Anchorage, AK

We have had several days in Anchorage to re-provision and get clean. The RV and car were really dirty after the trip up here, and as of today we are once again clean! We have been getting ready for the twins arrival tomorrow, on their 11th birthdays. They get here about 5:30 pm which will be 8:30 their time. We will go immediately to dinner at a very cool place, giving a taste of Alaska and the gold mining culture. I think there is a big stuffed grizzly in the lobby area, too.

Yesterday I did a walk down by the train station and took a couple of photos. Very picturesque. The Alaska Railroad main track is about one hundred yards from the RV park we are staying in. Fortunately they are pretty quiet at night, if not during the day!










Today both of us did a run on the Tony Knowles Trail, also very close to the RV park, which runs along the shoreline of the Knik Arm of the Cook Inlet (I think I have that right). This photo is looking east toward the Chugash Mountains over a lagoon of the Chester River which flows into the Knik Arm. The salmon are running on many of the rivers, but have not come in here yet, either on Chester Creek or on Ship Creek, where the salmon derby, called Slammin' Salmin is currently underway. We walked over there the other night and didn't see much happening.



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Haines and on to Palmer, AK

We left Skagway on the ferry that goes down the Lynn Canal and over to Haines, a short ride. It was a bright sunny day, one of the few we have had in both Canada and in Alaska. Here are a couple of photos I took, watching Gary maneuver our RV down the ramp, and then on to the ferry. He says that this process is always a panic.








He got the job done!

On board the ferry



We had a lovely time in Haines for two nights and one day.

View of the harbor at Haines



So so nice to see the sun. Not as nice the next day, but not raining. We first drove to Chilkat State Park. I liked this boat house which is so like the ones you see all over the Atlantic coast. They seemed to be crabbing in these waters, just as they lobster on the east coast.



Then we drove to Chilkoot Lake out of which flows the Chilkoot River. The salmon are just beginning to run up the rivers for spawning. The nice thing about the Chilkoot River is that it wasn't "blown out", a new term to me used by the locals to refer to the rivers that are flooded, muddy or silty. They almost all are blown out. The amount of water flowing up here is just stunning. Here is the Chilkoot with beautiful clear water.



We saw four grizzlies foraging on vegetation along the river on the opposite side from us. My camera is not up to this task, but it was amazing. We didn't know there was such great bear watching in Haines.

Yesterday we drove from Haines to Tok, AK. Long long day. The Haines Highway is just gorgeous. Unfortunately we had heavy overcast most of the day, and rain off and on. But this is a good highway, crossing the border back in to British Columbia and along the Wrangell - St Elias mountain range. The highway goes above tree line. Lots of snow at the higher elevations, with much melting taking place. Water water everywhere. We saw trumpeter swans nesting in the high mountain ponds. Then down into the taiga forest that goes for hundreds and hundreds of miles along the Wrangell -St Elias range, basically along the edge of the huge Kluane National Park (in Canada) and the huge huge W-St E Preserve in Alaska. The land is dotted with uncounted and unnamed lakes, stunted forests of black spruce, called a drunken forest because the trees have liquified soil to stand on in summer and they lean all directions.

The long section of road that goes from Destruction Bay in the Yukon up to Tok, AK, and then from Tok down to Gakona, AK, on the western side of the Preserve is truly horrible, pretty but horrible. I made a note in my 2003 log about this stretch of road, and at that time pulled a quote from Milepost (the travelers guide) that is still absolutely accurate for today!!! No change. Here it is:

"Note: Northern travelers watch for sections of highway with loose gravel, bumps, frost heaves, patched pavement, no pavement, narrow road, no shoulders, road construction, and improved highway."

The stretch of road after Gakona, and on in to Palmer, AK, where we are tonight, is much better. This road (the Glen Highway) goes between the Chugach Mountains on the south, and the Talkeetna Mountains on the north, along the Matanuska River. We couldn't see much of the mountains due to rain and clouds ( did see them the previous trip), but we did get a great view of Matanuska Glacier which looks about the same as when we saw it in '03. Many Alaskans believe that Alaska ( and I guess the north) is headed for another ice age, due to global warming which increases moisture and heavy snows and then cool temperatures which reduces melting, which increases reflectivity and further reduces melting which will cause the glaciers to grow. How's that for a theory? We have heard this from several people including one national park ranger at Mendenhall Glacier 9 years ago.

