Blog 11 Dawson City

After spending the night in Tok waiting to meet up with the Drapers, the four of us decided to drive to the very small Alaskan town named Chicken. (pop 27)As the Klondike Loop grows in popularity with motorists driving to and from Alaska, this town is getting more and more traffic. We were there to have lunch and find out more on road conditions to the Top of the World Highway. Hearing from a fellow traveler that had just crossed  Dave and Jeannine continued on the highway connecting Chicken with Dawson City.At times it can be treacherous with its unpaved,narrow, winding roads however drivers are rewarded with the “top of the world views”.

Dave and I really felt like we were alone and isolated from the world. The view was breathtaking and we both agreed that a photograph could not capture the depth of this endless landscape.

After driving for miles and finally reaching the Canadian border we eventually descended to the west entrance of Dawson city. Travelers all must ride the free “George Black” ferry to cross the Yukon river.This was a unique ferry ride for us Washingtonians there was no dock and once the ferry was driven against the river bank you drove off.

Dawson City was of course the center of the Klondike gold rush. After hearing of the gold strike thousands of fortune seekers made there way to this historic city. The Canadian government required each traveller to have a years worth of food and supplies to begin there journey. We learned that these men and women often travelled by way of Seattle to Skagway before embarking on a arduous trek to Dawson City. This included climbing either Chilkoot or White Pass and then traveling on the Yukon river. Dawson city only “boomed” for a few years until gold was found in other areas. Currently the parks department has purchased and renovated over 30 buildings and offer tours throughout.  This building has been restored and was a great place for lunch after our walking tour of the city.

 This is the original bank and is next to be restored.

Driving throughout the Yukon and Alaska we all have experienced the effects of permafrost on the highways, at times feeling like we were riding on  a roller coaster. Permafrost is perennially frozen soil. This condition effects Dawson City today, the roads are not paved,there are boardwalks instead of sidewalks, and all houses and buildings have to be leveled every 7 to 8 years.  I don't think these buildings have been leveled in awhile!

 These look better.

After spending a day touring and learning about this historic city we continued the drive on the Klondike highway to eventually meet up with the Drapers and Odegaards in Skagway Alaska.

Blog 10 Homer to Skagway

We left Homer in the pouring rain, much of which lasted until we reached Eagle River.  We sure picked the best days in Homer to do our fishing.  We were happy campers:  Kim won the ‘pool’ for the 1st caught Halibut and Dave won the ‘pool’ for the biggest fish (we even had a chap on board that wanted to be part of our ‘pool’).

We stopped in Eagle River long enough to fuel up and headed on towards Palmer.  We are travelling on the Glenn Highway which winds its way alongside the Matanuska River.  This road passes through parts of the Mat-Su-Valley into Palmer.  The sun had come out by now and the scenery was spectacular.  We now have glimpse of the Wrangell Mountain Range. 

Two vehicles saw a bit more of Palmer than we’d have liked, having taken a highway detour which took us several miles out of our way (the smart one continued through the detour sign).  Our first sighting of the Matanuska Glacier, north of Palmer, was amazing.

The glacier’s extends some 23 miles with an average width of  2 miles and at its terminus, 4 miles wide.  We continued onto our evening’s destination which was at Grand View RV Park, not far from the Glacier.  The owners offered an evening meal in addition to breakfast.  After a long drive, we opted for homemade brick oven pizza.  Girls played cards and the boys were playing cribbage when we had a ‘guest’….along came Norm (from Eagle River), with a bag full of fish!!  A big surprise.  Seems he’d been down to Chitina working on a friend’s fish wheel and saw our trailers.  He left us a real treat of fish. 

