Yes, we're home having arrived Thursday night about 11 PM after a 2-day drive from Seattle (15 hours of that on Thursday due to threats of a major winter storm along I-80 in Wyoming on Friday).
What an incredible trip this has been. But I get ahead of myself so let me finish the last 13 days. Our campsite at Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island was so pleasant that we stayed there for five nights pretty much just hanging out and hiking the coastal trail up to the Spanish American War batteries and light house. Our weather was perfect and the campsite directly on the shore of Puget Sound was one of the best we've had. Because the Washington State Ferry terminal was an easy walk from the campsite, one day we took the Ferry to Port Townsend, a very pleasant town on the Olympic Peninsula that reminds me very much of Boulder.
On the 30th, we hooked up YOW, drove to another Ferry terminal at the south end of Whidbey Island, took it across to Everett, Washington on the mainland then drove to A & Suzie Streich's home (Harley's cousins). What wonderful hospitality they provided including a place for YOW in their side yard. Lots of family activities as both of their "children" live nearby and have families of their own. While I made a quick trip to Chicago for a NAR International leadership meeting on the 2nd and 3rd, Harley made some repairs, washed YOW, picked 5-quaarts of blackberries, did errands and generally relaxed.
Over the weekend we met our good friends, Pili & Dave Meyer, for lunch and a tour of the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in Woodinville, a suberb of Seattle. We then spent the night in Seattle, dined at the Icon, a great restaurant, and spent much of Sunday exploring Seattle's waterfront icluding the Pike Place Market which should be a model for all cities. Sunday evening we were at the Sea-Tac Doubletree where the Washington Association of REALTOR's Education Convention was held on the 6th and 7th. I was privileged to teach a class we'd designed,"Strategies for a Flattening World" (with Pili and PeggyAnn), and then the Transnational Referral Certificate course.
We returned to Al & Suzie's on the evening of the 7th just in time to watch the 2nd presidential debate. About 9:30 AM on Wednesday the 8th we began the 1,352.8 mile trip home to Yatahai. Harley drove the first 453.3 miles on Thursday, the remainding 899.5 miles on Thursday...what a driver! Our last campsite was at Farewell Bend State Park in SE Oregon on the Snake River...an appropriately named site on the Oregon Trail.
So what made this road trip so incredible? Adventure after adveture, health and happiness spread over 86 days, good times spent with friends both old and new, fabulous scenary and wild animals at home in the wildernesss that surrounds them. We couldn't have done it without YOW and Babe who've become members of the family.
Now a few statistics.... The total trip was 11,751.8 miles and that included two +/-1,000 mile side trips, one to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories by way of the Dempster Highway and one to Prudehoe Bay in Alaska by way of the Dalton/Haul Road Highway. Yes, the price of diesel was high but a total of $5,385.86 really doesn't seem that high especially given that works out to $0.458/mile! (No, I didn't convert Canadian $ into U.S.$ but it's close to par. I also don't know how many gallong we used sice I didn't convert Canadian liters into U.S.gallons.) And, no, I haven't calculated the money spent on campsite fees (average about $15/night but several were free) and the few nights we spent at B&Bs. I also haven't calculated what we've spent on groceries, wine and liquor..sometime I'll probably do all of that; if you're curious, let me know.
All and all it was a fabulous, incredible trip and we loved having you along in your armchaiars! For now, this blog is on hold until we take another trip...the ones we have planned are a cruise in November to Spain and the Mediterranean and several months at Yatahai Southwest in Tucson early in 2009. Do come along!
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008: Whidbey Island, Washington
We've made it back to the lower 48...and now truly understand why Alaskans and north Canadians call it the "Outside". It's so very different and no where near as peaceful. In the North, yes, there were roads but on almost any road, to the left or the right, one could go for hundreds of miles and only be in more wilderness. It's a very special place that we'll never forget.
