Alaska Trip - 2007 - Week 5

Day 29 - July 25 - Dease Lake, BC to Hyder, AK,USA, Miles Driven 250 miles

At the appointed hour we started south again on the Cassiar Highway through beautiful British Columbia bound for one more encounter in Alaska in the border town of Hyder. The first 30 miles south of Dease Lake was interesting with road construction but it was not as bad as what we had when we left Destruction Bay a couple of days ago. the scenery was absolutely unbelievable. Pretty lakes, beautiful snow capped mountains all the way. A feast for the eyes. At the town of Iskut we encountered some horses walking across the road. Further down the road, a grouse was standing in the middle of the road but it wouldn't budge. The van went right over it and there was no sound from under the van. After getting over it, it was still upright in the middle of the road. We stopped at the Tatogga Lake Resort for some coffee and pie and got to talking with the owners. The horses up the road were used in the fall as pack animals for hunters but for the rest of the year they pretty much roamed free. The owner was very anxious to get as much of the loose change in my pocket as I was willing to spend. I gave her all I had and stated that it should keep her away from the bank for a while. She said that the bank was 10 hours down the road in either Smithers or Terrace BC. Ouch.

Along the road we encountered two black bears that ran across the road and disappeared into the brush. One was real close. After cutting off the Cassiar to the Stewart/Hyder cutoff we came across the Bear River Glacier right next to the road. It was spectacular. Arriving in Stewart we saw a town that was long in the tooth and suffering from some decay. Part of the waterfront and bay is occupied by a log rafting operation. A huge circle of logs were herded into the lagoon. On the border with Hyder which is in the USA there is only a Canadian Customs office. There is no US border inspection going into Hyder. Hyder according to the guide has a population of 83 but during the summer months the camping population must quadruple that. Many motorhomes and campers were in the "Camp Run a Muck" which was right across the street from our motel. Our motel owner said that Canada uses the Stewart customs office as a training ground for their recruits. Its a simple office which gives the recruit a chance to perfect their bordering skills. The locals don't like it as they are always passing between Stewart and Hyder and must put up with the "follow the rules" first timers. The motel had no TV and no intenet. The owner said that during the last winter the snow plow driver had been overserved and had taken down the satellite dish with the plow. There was no schedule for repairs given. Hyder is a sleepy laid back town. Hyder is also known as a drinking town with a bear problem. The forest service runs a recreation area here that boasts a boardwalk which gives you an opportunity to watch feeding bears in the river. More about that later.

Before heading to the bear watch we had to go and have a seafood dinner at the Seafood Express. It turned out that the restaurant kitchen is housed in an oddly painted school bus with its seats torn out and being used as seats at the tables outside. The sign on the bus says -order at the front door of the bus - and then give you instructions not to be in a hurry. We put in our order and sat down outside to wait and talk with the other people in our predicament. We got to talking with a couple who had bicycles parked by the bus. It turns out that they are in the beginnings of a two year bike journey from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego at the tip of Argentina. From the Arctic to the Antarctic. They had flown with their bikes to Deadhorse in Prudhoe Bay and on June 8, 2007 had started south. They were taking breaks along the way to regain lost calories and muscles but were very much into their trip. We wished them good luck and soon had an excellent seafood dinner. The seafood chowder was excellent and so was the shrimp and halibut.

After dinner we took the 4 mile drive down to the bear watching area. About a quarter mile before the parking lot we spotted a grizzly bear walking down the edge of the road. He wouldn't pose and picked up speed as we came up on him but he stayed in the road. After a minute or so he ducked off to the brush. At the boardwalk the forest service ranger checked to make sure we had the Golden Eagle Pass or had bought a day use ticket. We were club members. I showed the ranger the picture I had taken and the point where we had seen him. He said that the bear was probably heading for the river and the salmon. We weren't on the boardwalk five minutes when the bear showed up in the river and started to splash in search of swimming salmon. We had seen salmon flashing in the river before his appearance. He made several charges and walked up the river right in front of us. A great opportunity to see a grizzly so close. The ranger said that there was a female with 3 cubs in the area but she did not show up this evening. Others said that she had been there in the morning. A great day.

