23-09 Denali to Anchorage Alaska

Denali, Alaska

Mount McKinley

Anchorage Alaska

Campground: Black Spruce Travel Camp. Ft Richardson AK. First night, $13 elect only. 6 nights @ $16 a night Water and Elec. They also have full hookups but none were available for me at the time I got here. Available to Military, Retired Military and DoD Civilians.

Lots of additional photo's at: My Denali Pictures

I left my recent home of Fairbanks this morning. Rising along Route 3, leaving the flat valley that Fairbanks and the Chena River reside in. At one point, the views out over the mountain ranges give me the feeling of truly being on top of the world, as the landscape appears to be curved on the horizon. Everything is covered in heavy vegetation, surprising considering the very short growing season up here.

I pass by Skinny Dick’s, deciding not to stop in, after all it’s only 9:00 in the morning. I’m just about to cross over the Yukon River, when the Alaskan Train catches my eye. I’m able to pull over and get a few shots of the tour train as it passes by. It travels between Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage. I was sorry to see the train cars almost completely empty, though the train conductor tooted his horn and waved at me along with a couple passengers out on the small deck between cars. Even the sky cars had no passengers in them.

Now I’m not expecting to see Mount McKinley while here. Even one of the workers at the visitors center said I have a 30% chance of seeing it. He hadn’t seen it yet and he‘s been here for over a month. The Native Athabascan’s call it Denali “the High One“, so I’ll refer to this awesome 20,320 ft mountain as Denali and not Mt McKinley. It continues to grow at one meter per year.

You will be able to see a new show on Denali as a part of a new PBS special series this fall called America’s Best Idea. Look for it in Sept. Denali was the first park specifically created to preserve wildlife. Not a bad idea, since my last report indicated that the Musk Oxen were eliminated in Alaska due to over killing and we all know about the fate of the vast bison herds. Creating Denali has helped to preserve the Dall Sheep. I’d say 6 million acres should do the trick.

On my second day in Denali, I took the 8 hour shuttle bus tour. It’s a lot cheaper than the commercial tour buses and the shuttle bus driver doesn’t have to give a continuing tour speech. Most of the ride is over dirt roads leading to my destination of the Eielson Visitor Center. There’s only one more drop off about another hours drive to the end of the road in the park. I like 70% of the visitors was not able to see Denali Mt itself, as it was a very overcast day, with occasional short showers. But talk about seeing wildlife. The bus driver/guide, wasn’t overly optimistic that we would see all that much. The first couple of hours on the ride, we were able to see Caribou far off in the distance as well as a brief glimpse of the Dall Sheep high up on a grassy mountain side. Then we stopped and saw a most awesome sight. We saw a couple of white wolves chasing a single caribou along the slopes of a lower mountain range. The caribou easily running ahead. The wolves low to the ground, chasing after the caribou, occasionally weaving back and forth. To see all this live action played out in front of us was just amazing. A Short while later, the mother wolf, as stark white as can be, herded her four dark brown cubs along for the chase. They were all too slow for the fast moving caribou, who finally stopped far ahead of them up on the green hillside. The caribou continued to graze now that it was far enough away for safety, as the wolves gradually went back down towards their den near the rivers edge.

About 4 hours into the trip, someone shouted stop, bear at 3 o’clock. That’s how we know which direction to look. Wow! Not more than about 40 yards away were two blond grizzly bears. The whole bus was beyond excitement. Loud chatter, opening of windows and clicking of cameras one after the other. The bears oblivious to all of our excitement as they chomped on berries and foraged on new growth brush in the area. I’m sure I took at least 50 shots myself. (later when I downloaded my shots for the day, I had taken 380 pictures)

After reaching the visitor center deep in the heart of Denali we got out and searched in earnest through the dark clouds and little downpour for a glimpse of Mt McKinley. But it was not to be. Still, the immensity of the park, mountains that seemed to go on forever, glaciers, deep valleys between each mountain range and wildlife easily made up for not seeing the Big One. I was mesmerized by the colors on the sides of the mountains, many different shades of green, copper, rust and golden coloring of the liken, mosses, grasses and small micro organisms that cover this high tundra region.

On our long drive back, with windows and bus covered in tan speckled mud and dust we saw everything from golden eagles, many more caribou as well as high on a mountain range covered in various shades of green were dozens of pure white Dall Sheep. Even our two blond grizzlies were still in the same area we had left them on our way in. Seeing caribou cooling off on snow packs as well as a way to get away from the mosquitoes was a real treat. Caribou really show up easily when standing or lying down on a snow pack. Our bus driver even pointed out all the willow trees stripped bare by a huge population of hares. Rabbits gone wild. As he pointed out, this cycle of high hare population also means that all their predators will increase in size, wolves, coyotes, even eagles. So exciting to see raw nature in a this untamed wilderness habitat. Even the chipper ground squirrels popping up between their underground dens on the sides of the roadway watching us as much as we were watching them.

Heading out the following morning down hwy 3 toward Anchorage (they basically have Hwy’s 1,2,3, and 4) , I can’t help but stop at almost every scenic pull-out. The sky is turning blue and the enormous mountain ranges are looming around every turn of the road. I’m following the eastern side of Denali for over 175 miles. Listening to Patsy Cline singing “ I’m Movin Along” on my MP3 player, as the weather continued to clear up, I start to see glimpses of what I think is Denali. Finally after stopping at a couple of Denali viewing stops, there it is! I was able to see the Big One on my last day in the area. It’s easily 75 miles from the closest viewing area along hwy 3, but it still appears magnificent from this vantage point. Gives me goose bumps at having viewed Denali. You can’t get much closer to viewing God’s spender than this.

