up for a while. But I just keep putting it off."

"Well, this advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. Go get the thing fixed - you will not believe the difference it will make for you. My knees got to the point that my hips and back were being affected."

We talk a little further and I hope that I have encouraged her to pull the trigger. It's not an easy process, but there is help. I collect my fresher smelling clothes and head back across the street to our room.

Alain and I head to the 'fancy' section for some more scrumptious food. The lady waiting on this time goes over what they have available. She says

"We have some fresh halibut in today, but we only have six pieces."

I'm not much of a fish eater unless it's fresh and this is fresh as it gets.

"Well, I reckon I'll take three of them and some fries" I answer quickly.

Alain makes his choice, and then we talk about the ride out tomorrow and other such stuff. When the food arrives, it's great and tasty. It's some of the best halibut that I have ever had and it doesn't take me long to demolish it - as hard as that may seem to believe. Once we get the job done, we decide we'll take a little walk to a nearby park before we turn in for the evening.

They have constructed a nice boardwalk out over the tidal marshes that extends a long way. It comes to an abrupt halt at a bridge and we wonder if they ran out of funds or it just got washed away.

 
  
 But it gives you great view down the canal looking out to the ocean. 
  
 We decide that this evening cannot be properly terminated without a helping of ice cream. Alain remembers seeing a shop past the hotel, so we make our way there. This old building catches our attention as it seems to be out of use. Maybe it was a hotel or school or a boarding house - a mystery left for another day. 
  
 And this one appears to be a victim of the less than robust economy that has shuttered so many other small businesses in the last few years. I guess they didn't get the government message yet that things are doing better. 
  
 At last we spot the dispenser of frozen potions that we have so diligently been seeking. We wander in to pick our poison so that we may die with a big smile on our face. 
  
 

Of course, I go for the chocolate, three scoops in sugar cone. What I don't realize is that the young lady behind the counter is dead serious about scooping and I get enough ice cream to kill a good man, much less an old rag like me. Alain, his usual moderated self, does not go as extreme as me.

As we sit there enjoying our nightcap, I see two kids wander into the store. The older sister is obviously the money handler as her younger brother sort of stands back a little bit. Sister orders her a scoop and then orders one for brother. But they don't have enough money for both of them, so only sister gets a scoop. Brother wanders back to the popsicle cooler to find something less expensive, the disappointment obvious on his face. I can tell by their clothes and shoes that doing without is something that they live with on a regular basis.

I go up to the counter and ask the young lady behind it -

"How much do the kids need so the boy can have a scoop?"

It's a little over a couple of dollars, so I quickly fish it out of my pocket and give it to her and walk back to my table.

She motions the sister over and tells her to tell brother to put back the popsicle and pick what he wants. The kids look at each other not understanding exactly what has happened. They hesitate trying to figure out, but brother finally picks out a flavor and gets a scoop cause the lady said he could. She bends over and tells him to be sure and thank me on the way out and he does. I tell -

"Son, you are more than welcome. I hope you enjoy it."

You see, one time I was that little boy. I have an older sister and seldom did we have the money to get anything like ice cream when we were kids. We lived in a four room shack without running water for the first five years of my life. So I knew the feelings of wanting and not having the means to do anything about it. So I reckon I bought it for myself as much as I bought it for the boy.

The walk back to room is a short one and it does not take me long to wander off into sweet dreams.