Meziadin, Stewart and Hyder

 

9/11/25:  Katy woke up really early (4-ish) and I got up around 6:30.  24 years ago, I was at NMU, where the “N” stands for nowledge….  I was in a private study room and came out to see the first tower smoldering on the news, then the second tower was hit.  Don’t think I’ll forget that.  We are having some coffee and going to hit the road for Stewart/Hyder today.  

The drive down the Cassiar is pretty, we were treated to fog and rain most of the day, but it’s still worth the trip.  It’s narrow and winding in some places and you should pay attention.  We did see where a log truck went over the shoulder and down the bank.  Half the logs were still near the shoulder, everything else was over the edge.  Hope they made it out OK.  We fueled at Dease Lake and Bell 2 Lodge.  We also may or may not have run into Art We There Yet on our drive.  Cora and Jose were really nice to talk to, but we didn’t want to take up too much of their time

As for wildlife, there were lots of squirrels, bear $#!+ on the road, one coyote and 3 black bears.  Two good sized bears, one with a white V on its chest and one little one.  This is not a highway to stop and take pictures on while you are towing with no shoulder…so no photos.  

We rolled into Meziadin Lake Provincial Park for two nights.  We were immediately warned about grizzly bear activity in the park and told to keep everything inside.  5 bears had been seen just today.  One park employee told us we were parked next to the ranger rig so we should be fine.  I brought our spray into the rig with us.  

We played games and found that we could purchase some internet as we haven’t had cell service anywhere for a few days.  We watched some YouTube and a movie on Prime.  Very bummed out about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.  

9/12/25:  It rained most of the night and morning.  We got rolling by about 10.  Our trip down to Stewart/Hyder was pretty damp and foggy, there wasn’t much of a view, but bear glacier was peeking out.  Some of the waterfalls and cliffs made an appearance too.  There is no border crossing going into Hyder, but there is on the way out. 

There was a small bakery in Hyder that was open, they were sold out of baked goods, but we did get some fudge.  Pistachio and Amaretto Fudge for the win.  The fish creek viewing platform costs $11 per person so we decided to pass on it.  The creek and river had dozens of eagles along it.  

The border officer was really friendly on our trip back across.  He was thorough and checked our dog paperwork, which is the first time in about 7 crossings.  Stewart was pretty quiet too.  There were no restaurants open so we picked up a few things at the grocery store, including sandwiches for lunch.  It was pretty lackluster.  We passed on going to salmon glacier as the hills and high valleys still had fog swirling.  

The drive out was a mix of sun and clouds and bear glacier was lit up pretty well.  We ended up seeing a big black bear and had no traffic to contend with.  We stopped at the crossroads and fueled up before returning to the campground.  

The weather was decent so we played a bunch of games out on the picnic table.  We were able to see a sow grizzly and her cub walking the beach.  The bear activity at this campground is off the charts.  There are two rangers staying here from out of town to deal with them.  Last year they had to close the campground early.  This year they are hazing the bears.  

Katy made a chili for dinner and we watched a movie.  The nice weather disappeared, the wind picked up and it got cold.  Oh, and I think Katy is dealing with what I did a few weeks ago…awesome.