Tanzilla River CG to Stewart, BC: the Bear Festival!

More great riding on the Cassair Highway today. About 200 miles into it, heading south, they decided to put a center line in the road, and it made it feel more like we were approaching civilization. The pristine streams were gone and we were now back in glacial runoff territory. Phenomenal views everywhere, and another thing I noted was that the trees were getting bigger and bigger. They can put up a fight against Ol' Man Winter a lot better that the little spruce can up in the Yukon.

We took the spur road, 37A, to Stewart. This route, entirely paved, was unreal. There were glaciers and waterfalls everywhere.

Much to our surprise, we arrived in the middle of the 3-day Bear Festival. There is a creek in neaby Hyder, AK, in the Tongass National Forest, where the chum salmon are twice as big as they usually are (the sign i read said that they weigh "as much as a small child"), and the bears come to take advantage of this fact and feast in July and August.

We loved Stewart so much that we immediately made the decision to stay for 2 days. It has lots of restored buildings, a beautiful estuary, and, of course, the Bear Festival! Below is a picture of the estuary.

There were roosters where we stayed, too! We enjoyed the Bear Festival in town--there was live music, great food, local art and a bingo game.

In the evening, we went across the border to Hyder, AK to try to see some bears. The river was packed with chum salmon, but the bears were being shy and staying away, so we headed back to town for a meal at the Bitter Creek Cafe--this place was top-notch--I highly recommend it!!

Odometer: 8137 miles