South of Dease Lake we share the road with construction equipment	These horses crossed in front of us at Iskut, BC	Along the Cassiar below Iskut	Tatogga Lake Resort
Kinaskin Lake along the Cassiar Highway	Along the Cassiar Highway	Along the Cassiar Highway	Bear River Glacier
What $87K can get you in Hyder,AK	Camp Run a Muck	School Bus Restaurant - Seafood Express	The Yellow sign says its a five star restaurant - food was great yesterday
Looking down the road in Hyder	Grizzly in the river	He missed the salmon	Off for another hunt

Day 30 - July 26 - Hyder AK to Smithers, BC, Miles Driven - 240

Leaving Hyder we immediately lost the hour we gained last night when we crossed into Hyder and went back on Alaska Time. We also noticed last night that we had lost the 24 hour a day daylight once we got below Destruction Bay. Last night at Hyder it got dark even though it was late into the night when that happened. I remember getting up at 4;00 AM and looking out into a dusky dark. While in Alaska we learned that once past the summer solstice, daylight starts retreating at an average of 8 minutes a day.

Our objective for the day was to reach Smithers, BC on the Yellowhead Highway which is about 200 miles from Hyder. The short move was made to set up the scheduled visit to a lumber mill that we had scheduled for tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Along the way the scenery was still spectacular but by the time we reached the Yellowhead Highway which connects Prince Rupert on the coast of BC with Winnipeg in Manitoba, the great bands of forest were being replaced in spots with open fields with haying operations in progress.

We stopped in Hazelton to check in with the visitors center and get some information on the area attractions. We were steered to 'Ksan Historical Village and Kispiox totem display up river from  Old Hazelton. 'Ksan is a replica of a Gitskan Indian Village that has been at this location for centuries. We took a guided tour which consisted of entry to three of the long house buildings. There were no photographs to be taken in the buildings and for the tour we were led into the building where the guide turned on an audio light show. The young girl said that the next tour would be given in German. We were surprised that she should understand German but then we figured out that the audio tapes were probably made in several languages. Fielding questions might present a problem though. In one of the long houses the program talked about bentwood boxes. There were a few stacked up and I inquired about being able to see one up close. The guide steered me to one that was constructed with glued joinery without any bends in the wood. From a distance I noted that the old boxes were made by notching a plank at the desired positions and then with heat and water, the plank was bent at the notch to form the four sides and the loose side was sewn up with sinew. there was no similarity between the old and the new. Some things I guess they just don't want you to know.

From the 'Ksan village we went to the Kispiox Indian Village where there was a display of Totems. Not too impressive. Some were unfinished and not at all what we expected. For the last stop of the day we stopped at the Moricetown Canyon and Falls expecting to see some dip net fishing taking place in the falls as indicated in the Milepost. When we got there, the river was running very dirty from the glacier run off and there were no fishermen working. Obviously with the heavy snow last winter, the fishing is delayed.

Logging rafts at Stewart, BC	These are called the Seven Sisters	What appeared to be a Dude Ranch	Hagwilget Canyon Bridge
'Ksan Gitskan Village	Totems at Kispiox	Moricetown Canyon Falls- what we saw	Moricetown Canyon - What we expected to see - picture from postcard

Day 31 - July 27 - Smithers, BC to Prince George, BC, Miles driven 240

We had an appointment to take a tour of a sawmill in Smithers at 11:00 AM. We had tried in 2002 to take a tour of a sawmill in Kamloops but were unable to do so because the sawmill had an operating problem on the day we had scheduled. Five years later we finally succeeded. We were met by our tour guide who it turned out was a retired employee in the industry but not of this particular mill. The way we figure it, the mill does not want to loose manhours by using production employees for the tours and at the same time co-operates with the tourism bureau in satisfying tourists with curiosities just like mine. In addition the tour guide gets some pocket money.

This particular mill only produces 2" dimension lumber. In another words 2x4's, 2x6's, 2x8's, etc. The mill does not make heavier lumber such as 4x4's and up. We learned that the mill produces a million board feet in a day which runs for 2.5 shifts. We watched a truck of logs being unloaded with one swoop of a large machine and in a days time, the mill consumes 80 of these truckloads. The yard of the mill was filled with logs, some as long as 65 feet. The biggest diameter they can handle here is 27 inches but they don't get too many logs if this dimension.  Most of the logging is done in the winter months when machinery can get into the woods without sinking in and logging slows down in the breakup of snow and ice. Therefore a large on hand inventory of cut logs is a necessity.