Notes: While on the tour bus through Denali, a family was visiting from Anchorage. The husband mentioned while eating an orange, that during the recent Volcano eruption that they had to suspend all air traffic in and out of Anchorage where his family lived. Apparently this went on for a couple of weeks as ash from the volcano descended throughout the region. Looking at his orange, he told us how they really missed all the fresh fruit and vegetables during that time, as all perishable arrived in Alaska via FedEx.

Here in Anchorage I stopped in a local restaurant called The Lucky Wishbone. It’s been in operation since the 50’s specializing in pan fried chicken. I happened to sit at a U shaped counter with about 6 seats. Within minutes the rest of the seats were filled with members of an extended family that I later learned was 65 members strong. Had a most wonderful chat with the members of this family, the two seated opposite me were in fact the owners of Lucky’s. The Husband now probably in his 70’s was doting over his wife who was now very close to being an invalid, as he helped her gently with her drink and food. Becky sat next to me and introduce everyone including her soon to be 13 year daughter. As I left, Becky came running after me and caught me in the parking lot to see if I had anyone in the area to check up on me. I said no and she told me where she worked and if I needed anything to stop on by. She works in the local hospital. She said she felt so bad I was on my own and would have invited me over to a barbeque but unfortunately they were going out of town for the week. Now that’s true Alaskan hospitality for you.

US 1, the Glenn Highway dumps right into the heart of Anchorage forcing all the traffic in and around the area to descend on the city.

Fort Richardson where I’m staying is 6 miles outside of Anchorage. A military man doing laundry the same time as I was, told me there are 6 black bear that live on base. Imagine. This is wilderness living next to us. He also gave some great advice as to what to see in the area. There is so much, I don’t know what I’ll be able to take in, but I’ll try.

22-2009 Last few days in Fairbanks Alaska

22-2009

Fairbanks

As a full timer, the simplest things can make me happy. It rained out for 24 hours and today, the sun came out, the air is fresh and crisp and I feel wonderful. After a quick breakfast I headed out to Chena Hot Springs about 60 miles east of Fairbanks. Talk about a drive into the wilderness. 60 miles of heavy wooded countryside filled with marsh land, lakes, numerous tributaries of the Chena River and remote cabins and homes tucked away down dirt and sometimes very soggy roads. The road dead ends at Chena Hot Springs.

Side note: There are very few roads throughout Alaska. If you look on a map, you’ll see that well over half to 2/3’s of the state has no roads at all. Guess that’s why they have so many float planes.

I noticed a big Lincoln continental behind me and it finally passed by. Well, it passed and passed and passed by me. It was the biggest stretch limo I’ve ever seen. Way out here in the middle of no where. Shortly after that, a huge Chinook helicopter came buzzing by. When I got to Chena Hot Springs I found out it was carrying a General most likely from the Army base in Fairbanks. The staff at the resort said there were military surrounding the grounds as well. Now I didn’t see any others that were that important in the area and there were only a half a dozen of us in the hot springs, so I’m unable to report on what he was doing out here.

The hot springs were well worth the trip out here. I stayed in the natural hot springs outside, though they do have additional swimming pools and hot tubs inside. I would not recommend the resorts dining room. Food was not well prepared and a waste of money. However, while I was having lunch there, a gal pointed out the window at a moose that was drinking from one of the springs ponds. I of course jumped up, ran outside with camera in hand and got a couple great shots of a young moose buck. His rack just beginning to grow into a nice sized set of antlers.

My last day in Fairbanks, I still can’t believe I made it this far up north. Just amazing to me that I’ve been able to do this. I took a leisurely tour of the Pioneer Village, considering most of the buildings and shops weren’t open when I got here around 9:30. I was hoping the Presidential Warren G Harding train car would be something worth seeing. Unfortunately, the car was not open and looking inside as well as the outside, it appears to be in pretty bad shape. The interior was mostly gutted to the bare walls. I did enjoy seeing all the original log cabins from the Fairbanks area. Amazing that there are still so many more around town. Really gives Fairbanks that frontier feeling mixed in among all the newer buildings in town.

Since I had plenty of time, I went back to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to their Large Animal Research Station where they have Musk Oxen, Caribou, Wood Caribou and Reindeer. The Musk Oxen had become extinct in the late 1800’s in Alaska due to over hunting as well as in Europe and Scandinavia. The only remaining location where Musk Oxen remained, was in Greenland. Greenland helped repopulate Alaska, Canada as well as areas in Scandinavia and Europe. The Musk Oxen are the last descendants of the dinosaur era. They can only survive in this cold environment. They were first brought to Nunivak Island where they continued to repopulate before being reintroduced throughout Alaska. Quite an experience to see these unique animals back in their original habitat.

Also learned that the caribou run in very large herds of as many as 120,000 in one herd. That’s a lot of caribou ay. Where as the musk oxen usually are in groups of 20-30. The musk oxen do have predators after them and they defend themselves by forming a tight circle facing outward, with the weaker oxen in the center as well as the young. With their horns, they are able to defeat most predators. The caribou don’t really use their antlers to defend themselves and can run for long distances to get away from their predators. Ok, that’s your history lesson for today.