Since Prince George, B.C., our last blog, we've had many campsites. On the 21st we were at the municipal campground at a little town called 100 Mile House (yes, and there are towns called 70 Mile, 50 mile, etc...all stops along the gold rush trail). The site itself was pretty normal but a short trail led directly from it to a gorgeous waterfall.
From there we took BC 99 south toward Vancouver. At the very beginning, Harley got caught in a RCMP road block and caught for not wearing his seat belt...to the tune of $165. Needless to say he wasn't in a very good mood after that but the scenery was absolutely spectacular...wonderful mountains, the deep Fraser River Canyon, the tumbling Coyoos Creek and even some snow (a bit scary given the weight of YOW). We stayed in two Provincial Parks, Nairn Falls and Alice Lake. At Nairn our site overlooked the rushing Green River and we hiked to Nairn Falls, an important spiritual site of the Lil'wat Nation. The trail would through a mixed forest of huge Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Coastal Douglas Fir. At Alice Lake we'd come closer to the coast and the forest was wonderfully dark, green and dripping...a real rain forest. We took about a 4-mile hike called the Four Lakes...really special. Fortunately our campsite had power so when we got back from the hike we were welcomed by bright lights and electric heat resulting in dry clothes.
Alice Lake is only about 30 miles from Whistler and the drive from there to Vancouver was amazing...the Winter Olympics will be there in 2010 and the Canadians are building an incredible four lane highway through about 40 miles of solid rock, along the steep coast of Horseshoe Bay and all built by Peter Kiewit & Sons (a U.S. company)...hard to believe but we never had to stop during all that construction although the travel was a bit slow, 30-40 mph.
Yesterday we crossed over the border into Washington...the customs officer was amazed by my thick passport and asked what I did, especially since Harley's is so thin! We got on I-5, took it to exit 320 and then followed Washington 20 across Deception Pass and on to beautiful Whitbey Island. We'd searched out possible campgrounds and settled on Fort Casey State Park which is located on the grounds of one of the former naval batteries set up to protect Puget Sound. We're right on the water with great views, including snow covered Mt. Rainier. Not only that but we're walking distance to the Washington State Ferry and plan to walk on for a trip to Port Townsend sometime in the next three days as we plan to stay right where we are...it's such a perfect location!
Since Prince George, B.C., our last blog, we've had many campsites. On the 21st we were at the municipal campground at a little town called 100 Mile House (yes, and there are towns called 70 Mile, 50 mile, etc...all stops along the gold rush trail). The site itself was pretty normal but a short trail led directly from it to a gorgeous waterfall.
From there we took BC 99 south toward Vancouver. At the very beginning, Harley got caught in a RCMP road block and caught for not wearing his seat belt...to the tune of $165. Needless to say he wasn't in a very good mood after that but the scenery was absolutely spectacular...wonderful mountains, the deep Fraser River Canyon, the tumbling Coyoos Creek and even some snow (a bit scary given the weight of YOW). We stayed in two Provincial Parks, Nairn Falls and Alice Lake. At Nairn our site overlooked the rushing Green River and we hiked to Nairn Falls, an important spiritual site of the Lil'wat Nation. The trail would through a mixed forest of huge Western Red Cedar, Western Hemlock and Coastal Douglas Fir. At Alice Lake we'd come closer to the coast and the forest was wonderfully dark, green and dripping...a real rain forest. We took about a 4-mile hike called the Four Lakes...really special. Fortunately our campsite had power so when we got back from the hike we were welcomed by bright lights and electric heat resulting in dry clothes.
Alice Lake is only about 30 miles from Whistler and the drive from there to Vancouver was amazing...the Winter Olympics will be there in 2010 and the Canadians are building an incredible four lane highway through about 40 miles of solid rock, along the steep coast of Horseshoe Bay and all built by Peter Kiewit & Sons (a U.S. company)...hard to believe but we never had to stop during all that construction although the travel was a bit slow, 30-40 mph.