When we got to the mill it was lunch time for the 20 men that operate the mill so we had to hang a little to get to see the machinery in action. It was a complicated process to document or remember in totality. Initially a machine drops the long logs on to a table which pulls the logs forward and measure and cut the log to the desired length. The log is then fed into the debarker where = you guessed it, the bark is taken off. The log then proceeds in a conveyor to a scanning device which makes calculations every six inches to determine the orientation of the log that will produce the most usable lumber. After scanning, the log is fed into the chipper saw which takes the log and in the bowels of the machine the log comes out basically as a rectangular beam on the other end. From here the beam is separated according to dimension and sent into one of two sets of band saws that slice the beams into the 2" dimension. The 2" boards then are sorted and re-cut in the widths that will maximize each board. There is an interesting scanner that determines how much rectangular wood can be gotten from the pieces that had some of the wein or edge of the round log on them. Broken or rejected pieces are sent via conveyor to a chipper or back into the selection process.

Eventually the lumber winds up at the stacker where the boards are stacked on a forklift with spacers between the boards. These stacks are now ready for kiln drying but first the stacks are placed outside for air drying. Air drying cuts down the time that the wood would be in a kiln but even with air drying, the wood is kiln dried between 36 and 72 hours. After kiln drying, the boards are taken to the planning department where the boards are taken down to the dimension we recognize at Home Depot of the lumber yard. A 2x4 after planning is really closer to 1.5"x3.75". The boards are sorted and classified manually and then trimmed where necessary to cut out defective ends. These defective planed ends wind up shipped to another processing plant where they are finger joined and we see them as the molding which needs to be painted to cover the finger joints.  After sorting, the boards are sent to the bander and wrapper. After wrapping the lumber is ready for shipping. It was an interesting visit. In Millbrook we are cutting wood for a town lattice bridge using a small gasoline sawmill. It will take a long time to get it together. This mill could cut our needs in about two minutes.

There is very little waste produced at this mill. At one time the chips and scrap were just burned in teepee like metal structures. Now the chips are sorted and classified. A lot get shipped to a pulp paper plant. The other waste is sent to the energy unit where the waste is burned and used to heat oil used in the kilns and also buildings. According to the guide, the mill produces about 50% lumber and 50% chips.

After the tour we lunched at A&W and proceeded to Prince George. We stopped in Houston, BC to see the worlds biggest fly rod as Houston is a popular steelhead fishing spot. Along the way we saw many dead spruce and pine trees which have been killed by a worm from a pine beetle. A diagram at the mill showed beetle infestation over a couple of hundred miles of forest.

Alpenhorn statue in Smithers	Old method of getting rid of the bark chips. No longer used here.	80 of these loads get processed daily	Logs waiting to go into the debarker
Log being scanned every six inches the chipper saw awaits	From the Chipper Saw to the edger band saws	Lumber heading to the stacker for air drying	Kiln dried lumber heading to the sorter
Heading for the wrapper.	Wrapping the finished product	Two by's ready for the market	The worlds biggest fly rod - eh.

Day 32 - July 28 - Prince George, BC to Jasper, AB, Miles driven 240

Today we were heading to a three night stay in Jasper, Alberta in the Jasper National Park. We had a short day on the Yellowhead Highway and soon after passing thru McBride we could see the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies. We first passed thru the Mt. Robeson Park where we saw a RCMP with a radar on a tripod aimed in our direction. Fortunately for us he was criticizing someone else's driving at the time. We entered the Jasper National Park and paid the steep admission. $18.00 per day. Since we had time to kill we drove over to the Jasper Tramway which takes you up Whistlers Mountain in a cable car. The food committee had decided that we would have our meal for the day at the tram restaurant on the top of the mountain. The ascent is done in stages. You first drive up the mountain to the 4300 foot level to the tram station. After paying $24 each we were assigned a flight number which required us to wait about 30 minutes. After boarding the gondola we were taken up to the 7500 level where the gift shop and restaurant are. The top of Whistlers mountain is another 500 feet up at around the 8000 foot level. However to do this you must take a hike up a path. Although tempted i declined the urge. We sat down to a good lunch and then had to wait our turn to take the tram back down. It was a busy day on the mountain and the views were great yet hazy to some degree.

Ken had selected a guest house as the lodgings for the stay. The owner greeted us and was very friendly. Ken had mentioned in the beginning of the trip that I would need cash to pay for the stay. I had forgotten about this until Ken mentioned it again last night. Luckily I have two ATM cards which allowed me to get the needed amount without maxing out for the day. After settling in we walked downtown Jasper to get somewhat acquainted with the town and also to have an ice cream cone dinner. A good day overall.

