SUCCESS!!!

We left Prince George on Saturday morning, after spending a chilly night in the Wal Mart parking lot. Temperature in the 5th wheel dropped to 46 and we could see our breathe when we climbed out from under the down comforter at 5:30am. We are on our way to Jasper, Alberta or if the going goes well, to Lake Louise, Alberta. I am going to digress a bit and tell you about our auto tour on the Salmon Glacier Road on Thursday. I am trying to type this while Bob drives and it is somewhat of a challenge. It just started to rain again!!! It seems like that is all we are seeing. Back to my story....We had stayed an extra day at the Bear River RV Park in Stewart, BC because of the rain! We had wanted to take the auto tour on the Salmon Glacier Road in hopes of finally seeing bear. We started out early in the morning on the self guided tour that starts in Stewart,BC, through Hyder, BC and Hyder, AK and terminates 22.9 km later at the Salmon Glacier Summit. Let me tell you, the road is not for the faint of heart! It is a dirt road with lots of pot holes. We had the privilege of driving it right after two days of heavy rain, so instead of dust, as indicated in the brochure, we had mud and water filled pot holes. It is a numbered tour and at Stop 6, the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Area, there is an elaborate viewing platform along the creek for observing the bear. Bob's big wish has been to see bear, but when we walked the entire length of the platform, the only wildlife we saw was a flock of ducks cruising down the creek. Disappointed, we hopped back in the truck and headed north on the tour. This was probably one of the most breath taking areas we have been in. It follows the Salmon Glacier River through a valley with awesome mountains, waterfalls and glaciers. The road was very bumpy and in some spots treacherous from recent mud slides. We finally made it to the Toe of the Salmon Glacier and what a view of the glacier and back south. We had cloudy skies most of the time, but occasionally the sun tried to peak out. It was cold and windy at the Toe of Salmon Glacier and we even noticed a few snow flurries. Since the road narrowed to one lane from that point on and it was raining and we had encountered the mud slides, we chickened out and did not go the next 7 km to the Summit View Point. Needless to say, Bob hugged the left side of the road on the way down and we took lots of pictures. Unfortunately they do not show the height of the mountains, the depth of the valley or the numerous glaciers on the mountains. We stopped at the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing area on the way back - still no sign of bears. We decided to head back to the RV park, have dinner and try one more time in the evening. Success!!! We were with a group of people strolling on the viewing platform, discouraged and heading back to the entrance, when we spotted a bear strolling down the road. She was headed in our direction, passed the entrance - crossed within 15 feet of us - where we were all standing and headed down the creek bed. Of Course, in unison, excited, we all turned and followed and watched her grazing on grass along the creek bed. She did not seem to be interested in few salmon in the creek. We watched her for about 30 minutes and then she headed into the brush and disappeared. Perfect ending to the day and our stay at Bear River RV Park. Bob is happy!!!
After a long day of treacherous driving and the excitement of finally seeing a bear, we did not get to do a blog. We pulled out of Bear River RV Park Friday morning in the rain and headed toward Prince George, BC. We did see a couple of little bears along the side of Highway 16 but not early enough to take any pictures. This section of the road passes through rolling hills with many farms and ranches - reminds me of Vermont. We did not take many pictures - actually the co pilot was suppose to be in charge of that while I was driving. We stopped for lunch at a rest area (Morrice Town Canyon and Falls) and Bob took a few pictures of people doing subsistence fishing in this canyon, while I made lunch. We saw a lot of log trucks on Highway 16 and a huge milling operation in Vanderhoof. We arrived at good old Wal Mart in Prince George, BC around 5:30pm - in the rain - checked with customer service and got the ok to park overnight, even though the sign in the parking lot said no parking per a city ordinance. We picked up a few staples while we were there and settled in for the night. We are now without Internet access as well as cell phone service for a few days. We will post this blog when we have our next access to the internet.