I’m off to get some pizza at Pizza Hut.

More photo's on my Picasa site.

21-2009 Living in Fairbanks Alaska

Picasa Pictures

21-2009

Fairbanks Alaska

How exciting, I’m living in Fairbanks Alaska for 8 days. My actual address here at The Roads End Rv Park is actually the North Pole, but I think I can say I’m living in Fairbanks, only 6 miles up the road.

On my entering the area, the first thing I noticed were the two military bases, Eielson Air force Base and Ft. Wainwright with their military fences and signs posted saying “do not stop, do not take pictures”. Though I must admit, they are quickly swallowed up by the heavy vegetation in the area. Fairbanks is surrounded by lush thick forests, to the point that a couple of bears have been sighted in the past couple of days along the cities walking paths. One gal was chased by a bear just two days ago. Wild country.

This is not a tourist town. The majority of the buildings and shops are geared towards the worker and normal shopping needs of the locals. Oh, an interesting note, there are fields of wild blue Iris all along the highways up here. Mainly in wet marshy areas, they grow in thick and are quite easily seen while driving along the road. Major stores are Fred Myers, Safeway and Wal-Mart’s.

My first full day in the area, I went into town and had lunch at a very nice restaurant, Lavelle’s Bistro, very upscale I might add. Had my first Alaskan Salmon over a Caesar salad. Odd how they had me order my lunch at the bar, paid for it up-front and a 15% gratuity automatically added. Then after sitting where every I wanted (out side on the front facing main street) the waiters and waitresses come by and fill my drink and bring the meal when ready. It works, just a bit different you know. I had to take advantage of a sunny day, temp 73 degrees. Awesome for being in the heart of Alaska.

On the business side, I purchase a larger set of mud flaps and installed them on the back end of my Chevy truck. Hoping they might help keep some of the mud and oil off of the camper. We’ll see as I head down the road the end of next week. Note: discovered that WD-40 works great for getting tar and road oil off of the camper. Spray it on and wipe it off, clean as can be.

It’s the 50th anniversary of Alaska becoming a state. In the local news, there’s an article about the transfer of land from the BLM to Native Americans. Over 105 million acres is supposed to be transferred. To date, 98 million acres have been transferred from the BLM, to the State of Alaska and then it is transferred to the Native Indians. Lots of land and of course mineral rights are being transferred. Oh, and $962.5 million in compensation as well.

The Daily News-Miner reports that Palin is upset by the 18 grievances filed against her so far has put her in $500,000 of legal debt defending herself. Most have been denied. All of the complaints have been brought by Alaskans except for one. She has a swirl of controversy following her where ever she goes

Alaskans are very proud of their state and it’s independent frontier attitude. They love to rib Texans that Alaska is over two times larger than Texas and Minnesota can boast about it’s 10,000 lakes, but Alaska has over 3 million. They don’t mention that they are all mosquito breeders . There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska as well. This is a BIG state.

There is no limit on the number of mosquito’s one can kill in Alaska and no license is required.

It’s Sunday, June 21 and Summer Solstice. Up here it’s known as Land of the Midnight Sun. Being the longest day of the year, the sun only sets for less than 4 hours. Fairbanks has the biggest one day celebration in Alaska and I attended it for a couple of hours. It goes on from Noon till about Midnight and it’s still light out. Easy to find a place to park, since all the office type businesses are closed. Lots of vendors and food to be had. I loved the Wild Salmon ride. Like a bucking bronco except it’s a fish. I would have tried it, but it was mainly for the kids, darn. I think I could have stayed on the bucking salmon for at least two minutes. The day started out rainy and a bit dreary, but by noon the sun came out and it warmed up to a high of 76. Perfect day. Three stages with music and dance. Heard the State song about the Flag.

Alaska's Flag

Written by Marie Drake

Composed by Elinor Dusenbury

Eight stars of gold on a field of blue -

Alaska's flag. May it mean to you

The blue of the sea, the evening sky,

The mountain lakes, and the flow'rs nearby;

The gold of the early sourdough's dreams,

The precious gold of the hills and streams;

The brilliant stars in the northern sky,

The "Bear" - the "Dipper" - and, shining high,

The great North Star with its steady light,

Over land and sea a beacon bright.

Alaska's flag - to Alaskans dear,

The simple flag of a last frontier.



Kind of cool. The day before I was in a store and the sale lady started to explain the meaning of the flag and recited the entire Poem/song. It means a lot to the folks up here. Nice to feel the passion of the Alaskan’s.

The next day, which weather reports indicated was going to be cloudy and rainy, turned out to be partly cloudy, sunny and warm. So I headed over to the Riverboat Discovery to take a three and a half hour tour of the river, Susan Butcher’s Iditarod sled dog team and Chena Indian Village. A most high tech and extremely well presented river tour. HD cameras throughout the boat, a sound system that any geek would be proud of and flat screens everywhere. The pilot who flew the float plane, to the dog trainers and Capt. All were connected via video and audio. So, along with the 5 decks of glassed in cabins and open decking, one couldn’t miss a singe minute of action. Besides, I love being on the water. Saw Senator Ted Stevens home though they no longer point it out on the tour. Still can’t figure out how he got off scott free. Learned a little bit about the Athabascan Indians and dog training, afterward, I had lunch at Pikes Landing, where a road dead ends at the water. During the winter months it becomes a short cut across the river and all the locals use it like a regular road.