Caboose at Mcbride Visitors Center	McBride Train Station still in operation and also the visitors center	Mt. Robeson near Jasper	Another Canadian Rocky Behemoth
Tram at 4300 feet	Restaurant and gift shop and tram station at 7300 feet on Whistlers Mountain	Trail to reach the summit of Whistlers mountain, I declined	Jasper from 7300 feet
Tram coming up to rescue us.	1923's locomotive on display in Jasper	Raven Clan Totem pole at Jasper Rail station	Downtown Jasper at walking elevation

 Day 33 - July 29 - Around the Jasper Area - Miles driven 72

After church at the Jasper Our Lady of Lourdes we first went downtown to 1. sign up for the boat ride on Maligne Lake, 2. Lunch 3. then do a reconnaissance job to find out where the ladies would do their shopping and 4. where we men would be running errands while the ladies were doing laundry. Dispatching these tasks we headed out to do some sigtseeing.

First we took the scenic road up Mt. Edith Cavell which has the Angel glacier near its summit. The road is a windy, bumpy but paved road up to a parking area where the views are great. The glacier however is small. After the 16 mile round trip on the switchback road we hit the level route 93a with a sigh of relief. We were now headed to Athabasca Falls another 8 miles down the road. At one point I said that I wish we would see an elk as this was and still is the one big animal we hadn't seen on the trip. Exactly at this point a deer came out of the bushes in front of the van and Ken had to swerve a bit to avoid it. Good thing I didn't mention a Mack Truck.

We stopped at Athabasca Falls and watched the glacial silt laden water rush through a rock canyon after making a drop over a rock ledge. They aren't large but they are in a very pretty setting with the Canadian Rockies in the distance. After the falls we went for a refreshing drink at the Fairmount Jasper Lake Lodge. A real classy place with a real classy price. We didn't get the rates but Ken said he checked it and decided against it. The lower floor is filled with retail shops which have prices to match the rooms. the lobby and public lounge areas were nice but I wouldn't say spectacular like Old Faithful in Yellowstone or the Ahwanee in Yosemite. Not much to write about today but it was a very scenic day.  

On the road to Mt. Edith Clavell	Mt. Edith Clavell	Route 93a below Jasper	Athabasca River way below the falls
Athabasca Falls	Athabasca Falls in a great setting	While the waters fell, others rested	Athabasca Falls
Above Athabasca Falls	Athabasca River Gorge below the falls	View from the Fairmount Jasper Lodge	Lounge area of the Jasper Lodge

Day 34 - July 30 - Jasper, Maligne Lake and Canyon, Miles driven 67

After finishing our morning chores which basically involved buying cherries at the fruit stand and buying pastries for tomorrow morning at the Bear Paw bakery while Jeanne and Mom did the laundry, we stayed downtown for lunch and also watch the ladies do some more shopping. They have gotten to be experts at this. We had an afternoon reservation for the boat ride on Maligne Lake out to Spirit Island. The boat ride is a 90 minute trip on the glacier fed lake which has a definite turquoise color in the water. The scenery from the boat was spectacular. The boat is run by two people, one drives and the other narrates the tour. The boat can only go to Spirit Island as all the lake beyond that has been preserved as a pristine lake. The lakes main source of water is glacier melt from three glaciers, the largest being Coronet. I don't know if I got a picture of it or not. Spirit Island was named after a prize winning photo that turned into a huge mural in Grand Central Station in NYC. It was thought of as embodying the spirit of the Canadian Rockies. They made a good choice. At Spirit Island we were able to get off the boat and take a short path to get some good photos of the island. After the boat ride we stopped at Maligne Canyon to take in the views there. I was the only stroller. the others went to the gift shop while I walked down to the third bridge that crosses the steep canyon walls and back up to the gift shop. The canyon is a steep cut in the rock walls made by the Maligne River. The views were spectacular here also.

Returning to the gift shop where I was being waited for, I was instructed to look at the Jade Polar Bear carving in the gift shop. After some jovial kidding I went over to the carving. It was beautifully done with a beautiful price  $1 million. Canadian or US that is a lot of money Eh. Mom wanted it so badly that I turned my 401k over to the gift shop owner. It will be delivered in September and we will still have payments on it. Not. Leaving the canyon area we saw our first elk of the trip. It was a mama elk (no antlers) but there were no kids around. A great day was had by all.

