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The road from Meziadin to Stewart climbs over the Coast Mountains through Bear River Pass. Almost immediately the climate changes from the dry cold of the interior plateau to the milder wetter climate of the coast. Huge slabs of glacial ice are seen hanging over the tops of cliffs thousands of feet above, and waterfalls thread their way down the nearly vertical side valleys. If you look carefully you will notice how most of the vegetation is matted down or broken off — by winter avalanches.

Just past the summit, a level stretch know as Windy Flat, the road rounds a corner and the Bear Glacier suddenly comes into view. This glacier flows down from the Cambria Icefield and ends in tiny Strohn Lake, right next to the road. In the summer icebergs calve off the snout of the glacier continuously, and float around the lake until they break up and wash downstream. This panorama was made early in the season when high water levels had muddied the water. Later the silt settles out and the lake turns the vibrant turquoise color so characteristic of glacial-fed lakes.

This glacier has been shrinking for over a hundred years (as have almost all glaciers in North America). When the road was built at the turn of the century there was no lake, the glacier stretched right across the valley. You can see a road cut high above the present highway, where the old road climbed above the glacier's snout.

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Next: Stewart