Notes on Hyder, Alaska harbour.
Well, I did spend 4 days and nights in Stewart-Hyder so of course I saw a few things, though, memory is already fading.
While waiting for the Bus Restaurant to reopen in Hyder I ventured down a side road and ended up at water's edge (see Pictures). While mulling the evidence of tides some 70 miles from open water and still wondering how the restaurant got fresh caught halibut on a daily basis a small plane with pontoons landed as a van with "fish and wildlife?" markings pulled up. A crew in the van was being pulled out on the plane. I walked over to ask questions.
As so often happens in remote places people are eager to talk to a stranger and explain their world. After the crew left I had a long conversation with the driver who was staying behind. He answered several burning questions.
On tides: As in many fjords and inland waterways (think of Bay of Fundy) tides get funnelled and can pile up. He referred to the Portland Canal which starts at Hyder and runs to the sea as a "fjord." I don't know if that is technically correct but the effect on tides is obvious. He suggested that 10 feet was probably not unusual under conditions of full moon plus weather. And the pilings were obviously designed to handle more than that.
When walking around Stewart I noticed that most of the houses were built on foundations that raised the first floor about 3 feet above ground level. I wondered if that was to keep the front door above snow level in winter but another informant said that winter snows are not particularly severe. Now I wonder if the area simply floods periodically so a little house elevation will keep the carpets dry.
Tsunamis: I mentioned the tsunami sign in Stewart and he suggested that the real danger was not from earthquakes but from a big chunk of the mountains that bound the canal falling in. He referenced what sounded like a legend of a 300 foot wave from such an event. I'll go with the earthquake theory. At least, to the south in the Oregon area the seismic faults are of the type that will produce tsunamis (unlike here in SoCal).
Halibut: The mystery of how the husband and son of the proprietress of the Bus Restaurant catch fresh halibut is solved. It turns out these fish come right up to within sight of where I was chatting with this guy. It being salmon spawning season he pointed to several locations that would be best for catching halibut. Apparently, these fish like to hang out near streams entering the fjord where the salmon spawn. Bears aren't the only wild critters that like to feast on salmon. He mentioned a friend who on his first try at halibut fishing pulled in a 200 pound specimen that was bigger than he was.