Train in Jasper for tourists	Train Station in Jasper	Raven Totem Pole at Jasper Train Station in bright sunlight	Maligne Lake Boat Docks - the scenery ain't so bad	Mount Sampson on shore of Maligne Lake
View from boat on Maligne Lake	Look at that Turquoise Color water	Spirit Island on Maligne Lake	Chasm at Maligne Canyon	Upper falls at Maligne Canyon Below Bridge # 1
Upper Falls at Maligne Canyon Below Bridge # 1	Bridge # 3 Falls at Maligne Canyon	Maligne River above the falls	This Jade Polar Bear is a cool million.	Our Elk on Maligne Canyon road - no antlers.

Day 35 - July 31 - Jasper, AB to Calgary,AB,  Miles Driven - 257 miles

This day ends the fifth week of the trip. Today ended the three night rest before the race for home that will take place the day after tomorrow. Today we drove the relatively short distance between Jasper, AB and Calgary, AB. The only planned stops were Sunwapta Falls, 30 miles below Jasper, the Columbia Icefields, and Banff for lunch and some more shopping.

Sunwapta Falls are about 1 KM off the Icefields Parkway that connects Jasper to Banff. The falls were pretty in the morning sunlight and put out quite a spray with the wind coming from the falls side. It was a short but pleasant stop. Nearing the Columbia Icefields area we started to see numerous glaciers hanging over the mountain ridges. The peaks were pretty and I spent a whole lot of time looking at them as we will be running out of the spectacular Canadian Rockies shortly after leaving Banff. We stopped at the Columbia Icefields Center for a rest stop and to refresh out coffee. It turned out to be the most that we had paid for coffee on the whole trip. When I asked for the price of the cup I had prepared the clerk said $2.49. I gave her $2.50 and said that the price was outrageous. She gave the the .01c change and said -"Have a nice, day". While all of this was going on Jeanne and Mom were in the gift shop doing some more - shopping. When Mom and I were here in 2002 we took the Snowcoach tour out on the Athabasca Glacier which is directly across the road from the visitors center. We didn't want to do that again so we just took some more pictures of the Athabasca and Andromeda glaciers from the viewing balconies and continued on our way.

We pulled off into Banff to spend some time at lunch and also walk the downtown streets. What we found was devastating. The whole main street of Banff, called Banff Avenue was torn up beyond recognition in a construction project replacing or installing storm sewers. I mean torn up. Sidewalk to sidewalk and in some spots the sidewalk is gone too. It was a waste of time to try to do anything here this year. I had hoped to take pictures of Mom and myself in the exact locations that we did in 2007 and post them on the web page. While the spot where my picture was taken was still there, the space where mom's picture was taken has been destroyed by the construction. Both pictures were taken at the same spot and have been posted on the home page at the bottom. We ducked into the nearest McDonalds, had a quick lunch and got on the road again. Anyone who has Banff on their travel schedule this summer should call the Chamber of Commerce and find out if the project is finished and Banff Ave. is back to it prior state. Jasper at this point is a much better option.

When we left Jasper in the morning we talked to the guest house hostess and she advised that Jasper is as large as it ever will be. It is entirely within the confines of the Jasper National Park and all development is controlled by the government. There is no overabundance of large hotels here and thus about 120 homeowners have converted extra space in their homes to guest accommodations. Ours was super and was called the Juniper House. For Banff which up until this year was another professional tourist town with an Alpine flavor we learned that the parks system also controls development in Banff and that no property can be purchased in Banff unless the purchaser works in Banff. With a scarcity of open space, along came Canmore, an old dying coal mining town which is outside of the park boundaries. The 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary really put it on the map as some of the Alpine events were held in Banff. Peoples attention was drawn to the depressed area and now the sky is the limit in Canmore. We could see row upon row of condo's and other development. The paper estimates a build out by 2025. Building lots were advertised for close to 1 million and condos were in the 800k and up range. We didn't buy - EH!

Sunwapta Upper Falls along the Icefields Parkway	Sunwapta Upper Falls	Sign seen in Canada warning to beware of thieves	Glacier along the Iceffields Parkway
along the Icefields Parkway	Bicyclists in the clouds at Sunwapta Pass	Glaciers along the Icefields Parkway	Andromeda Glacier to the left, Athabasca glacier in front
View of Athabasca Glacier from the van, Andromeda is to the upper left	Athabasca Glacier from the Icefields observation deck	Snow Dome Glacier from the Icefields Center observation deck	Moose the Mountie - Ken refused to pose with him
Along the Icefields Parkway	Along the Icefields Parkway	Bow Lake and Bow Glacier a little north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway	This is not the Banff that I learned to love in 2002.

 

 

 

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