By the way, Fairbanks is very easy to get around in. It’s surrounded by express ways and is on a simple grid pattern. I drove over to the University of Alaska Fairbanks, UAF, today to check out their Museum. It’s housed in a gorgeous modern building but the exhibit space is a bit chopped up and not well planned for. To the point that their exhibit of famous Alaskan artists is currently in a room originally designed as storage space. $2 for parking, $10 to enter the museum, $2 for the audio (which I would recommend in any museum) and $2 for the film show on the aurora borealis and winter in Alaska. Whew, well after paying all those fees I finally got in.

Overall the museum collection is more than worth the entry price. Both the natural history and native history are well represented and the artwork really captures the essence of Alaska. The film on the aurora borealis was like being back in a college course, thank God there wasn’t an exam at the end of it. Although I did learn quite a bit about the phenomenon. But not enough to be able to bore you with the details. The one thing I guess I learned was that the Inuit and Athabascan Indians incorporated art into everyday life. Their knives, sewing tools, utility items and clothing were all done with artistic design incorporated into each item. Of note as well, the young native Indian women are most beautiful. Having an Asian influence in their look as well as an almost coco color to their skin tone.

Oh, and they had a room where you could listen to the atmosphere. The sounds were created by the changing atmosphere, clouds, light, sun and moon coming up. An eerie sound as I looked at a wall of subtle color, blue band on the bottom and yellow on top. Both changing with the sounds.

I couldn’t get into the “I love the cold weather” theme of what it’s like to live in Alaska with -40 degree winters and “I think it’s cold when it reaches -20 or lower, etc”. Really people, cold is cold. When many “cottages” are dry cottages. Meaning they don’t have running water or sewer, mainly because both will freeze up at -40 below anyway. Running to the outhouse has got to be a trip. On of the comments was, “But I get to see all the stars” And Styrofoam seats are a must, as plastic will crack in below freezing temps. I understand many Alaskans bring the seat indoors until they have to go. Smart.

It started to rain around noon yesterday and has continued throughout the night and into this morning, so I’ll send this report out and hope for better weather in the next day or so.

20-2009 Entering Alaska to Fairbanks

Burwash Landing, (Destruction Bay) Yukon Canada

TOK Alaska

North Pole, Alaska

Fairbanks Alaska

Campground: Burwash landing Resort & Rv park. $23.10c 15amp electric and water. View of Largest Lake in the Yukon.

Campground: TOK Rv Village: $33.30 per night, Elect., water and cable Tv. Included is a free evening music show. (highest price paid so far) TOK Alaska, all prices are now U.S. dollar.

Campground: End of the Road: $15 per night, Passport America. Full hookups. 8 over the air local tv channels.

On down the road for a 174 mile journey today. I’m heading to Kluane Lake, Destruction Bay and Burwash Landing. I’ll be paralleling The Kluane National Park and Canada’s highest mountain peaks. St Elias Mt’s consist of peaks that are 19,545 feet high and six others that are over 16,000 feet. Definitely the biggest I’ve ever seen. I’ve already seen some wild horses along the way, but the rest of the wildlife scene has yet to appear. Destruction Bay was named after a violent storm blew down the few buildings in town. The wild flowers are in mass profusion this time of year and bright pink Fireweed, which is the Yukon’s official flower, is everywhere along the Alaskan Highway. It gets it’s name from the obvious fact that it’s one of the first plants to thrive after a forest fire.

Passed through Haines Junction…. Has the only Government liquor store and Public Library in the same building. What a concept.

Kluane Lake is impressive, with a few islands out in the middle. After setting up camp at Burwash Landing, population: 84, right on Kluane Lake, I noticed that the lake is very rough. My Milepost book warns fishermen that strong winds can come up very quickly on the lake. I’m seeing whitecaps as well. Burwash Landing is one of those tired resorts on a lake. The hotel along with it’s huge old dining room. When the waitress walks by, the whole floor bounces, not because she’s heavy, but because the wooden floor under the tired carpeting is not too secure. Nothing quite matches after years of minor renovations. The three openings from the entrance/gift shop area are all different sized openings, with the last and largest looking like they just knocked down the wall and put up a burl wood post to hold everything up.

Although I don’t usually drive long distances, I am getting used to it up here. Especially with such great distances between services, one feels compelled to just keep driving. Although they do have a number of scenic pull-offs along the highway along with many wayside stops with garbage cans and some with restrooms (pit toilets), most of the scenic pull-outs are poorly marked and I’ve missed stopping at a number of them because of that reason.

Wow, I saw my first wolf on the side of the road. He looked tired or maybe just wary as he waited for me to move on before he crossed the highway. Had shifty eyes too.

While at Burwash Landing, it started to rain lightly throughout the evening. When I woke up, this morning, it was still a light rain. Not having any internet or radio/tv service I was unable to tell what it would be like down the road. But since the traffic has been light on the ALCAN highway, I decided to go on ahead.

