Bears, Bears, BEARS!

---

We left Hyder, Alaska, and passed through Canadian Customs back into Stewart, BC. The border guard, after asking all the usual questions, asked if we had seen many bears the day before. We realized that we had been so busy looking up at the snowy mountains, the waterfalls and the glaciers, that we wouldn't have seen bears if they'd been tap dancing on the side of the road. So on the return drive to Meziadin Junction and the Cassiar Hwy, we kept our eyes open for bear.

We weren't far out of Stewart when we spotted a grizzly bear strolling down the middle of the highway. As we got nearer, he moved to the side of the road. We were nearly even with him and I was just about to get a really good picture, when a truck roared past us and scared the bear into the bushes. The rest of the day we were thrilled to spot black bear, one after another, a total of ten black bears (and the one grizzly.) What a thrill for us. The scenery was awesome, too, but we were so intent on bear watching, we hardly noticed it. Every now and then we'd look up and say "oh, wow!"

North of Iskut the road got bumpy, then became gravel, some places worse than others. After several miles it became welcome pavement again.

Tonight we're at Dease Lake, tomorrow the Yukon.

---