Misty Fjords National Monument and Salmon Glacier

Blog for September 8, 2016

Misty Fiords, maybe the prettiest name of all the national lands. However, to earn this name, the area has to be blessed with rainy, cool summers and heavy snowfall in the winter. Great for glaciers, and a visit to the Salmon Glacier was our highlight destination. The other attraction in Hyder is the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Area where the U.S. Forest Service has constructed a viewing boardwalk along the Salmon River which allows viewers the opportunity to view bears, black and grizzly, as they fish for dog and pink salmon in the shallow Salmon Creek. We are a little late in the season and the Forest Service staff told us it was not a good day for bears, so we went right on to the glacier. 

There’s only one road gravel, washboarded and potholed, that climbs the mountains and that also provides transportation to gold mine operations along the road to the glacier.

Our quaint RV park in Hyder,...

Camp Run-A-Muck.

The U.S. Post Office. It, as opposed to the rest of Hyder, runs on Alaska time because it is a Federal Building.

There's barely enough room, at the base of the mountain, for the campground.

20 miles up the mountain from Hyder, and technically in British Columbia, is Salmon Glacier.

Salmon River flowing from the, toe of Salmon Glacier, flowing through the Coastal Mountains.

A little further along the road we spotted this jade-blue kettle pond along side the Salmon River. (Be sure to click on the picture to enlarge it. The blue-green kettle is amazing!)

Surrounding Coastal Mountains with more glaciers.

The Salmon Glacier is the fifth largest glacier in North America.

We drove up another 10 miles from the toe to see the glacier beginning to flow from the ice field.

Making the curve.

Driving back down we passed another hanging glacier.

The toe of the glacier.

At the toe of the glacier you can see a series of small ridge-like accumulations. These ridges are made up of Till that have deposited across the valley and are known as Terminal Moraines. 

At the toe of Salmon Glacier. If you look to the right you might see (especially if you enlarge the picture) the road cutting across the side of the mountain.