Yesterday we crossed over the border into Washington...the customs officer was amazed by my thick passport and asked what I did, especially since Harley's is so thin! We got on I-5, took it to exit 320 and then followed Washington 20 across Deception Pass and on to beautiful Whitbey Island. We'd searched out possible campgrounds and settled on Fort Casey State Park which is located on the grounds of one of the former naval batteries set up to protect Puget Sound. We're right on the water with great views, including snow covered Mt. Rainier. Not only that but we're walking distance to the Washington State Ferry and plan to walk on for a trip to Port Townsend sometime in the next three days as we plan to stay right where we are...it's such a perfect location!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008 Prince George, British Columbia
Some of you may have thought we'd disappeared from the face of the north...not so, we just were totally out of cell range and therefore air card range for almost ten days!
Since Valdez, we've been so many places and driven so many miles...about 2,000. It's so difficult to even begin to describe all that we've seen and done since then excapt that it everything was awesome.
After Valdez, we spent two nights in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park...you may remember the Wrangell Mountains from one of John Denver's songs. Like Denali, it only has one road in, the McCarthy Road, that runs 90+ miles from the main highway. The road itself was about 2/3 horrible but the views great. and the little town of McCarthy at the end we had to reach by foot bridge over a torrent. Harley's decided that for his 75th birthday he wants Wrangell Air to take him from McCarthy somewhere into the wilderness for a week or so of fishing, tenting (you're right, I won't be going on this trip!) and hiking. That's about 3 years off so hopefully one of you will go with him!!
After that we were back at the Tok River Campground and then Wolf Creek Campground outside of Whitehorse, Yukon...wonderful sites. Then down to the tiny town of Atlin, B.C. where we stayed in the "penthouse" at Norseman Adventures RV Park, an incredible location out on a spit of land totally surrounded by gorgeous 90-mile Atlin Lake. It was great fun watching Atlin Air take off and land on the water... looked as though he was coming straight into our living room/cocktail lounge.
After Atlin, we had our last night in the Yukon at Big Creek Campground and,yes, the Creek was large...we'd call it a river in the States. Then down BC 37 the Cassiar Highway with two beautiful lake side campsites. At the second, we unhitched Babe and drove the 40 miles to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK...beautiful drive past glacier after glacier, many, many waterfalls, a roaring river that made its own steam, and finally to these two tiny towns that shared a location on the Portland Canal, a 90-mile fjord. At Hyder, we went out to Fish Creek in the Tongass National Forest but the salmon had stopped spawning so there weren't any bears to watch.
We now feel like we're headed home...nice campsites (two so far) but so much civilization. We're "decompressing" as our friend Phil Eherenman would say...what Harley calls being back to the Us and Rs (fences and rules)! Can't believe all the stoplights, shopping centers, fenced pastures with cows, etc., etc. But at least the roads are good so we can average 300+/- miles/day.
Except for my trip to Chicago October 2-3, teaching in Seattle on the 7th and heading home (1,400 miles) on the 8th, our calendar is indefinite. I'm sure we'll find some lovely places yet to see in British Columbia, will take a tour around the Olympic Peninsula and will do two days with the Meyers on the 4th and 5th but other than that, who knows. It'll be great fun whatever it is!
Since Valdez, we've been so many places and driven so many miles...about 2,000. It's so difficult to even begin to describe all that we've seen and done since then excapt that it everything was awesome.
After Valdez, we spent two nights in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park...you may remember the Wrangell Mountains from one of John Denver's songs. Like Denali, it only has one road in, the McCarthy Road, that runs 90+ miles from the main highway. The road itself was about 2/3 horrible but the views great. and the little town of McCarthy at the end we had to reach by foot bridge over a torrent. Harley's decided that for his 75th birthday he wants Wrangell Air to take him from McCarthy somewhere into the wilderness for a week or so of fishing, tenting (you're right, I won't be going on this trip!) and hiking. That's about 3 years off so hopefully one of you will go with him!!
