THE LARGEST SALMON IN THE WORLD

Day 11
Stewart to Salmon Glacier to Stewart to Smithers
Distrance travelled: 417 km though it rode like 600
Accumulated distance: 3386 km
Maximum speed:130 kph
Moving time: 5:39
Moving average: 74 kph
Overall average: 53 kph

We had breakfast at The Toaster, so named because of all the old toasters they have on display, amongst other antique-type kitchen appliances or old time electrical appliances. I am not sure which came first though; the name or the toasters. Nonetheless, it is an interesting display and reads like a museum. The salt and pepper shakers on the tables are vintange 50s and original. There is more than enough to entertain but then, it is just like the whole town.

Our plan this day is to ride up to Salmon Glacier, the original idea coming from the Canadian border guard. I can't remember if somebody like Stan from, well, you know, has suggested this excursion but I do recall hearing that the ride up is on gravel but that it is not too bad. Maybe that is up to where the bears fish for salmon, which is along the way.

Customs officer Reid has told us that the gravel is packed and should not be too bad for our bike; motorhomes drive up there without too much issue.  We really had no idea how far it was going to be but the intimation was that it would not be too far so we naively set off. I ask for directions but he comments there is really only one way to go.

We drive through Hyder and it is not quite the ghost town we were thinking as there is a fair amount of activity. We don't know what the true population is but it seems more than the eighty-odd as indicated on the interweb. There is still mining activity in the area so the region does reap some economic spin-offs.

The road is paved for about 8 km, as far as the National Park. I will get to that later. We hit the gravel and it really isn't too bad. The gravel is not too big and for the most part, it is either packed or pushed to the sides so we don't have too much loose gravel to negotiate. Still, there are some parts where it has accumulated and we have to be diligent.

There is a surprising amount of traffic on the road. Not to suggest that it was "busy" but I figured out where we were, we wouldn't see anything. The activity is in part mining traffic but also tourist activity going up to the glacier. There are pickup trucks, rvs, cars and a couple of other motorcycles. Everyone has a lot of dust.

It doesn't take long for the view to get spectacular.  We can see a long way up the valley and there are peaks, waterfalls and glaciers in abundance. Every time we round a corner, it just gets better and better. Along the way, we cross back into BC and Canada and a sign is posted indicating the speed limit is back to 50 kph versus 30 mph. We pass by a gold mining operation on the Canadian side and we continute to climb in elevation, all the way to 1128 metres. This is amazing because that was from 0 metres, to it is a lot of climb.

It has taken about an hour to get to the look out and I think it was about 30 km from Hyder. To our amazement, there are picnic tables, out houses and some guy selling post cards for $2. The view is unbelievable. I don't make eye contact with the postcard guy but I do strike up a conversation with a couple riding quads. Older couple, as it turns out. We had passed them on the way up and we figured they were probably people working at one of the mines in the area. Turns out they are from France, they own a summer place in Stewart and they have been coming here for 10 years after spending two days in Stewart in 2002. He is retired, she is not. But they make for a nice conversation .

This is the largest salmon in the world: the Salmon Glacier.

The GPS has some capicity to remember where we have been; here is shows our route up to the Salmon Glacier, crossing over into the US and then back into Canada.