Stewart-Hyder

 Yesterday was the best wildlife viewing day I ever had. It is true that I got these shots from a viewing platform shared with about 30 other photo snapping tourists but it was still incredible. The grizzly cub was like all children... goofy and playful as his mother moved down "Fish Creek" filled with spawning and dying chum. Seeing a wolf was the most satisfying though... calm but unsuccessful in his half-hearted attempts to catch fish. We were told that the bears prefer the skin and the wolves the heads but that neither will eat carrion. For that there were a number of satiated looking young bald eagles perched in the trees above and of course, gulls.

 After watching the animals and fish for a long time we headed up to the Salmon Glacier, 5th largest in North America. The photo below is the "toe."

 And this photo is from the best viewing at the summit of the road with Sasha looking a little deflated in contrast to the grandeur.

 On the way back down the terrible pitted mining road we stopped again, before visiting Hyder, Alaska, and were treated to a black bear enjoying berries.

We are in Stewart, B.C. It's raining and Michael is processing veggie oil out by the Bear River under a spectacular waterfall. I rode my bike into Stewart, which is very quiet on a Monday, to do laundry and get last provisions before we head away from the coast. Even though this is 70 miles up the Portland Channel to the estuary where this sweet little town (and it's rowdy American twin, Hyder, peaks out from further out to open water,) it's still got the life of the sea in it, but more of mining. The area is rich with present and past mining in the vast mineral rich mountains to the north of here.