After that we were back at the Tok River Campground and then Wolf Creek Campground outside of Whitehorse, Yukon...wonderful sites. Then down to the tiny town of Atlin, B.C. where we stayed in the "penthouse" at Norseman Adventures RV Park, an incredible location out on a spit of land totally surrounded by gorgeous 90-mile Atlin Lake. It was great fun watching Atlin Air take off and land on the water... looked as though he was coming straight into our living room/cocktail lounge.
After Atlin, we had our last night in the Yukon at Big Creek Campground and,yes, the Creek was large...we'd call it a river in the States. Then down BC 37 the Cassiar Highway with two beautiful lake side campsites. At the second, we unhitched Babe and drove the 40 miles to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK...beautiful drive past glacier after glacier, many, many waterfalls, a roaring river that made its own steam, and finally to these two tiny towns that shared a location on the Portland Canal, a 90-mile fjord. At Hyder, we went out to Fish Creek in the Tongass National Forest but the salmon had stopped spawning so there weren't any bears to watch.
We now feel like we're headed home...nice campsites (two so far) but so much civilization. We're "decompressing" as our friend Phil Eherenman would say...what Harley calls being back to the Us and Rs (fences and rules)! Can't believe all the stoplights, shopping centers, fenced pastures with cows, etc., etc. But at least the roads are good so we can average 300+/- miles/day.
Except for my trip to Chicago October 2-3, teaching in Seattle on the 7th and heading home (1,400 miles) on the 8th, our calendar is indefinite. I'm sure we'll find some lovely places yet to see in British Columbia, will take a tour around the Olympic Peninsula and will do two days with the Meyers on the 4th and 5th but other than that, who knows. It'll be great fun whatever it is!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008 Valdez, Alaska continued
Most of you reading this know that I don't give up easily but, as you can see from the attempts that follow, I just can't get photos uploaded from Picasa2 to the blog so I'm going to stop trying. So, from now on the blogs will just be the written word and hopefully I can describe things well enough that you can imagine what we're actually seeing.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sunday, Septeember 7, 2008 Valdez, Alaska
Well, darn...another lesson in nothing is free! I've been frustrating for better than two weeks because the 65+ photos I've uploaded from Picasa2 to the blog haven't been open-able. It's been absolutely maddening! But, this morning we think we have the answer...I've run out of "free" space. It would have been nice if a pop-up scree had issued a warning and offered an upgrade of more space for $X but they didn't. So, I'll be going back to old posts (beginning with "Harley picking blueberries") and deleting the photos hoping that frees up some space since I forgot to record my gmail username so am unable to buy more space. But, enough of that.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
As you can see from the title, we're now in Valdez at the Sea Otter RV Park (and the office is closed so we're currently hooked up for "free" and facing right on to Prince William Sound). But we've seen a lot since Seward (no, it never stopped raining so we didn't see Exit Glacier.
From Seward, we drove about 100 miles to Williwaw campground (USFS) on the Portage Glacier Road, a large but very privately sited CG just 11 miles from Whittier. There'd been so much rain that the rivers and creeks were to flood stage but apparently that's not unusual as much of the trails were built on boardwalks and only a few of the sites had standing water.
Thursday it was still very overcast and occasionally raining but we decided to go to Whittier and a cruise anyhow. The 11-mile drive included a 2.5 mile, one-lane tunnel built by the U.S. Army during WWII since Whittier is a very deep,ice-free port. Not only vehicles but also the Alaska Railroad use the tunnel so it's on a strict schedule to accommodate all uses. It was no longer raining when we reached Whittier, just heavy overcast. We bought cruise tickets from Major Marine and walked around "town" while waiting for departure...Whittier consists of a wharf with a few tourist shops and a 5-story hotel like building that houses the 150+/- residents along with their grocery, etc. store and various entertainment choices.
