August 15, 2008Fairbanks, Alaska

Leaving Dawson City, Yukon, in a slight mist, we took a photo from the hill as we began the drive over the Top of the World Highway, a 60+ mile drive. In a couple of hours, we reached the border crossing and easily passed through customs, especially after Harley showed off the side boxes on Babe (our truck)to the young customs officer! Our goal for Saturday night was Eagle, Alaska. The dirt road there was misty and cloudy but the sun appeared as we reached Eagle.

A small towm, Eagle developed as a "port" for the paddlewheel steamers traveling back and forth from Dawson City. The Yukon here is incredibly beautiful, wide calm, inviting exploration further and further to the west. We stayed at the very basic but clean Riverside Motel and ate at its even more basic Cafe. Walking around served as a pleasant hike.

Sunday morning we reluctantly left Eagle and retrieved YOW (we didn't take her as the Eagle road was often quite narrow and winding) at a wide spot in thte road at which many caribou campers had set up camp. While hooking up, we talked with a hunter from Texas who was bragging about all the blueberries he'd picked while waiting for his buddies to bring back a caribou. With no hesitation, he showed us where to find the berries and soon we had over a quart.

Fortified with dreams of yummy blueberry creations, we drove on south on the Taylor Highway to the Walker Fork BLM Campground and captured the only site right on the Fork, a 90'-100' wide stream. It was a short trip so there was plenty of time to walk around, pick another quart+ of blueberries and explore the nearby First Nation memorial to an unknown relative whose grave had been desecrated by earlier white men. The memorial was a small fenced in area at the top of a cliff.

While at Walker Fort, we met a couple from Hanover, Germany and enjoyed conversation and the nightly cocktail hour with them...what fun. Of course, we got into U.S. politics...Gerd expressed absolute amazement that Bush had been elected a second time and was looking forward to the outcome of November's election. After we finished dinner, Gerd came over with a gift of marvelous dark, heavy German bread and we gave him a frozen salmon steak.

Monday, we drove a short 35 miles to West Fork BLM Campground which had been recommended to us by a couple who'd driven into Walker Fork just as we were parking and strongly suggested we move on because West Fork was so lovely. I wouldn't give up our creek location but, of course, we had to check out West Fork. It couldn't have been better...when we drove in, we were the only campers and had first choice of sites. Other than the fact that the only hiking was around the campground and up a nearby hunter's track, this is probably the best site we've ever had: surrounded by tall evergreens, a large area behind YOW for the campfire and a bench overlooking a small lake surrunded by thick grasses and and thousands of acres of wilderness.

Shortly after we arrived, Harley noticed some splashing...soon we saw the head and large ears of a moose! For another hour+ we watched her move ever closer to our site, munching and submerging to find the tastiest greens. She was a two year old weighing about 1,200 pounds according the Denny White, the friendly campground host. What an incredibly treat that was!

We stayed for two nights, soaking in the peace and beauty of the location. Miss Moose never returned but we were so privileged to see as much as we did. Monday afternoon, a camper drove in sporting a Milepost sign on its door (if you're not familiar with it, The Milepost is the Bible for travelers to the North with detailed, mile by mile descriptions of what you see, where to stay, eat, what to avoid. We soon got to know Sharon Nault, Field Editor for The Milepost, enjoyed her company and queried her for suggestions for our trips to come. Wonderful resource! With Sharon, we shared the last of our blueberries, celebrating with blueberry pancakes, bacon, fried eggs and orange juice toddies. What a fine way to begin the next part of our trip.

Wednesday we picked up the Alaska Highway at Tok (along with diesel, propane, water and a wash job for both YOW and Babe...did they need it!. About 40 miles further on we stopped for the night at Moon Lake...lovely...and were greeted by loons and a strange, moaning animal sound from the far shore we never identified. It rained that night but was clear when we left on Thursday for the 165 mile drive to Fairbanks. Along the way we saw the snow capped peaks of the imposing Alaska Range, several moose and incredibly broad, braided rivers. YOW is now at Olnes Pond about 20 miles north of Fairbanks and we're in town doing errands.

Tomorrow, we're off for a three day trip to Prudhoe Bay...another adventure (YOW will stay behind as the Dalton/Haul Road is said to be quite rough). After that, it'll be Denali, then Anchorage, the Kenai, etc., etc. We've got another two months so who knows where we'll be and what we'll see!