After about an hour or so, the light rain to drizzle let up, but I then had to contend with the worst section of road so far. It’s between Destruction Bay and the Alaskan/Canadian boarder. Lots of permafrost damage, many sections are gravel/oil roads which are smoother than the asphalt roads as they are really bumpy. Speed limits are between 35-55 max. The other thing is that the camper and truck really look like they’ve gone through hell and back. What a dirty mess.

I was wondering about seeing more wildlife and then out of the blue (ok, blue and some clouds), sky came an eagle. Soaring lower and lower. The eagle flew low ahead of me, turned sideways, showing off the huge wingspan and landed on the other side of the roadway. What a magnificent bird. Thank goodness Benjamin Franklin didn’t get his way, since he wanted the Turkey as our National bird. I was absolutely stunned as I continued on down the road. Looking back in the rear view mirror I could see him looking back at me. Awesome, just awesome.

Crossing the boarder, back into the U.S., Alaska, there was a short line of 3 vehicles ahead of me. When I got to the check-in and handed the agent my Passport, Drivers License and Insurance, he was all friendly and talkative. Only asked me if I had any firearms (which are illegal to carry between countries). The agent then said, it might be a good idea to "sign" my passport. Opps. He and the younger agent behind him both asked about the camper and my fulltimer experiance. They having some wonder lust themselves.

Having crossed into Alaska, the feelings are running high. I've made it to another dream that's become reality. Just one mile at a time.

After another 60 miles, I arrive in TOK, the first town in Alaska, on the only road in and out of Alaska. Yes, it’s the Alaskan Highway. To jump ahead, I took advantage of a free show here at the TOK Rv Park. Dave Stancliff performed, playing guitar and singing many of his original songs about Alaska. You can check him out at ALASKAARTIST

Dave provided his unique perspective of Alaska through his great story telling and music. Even quoted the entire poem about The Cremation of Sam Magee, by Robert W Service. I’d encourage you to read it. It’s a great story with a fun ending, go to: THE POEM Robert Service is a revered poet and well liked up in these parts. He as well as Jack London had homes in Dawson City Yukon where they both wrote about the things they saw and experienced.

Dave Stancliff also talked about those who live in TOK, the coldest place on the planet, having reached a jaw chilling, toe chilling, frozen breath chilly -80 degrees and also reached a high of 100 degrees one year. The good thing being they have no taxes in TOC and no elected officials nor do they have any regulation of any kind not even for building. Not a single lawyer and not a single police officer. Course you have to put up with an average winter temp as low as -40 degrees. Said, one does not go out when it’s -40 below, which could last for about 10 days. Talk about cabin fever. Also on the down side, their electric utilities are very very costly. These are hardy independent people.

I enjoyed hearing from a local who obviously loves living up here. I’m definitely getting a feel for what Alaska is all about right here on my first day in the State.

We now have only 4 hours of darkness per night. I’ve arrived in Fairbanks Alaska and going to a big Solstice party downtown on Sunday. As I drove north to Fairbanks, I had to stop in The North Pole just outside of Fairbanks. Saw all of Santa’s reindeer too! I’m actually staying 6 miles up the road at The End of the Road Rv park.

Only saw two brown bunny rabbits on my 200 mile journey up here today. Big ol floppy ears and big furry hind legs and feet for hopping. I’ll be in Fairbanks for 8 days, as I need to get my mail delivered. I have important mail that must be delivered before I head on to Denali park.

I’m enjoying my first experience with the all Digital Tv stations. In Fairbanks we get 8 over the air channels and of course they’re all crystal clear. Wonder how many people will realize that they don’t need cable or satelite tv to get really good tv reception. Great way to save a few $$.

There’ll be lots more to report from Fairbanks, as this is the furthest I’ll be traveling with my camper.

Final note: The roads once I got into Alaska are fantastic. Smooth with very few patches, lots of good smooth blacktop. Lovin it.

Till my next report, Have a super day.

19-09 Whitehorse Yukon Canada

19-2009

Dawson Peaks Resort and Rv Park, Yukon

Teslin Yukon

Whitehorse Yukon

Campground: Dawson Peaks Resort, Teslin. $28 Good Sam price. Elect. And Water. Great views of lake and wildflowers along the slope down to lake.

Campground: Pioneer Park. $28 Elect/Water/Cable Tv & wi-fi. . Nice wooded sites on the hill otherwise you can have a concrete parking lot site near the highway.

The fires were all put out and I headed on up the road into Yukon territory. I continued driving quite a distance, passing another road construction area, with a delay of about 30 minutes, but otherwise the Alaskan highway has been a great drive so far. I have not seen any caribou yet, but others have seen herds of them right on the highway… luck of the draw you know. I’m sure I’ll see them eventually.

Dawson Peak is owned by Dave Hett and Carolyn Allen and I must say if you ever head up the Alaskan Highway stop in for a night or even a bite to eat in their restaurant. A true story of grit and determination to build a life in the Yukon. Clearing the land, building the Rv sites, cabins and main buildings. Building dreams that become reality. And it all started with a 14’ x 32’ canvas tent cooking on two Coleman stoves for the passers by. Now they’re able to travel to exotic places like South America during the winter months.

I liked it so much, I decided to spend an extra day here. Peaceful.