We were so glad we'd decided to take the cruise. It never really rained and the captain and USFS Ranger were excellent in showing and explaining all that we saw: two glaciers up close, many others from a distance, rafts (= groups) of sea otters, a harbor seal lounging on a small iceberg, many eagles two black- legged kittiwake (a type of gull) rookeries and literally hundreds of waterfalls. Even if there'd been bright sunshine, it wouldn't have really made much difference.
Friday morning we had a wonderful 3 mile walk to Portage Lake and back...I remember the first time I saw Portage Lake about 20 years ago when the Lake was more like an iceberg filled pond at the base of Portage Glacier. So many of Alaska's glaciers are in retreat. The rest of the day we drove toward Valdez, most of it on the Glenn Highway. It's amazing, we keep saying we've already seen "the most beautiful" part of the state and then we see another that's even prettier. The Glenn goes through the Chugach Mountains with the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains to the east. The western part is along the broad, braided Matsanuka River until it reaches the Matasunaka Glacier. After that the land plateaus and is filled with innumerable lakes surrounded by deciduous trees in their fall (mostly yellow) glory and scattered dark spruce. Absolutely gorgeous!
We spent Friday night at a high pullout above the highway that was also used by some of the many moose hunters. We chose it because of the incredible, unobstructed view of snow-covered peaks. Another treat was a cup full of blueberries Harley picked for dessert.
Saturday we finished the drive to Valdez, this time on the Richardson Highway... another road that elicited one "ah" and "oh" after another, although the highway itself had lots of frost heaves and repairs. But now we're at Valdez and will spend the rest of the afternoon walking around town. Tomorrow we'll be off for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Seward, Alaska
For the first time we've had more than two days of rain...but it's still beautiful. We're currently camped in a City of Seward lot facing directly on Resurrection Bay surrounded by mountains, glaciers and the cutest sea otters swimming on their backs...well, we're not exactly "surrounded" by sea otters but have seen one within about 20' of YOW! Hopefully the weather will lift before we leave for Whittier and we'll be able to hike to Exit Glacier.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
The trip from Denali to here has been generally peaceful (with one exception which I'll describe later), beautiful and most enjoyable. We've camped at Byers Lake in Denali State Park, 3 nights at Eklutna Lake (an Alaska State Recreation Area about 25miles north of Anchorage), a night in a gas station parking lot (same story as above) and now 2 nights, or maybe more, here in Seward.
The most enjoyable thing we've done was visiting with our friends, Phil & Sandy Eherenman; Sandy is EO of the Alaska Association and Phil manages the Petroleum Club. Phil and Harley had gotten to know each other while at the NAR meetings in Las Vegas in November so this was a great opportunity to really expand the friendship. Friday they had us over for grilled salmon (yummy!) but most of all we just enjoyed talking and seeing their gorgeous landscaping (Sandy is a Master Gardner and it really shows). Saturday they took us for a drive over Hatcher Pass (just north of Wasilla and you all now know where that is!!) which was really gorgeous, then to the State Fair in Palmer then back to YOW for a campfire. What fun!!
After Anchorage we'd thought about going to Katmai National Park to see the bears fish for salmon...put decided against it for very practical reasons. The cost per person ranged from $589 to $3,100 and that was just to fly over and come back the same day!
Now for the "exception" to our perfect trip...Sunday as we were driving around the Turnagain Arm, we stopped for fuel...and managed to put in 17+ gallons of unleaded gas instead of diesel! That required taking out the gas tank, emptying it and reinstalling the gas tank. Harley found a small repair shop just 1/4 mile away that could do it on Monday but I called AAA and arranged for them to pick up Babe and do the work Sunday night (amazing given the holiday weekend). However, when we got to the shop in Anchorage that would do the work we both had serious questions...a real mess, very grubby and no lift. But, long story short, after about 4 hours and $270 (plus replacing all the fuel) the job was done and we returned in the rain to YOW,
From here we're planning to drive to Whittier, take a day cruise around Prince William Sound, hike and then return to Tok and on to the Wrangall-St. Elias Mountains.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008 Denali National Park
Because Denali is so awesome in every way, I'm going to start here then write just a bit at the end about our trip to Circle and from there to here.