Sunny and bright the following morning, we were off to Glennallen hoping to have questions answered about flights into the Kennicott Mine which is further on from Chitina.  Phil has wanted to fly into to the mine for years.  It is now part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and is only accessible by plane or a road one must be taken in.  The mine operated from 1911 to 1938.  While the mine itself is still privately owned, the Parks Service runs tours through the mine.  Alas, Phil had not done his homework on the flight availability in addition to RV parking.  The Copper River area is now open for ‘dip netting’ (catching the famous Copper River salmon with a dip net) and everyone and his uncle is there right now.  Additionally, both Phil and Linda have had head colds for a couple of days, so Phil decided he’d stay put in Glennallen and the others went on to Tok.  The Drapers had lunch, a nap and then headed down the Richardson Hwy towards Chitina, stopping at the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountain National Park, a new addition since Draper’s trip in the mid 90’s.  A beautiful facility with several exhibit buildings and a very informative movie.  The Park is North America’s most spectacular mountain wilderness and home to nine of the sixteen highest peaks in North America, some the highest in the world.  After the stop there we continued onto Chitina….seeing a Tibetan Yak Herd en route.

‘Dip netting’ season was open in Chitina and it is always a fun experience to watch.  Alaskans are permitted to fish with dip nets, in the Copper River, for what is referred to as ‘subsistence fishing’.  They ‘dip net’ on one section of the river and ‘fish wheels’ are set up on another section.

 We returned to our trailer and discovered this was the worst invasion of mosquitoes we’ve encountered on our trip. 

The following morning we continued on to Tok to meet the rest of the group, still driving alongside the Wrangell-St.Elias Mountain range.  Ayres had decided to continue over The Top of the World Highway that day, after driving up to Chicken AK (weather was good and rain was forecast for the following day).  Odegaards went as far as Chicken AK (a fun stop) and returned to Tok.  A decision was made by the remaining four that we would not go over The TOW Hwy with the rain coming.  This highway is a challenge at best.  Someone in the Tok RV park reported that a large RV and tow car had gone off the highway the day before and this didn’t instill confidence about pulling trailers over the highway.  So we will miss Dawson City YT.  We started off towards Haines Junction back down the Alaska highway we’d come up on.  We suspect this is the worst section of the Alcan route, due to the perma frost that exists in this area.  There are certainly ongoing studies as to how to fix the problem, but the highway continues to be poor.  We never knew what would be broken, in the trailer, when the ride finished.  The drive is quite beautiful through the Kluane Mountain range.  We stayed in Destruction Bay, on the shores of Kluane Lake in a Territory Park.  It would have been great fun to see a bear walk through the park….they had closed the park the previous year due to the presence of bears….we didn’t see one.  The boys cooked our dinner on an open fire.

On to Skagway the following day….crossing two borders en route.  We saw two grizzly bears on the highway and several trumpeter swans in addition to a moose.  We came down the highway to Skagway, following much of the ‘gold rush’ route.  The highway into Skagway is spectacular, following the route of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.  Tomorrow we will ride the White Pass and Yukon narrow gauge railroad.  Lots of changes in Skagway since any of us were here. The city caters to the many Cruise Ships that come into Port where there  are lots of shops for the passengers can spend money.  The weather has been very cloudy and cool during our stay.  Tomorrow we will start our trek south.

Look forward to Ayres account of their visit to Dawson City.

Blog 9 Denali to Homer

After two sun filled days in Fairbanks our group ventured with much anticipation to see North Americas highest peak, Mount McKinley located in Denali National Park. 

Known to early Athabascan Indians as “the high one”.  Clouds hide the summit about 75% of the year, and this is what we found as well. Before coming to Alaska we had heard about another viewing area in Talkeetna.  The village was an important supply station for gold prospectors but is now a popular staging area for outdoors enthusiasts.  We enjoyed walking through this “funky” town, finding cinnamon rolls for breakfast and Fathers Day dinner at a local brewery.  Unfortunately we still did not see the top of McKinley.

 Continuing our drive on the Glenn Highway we passed through Sara Palin’s home town of Wasilla, and no we didn't see Russia. We camped along the Eagle River just outside of Anchorage. A nice wooded camp spot with an abundant amount of mosquitos!  A dinner invitation to Val and Norms house was welcomed by all. Homemade spaghettii sauce with both caribou and moose Yum!   