By the way, many of these way-side stops which usually consist of a gas station, food and motel/Rv campsites are closed. I would have to say at least a 1/3 of them were closed as I traveled along the Alaskan highway from Dawson Creek to Teslin. In other words, if you see a filling station, top of your tank, the next one may be closed. The Milepost Guide book will not tell you if they are closed. I passed three in a row that were closed.

By the way, many of these way-side stops which usually consist of a gas station, food and motel/Rv campsites are closed. I would have to say at least a 1/3 of them were closed as I traveled along the Alaskan highway from Dawson Creek to Teslin. In other words, if you see a filling station, top of your tank, the next one may be closed. The Milepost Guide book will not tell you if they are closed. I passed three in a row that were closed.

Since I stayed an extra day in the area, I drove into Teslin, population 411. The native Indian tribe is called Tlingit (Klink-it). I went to both museums, The George Johnston Museum and the Teslin Tlingit Heritage Centre. The Mile Post, which is the mile marker guild for the Alaskan highway and everyone uses it like a bible, highly recommends the Teslin Tlingit Centre which was supposed to have information on the native Indians, but was to me anyway, a large building with one alcove dedicated to a local artist who did the totem poles outside and a series of Indian masks which I must admit were some of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever seen. That and a couple dugout canoes out back and that was that. The rest of the space being an open room for meetings etc. Now the George Johnston Museum which tells the life of the Native Indian, George Johnston was not only well presented, but also well worth the $5c entry fee. Great displays of his photography 1910-1940. Capturing the life of the tribe around him. He was a hunter and quite the business man as well. Bought the first automobile, a 1928 Chevy and brought it to Teslin. He had to build his own 3 mile road, so that he could use the car. After building the road he then charged two dollar taxi rides to his store. During the winters, he would paint the car white and take in out on the ice for fishing and hunting.

A note on the Native Indians. The Canadian Gov. decided that the children needed to be educated and took them from the tribes throughout the Yukon and put them in boarding schools. Where they were to learn everything except anything that had to do with their heritage. By the 1980’s they were permitted to go back home and are only now trying to regain some of the knowledge of their heritage.

To my disappointment, Mukluk Annie’s Salmon Bake was closed and is not expected to reopen for at least a year.

Whitehorse.

I had an easy 100 mile drive today to get to the capital of the Yukon. Population: 23,511. An easy day to set up camp, have a quick lunch in town, tour a bit, then head back to the camper and watch nothing on Tv…. Gad, is there really nothing to watch on Tv? No wonder I haven’t missed it. Wonder how the Digital Tv conversion has gone on in the states?

Travelers Tip: If you go into their visitors center here in Whitehorse or the City hall, they’ll give you a free parking pass for anywhere in town good for three days. The MacBride Museum is pretty nice. $8c. Lots of history on the development of the area, the gold rush, mining, the characters that made the place. The town is a modern town with hints of it’s past existence scattered here and there.

As I finally turn off the Tv and begin to read a book, having already perused all of the travel brochures, I notice the sun is still quite a ways from setting and it’s already 10:10 pm in the evening. Well, folks up here sure don’t have to use their lights at night for reading or for driving. At least in the summer time that is. But it’s time for bed and I’ll just have to pull all the night shades as tight as possible before heading of to “blanket movie time” as Mother used to call sleep and dreams.

Side note: Along the Alaskan Highway through the Yukon, there are many cut through hills with many rocks left over from the glacial period. Travelers have become creative and make signs by lining the stone up to write their names, towns, states they’re from and even a number of designs like pin wheels etc. Kind of like graffiti, but so much more ecologically mindful of the environment.

I think the one thing that I’ve become aware of is the vast space. There is sooooo much space between towns of 200 people or between the next gas station. While driving along the Alaskan highway, there have been many times that I’ve felt like I was the only one on the highway, as everyone pretty much observes the speed limit of 100 Km/hr (62 mph). Although others are on the road, they seldom speed up and pass me. (quite a concept eh Ms Ruth Hemrick). . So while heading on down the road, we are all like a giant chain stretched out and moving at the same speed, never seeing each other. Just miles and miles of scenic ancient forests, lakes and mountain ranges.

Back in Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon, I’ve been enjoying this small town on the Yukon River. Life seems to be at a bit slower pace, maybe it’s all the space I’m not really sure. Took a tour of the SS Klondike, one of the dozen or more paddlewheel boats that brought supplies up to Dawson City and back until the mid 50’s. It’s last years were as a passenger ship, since the railroad and Alaskan Highway pretty much took all it’s freight business. But what a way of life for the years it was in operation. These steam ships with their huge paddle wheels on the back of the boat, a draft of only 44” allowing them to ply the shallow waters along the Yukon. Learned about the Klondike gold rush that brought as many as 100,000 people searching for their fortunes up here. There are few mines remaining in the immediate area, but it helped establish Whitehorse which became the capital of the Yukon over Dawson City.

Their museum chronicles the interesting characters that helped to make the city, including the ladies of the evening…. I’ll post a few pictures (how scandalous).

Oh, and I also took a tour of the largest wooden fish ladder in the world. Fun to see the snook, climbing the ladders created to bypass the dam which now has 4 hydro-electric generators. Producing virtually free electricity to the area. Canada has lots of hydro-electric dams. The salmon would begin their climb up the ladders in Aug. Sorry I’ll miss that even, it must be really something.

Getting closer to the Alaskan Boarder... Wha hooo.

