Home > Trip Reports > March 8, 2009, - Bear Glacier Stewart

March 8, 2009, - Bear Glacier Stewart

3/8/09
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Posted by ema on 3/19/09 3:30pm
Silas is getting some nice competition for the "beyond the home court" category of reports, though these have the added benefit fo being "drive-to" locations. Thanks for sharing. That looks like some big and wild country.


Love glaciers. Awesome.

LeeL, love your trip reports of the Stewart area.  It is a place I've been looking at to explore both in the summer and winter.  I hear there are a lot of mountain goats in the area that you can see in the winter.  Did you guys happen to see any mountain goats while you were there?

Shane - we saw tracks and signs of droppings on Windy Ridge (see other TR) but none on the Bear Glacier.

Could someone clue me in as to where this wonderful place is? I must go there!

It's right on Hwy 37A between Meziadin Junction and Stewart, BC, near the border with southeastern Alaska, about 1450 km (900 mi) from Vancouver. An amazing place, I was lucky enough to stop by there in August 2002 while driving to Alaska, but haven't found time to return during the skiable season. Here's a summertime view of Bear Glacier and Strohn Lake:

   

Stewart is a scenic little coastal town adjacent to the village of Hyder, AK, at the head of Portland Canal, a nearly 100-mile-long fjord system (including Portland Inlet) extending SW to the ocean. I recall reading someplace that Stewart is the 3rd snowiest town at sea level in the world, as its average annual snowfall of 572 cm (225") is exceeded only by Valdez (312") and Whittier (257") in Alaska.

The gravel road from Stewart which crosses into Alaska at Hyder, and eventually returns to BC, passing high above the outstanding, twin-terminused Salmon Glacier on its way to the abandoned Granduc Mine, is another local scenic highlight which should not be missed. As is the chance to watch grizzly bears feeding only a few feet away while standing on a wooden observation platform above Fish Creek in Hyder.

Here's a fixed link to LeeLau's full TR (deleted extra " at end):
http://www.leelau.net/2009/centralbc/bearglaciercambria2009_03_08/

And some other useful links:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Bear+Glacier+Provincial+Park&ie=UTF8&t=p&z=14
http://www.currentresults.com/Weather-Extremes/Canada/snowiest.php
Bear Glacier Provincial Park: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/bear_gl/
Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/recreation/rec_facilities/mistyrec.shtml

Thanks Amar.  I'm planning a return trip to the Cambria icefields next year weather -depending of course

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2009-03-19 22:30:05