Alaska - Week 1
June 26, 2022
We are back on the road! But by we, I mean Margo 🐶 and I (Victor) because Kuan is still in the desert on her month-long adventure in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area in Utah with the Boulder Outdoor Survival School.
Last summer while exploring Newfoundland and the northeastern territories of Canada, Kuan and I decided to spend the next summer exploring Alaska. But because the season is quite short, we figured I could start driving north mid-June and Kuan could fly directly to Anchorage, AK as soon as she would be done with her backcountry adventure.
So here we are, Summer 2022, I am driving north to the last frontier!
Tuesday to Friday: Salt Lake City, Ut to New Hazelton, Bc (27 Hr / 1,586 Miles)
The first few days of the drive have been pretty eventless. To be frank, the scenery was even quite boring to me. I am not a thick forest and rolling hills person: I like barren landscapes, deserts, and dramatic mountains!
But I was expecting the scenery to change and become more interesting as soon as I would hit the Stewart-Cassar Highway, the northwestern-most highway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
I did reach the area last Friday and I am not disappointed!
Saturday: New Hazelton, Bc to Stewart, Bc (3 Hr / 161 Miles)
I woke up happy with the scenery and decided to drive a couple more hours to the remote community of Stewart, BC to visit the village and see the famous nearby glacier: the Salmon glacier.
From Stewart, BC I was able to cross back into the US and drive to the small community of Hyder. In fact, Hyder is only accessible via Stewart, BC. It’s an extremely isolated community and I was really wondering what type of life people live here.
I followed the dirt road north of Hyder for a couple dozen of miles, climbing up the mountain until I reached the first view point of the Salmon Glacier.
After that, the road became rough and slippery with mud from the melting snow for 16 miles until I reached the second and last viewpoint. Not a road for the faint of hearts!
Exhausted by the drive, I decided to stay in the municipal campground of Stewart, BC for the night and enjoyed their wifi in the morning to publish this article.
So what’s next? I still have one week to reach Anchorage, AK. It’s a long drive but I have many attractions and places to see along the way so I am hoping that the next week will be a little bit more fun that this first one!