On the way from Fairbanks to Denali, I called the reservation number for Alaskans and miracle of miracles, was able to make a reservation for the Teklanika River Campground...the reason that's such a big deal is that Park regulations allow private cars to drive only 15 miles into the Park and Teklanika is 29 miles in giving us the opportunity to stop when and where we wanted to. Part of that is good news because we saw a grizzly year old cub just on the side of the road digging up a root...what fun taking that photo was. Part of that is bad news: the weather was perfect and Denali was "out" so at one point I climbed up on top of YOW to get a better shot and coming back down missed the last step, fell on my tush then slammed my head on the pavement. Fortunately a gentleman was right there and strongly recommended an ice pack which we did as I already had a large bump developing. Long story short, I'm well past the 72 hour mark and have no symptoms so we think all is well.
On Sunday, we took a great bus trip to the end of the road, Kantishna, with many photo stops, beautiful rest stops and visitor centers along the way. The driver/guide, Kim, was outstanding in her knowledge about Denali and the wildlife. We saw grzzlies, Dall sheep, wolves, fox, ptarmigan as well as little critters. But most of all we saw the incredible, awesome beauty of Denali. We were most fortunate because Denali was with us all the way...a treat that only happens about 20% of the time! At 20,320' it rises as a huge, white (snow) massif from the valley below which is barely 3,000' so it's phenomenally huge. It's so large, so beautiful that the rest of the mountains seem quite ordinary while in other settings they too would be considered specially beautiful. Everywhere the mountains are set off by braided rivers, rushing streams and the fall colors. Without doubt, this is the most beauriful place we've ever seen, a place everyone should see at least once in his/her lifetime.
Monday we generally putzed in YOW and walked around the campground. One of the strange and wonderful things about Denali is that visitors are encouraged to walk everywhere and anywhere even without trails. We found some great "trails" (human or animal who knows) behind our campsite that led to the Teklanika River then along it to a high rock bluff that looked out on hundreds of miles of wilderness. That's not an exaggeration...Denali is larger than Massachusetts and has just one 90-mile long road! To the west of te Park boundary there's 600+ miles of wilderness before one reaches the Bering Sea! Today we've continued the putzing and are now camped at the Riley Creek Campground...huge but it has a laundry which we need!
So, back to leaving Olnes Pond and turning onto the Steece Highway that leads east from Fairbanks to Circle, a small native town on the Yukon River. We never made Circle as we had such a great campsite in the Upper Chatanika River State Recreation Site where we stayed two nights. This is another great campground that's "open" but charges no fee because there are no services...a budgetary problem. We did explore some 20 miles east of there...beautiful but a bit boring. I guess we're just spoiled!
The drive from Fairbanks towards Denali was so beautiful, most of it overlooking the Tenana River Valley that we'd seen on the drive from Moon Lake CG to Fairbanks. Since we didn't have reservations in Denali until Saturday, we spent Friday night at the Taklinika Trading Post RV Park along the Nenama River...a great camping site plus they ha a great shower and an organic CSA garden that was really outstanding. We'd stopped at the little river town of Nenama along the way for lunch and a walk through the historic river town (where the Nenama and Nanama Rivers join). Luckily we found the Old Saw Shop where George, the proprietor, knew exactly what was wrong with our chain saw...we'd kept it in a black plastic garbage bag which resulted in condensation that got into the engine. He cleaned and dried everything so now it's in gerat conditionn (we'd discovered it wasn't working when we tried to cut some firewood on our drive up the Steece Highway).
As a general comment: throughout the trip, we've had great weather, lots of sunshine, very few bugs (including mosquitoes), roads have been excellent, there aren't many competing campers so we've had great campsites. This is very different from what we'd heard.
