Bikepacking to the Salmon Glacier | 8

Hi, I'm Benjamin, and I've been cycling across Alaska and Canada for the past 59 days. I had just reached the final stretch of the remote Stuart-Cassiar Highway, where I was treated to perfect weather for swimming in the beautiful lakes of the north. From here, I could take a detour to dip back into Alaska for one last time for a chance at seeing wild grizzly bears, as well as the famous Salmon Glacier. Hello. Oh, you're so cute. Look at you. He's coming with me today. I just have a new friend now. All right, buddy. Mountain climbing time. Let's walk it. It's going to be a steep one. If you run, you're going to run out of energy. Yeah, let's go. Come on, buddy. Come on, we're going up. Here he comes. So this is pretty cool. From here, we can either go straight south to Kitwango or follow this, 37A to Stuart and see the Salmon Glacier. I think we got to do it. All right, we are going down now, Highway 37A into Stuart, British Columbia, where we are going to cross the border into Hyder, Alaska. There's going to be bears. There's going to be glaciers. Dude, I'm so excited for this. This is going to be amazing. It's getting a little wet, but it's all right. It's not hot, at least. Kind of a good change of pace. The detour to Stuart and Hyder is on an out-and-back trip, meaning that I would have to backtrack over some mountains later to return to Highway 37. I didn't mind because everyone I talked to said that it would be absolutely worth it. Even the highway itself should be pretty scenic with views of mountains and glaciers the entire way. As we turn the corner, the Bear Glacier. Holy ----, this thing is insane. Oh my god. I thought I might set up camp near the Bear Glacier, but the only good viewpoints were close to active rockfall zones. Instead, I pressed on towards the Clements Lake Campground, just outside of Stuart. Doesn't get much nicer than this for a camp spot. This campground is popular because of its floating picnic table, which I used as a boat to enjoy a cold swim and to wash up at the center of the lake. This is getting so cold. Three, two, one. Let's get out of here before we freeze. I made it here to Stuart, British Columbia. We're right on the border with Alaska. This is a really cool place because this is where the bears come to feast on salmon. We're going to go to the Alaska side and try to catch some bears later today. There's a big glacier we're going to go up to see, but we're going to do it all pretty relaxed. It's been a while on the bike, so we're taking it easy. Maybe catch some rides here and there and just enjoy this place for a few days, and then get back on the road heading south. Should be crossing into Hyder, Alaska now. This is very interesting because there's no U.S. customs on this side. It's just going to be a ride straight on through. Coming back into Canada, I'll have to clear customs, but the U.S. side has just like nothing. Just like that. Welcome to Hyder, Alaska. We are now in the U.S.A. So this town is billed as the friendliest ghost town in maybe the world? Alaska? I don't remember, but let's see what they've got. I came here, is to see the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site. Here an observation deck has been built overlooking a river in which thousands of salmon swim up in late summer in order to spawn. Salmon die after spawning, so the river becomes a buffet for wild grizzlies and black bears. Those that are patient can watch these bears hunt and feast on the salmon from the safety of the observation deck. I didn't come all the way out here not to see a bear, so I patiently waited, and after a couple hours, the first bear showed up for dinner. Bears are omnivores and typically eat whatever they can find at the time. During the salmon spawning, there's so much food available for them that they become picky eaters. These bears would catch a salmon and rip its stomach open in search of eggs. If the catch was a male, the bears would throw the ripped up salmon back into the river. If it was a female, the bear would eat only the eggs before hunting for the next target. While watching the bear buffet, I met a couple living in their van with their two cats, and they offered me a ride up to the Salmon Glacier. This was an offer I couldn't refuse. The road to get there is incredibly steep and bumpy and would have taken hours with all of my gear. I'm joined now by Tamiya and Reid. We're from the Vegan Van Voyage, and they have kindly given me a ride up to the top of the Salmon Glacier. This place is amazing. We're kind of just exploring around now and seeing what we can find. We walked around for a bit, taking in the amazing views and attempting to take pictures and videos. Unfortunately, they will never do the Salmon Glacier justice. The sheer size of the glacier just does not come out on camera, and you truly have to see it with your own eyes to fully appreciate its beauty. After a long day, we set up camp overlooking the glacier for one of my favorite campsites of the trip so far. The morning sun perfectly lit up the glacier, which meant that it was time to came to pack up and start the long backtrack to the end of the Stuart-Cassiar Highway. I decided to cycle down from the glacier instead of getting another lift in order to see the views from one last perspective. Cycling down from the top of the Salmon Glacier now, it's going to be about 1,100 meters straight down into Stuart. Pretty rough, bumpy road, but that's why I didn't cycle up it, but down it should be interesting. Probably a lot of staying on the brakes, but hopefully it's not too bumpy. There are tons of potholes on this road. We're trying to avoid those. At least with a bike, you can kind of get around them. After the challenging ride down the Stuart-Cassiar Highway, arriving in Stuart and Heider felt like the perfect reward. The scenery, the wildlife, and the people that I met along the way reminded me of why I love traveling by bike. Taking some time off the bike to watch bears fish for salmon and taking in the natural beauty of this region helped to recharge me for the road ahead. From here, my next target would be the temperate rainforests of Haida Gwaii, but that's a story for next time. Special thanks to Ana Suarez, Jack Daugherty, Reed Ploss, and Vegan Van Voyage for supporting on Patreon. If you enjoy the videos and would like to see higher quality and more frequent uploads, consider supporting on Patreon for as little as $1 per month. Thanks for watching.