18-09 Dawson Creek, British Columbia Canada (Mile marker 0, Alaskan Highway)

18-2009

Note: I have post more pictures on my Picasa web site. Please see pics at:

http://picasaweb.google.ca/douglas.palosaari

Dawson Creek, British Columbia Canada (Mile marker 0, Alaskan Highway)

Fort Nelson, BC

Liard Hot springs Provincial Park

Campground: Grande Cache

Municipal Park. $20 elect. & water. Country style campground in wooded setting. Many sites are on incline. Free wi-fi available though you may need to bring computer to front office area.

Campground: Alahart Motel and Rv. Dawson Creek. $24 per night full hook-up and 50 ch Cable tv, and free wi-fi. Note, this is not the prettiest campsite, but is on edge of town and is convenient location. There are three other campgrounds in the Dawson Creek area that would be much nicer, but not have all the extras.

Campground: West side Rv Park. Fort Nelson. $30.50 per night, Elec. & Water, Cable Tv. Free Wi-fi available. Convenient, right off of the Alaskan Highway. Next door to Ft Nelson Museum.

Campground: Liard Hotsprings Provincial Park. $19 per night, no hookups. Bonus, with campsite, access to hot springs is free.

Well you know it, from my last post I was heading out of Jasper, I went as far as Grande Cache the first day, then headed out for the 200 mile stretch too Dawson Creek. The start of the ALCAN highway, also known as the Alaskan Highway. I am so excited, I was singing along with my MP3 music in the truck. Can you imagine me listening to Willy Nelson singing

“Hello Walls”, and me singing back “hello, hello walls” in various accented voices, some high

some low some a bit squeaky. It even made me crack up laughing out loud.

The road from Grande Cache to Dawson Creek was all curvy and grades going up and down at just about every turn, but overall the road which isn’t on the regular designated route ended up being a short cut and was a pretty decent road. Lots of evergreens and Aspen trees with their lighter new spring growth. The closer I got to Grande Prairie, the half way point on today’s journey, the land started to open up and actually became a prairie, albeit one that has been put to farming use. Though they must have the shortest growing season ever around here. Many farmers were just beginning to plant their hay or grains. Oh and along the route

were a number of natural gas and oil wells dotting the landscape. The natural gas wells with their exhaust pipes flaming yellows and orange, against the blue skies and surrounding forests. When I got to Grande Prairie a really nice sized town, the locals told me that after the recent Oil bust, all the oil workers abandoned the area and theirs a bit of a glut on housing now. However, I did notice a number of places had “help wanted” signs.

Finally a little after noon (later if I hadn’t changed my clocks) (yet another time zone change) I arrived at the town limits of Dawson Creek and immediately was stuck in traffic. My first major road construction and I still had 2 more miles to go before touching the Alaskan Highway. Hope this doesn’t portent tons of major construction along the highway. Wow, and a Wal-mart at the edge of town. Which I later discovered wouldn’t accept my Visa Debit card… hmmm, should have tried it as a credit card, I think it would accept it that way.

History Lesson: Ok, this is your history lesson for the day. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. By March 9 1942 both the US and Canada undertook to build the Alaska Highway as a way to protect the interests of the US and Canada. Alaska had not been declared a state at this point. It took 11,000 military, three of the regiments were of African American heritage. Plus 16,000 US and Canadian civilians! Listen to the sound of cheers from all my fellow civilian Navy employees I used to work with…. <> And in all of 8 months, yes 8 months, 1,528 miles of roadway was built. Including 133 major bridges and 3000 culverts. Cost: 140 million dollars.

And yes, I’ll be heading out on those 1,528 miles of roadway tomorrow as I spend one more day in Dawson Creek preparing for the Big Journey. Oh and just a note, the post in the center of the town marking the beginning of the Alaskan Highway, mile marker “0” is not the actual start. It’s at the visitor center but you get the idea. This IS the start of the highway.

The Alaskan Highway.

Well with the sun coming up so early in the morning, like 5:30 am, I was up and ready to go by about 6:30. With the Highway right at my doorstep, I headed west onto the Alaskan Highway. The first 100+ miles was through some pretty steep grades, from 7% to 10% grades. I’d never gone down a hill with a 10% grade, but with the exhaust brakes and the manual shift mode, the Truck and camper did very well. There were tons of signs for wildlife, and I finally saw a Moose with it’s big rack on it’s head loping across the highway in front of me. His gate was almost poetic in the rhythmic yet clumsy gate. Sorry, I wasn’t able to get a picture of it. The traffic is steady but well spaced this morning, but still, there was no way to pull over and get a pictures.

A short distance on down the road, I saw a Mama Moose come out of the thick forest of Black Spruce, look surprised to see traffic on the highway and quickly turned around and headed back into the forest. Speaking of those Black spruce, those tall evergreens that form a narrow spike with a slight flair at the base are becoming smaller and smaller as I head closer to the Northwest Territory boarder. They also appear to be almost fuzzy in appearance or almost feathery.

A most unique look. I’ll see if I can get a picture for you.

I know it may sound strange, but I’m not used to driving long distances. (I know, I’m traveling from Tucson AZ to Alaska for heavens sake) However, as I may have mentioned, I usually only travel about 150 miles per day, sometimes even less. However, for this leg of the journey, I’ll be traveling between 200 and 250, maybe close to 300 miles per day. I have over 1,500 miles of territory to cover along the Alaskan Highway and much of it, I’m expecting, to be pretty mundane and without much of interest to stop for along the way.

