Finally, a bear!

We saw this cute little guy returning from our drive/hike up to Salmon Glacier. We were driving along, and Phil saw leaves falling from a tree. As he slowed to check it out, we came around a corner to greet a small black bear in the middle of the road. He immediately went into the brush, but Phil discovered this bear up high in the tree. The bear was eating a berry-like substance off the branches. We were later told he was probably eating buds, since berries are not out yet. Whatever it was, he was totally making a mess of the tree.
After our laundry stop in Smithers, BC, we camped at Seely Lake Prov. Park. It rained on and off that afternoon and evening, and the next morning was more of the same. There are many Native Canadians in this part of BC, and every village/town has an Indian name (so I won’t try to spell any here). We turned onto the Cassair Hwy to head toward Stewart, which is an old mining town on the border with the Alaskan town of Hyder (“The friendliest ghost town in America”), population of “about 100 happy people.” We camped in Stewart, and drove over thru Hyder and on up to the Salmon Glacier. The road was blocked ½ way up the glacier, so we had to hoof it from there. Although we didn’t reach the summit (lots of snow), it was pretty incredible.