Anchorage is Alaska's largest city and home to almost half of the states residents. While surrounded by mountain peaks and heavily wooded with birch trees, it serves as the starting line for the 1049 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. We were very aware of a strong military presence, joint base Elmendorf/ Richardson are located here. Some of us visited a Russian Orthodox church, viewed salmon anglers along Ship Creek,and explored downtown Anchorage. Our last night was complete with a great dinner and campfire visiting with our friends Norm and Val.

On our way to Homer we drove up the Kenai Peninsula, what a gorgeous drive.The road winds around towering peaks and hugs the Cook Inlet. Bruce and Kim had made reservations for us to stay on the Homer Spit viewing Kachemak Bay. They both have visited and fished here several times and we can see why. Each of our rv sites overlook the shimmering water and the glacier filled mountains in the background. Stepping out for the first time we were greeted with the wind blown salty air. (reminds us of numerous beach walks in the Pacific Northwest.)

 Homer is known for the abundant amount of eagles flying over head as well as great fishing.

The six of us went out on a early morning charter to catch halibut.The weather cooperated and we were treated to another sunny day in Alaska as well as bringing home several pounds of fresh fish.

Happy fishermen after catching their limit for the day.

Kim pulling in another one.

Fish and chips coming up.

Jeannine's Catch

 Three days of relaxing beach atmosphere will be missed as we drive to our next destination Dawson City.

Homer 

Tok / Dawson City  

Blog 8 Whitehorse to Fairbanks

On June 10th, we ventured west to Haines Junction. The 6 of us visited the Da Ku building and its interpretive exhibits. This exhibit of the Tutchone people reflected the lifestyle and traditions of First Nations. The artwork, beading, and stories were amazing. There are many similarities between this group of natives and the Navahos of the southwest. Language and customs seem to illustrate that both came from a common area across the Bering Sea.
 "Mama, there is a strange man watching me."

  "Don't worry son, I'll take care of him" Traveling northwest we experienced the Kluane National Park and Reserve. Large mountain peaks seem to surround us in every direction Bear, moose, and golden eagles were spotted on this part of the trip. The Dall sheep have not yet made an appearance. That evening we found the Lake Creek Campground...beautiful setting on a flowing river. It included a shelter with a wood stove. The evening was spent playing Mexican Train while staying warm by the fire. The next morning the boys cooked a full breakfast on the wood stove.

 Around 11:40 that morning we crossed into Alaska. 5079 miles and 29 days on the road, breathtaking scenery and many history lessons are now a part of our journey. The landscape is harsh, the weather can be unpredictable, the people are self-reliant and gracious....and gas and groceries are much less expensivethan their Canadian neighbors!
 Later that day we met in Delta Junction where photographs we taken at the official end of the Alcan Hwy.

We spent the next night in Tok, Alaska...a crossroads for the group. Do we head to Chicken or continue to Fairbanks? Since the Chicken Stock Festival was occurring in Chicken, we chose the road less traveled, heading north to Fairbanks. After camp was set up Linda, Jeannine and I started a marathon round of MN Canasta, while Phil, Dave and Bruce walked to the local bar. About 2 hours later the boys came back with sheepish grins and pink flamingo glasses. Bruce had received the call from Mary and Dylan regarding Alan's future brother or sister. The pink flamingos were not the entire story....it was the Skyy Vodka bottle in sapphire blue that announced Alan's baby brother will arrive in early November. The Ebersole family is very excited. Making a stop at the North Pole allowed us to have a short visit with Santa Claus and a preview of what the elves are manufacturing for all the good girls and boys. A short time later we arrived in Fairbanks to another campground on the river. A riverboat tour the next morning delivered us to a fishing village for a short tour and demonstration. We learned about fishwheels, the process of preserving the salmon, and tanning hides. The First Nations people were tremendous recyclers. Everything had a purpose, nothing was wasted as they survived the 7-8 months of winter which included temperatures at 60 below. A highlight of the boat trip was meeting sled dog teams that are being worked and trained for next years Iditarod. The dogs are amazing....all they want to do is run. The course can be treacherous depending on the weather. Our final evening in Fairbanks was spent visiting friends of Phil and Linda. It was a fine evening, topped with fresh salmon. What a treat! Patty's home and garden were beautiful and it was a delightful way to conclude our time in Fairbanks.    

