August 2 -4, 2015: Hyder, Alaska to Yellowhead Highway

We spent a couple of days in quirky Hyder, Alaska and its sister Canadian city, Stewart.  Here are some photos:

Stewart sits at the end of the 4th longest fjord in the world - 85 miles to the ocean.

One of two celebrated restaurants in Stewart-Hyder.  Husband catches fish, Wife cooks and serves it here.

My favorite home in Hyder - note the RV back right is made part of house

Other side of house has another RV incorporated.  I also like the hedges in pots.

Mudflats at low tide

Quite a few empty buildings

Pretty mountain backdrop for Stewart-Hyder

Sign in Gift shop explaining there are NO banks!

Dollar bills from around the world cover the walls in this restaurant

Hey South Carolina friends...they have something like spanish moss here - we really feel at home.

Our last night in Hyder, Jack wanted to partake of their local ritual, Hydercize.  It involves drinking some clear liquid in a shot glass (150 proof) without sniffing, hesitating or returning the liquid back to the glass after drinking it.  Afterwards, the bartender sets the remaining vapors on fire.  For this monumental feat, Jack received a certificate and earned the right of having his photo taken with the Hydercizer.

 

Next morning, we said goodbye to Hyder, our last stop in Alaska and headed back to the Cassiar highway, traveling south to the Yellowhead Highway.  The Yellowhead is a major east-west trans-Canada highway where we again have phone service and travel through some actual towns and farm country which we haven't seen in a month or more.

We made a couple of quick stops along the way in a few Indian villages to admire the authentic totem poles and quaint churches.

One stop explained how a Chief made his home atop a natural stone outcropping.  He and his band marauded other tribes, retreating to his hilltop bunker where he stored logs.  When the other tribes would attack, he would roll the logs down the hillside, crushing his attackers.

Also stopped to watch locals dip net fish for steelhead at the entrance to a small canyon with rushing waters.

One of many wooden bridges we have crossed.

We got a site for the night at a campground overlooking a large lake.  For the next several days, we will be traveling east through Canada to Jasper, where we will head south through the Canadian Rockies and then back into Montana.  We are beginning to notice signs of Fall here - the green leaves are getting pale and a few yellow leaves here and there.  We are so much further south and more than a month past the longest day of the year (June 21), so it is getting dark now before we go to bed.