After passing through Stewart, Canada, I arrived at Hyder, Alaska. The picture above is the border-crossing. Notice anything peculiar? No customs inspection!

Hyder is so small and isolated that the U.S. Government doesn’t even bother trying to keep immigrants out. There is, however, a Canadian customs inspection which I had to go through when I left Hyder.

There is one main road in Hyder, and a small secondary road.

My Great-Uncle Mims and Great-Aunt Irene live in a blue house, halfway down the main road, next to the Grandview Inn (not pictured). Don’t Irene’s flowers look lovely?

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They keep this contraption on the stairway, to discourage unwelcome guests.

I was delighted to finally meet Aunt Irene and Uncle Mims.

I became instant enemies with their dog. We were constantly fighting each other for Mims’ attention. Mims and Irene showed me all around town, and I had a wonderful visit.

We decided to go for a drive. I asked Mims what car we should take.

He said, “Oh, we can just go in my… um, that black thing… oh, what’s it called?”

He drew a blank and couldn’t remember the brand name of the vehicle. Irene couldn’t remember either. At any rate, we decided to take the black car.

The car, it turns out, was a BMW. You know, one of those black things. Clearly they bought it for performance, not prestige.

So we went out in the black thing to take a look around.

There were bears everywhere. I think I saw more bears in Hyder than people!

We went down to Fish Creek, a popular bear-viewing area.

We walked down the wooden viewing platforms.

Sure enough, we saw another bear!

The crowd was all excited, as if there weren’t a million other bears in Hyder, popping out at every turn.

The guy in the camo jacket was really serious about his hobby. He was talking into a little dictaphone, saying, “Okay, we have just seen a brown bear… adult… female… eating fish… appears to be healthy… feeding up for the winter.”

Don’t ask me how he knew it was a female. But I assume he knew what he was talking about.

At Fish Creek I met a pair of photography enthusiasts, named Jerry and Glora. They come up every year from Santa Monica, California, to take photos. Many visitor brochures in the Hyder area feature their photographs.

These wildlife photographers are like hunters, stalking their prey. Focused, patient…

The hunter takes aim… steady… steady!... click.

Gotcha!!

I think more hunters should get into wildlife photography. They could continue to hone their skills in the off-season.

Another peaceful alternative to hunting: tranquilizer dart hunting.

After visiting Fish Creek we drove a little further up the highway.

We passed an enormous heap of rusted metal. It appeared to be some kind of a burial ground for defunct robots.

See? These are the robot veins.

Here’s a robot skeleton, including the ribcage.

And this is a robot spinal column.

It turns out the robot graveyard is the site of an abandoned mine.

We drove up into the mountains and at some point we crossed into Canada.

There was major excavation and road work going on, because a Canadian company is putting in a big mineral mine up there.

These radioactive ponds are somehow affiliated with the mine project.

We saw these vividly colored flowers, called Fireweed.

We drove up, up, up into the mountains.

And then we saw…

An enormous glacier!

When I was a kid, I once saw a “glacier” in Wyoming. It was a few hundred yards long, and really it was nothing more than an unmelted patch of snow.

But this, this is a GLACIER! A real, huge, slowly-moving glacier! This thing has been here since the ice ages.

I have seen a lot of things since I started my trip. I have seen a lot of bears, and a lot of caribou. And I have seen lots and lots of telephone poles.

I have seen sea otters and sea lions and puffins. I have seen a whale.

I have sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. I have been to the largest mall in the world. I have eaten the most incredibly delicious crab legs. I have visited numerous museums and galleries.

I have seen majestic, colorful sunsets.

I have even visited a robot graveyard.

But the thing that stopped my breath was a glacier.

It’s like a big, white river, rolling through the mountains!

Look at the variety of shapes and textures!

Glacier, you amaze me!

This was not the first glacier I saw on my trip, but it was the first one I got a good look at. It is called the Salmon Glacier.

I wanted to take a group photo with Mims and Irene, but the mosquitos were swarming.

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I danced around and slapped mosquitos while setting up the shot. Mims called out, “Hurry Irene, we’re being eaten alive!”

Good enough, let’s get back in the car!

Goodbye glacier, I won’t forget you!

I got a lot more than I bargained for when I visited Hyder, Alaska. Beautiful scenery, amazing wildlife. This place has it all.

I highly recommend visiting Hyder, Alaska. But if you go, you have to be careful.

There are hideous monsters lurking in the bushes.

They come out in the mornings when it rains. And they are terrifying!

This thing tried to swallow me whole! I barely escaped with my life!

In my next post I will introduce you to the locals of Hyder, Alaska. Thanks for visiting!