Bald Eagle at Fish Creek, eating salmon
This is a first tonight. We are in a provincial park that has wireless Internet access, and it actually seems to be quite a bit better than what we had in Stewart. I suppose that service will continue to improve as we get farther south.
First this morning we went back to Fish Creek. We saw no bears but did get some great pictures of a bald eagle eating on one of the dead salmon. We talked to a wildlife photographer, Robert Small, who has taken several of the pictures that are published on the interpretive signs at this site (as well as a cover of National Geographic). He has been here taking pictures for seventeen years.
It was very dull and cloudy out today, but not raining too much, and he suggested that we go up to the Salmon Glacier which we did. He told us to check out “The Bearman” at the summit, who is a Canadian camped up there, and selling videos of the bears in the area.
Unfortunately the clouds were very low so that when we arrived at the summit we couldn’t see the glacier at all. We did stop and photograph several of the waterfalls along the way – and there are many – as well as some of the old and abandoned mine sites along the road.
The road is narrow, and winds around the edges of the mountains. As we got past the summit the road is not regularly maintained, but is used by the mines in the area. With the price of gold now over one thousand dollars an ounce, there is a great deal of mining activity going on with many of the formerly closed mines being reworked. At several locations on the road huge boulders had fallen from the cliffs, some as big as our vehicle. If they were just a few feet farther out the road would be completely blocked.
Summit Lake is interesting, as now it is completely dry, and there are only many blocks of ice that mark its location. Several years ago the lake was full of water, and flowed out to the north into upper Boswer River. In December of 1961 the water broke through to the south (a jokulhlaup), flowed under the glacier, and catastrophically flooded the Salmon River. The lake now cycles through filling and draining every year.
We returned to Fish Creek, but saw no further wildlife, just more of the dying chum salmon struggling to spawn in the water. We left Stewart and drove to Meziadan Provincial Park, which is a very nice campsite, and did see two more black bears grazing along the road. After supper we went for a walk along the lake. The shore is broken shale, and there are very interesting erosion patterns in the rock.
Shortly after we got back it began to rain. It rained all night, and is still raining this morning (September 2). The clerk at the store didn’t tell me that they shut off the Internet access at 8 pm, so when I went to post this last night, it failed. We are going at least as far as Terrace BC today, and then we will see how far we go. It will definately depend on the weather.