On the way from Fairbanks to Denali, I called the reservation number for Alaskans and miracle of miracles, was able to make a reservation for the Teklanika River Campground...the reason that's such a big deal is that Park regulations allow private cars to drive only 15 miles into the Park and Teklanika is 29 miles in giving us the opportunity to stop when and where we wanted to. Part of that is good news because we saw a grizzly year old cub just on the side of the road digging up a root...what fun taking that photo was. Part of that is bad news: the weather was perfect and Denali was "out" so at one point I climbed up on top of YOW to get a better shot and coming back down missed the last step, fell on my tush then slammed my head on the pavement. Fortunately a gentleman was right there and strongly recommended an ice pack which we did as I already had a large bump developing. Long story short, I'm well past the 72 hour mark and have no symptoms so we think all is well.
On Sunday, we took a great bus trip to the end of the road, Kantishna, with many photo stops, beautiful rest stops and visitor centers along the way. The driver/guide, Kim, was outstanding in her knowledge about Denali and the wildlife. We saw grzzlies, Dall sheep, wolves, fox, ptarmigan as well as little critters. But most of all we saw the incredible, awesome beauty of Denali. We were most fortunate because Denali was with us all the way...a treat that only happens about 20% of the time! At 20,320' it rises as a huge, white (snow) massif from the valley below which is barely 3,000' so it's phenomenally huge. It's so large, so beautiful that the rest of the mountains seem quite ordinary while in other settings they too would be considered specially beautiful. Everywhere the mountains are set off by braided rivers, rushing streams and the fall colors. Without doubt, this is the most beauriful place we've ever seen, a place everyone should see at least once in his/her lifetime.
Monday we generally putzed in YOW and walked around the campground. One of the strange and wonderful things about Denali is that visitors are encouraged to walk everywhere and anywhere even without trails. We found some great "trails" (human or animal who knows) behind our campsite that led to the Teklanika River then along it to a high rock bluff that looked out on hundreds of miles of wilderness. That's not an exaggeration...Denali is larger than Massachusetts and has just one 90-mile long road! To the west of te Park boundary there's 600+ miles of wilderness before one reaches the Bering Sea! Today we've continued the putzing and are now camped at the Riley Creek Campground...huge but it has a laundry which we need!
So, back to leaving Olnes Pond and turning onto the Steece Highway that leads east from Fairbanks to Circle, a small native town on the Yukon River. We never made Circle as we had such a great campsite in the Upper Chatanika River State Recreation Site where we stayed two nights. This is another great campground that's "open" but charges no fee because there are no services...a budgetary problem. We did explore some 20 miles east of there...beautiful but a bit boring. I guess we're just spoiled!
The drive from Fairbanks towards Denali was so beautiful, most of it overlooking the Tenana River Valley that we'd seen on the drive from Moon Lake CG to Fairbanks. Since we didn't have reservations in Denali until Saturday, we spent Friday night at the Taklinika Trading Post RV Park along the Nenama River...a great camping site plus they ha a great shower and an organic CSA garden that was really outstanding. We'd stopped at the little river town of Nenama along the way for lunch and a walk through the historic river town (where the Nenama and Nanama Rivers join). Luckily we found the Old Saw Shop where George, the proprietor, knew exactly what was wrong with our chain saw...we'd kept it in a black plastic garbage bag which resulted in condensation that got into the engine. He cleaned and dried everything so now it's in gerat conditionn (we'd discovered it wasn't working when we tried to cut some firewood on our drive up the Steece Highway).
As a general comment: throughout the trip, we've had great weather, lots of sunshine, very few bugs (including mosquitoes), roads have been excellent, there aren't many competing campers so we've had great campsites. This is very different from what we'd heard.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008-Fairbanks, Alaska
We returned last night from another adventure...a 900 mile round trip to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse on the Dalton Highway, also known as the "Haul Road" due to the heavy truck useage supplying the oil fields. We left Saturday morning, spent the night in the old mining town of Weisman, stayed Sunday night at the Arctic Caribou Inn in Deadhorse then drove all the way back to YOW at the Olnes Pond campground.
