Our Travel Log: Day 96 – Salmon Glacier & Fish Creek

August 20, 2010

In the morning we stopped at Fish Creek to see if there were any bears. As usual, we had just missed one.

Above & Below Fish Creek Bear Viewing Platform

We hung around to 11:00 AM but no bears so was it decided to proceed to Salmon Glacier. The road to Salmon Glacier is the same dirt road that starts in Hyder and goes to Fish Creek. Just a few miles farther up the road, one crosses back into British Columbia. There is just a sign that “Welcomes You to BC”. The road is an old mining road that was used to transport miners to and from the mines in BC.

Old mining buildings

There is some new exploration in progress due to the high price of gold.

The Salmon Glacier is the fifth largest glacier in North America. Salmon Glacier is a potential major natural hazard. Summit Lake is located at the northern end of the glacier and every year around mid-July the lake breaks an ice-dam and then flows under the Salmon Glacier into the Salmon River. This causes the river to rise approximately 4 – 5 feet for several days.

One Terminus of Salmon Glacier

Near the Peak of Salmon Glacier

Second Terminus of Salmon Glacier

Third Terminus of Salmon Glacier

Salmon Glacier Video

Smaller Glacier 17 miles up the road from Salmon Glacier

On the way back from Salmon Glacier, we again stopped at the bear viewing area. This time, we had better luck. Myra and her spring cub came to try their luck at salmon fishing. They were quite successful.

Myra and Her Cub

Cub decides mama’s fish is better

The cub has not been named by the Forest Service yet has they do not know its sex.

Myra is off to catch another salmon

Mira decides to depart the area to protect her cub from Dog Bear, a male grizzly.

As the bears move up and down stream looking for fish, the onlookers follow them on the platform. In the video you will hear people talking along with the sounds of the stream, the bears in the stream and even the bears crunching the salmon.

Myra & her cub video

Dog Bear

Dog Bear is a battled scared, adult, male grizzly. While he is in the area no other bear will approach. He picked up the cub’s scent and checked out the places where Myra and the cub fed on their catches in the brush. He caught several salmon and ate them in the brush along banks of Fish Creek. Male grizzlies will kill cubs if they catch them. The mother will send the cubs up a tree that the male is unable to climb and lead the male off. The cubs will stay in the tree until the mother returns.

Dog Bear wondered off and about five minutes later Monica made her entrance but left quickly without fishing as she must had caught Dog Bear’s scent.

A Blue Heron observing action from a nearby tree