Alyeska The Great Land: Hyder; The Town That Alaska Forgot.

The first two stops on the way to Hyder we had a heavy frost both mornings, the second morning the temperature was 29 degrees when we got up. All the way down we were seeing fresh snow on the mountain tops, the drive was beautiful. The pictures look good but don’t really do justice the the magnificent scenery we are viewing.
When we arrived in Hyder I was wondering why we were here, Hyder is the town that Alaska forgot. Their only claim to fame is the Grizzly Bears that congregate there to feed on the salmon that come up river to spawn. The National Parks Service has built a very log deck to see the bears from. The bears walk right under the deck and grab the fish right in front of you. The only problem is most of the bears have stopped coming.
If they don’t return, Hyder is in more trouble than it is now. They rely on the tourist for their income. The only other industry in the area is mining. When you leave BC and enter Hyder the road turns to gravel and all the roads in town are gravel. There are only about five miles of road. All are dead end roads. The mail service runs twice a week on Mondays and Thursday and is flown in and out by a small float plane from Ketchikan, Ak.
There is no medical service for the resident other than going just across the border to Stewart, BC. It cost them $500.00 just to walk in the door. The Postmaster said his Doctor is in Seattle, Wa. The is no law enforcement in town and I noticed that many of the vehicles tags had expired. There is no cell service in the area and their regular phone lines are a Canadian exchange.