August 28
Initially, we had planned to ride our bikes up the road to see the Salmon Glacier today. But it is a big climb, and technically today is a rest day. We both woke up and decided that Target than spending most of the day riding up and back, we’d take the guided tour at 12:30 instead.
We are so glad with our decision! Not only did we not have to ride, it was a great tour and our driver gave us a lot of history of the area.
The Salmon Glacier is the largest glacier in the world accessible by vehicle. The road exists due to mining, which is still active. While there has been silver and copper mining, it’s mostly been gold. Aside from the road, there is even a dam providing electricity to the mines way up here.
The road to the glacier crosses into Alaska, which has no US border station (but there is a Canadian one to go the other direction), before entering back into Canada. Although the glacier is receding, it is still massive. This is the fourth largest non-polar glacier in the world. Photos can’t do it justice.