BLOG #7 JASPER TO WHITEHORSE

Jasper to Hinton, where we all stopped for gas, then up the big hills to Grande Cache where snow had been reported that morning.  Stopped at the Visitor’s Centre and enjoyed seeing several animal pelts, which would have been lovely to acquire but seemed redundant at this point in our lives:  beaver, ermine, fox, wolf and mink.  We continued on through the rolling hills to Grande Prairie.  En route we were blessed with muddy pavement from the logging trucks and gas transportation vehicles, which mixed with the rain we encountered, left our vehicles in an unrecognizable condition.  Fortunately there was a commercial ‘wash facility’ which charged $1.50/minute for hot water, soap and brushes which restored us to clean vehicles.  The KOA Campground  was a pleasant stop and in the morning we headed west through the foothills and the gas patch of northwestern Alberta towards MILE 0, at Dawson Creek, B.C.  We were all amazed at the amount of ‘gas patch’ trucking, pipeline facilities and support services for the oil and gas industry in this region.

At Dawson Creek, the Visitors Centre included a Museum housed in an historical grain elevator.  They had memorabilia of, not only the start of the Alcan Hwy, but of the arrival of the railway which allowed construction equipment to be brought to the start of the Hwy.  The original Milepost Sign for “Mile 0”, has been moved several times because of car accidents and is now situated in the centre of an intersection in downtown Dawson Creek.  Following much picture taking, we went to an excellent museum which had an hour long movie presentation of the construction of the Alaska Hwy.  This movie highlights the difficulties in pushing through the original route from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks Alaska in a period of eight months during the Second World War.  With this as background we headed off on our journey up the Alaska Highway.

Our first night on the Highway was at Sikanni River Campground.   Reading  the ‘MILEPOST’. …our guide for the trip, suggested a much more luxurious RV Park than what it turned out to be.  However, power, water and sewer all worked!!  In the morning we headed northwest, passing en route, several ‘gas patch’ bunk houses which are available for the variety of workers in the area.  This is rolling treed country, boring in some respects, but is, in fact, home to a substantial portion of Canada’s oil and natural gas development.  Much of this activity is hidden from the highway view, but is in evidence through the amount of exploration and development activity up and down the highway.

In Fort Nelson, we stopped for gas and groceries (in addition to a home baked apple pie from the Saturday Farmer’s Market) and headed on to our first Provincial Park, overnighting  at Summit Lake near Stone Mountain.  This was a ‘dry camp’ stop at a beautiful lake.  We enjoyed a fire and realized darkness was not forthcoming…..to bed after 10:00 p.m. and still light!!

Next stop was Liard River Hot Springs, for a dip in Hot Sulphur Spring.  Our Milepost Book and our various Visitor’s Centres, suggested we would see bear, bison, stone mountain sheep, caribou, moose and elk.  In fact the numbers were surprisingly small, but among the three vehicles, we did see most animals, but in small numbers.  The dip in the Hot Springs invigorated us and sent us onto our night’s destination at Watson Lake, home to the world’s largest ‘sign post’ forest. 

Watson Lake was a downtown RV spot (a large gravel area).  We got laundry done and visited the famous “Sign Post Forest”, certainly Watson Lake’s claim to fame.  We will try to have a sign ready for hanging, on our return trip.

Following breakfast we were off to Whitehorse.  We had a bear sighting and Odegaards saw a mama moose feeding her young one…Ayres reported a fox.  We stopped  at Rancheria Falls  Recreation Site; a ten minute walk from the highway and a great boardwalk to view the Falls.  We stayed outside of Whitehorse at a beautiful park close to an even better restaurant.  The RV Park had a small log cabin (picnic shelter) for camper’s use.  A fine place for the gals to play cards and the fellows play cribbage.  It had lots of memorabilia and a big wood burning stove.  We made good use of it the two nights we were there.   We all split up the following morning to visit Whitehorse.  Drapers went to see the power dam that Phil had worked on as a University student and toured the city.  There have been lots of changes since Drapers were here in the mid 90’s.   Odegaards went to Miles Canyon and Ayres toured the City.  Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon and is the largest city with most all services found everywhere. Sternwheeler riverboats, Log churches from the gold rush days and museums of those days dominated our respective days activities. Robert Service’s ‘Cremation of Sam McGee’ was recalled through a reading by Bruce despite the fact that Lake Labarge is a fair ways from Whitehorse and Robert Services location is more attributable to Dawson City. So onward up the highway towards Alaska tomorrow.

