The image above shows the Salmon River flowing southward from the Salmon Glacier. It will pass by the hamlet of Hyder, Alaska before emptying into the Portland Canal. I came across an explanation for the little emerald jewels besides the grey, rushing, glacial meltwater, but I forgot. :)

Salmon Glacier is Canada's fifth largest glacier. The photo doesn't do justice to the area's beauty (the light was flat that day, my friends). Here's a flickr page that offers some others.

One fat-assed hoary marmot. :) The terrain above the glacier is a pure alpine landscape.

If you have Google Earth, you can find Salmon Glacier easily enough by searching for Hyder, Alaska and then navigating northward. The yellow line shows the Canada-U.S. boundary. But as you can glean from the image above, it's a land of mountains, verdant valleys, glaciers and primal rivers.

Getting up to the glacier, about 35 kilometres from Hyder, can be a tough go in lousy weather -- and you're in a temperate rainforest climate. You might wish to book a tour in Stewart, B.C. rather than take your own vehicle.

If you ever make it up to the glacier, you'll likely run into Keith Scott, "the Bear Man" -- seen at right in the above photo (I lifted the photo from Astroshow because I was dumb and forgot to take a photo of the aforesaid bruinophile).

Scott actually lives in Fredericton, N.B., but every summer -- with the wife's permission, no less -- he treks across the continent to come up to the glacier and live in a tent at the viewpoint.

He's a very nice fellow and loves to talk about the area. He sells postcards, DVDs, books and whatnot (I bought one of his books). He gives evening conservation talks about the area at Tongass National Forest. Bear safety is one of his specialties.

In his acknowledgement section, Brown wrote, "... I've managed to survive by going on what most people consider to be a strange lifestyle. I always assumed people were working in something they believed in and liked."

His wife Frances added: "My concern was always for the children and there were some tense moments when they were younger, but I always prayed for our protection and it has never failed."

I wonder if they ever saw Grizzly Man? :)