Kula Boy's Great Alaskan Adventure: Our Caravan Begins - 'Hazelton ('Ksan), BC to Hyder, Alaska

Friday, May 13, 2011 – Up early, 5:30. Leaving 'Ksan (Hazelton) today. We have had such a great time here and it’s been so beautiful….we really hate to leave, but also excited about beginning our caravan journey and heading to Hyder, Alaska. Promptly at 9:30 everyone was in line and ready to go and left ‘Ksan campground, Rocher de Boule mountain range, with Hagwilget Peak.

Shortly after we left ‘Ksan, we did a loop of the Kitsequecla Totem Village where we saw the mystical bear carving. We continued on Hwy. 16 and finally turned N on Hwy. 37 (Cassiar Hwy) toward Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. We toured another totem pole village, Kitwanga which was very unique. Continuing on the Cassiar Hwy. we were pleasantly surprised and excited to see our first bear of the trip along Hwy 37, then we got really lucky and saw our first grizzly of the trip alongside the road and a few more black bears.

As we neared Hyder, we turned on 37A and we started seeing some beautiful glaciers and one of the most magnificent was “Bear Glacier.” Driving through the fjord surrounded by mountains on both sides. We came upon the little town of Stewart, BC and went across the border into Hyder, Alaska and arrived at the “Camp Run-a-Muck” campground around 2:30. We had a quick meeting about what there was to do in Hyder, got set up and off we went exploring. 1^st stop, Diane’s famous seafood chowder place. Had to bring our own container as she doesn’t have “to go” containers. 2^nd stop, local general store to get a Hyder, Alaska pin for my vest and talked to the owner, Wes about the area. 3^rd stop, Caroline’s gift shop/gallery where of course, we had to sample the homemade fudge. We then drove back across the border into Stewart, BC. Ironically, there isn’t a border patrol on the American side, but we thought we would ask the border patrol for a Canadian pin and to stamp our passports. He was so nice, a young man, probably in his mid-20s. We then drove out to the very old wooden pier and took pictures of an eagle perched on an old piling. We then stopped in at the local pub, Sea Alaska and had a beer with some of our staff and the locals. From there, we drove out about three miles to the bear viewing stands. No bears! Came back to the campground, had our delicious seafood chowder for dinner. Then back to Sea Alaska for a night of fun and karioke (1^st for me) with some people from our group. There was a guy playing pool with his wife that sure did look like the border guy, but I wasn’t sure because he didn’t have his uniform on. I finally had to ask him and sure enough, it was Justin, the BC customs agent. We had a blast tonight and plenty of laughs!

First Nation Village of Kitwanga

Our Caravan

Our first "Grizzly" of the trip

Entrance to Hyder, Alaska

Karaoke night at Sea Alaska Inn

Hyder Post Office

Saturday, May 14 – Beautiful sunny morning. 1^st thing to do…laundry. Then googled a little trying to find the answers to our quiz. Spike handed out a quiz with 20 questions relating to our trip at our first orientation. The person with the most correct answers gets a gold nugget…and I (we) would really like to win it! Even googling, it’s hard to find the answers. I should post them so I could get some extra help…hehehe.

Then, Kenny and I sat outside our campsite in Hyder and had a mimosa. Some folks from our tour walked by so we invited them to join us and had a wonderful time talking and sharing stories and enjoying our mimosas.

At 2:00, most of the group loaded up in Spike’s vans, but we wanted to take Kula so we followed up in our jeep to Salmon Glacier, largest glacier in North America, went past Fish Creek (fresh water creek) where the salmon come to spawn each year from July – August. What a spectacular drive! We took lots of pictures but I don’t think they will do this unbelievably beautiful scenery justice. Saw things we would have never seen unless we came on this adventure.

Back at campsite in just enough time to get freshened up and off to Sea Alaska for a group halibut dinner. It was one of the best halibut meals we ever had. Delicious meal, great evening sitting around talking to our fellow travelers. We had only been in Hyder for two days, but they were two great ones.