Day 8 - June 22nd

Another great day for riding motorcycles! Sun shining and 55 degrees starting out topping out at 82. In BC in can't get much better. Another day of magnificent snow capped mountains with a base of super green trees.
Today we really noticed the  abundance of wild flowers along the road. I have never seen any like it; of course I am from S. California......

As you can see we had to stop at the hwy 16 and hwy 37 junction.
16 continues to Prince Rupert and 37 is the start of the Cassiar Hwy. This hwy joins the Alaskan hwy just west of Watson Lake. There is another junction where 37A splits off to the southwest and takes you to Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska.

This road is a keeper! I had heard great things about 37A to Hyder and they were understated. Water water everywhere! We passed ther Bear Glacier which they said used to come all the way to the road. We talked to a road worker at the junction who said there was an avalanche two weeks ago that closed the road for a few days. We saw the evidence of it with trees snapped off and tangled with rocks and mud debri.If you looks up at the side of the mountains on the right of the road, it looks like the mountains are crying. Too many waterfalls to count. I have never seen anything like it.

 Stewart is a worn down little town. Most buildings are abandoned and for sale, Hyder the same. the King Edward Motel was clean and comfy. We chatted in the parking lot with folks and construction workers. I guess there is a lot going on in the harbor, the mines in the area, a hydro dam, and they are paving the road through Hyder to the salmon/bear viewing platforms that the area is famous for. Another thing people come to see is the Salmon Glacier. The get the complete view of two glaciers intersecting, you have to travel 25 miles up a dirt road. Trust me it's a long way. I didn't think Chuck would want to tackle this road, but I guess I forgot   

what a fearless rider he is. I will bet no one has ridden a Gold Wing up the glacier road out of Hyder. My bike is made for this kind of stuff. Barbara was a real trooper. She helped out by unplugging her intercom cord so Chuck could hear her scream. He almost bucked her out of the seat a few times. We did stop at the motel to shed all our gear so the bikes would handle a little better. Chuck was lagging behind until he decided to stop and soften the preload on the bike. Then he went around me and was really setting the pace, impressive to say the least!
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Chuck was low on fuel so we didn't quite make the summit but we saw the glacier! Wow! About 13 miles up,we were told by a guy in a pick up truck we couldn't continue because they were drilling. I said to Chuck, "he is not the boss of this public road so we continued. Note the signs we encountered.

 The pictures don't do it justice, but if you google
the Salmon glacier you will see how impressive and huge it is.

Salmon Glacier

The end or bottom of the glacier

On the way back down we came around a corner and discovered a grizzly bear in the road. We were told to give them space and they won't bother us. Barbara got a picture before he loped off the road. That's two grizzlies and we are a week into the trip.
After that trip up to the glacier we stopped in hyder to check out the "Hyderized" thing. It's at the Glacier Inn on the only main street. Getting Hyderized is drinking a shot of "Everclear", a 190 proof pure grain alcohol without smelling or tasting it. it has to go down in one gulp. If you fail to do this you have to buy everone in the bar a drink.

You are killing me, Chuck, do you even know what a curling iron looks like?

 Thanks again for following us on the blog,
We are off to Dease Lake BC!