I did hit a few slow downs along the way today, a convoy of 5 industrial trucks carrying some sort of equipment for the oil and gas or other mining operations. The speed limit on the ALCAN highway is 100 Km/h or about 62 miles an hour. Although the occasional truck or camper passes me, I’ve actually passed a number of convoys and trucks myself. Still, all in all, very light traffic particularly if you get an early start Like I did today.

At the campground here in Fort Nelson, I was settled in around 12:30 in the afternoon, having already driven for about 6 hours. Seeing lots of campers arriving in the late afternoon. Most all heading to Alaska. Come to find out, they were directed off the highway, as there is a large forest fire about 220 miles north of hear.

Thought I’d have to stay in Ft Nelson for a couple of days, but with 88 firefighters, 6 helicopters and a sprinkler truck, they were able to get the fire under enough control to re-open the Alaskan Highway, so I’m off again this morning. Now this was surprising to me. I

expected the landscape to pretty much flatten out by now, but nooooo, 7 to 9 degree grades and stunning views of the final northerly most section of the Rockies. The Rockies, bordering Muncho Lake which is touted as being the most beautiful lake in the world and I can’t argue with them. Even though it was overcast, with low clouds and fog hugging the mountains, the Emerald green to the lightest turquoise blues popped out. Difficult to capture on camera as the light kept popping in and out.

What a sight to drive along the eastern edge of this very large Alpine lake. The road was

barely a foot or two above the water line and a shear mountain bordered the other side of the roadway. Small sections of the road were being eaten way by the wave action and I’m sure the ice action during the winter months.

Along the way I was able to stop and get a couple great shots of a moose foraging in a pond near the roadway. The moose was able to hold it’s breath for minutes while digging underwater with it’s head deep into the muck and weeds on the bottom of the pond. What a site to see. Glad I was able to pull over and just watch this huge beast for a while. You know they are one of the largest animals in North America.

A quick stop over at Toad River Post where they have something like 7,000 baseball caps plastered to the ceilings, I had to get a good cup of coffee and what my eyes couldn’t believe, they had Date Bars. Elsa (my Mom) used to make THE best date bars in the world and I discovered that the Toad River Post must have gotten her receipt. I was in heaven. Love the taste of those date bars. Decided to fill up at $1.219 a liter. Yikees, that’s about $4.80 a gallon. $52 for a half a tank of gas.

Oh, and a I saw another black bear walking along the edge of the wide grassy areas next to the forest. I’m sure the British Columbia road crews realized years ago that having a wide open area instead of having the forest right up against the roadway enabled the public to see if wildlife was in the area or near the highway. Gives one just that little extra foresight to be able to slow down and avoid hitting the wildlife. Even saw a couple of Wood Buffalo along the way. Magnificent animals. They must have been re-introduced into the area a number of years back. They’re much larger and darker than the plains buffalo.

Ekk! I hit my first big road construction on the Alaskan highway where the roadway was completely torn up and wouldn’t you know it, it had rained just enough to create Mud. What a mess it made of my Camper. Looked like a great mud pack but I don’t think it helped make my camper look any younger. Kept thinking what a lot of work it was going to be to clean the mess up, but then later on down the road, it rained out for a bit and completely washed the entire mess up. Yippee!

After a good 4 hours of driving I arrived at Liard Hotsprings. (sorry Laird, you almost had a hot springs named after you) After dropping off the camper I was ready to head to the springs. The short rain shower stopped, the sun came out and I headed on down. Compared to all the other hot springs I’ve been to recently, this one is in a natural setting (no swimming pool). Just a long boardwalk leading through a low marshy area into a canopy of trees and large ferns and then the natural hot springs. Nice wooden deck surrounding one side of the springs, with four or five stairs leading down into the springs. Nice gravel bottom, with the hot springs percolating up through the bottom. Too hot, just a walk over and down to the river below and the hot springs becomes a waterfall warming the river with perfect warm swimming water temperature. The smell of sulfur and other minerals wasn’t bad at all and added to the experience.

What a grand way to spend an afternoon and then be able to walk back to my campsite.

Hoping to be able to post this tomorrow when I head into Watson Lake my first town in the Yukon. Later on down the road,,,, there wasn’t much to see in Watson Lake, except the 7,000 thousand signs left by folks. It’s where a lonely Army guy put one of the first signs up, pointing to his home town and giving the distance to get there. Back when they were first building the Alaskan highway. Since then, everyone has been adding their own signs. While I was there, folks were hammering and screwing their special signs to denote they had been there. I took pictures and headed on out.

I traveled 273 miles today and ended up at Dawson Peaks Resort Rv Park. What an enchanting place. Gorgeous campsites nestled in the pines and paper birch and balsam poplar. Lupine and wild roses cover the ground everywhere. The Lake is down the hill, with a dock that gently sways with the lapping of the waves. The aluminum boat bangs against the side of the dock making a clunking and banging sound in rhythm with the waves slapping against the dock. Just sitting on one of the benches is heaven.

PS, saw 4 bears, one brown and the rest were black bears. A couple more moose and that was it for wildlife sightings.