  

Blog 6 Banff - Lake Louise - Jasper

O’ Canada

Almost three weeks into our trip and we’ve crossed the Canadian border. We had heard they might confiscate our meat, alcohol and even our newly acquired bear spray (it was uneventful). We soon adjusted to the metric system as well as the higher gas prices.

Our first night in Canada we camped at Banff National Park which offers some of the most beautiful alpine scenery in the world (this is the countries first national park). The park showcases the Canadian Rockies which seem to go on forever with their majestic peaks covered in snow.  We had heard the wildlife would be abundant and in no time saw a mamma bear with cubs, elk and a wolf, (all at a safe distance of course)

We spent a nice evening visiting the town of Banff and actually ran into a couple we all know from Florence.   
The following day we drove to Lake Louise.  Here we found a pristine lake mostly covered in ice.  While viewing the lodge we noticed a car rally showing up in front, about a dozen Morgans were making a “pit stop” on their tour of the rockies.

With coffee in hand we walked along the shore and enjoyed the beauty of the lake and the mountain fresh air.

We ate a picnic lunch at Morraine Lake, another gem tucked within the Rockies.

 Arriving back at camp we were pleased to find that Phil and Linda had returned safely from their visit to Calgary.During the evening campfire  we enjoyed catching up while swatting mosquitos! (small we hear compared to the Alaskan variety)

Driving to Jasper was one of the few days we have encountered rain during our trip, reminding us of Seattle.  Jasper is the largest of Canada’s seven national parks in the Rocky Mountains. While driving the Icefields Parkway we enjoyed glacial valleys, snow capped peaks, waterfalls and several blue/green lakes.

 Due to the weather we will save our gondola ride for next time.  However all parties were greeted near the entrance of our campground by a rather large grizzly and Phil reports a huge wolf sighting! This and the Rangers warning of aggressive elk reminds us we are headed into the Canadian wilderness.

Blog 5 - Northern Montana

The travelers have parted with Phil and Linda heading north to Calgary while Dave, Jeannine, Bruce and I continue west to Anaconda, MT. A beautiful golf course built atop the Anaconda copper smelter is beckoning. But first a campsite for  the night must be found. Traveling down a small county road we cross to a dirt road and find 2 campsites situated on Lost Creek. The ranger immediately helped us settle in while telling us about his mama black bear and cub, Golden Eagles and doe and fawn who reside nearby. There was a great hike to a roaring waterfall. Firewood was free(what a treat) and the bear cub was spotted early the next morning.
The next day we headed straight to the golfcourse, hoping tee times were available. They were and the fousome did. Beautiful vistas from every fairway. With a thunderstorm bearing down and the last hole having gimme putts we barely got wet.
Leaving Anaconda we headed north to Flathead Lake. Again we were met with gorgeous scenery and rugged terrain. As we settled into the best KOA we have ever seen a brief thunderstorm presented us with a sparkling rainbow over the lake. Our stay in Polson was too short but Glacier NP was waiting.
Glacier is almost 104 years old and like many parks in this region, the railroads were great promoters and major players in their establishment.  The park was barely opened and not at all crowded. Glacier Park is well known for breathtaking mountain peaks and clear, high mountain lakes.  We even attended an evening church service on the Lake McDonald shoreline.

Later that evening we enjoyed steaks and a roaring fire. Our wood wasn't great but scavenger Dave kept us warm. We think the next morning he read the regs about removing any natural elements We didn't really remove them we change them into ashes.

On Monday we prepared to cross the border into Canada with the goal of reuniting with the Drapers in Banff, Alberta.  With bear spray, alcohol, and meat in tow we are ready for the next leg of our 10k mile journey.