Home»Alaska, British Columbia, Glacier Park Road Trip

In September I returned from a 21 day, 5500 mile, road trip which took me to the southern Alaskan town of Hyder to photograph the grizzly/black bears at Fish Creek during the salmon run, then down to the coastal town of Prince Rupert, BC, where I caught a 15 hour inter coastal waterway ferry to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. From Port Hardy I traveled to the west side of the island to the Pacific ocean town of Tofino, a popular cold water surfing location. Departing there I traveled south to Sidney BC, where I caught a small ferry to Anacortes WA. From WA, I traveled back to Glacier National Park to travel the Going to the Sun Highway which was closed due to snow when I was there a couple months ago. Hyder is the home of the Fish Creek bear viewing area which brings photographers and onlookers from many parts of the world. Fish Creek is in the southern most part of the Tongass National Forest which is the largest national forest in the US. It consists of 17 million acres of land and 11,000 miles of shoreline. In addition, some areas of the Tongass receive as much as 16 feet of rain during the year. The abundance of water/streams accounts for the typical large number of salmon that migrate up the rivers to spawn. The population of Hyder is approximately 120 people in the summer months and around 80 in the winter. Hyder can get over 30 feet of snow during the winter. Due to its remoteness, cell phone and Onstar coverage in the area is nonexistent, TV coverage is limited to dish signals, but due to the surrounding mountains/forest the signal may be blocked. Also due to the mountains, GPS signals at times cannot be received. Many residents shop by phone. In the larger cities that have a Walmart or similar large store, the stores have what is called the Bush Department. When you call Walmart for example, a person will actually walk around the store and select your items while you are on the phone. The groceries are then sent to Hyder parcel post, which means they will arrive on the plane that brings in mail (twice a week). In addition to the bear photography in Hyder, I traveled to the Salmon Glacier, around 20 miles from Hyder. Salmon Glacier is the 5th largest glacier in North America. I was at the glacier during the wild flower season. The bird photos were mostly taken in Port Hardy where there was an area near the bay that supported several species of birds to include many eagles. During my stay in Hyder, it rained most of the time, which you get used to, you just put up your umbrella to cover the equipment and wait for the bears, so when no bears are present, we turn our cameras on any unsuspecting birds that get in front of the lenses. I was lucky, the two days I traveled up the mountain to Salmon Glacier, the sun was shining, at least at the glacier, once I returned to Fish Creek it was raining.

The photos series starts as I am getting close to Hyder, photos of Hyder, bear photos from Fish Creek, Salmon Glacier and the wildflowers, pictures of the ferry to Port Hardy, bird photos from Port Hardy, ferry photos from Sidney to Anacortes WA and images of East Glacier Lodge and surrounding area.

"If your picture isn't good enough, you're not close enough".
Robert Capa
Combat Photographer