Thirteen bears in One Day! And 30 miles of gravel road

Thirteen Bears in One Day! And 30 miles of Gravel Road.

We got up early the next morning and backtrackedfrom Prince Rupert. WE kept seeing these white things floating in the river, so John got out the binoculars to take a look.  It turned out to be ice from the waterfalls.  It melts quickly, but it is still ice when it reaches the main river. Then we are back at the junction of the Yellowhead Highway (16) and the Nisga’a Highway (113).  The Nisga’a are the local First Nations tribe.  The area is known for its Lava Beds.  I’ve seen a few lava beds in my day – Hawaii, Oregon, Idaho, to name a few, so I was prepared for some familiar sights.  We stopped at Seely Lake and I made some sandwiches to eat in the car.

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Not too much further, we encountered our first bear.  It was on my side of the car, so I grabbed my camera and started shooting.  It turned out the camera was not on the correct setting, and the bear was in the dark tree line, so my flash went on.  I tried to get a good shot, but the camera was slow.  John had rolled down my window so I could get a better shot. And suddenly the bear started coming toward us.  John says calmly, I’ll bet he smells your sandwich,”  just as I am saying “roll up the window and hit the gas!”  So what I got was some pictures of bear parts!  You’ll have to forgive my first attempt! But hey, I think if you can see the individual hairs its time to get going!

The volcano that created the lava flow was only 360 feet high, but it laid a six-mile swath of lava with very little ash.  It only happened 250 years ago, so the history is still very strong.  It destroyed 2 villages and killed more than 2,000 people.  The legend says that the young people had gotten complacent, having forgotten the old traditions  During the height of the salmon season, some young men were catching the salmon, making slits in their backs, and putting pieces of burning pitch pine in them.  When they put them back in the water, they looked like living torches.  They didn’t think about the cruelty to the salmon or the waste of good food.  The elders protested, and shortly thereafter they heard a large noise, like the beating of a medicine drum, and the mountain broke open. Fire gushed forth, caught the forest on fire, and very few people escaped. 

After the lava beds, we came to Nass Camp Road, which is a gravel road 30 miles long.

It was slightly raining was the ground was wet. John had been looking forward to this road, wanting to experience a gravel road since we expect to hit many.  Anyway, the bears seemed to be everywhere.  We only saw five other cars in this 30miles, but the bears were foraging along the road.  It was apparently warmer there, and there was  lots to eat because the road construction had cut clearings where the dandelions would grow.

So, we saw thirteen bears, all Black bears, along this road, (including the one that wanted my lunch, or wanted me for lunch! We got some great pictures and every one of our sightings was exciting!   These bears were more interested in the dandelions then they were us!  There were also one lane bridges and trees that lay across the road, although someone had cut them on both ends, leaving enough room to get the truck through.    The road finally took us to Cranberry Junction, where it connects to the Cassiar highway.  It took us an hour and a half to go the 30 miles.   Shortly after hitting the Cassiar Highway, (37) we came to Meziadin Provincial Park, where we spent the night.