September 25, 2014

Today's agenda involved driving up the freedom road. Before this road was built, the only access to the valley was either by sea or by foot trails. There was no drivable access to the valley before this road was built. The Canadian government entertained the idea of building the road, but each time they decided the cost was too much, and they had no interests in the project. The locals decided they would attack the road project themselves if the government wasn't interested. The wanted better accessin and out of the valley. In 1952, an Alberta schoolteacher, Cliff Kopas spearheaded a group that started the road building project. A new "more buildable" pass was discovered and the govenment was repetioned for funding, which they granted $10,000. More equpiment was purchased and the project continued by volunteers. As the government saw the continuing success of the volunteers, they continued to fund the project and by the end had given $50,000. In 1953, the two bulldover blades working from each end of th project touched. An excellent quote from Kopas about the project, "[they] had sufficient faith in humanity to depart from orthodoxy and give strength to an unknown group of men to build a road so their community might be part of the world.” They had succeeded in their quest to be united with their fellow man. The road is 42 miles long from the bottom to Heckman's Pass (at the top) and all of it is gravel. It is maintained on a daily basis and open all year round. It is the lifeline to the valley. Today Sue and I would drive it. More road facts can be found [HERE]

We got up and got some breakfast in us, as was standard on this trip. Sue made us some eggs. We weren't really in any hurry because we had plenty of time for all out plans. I mentioned to Sue that I wanted to hit the park's electrified bear viewing stand on the way out to the freedom road and she was good with that. The national park servies, hosts a free (donation are welcome) bear viewing station at the Tweedsmuir Park. The stand sits riverside and has an electric fence that runs around it to deter grizzlies. Today when we were there, there was three park employees maintaining the station. Two rangers were in the parking lot and one was up at the station platform itself. They were in constant radio contact with each other. This was because the electric fences had to be open when people arrived and departed. They were extremely friendly and efficient and we made sure we gave them a big tip in the contributions jar on the way out. I'm very surprised with three employees there that this is a free services. I hope others are tipping well for such a great services. Just as we enter the deck, the female ranger, informed us that a sow and three cubs had just entered into view. We couldn't have planned it any better. I quickly surveyed where the bears were and where I thought they would go. Everyone was congregating on one side of the deck. I chose a nice clear spot which I though would be a good spot when the bears moved on downstream. Luck paid out and the bears walked down the river and into my view. Mom was fishing and the little ones were trying to get a bite whenever they could. They wandered downstream a little, then crossed over and back upstream directly across from the deck. It was around noon, so the sun was bright and the shadows were dark. Not the best time for good photographs, but Sue and I were still able to get some good shots of the bunch. Eventually, the sow grabbed the salmon the cubs were quarling over and took it back into the brush as the gang followed. A few more cub "discussions" like "my salmon, NO MY salmon" could be heard from the deck, but within minutes it all went quiet and the bears were gone. Well that was yet another great bear experience. Timing was spot on. Sue & I decided to move on. We gave our spot on the deck up to two young guys who had just got there. We told them were mom and the gang went and wished them best of luck with their bear watching.

Back in the car, it was time for our ascent up the freedom road. Derrick had told us of a place to hike at the summit and that was our plan. We brought some lunch along that we could eat near the car. We found the parking lot and trailhead with no problem. We hiked for a while, but we were both kind of tired from the weeks adventures. Unfortunately the trails here were very long destination trails. No quick loops, so we had to do an out and back. We enjoyed the section we hiked. When we felt we had our fill, we turned around and headed back down the rise we were hiking. Back at the car, we grabbed the lunch and sat and enjoyed the day. The two young guys from the bear observation deck came by and said they stayed there an hour, but saw no bears. Sue and I really did get lucky. If you've been reading the previous days of this diary, you know we've seen a LOT of bears on this trip. Loving it all. We had our fill of linch and it was time for the descent back down the mountain. Sue drove us up, so it was my turn to drive us back down. Some other travelers had warned us about the height and dropoffs of the road, but we didn't find it anywhere near as intimedating as some lead us to believe. Yes, something bad (like driving off a cliff) could happen. The road is plenty wide and well maintaned, so this wasn't what we thought was gonna happen as we drove it. It was just a pleasant drive with amazing views. I got us back down the mountain with no issues (like firey death off cliff). We drove for a mile or two along the valley bottom and up in the distance a grizzly bear stepped out onto the road. It was kind of weird. It was a pure coincedence that our paths had met, but it was a nice farewell to this beautiful beast. The bear stood at the edge of the road waiting for our next move. We stopped the car at a good distance and waited. It watched, and watched some more, then cautiously crossed the road as we watched it back and immediately dissappeared upon entering the other side. This was the river side and I'm sure within minutes from then, this bear would be down fishing for salmon. This place would never be the same without their presence here. They make the whole valley magical and give it all its true meaning. To view them is a honor. The are the soul of this valley.

We didn't get back to the Lodge till 7:30pm. We quickly ran downtown to try and get another meal at the downtown restaurant, but they were closing when we got there. Drat!! We went back to the lodge and fortunately, we had some very good leftovers to eat. With full bellies and a glass or two of wine it was time for bed. Tomorrow we were going to fly out of here back to Vancouver where we planned to spend the night before heading back home.