Here is Matanuska Glacier from an overlook on the Glen Highway.



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Skagway, AK

The wildlife along the Alaska Highway in BC was everything we hoped for. I reported on Facebook that the wildlife count is: 5 black bears, 1 grizzly bear, about 10 bison, 1 moose, 1 silver fox, 4 stone sheep, and one probable golden eagle. We arrived in Watson Lake in heavy rain, and it rained most of the night we stayed there.

The following day we drove on to Skagway, driving over the spectacular White Pass, and on down the very steep hill. Travelers are required to stop at the US Border for customs. I am always intrigued by what they will be interested in that I might have in my refrigerator. This time it was tomatoes — just the few little pear tomatoes I had. I was told that I should have been forced to confiscate the red bell pepper I had, but he would let me keep it. In the past I have had to confiscate kiwi fruit, oranges, chicken, beef, potatoes, and apples. It is a guessing game each and every time!

We are having a great time in Skagway, camped right on the harbor where we can see the comings and goings of the small craft and the cruise ships. We have been to Skagway several times before, and each time seems to offer something new.

Outstanding activities this time: the drive to and seeing the sights around Dyea, the former town at the start of the Chilkoot Trail (which we climbed a little of). This town was at the start of the trail which hopeful miners used to reach the Klondike goldfields in the late 1800's. There is very little left of the town.

The pier pilings used to unload boats for the start of the Chilkoot journey. View is looking out toward the ocean inlet.



The false front store. The town site is now woods.



The meadows around the area were really pretty



Today we road the steam train of the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad up to Fraser Meadows at the summit of White Pass, which we had driven over a couple of days ago. It was spectacular!! There is so much snow up there. In fact, it snowed up there just last week. So what is called The Tormented Valley, a desolate moonscape of small lakes, rocks, snow and stunted trees, met expectations as viewed from the train.








The views along the route are really wonderful







Here is the steam train engine




Last night it REALLY rained here and in many places along the Alaska Highway. We have heard and read reports of numerous road closures due to washouts and mudslides. We are hopeful that these will be repaired fairly soon. We are taking the ferry to Haines tomorrow.

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Continuing our travel in BC

We have been a bit "off the grid" for a few days. We left the Vancouver area last Thursday, and spent the first night in Lac La Hache along the Fraser River Canyon, which is beautiful. A very big river.

The next two nights were at Barkerville, BC, which is essentially in the middle of nowhere. This amazing gold mining town of the 1860's through the early 20th century, located in the Cariboo Region of BC, has been restored and reconstructed with excellent living history exhibits. We camped in the nice campground there, dry camping, no hookups. The only problem was how cold it was. At 4000 feet in elevation, there was still snow on the shaded north slopes, and it just wouldn't stop raining. We were happy to leave there and move to lower ground. The "town" is well worth a visit, however.

From Barkerville we drove to Chetwynd, a lovely little town on the eastern slope of the northern Rockies. The rivers are just roaring everywhere. This area all drains into Hudson Bay, big rivers and lots of them! It was much nicer in Chetwynd at 1900 feet instead of 4000 feet!

Today we drove from Chetwynd to Ft Nelson, BC, and got on the Alaska Highway at Ft St John. We are using Milepost to read about everything we see along the way. It really is indispensable for travel to Alaska. Just before we got to Ft St John, we drove along the beautiful Peace River Canyon. This river now has a dam which I remember was quite controversial when it was built. Downstream the canyon looks much as it must have looked before the dam.

We are camped in Ft Nelson tonight. Our drive along the Alaska Highway today was notable for one main reason: energy exploration and development is just roaring up here! We have seen truck after truck hauling heavy equipment of every imaginable type. Where previously we saw small travelers lodges or campgrounds, used primarily by RVers like us, now these places have been augmented by work camps, housing hundreds of workers in manufactured housing, or workers in their own RVs in the campgrounds. Our campground tonight in Ft Nelson is about 1/2 workers. This is REALLY different from what we have seen during our two previous trips up here. There is much more traffic on the highway than before. The good news is that the highway, so far(!), is in good condition. The amount of truck traffic requires a decent road. Maybe the various energy companies are paying their fair share of road maintenance.

It is now 10:30 pm and the sun has just set. It will not get totally dark tonight. Time to go to bed, however. Photos will not happen tonight.


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