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That actually has the wildlife officers concerned. By this point in the season the bears
should be looking fat and cuddly, not sleek. If the salmon don't show up soon the bears are
going to start looking beyond the grass for something to fatten up on before winter.
I should mention that we were quite early in the season. Bear numbers do climb later in
August and September and I've heard others say that they had much better luck viewing
grizzlies at Fish Creek than we did. In fact, one friend nearly had a grizzly join her for
lunch.
When she did not see any bears from the boardwalk she returned to her RV in the parking
lot. She was about to make lunch when she realized that a massive grizzly was right beside
the RV. She jumped into the front seat and watched as it wandered unconcernedly around.
There are signs warning that the bears do this, with the boardwalk actually providing the
safe cage for people. The bears themselves wander where they please, including the park-
ing lot.
It reminded me of looking for penguins in southern New Zealand. We spent the best part of
a very cold night sitting on hard bleacher seats in an observatory type situation. We were
waitingforthepenguinstowalkuptheshoreinfrontofus,whichtheyreportedlydidevery
night. After seeing just a few at a far distance, we gave up on the cold hard bleachers and
headed for the parking lot. And there they were: marching up the shore and through the car
park!
The town of Hyder is not so much “down at the heels” like Stewart. Hyder sports a rustic
funkiness that looks like it's always been the décor of choice. There are some positively-
reviewed cafes and a disproportionate number of bars. Several of these had a sign nailed to
the door, “Bikers welcome.” I don't really know what that means. Are bikers not welcome
in the other bars? Because the whole village has a biker-friendly, live-and-let-live kind of
vibe. It does give you a sense of the local colour.
We've actually seen a lot of bikers on this trip. Everything from hard core saddle jocks
peddling their bicycles up the dusty Dempster to oldies on $40,000 Harleys. The whole
motorcycle road tripping thing has become very popular with the boomer crowd. I like mo-
torcycles myself, even managed to procure my own license to ride in Rarotonga. But I am
definitely a fair weather biker. Those taking on the north from the saddle have to endure a
whole lot of interface with the environment; weather to bugs. Too much for me.
Back on the Stewart Cassiar Hwy we stop in at Kitwanga, a First Nations village renowned
for its totem poles. These are easily visible, erected right beside the road. A few others are
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