Inside Passage / QCI / Stewart

There have been a few posts about Alaskan cruises and the Inside Passage, QCI and related topics recently. I have posted this in case those who are thing of heading in that direction can pick up a pointer or two:

Brenda and I took the ferry up the Inside Passage from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert during August this year. We enjoyed the most incredibly hot and sunny day and we loved sitting at the stern basking in the warmth. The Inside Passage is really lovely and we saw Orcas in the distance (near Port Hardy) and further north we saw Grey Whales. The first 1/2 of the 15 hour journey was magnificent, but after 6 hours of seeing green trees and water, the enjoyment began to pale a bit and we found the journey a little too long. Prince Rupert is a small town and really only comes alive when the cruise ships arrive and disgorge their passengers. At other times it is a quiet little backwater which we found rather appealing. We learned that were too late in the season to see grizzly bears and that the tours to see them were already coming to an end. If we were fortunate enough to see bears it would be at a great distance. We were advised that we would have a far better chance of seeing bears if we were to drive up to Stewart / Hyder.
After 3 nights in PR we took the ferry to QCI and stayed at a B&B in QC City. I had made a very bad mistake in not renting a car in advance and the only one we could get was a really big 4x4 monster that was extremely thirsty (and very expensive). There is not much on Graham Island (the northern island) of QCI. The Haida Gwaii museum at Skidegate is very interesting and well worth a visit, and the drive northward is pleasant enough, but Masset is really just a run-down village. To make your visit to QCI worth-while, you should be going there for kayaking or you should be taking a day-trip by air to the south of Moresby Island - to the Gwaii Harnass National Park Reserve and to one or more of the abandoned villages.
We returned to PR, picked up a rental car and drove up to Stewart, some 500 km to the north-west and on the border of Alaskan panhandle. On route we stopped at the Bear Glacier with its blue sheen, forming a lake right next to the road. From Stewart we crossed the border to Hyder (no controls at all going into Alaska; border controls in place when returning to Canada) and drove up to the boardwalk at Fish creek, some 7 or 8 km north. That evening as it was getting dark, 4 grizzly bears (a mother and 3 "teenage" cubs) came down to feast on the spawning salmon in the river and to play around in the water. It was an incredible sight - an experience that was undoubtedly the highlight of our trip. Earlier we had fleetingly seen a grizzly and as the family of 4 were splashing around another one came to the river a little further away.
Next day we returned to Fish Creek, but as no bears showed up, we decided to continue further along the road and soon crossed the border back into Canada - the border being marked by a cone at the side of the road and an immediately noticable improvement in its quality. No controls at all on either side. We drove up to the viewpoint over the Salmon Glacier. It is a really spectacular sight as one looks down onto it from the viewpoint. (I rate it as more impressive than the Athabasca Glacier, except that one cannot set foot on it).
During our return trip to Prince Rupert we came across mommy Black Bear and two little cubs by the side of the road at Mezidian Junction; a very dead black bear in the road a little further on (it must have been killed by a truck); a very lucky black bear that rushed across the road in front of us; and yet another black bear peering through the grass at us.
We only spent one night in Stewart and we could easily have spent another night there. It had been pure magic.
During the return trip by ferry to Port Hardy we spent the 15 hours lounging around and resting, occasionally taking note of the scenery.
The only place that it rained at all, was on QCI. We had great summer weather everywhere else.
I almost forgot to mention the Bald Eagles on QCI. One evening we had no less than 8 of them in front of us and two more in the trees nearby. Someone had thrown a couple of fish carcases onto the rocks and they were enjoying the feast. Another fantastic experience. Why does the USA claim the Bald Eagle as their national bird? Should it not be Canada's?