Hyder, Alaska

Welcome to Camp Run-a-Muck in Hyder, Alaska, the last ghost town of the great frontier!  This little town is a sister town to Stewart, British Columbia, which sits at the end of Portland Canal.  The mail is delivered twice a week by sea plane, if the weather permits.  It is where the Tongass National Forest starts, the largest National Forest in the United States.  This is a temperate rain forest -- 120 inches of rain a season and lots of the flora you would see in a rain forest.  It also receives approximately 42 feet (that's right FEET) of snow in the winter.  It's at the end of a road, so you only see it if you plan it.

I saw my first glacier, Bear Glacier, on the side of the mountain driving down into Hyder.  This is where the movie Insomnia was filmed.  We had a nice fresh Halibut dinner on Monday night with a little skit performed by the staff.

Our group that broke down just as we were leaving Hazelton were able to rejoin us in Hyder.  They were welcomed with shouts and applause -- the rest of us hoping that it won't happen to us! 

Hyder is where they built a viewing platform to watch the bears grab the salmon out of the lake to eat.  We didn't see any because the salmon aren't quite there yet -- it will happen mid-July according to the ranger.  We did see a black bear foraging in the trash can across the street from the campground at the motel and an eagle eating something in the middle of the road.  The wildflowers are beautiful and really starting to come out.  There are mountains everywhere you look and they're majestic, beautiful, and covered with snow at the top.  The waterfalls were amazing, too, and hopefully I'll get a picture of those attached at the next post.

The group seems to be gelling and everyone getting along.  It's staying light later now (as in later than 11:00 PM). 

We all have radios in our rigs and Spike, our tour guide, gives us running commentary as we drive along giving us the history of the area, interesting things to look for, and answers questions (also alerts us when traffic conditions worsen or there's a bear by the side of the road).

We're having a great time!   Wish you were here!