But let me start with Olnes Pond. Sharon, our friend from the Milepost had ssuggested it given our pecuniary nature...we didn't want to spend any more money than necessary in campground fees! Olnes Pond used to be a state campground but has been closed for some reason and is therefore free! About 20 miles north of Fairbanks, our site is right on the Pond and absolutely gorgeous.
The Dalton Highway is similar to the Dempster...a combination of both paved and dirt. We much prefer the dirt as the paved is subject to frost heaves which makes it very wavy whereas the dirt only has occasional pot holes. There's nothing flat about the Dalton...it's either uphill or downhill so thank heavens for the pac brake.
There's only one gas station along the Dalton at a place called Coldfoot Camp...the price? $5.89. Also in the Coldfoot area is the outstanding Arctic Interpretative Center, designed by a combination of the National Parks Service, BLM and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The displays are excellent backed up by lots of resosurces.
The Boreal Lodge in tiny Weisman, our home for Saturday night, consisted of a 4 bedroom lodge with two bathrooms (meaning we had to go outside to use it and shared them with 5 other people) and a shared kitchen. Weisman is totally off the grid so the Boreal Lodge is as well...supplied by a combination of solar panels, wind turbine, 2 diesel generators and a paddlewheel generator. But it was perfect for what we needed. We walked around town for about an hour...beautiful and totally charming. Most of the few homes are log, most dating back to the very early 1900s. The Koyukuk River runs along side the town...ice-y cold and a wonderful source of fish.
The North Slope is a vast area of gently rolling hills in wonderful fall colors of gold and red, braided rivers, and many bow hunters. We only saw a few caribou and the area is so wide open we have no idea how a hunter could sneak up on a caribou! Besides, we saw no antlers in any of the trucks so I don't think they did!
At the end of the North Slope and 3 miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields is the supply town of Deadhorse. Very industrial in character, the hotels are lodging for the workers in the oil fields and, originally, the builders of the Dalton. Nothing fancy here...just the basics of two twin beds, a dresser, two small tables and a bathroom...private! I'm glad we brought our own foam pillows and down comforters! The restaurant was also basic but decent.
We signed up for the Prudhoe Bay tour which was fascinating. Lots of facts to share: 1) the oil fields provide 20% of the U.S. oil needs, 2) the fields are 40 miles x 15 miles in size, 3) the operation runs 24/7/365 in 12 hour shifts with workers working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 4) salaries range from $50K-$200K, 5) there's a zero tolerance for both alcohol and drugs...and they mean zero, 6) once workers get themselves to Anchorage, everything is paid for...jet transportation, food, housing, clothing and equipment.
The following may surprise some of you. In terms of the environment, the area is clean and very wildlife friendly (the original pipelines were built quite close to the ground which interrupted caribou migration but they've been raised and there's no problem...in fact the caribou herd has increased 7 times since the highway and fields started to a current population of 30,000). All construction is done in the winter when ice roads can be used: buildings and wells are set on special pads to protect the tundra and permafrost. When the oil fields are depleted (estimated at about 50 years), everything man made will be removed and all sites will be re-seeded with native grasses and shrubs. Based on all we've seen, we both still strongly believe that the future must focus on development of alternative energy but that all North Slope oil, currently 17 fields, should be harvested and that includes ANWR.
Our long drive back (11 hours) began in cloudy, misty cold and we were afraid we'd never see the Brooks Range. But as we crested Atigun Pass, the clouds and mist were replaced by glorious sun and blue skies. Spectacular views were everywhere, the mountains above timberline enveloped in the reds of bear berry along golden ground cover. Below timberline, we found deep green spruce and bright gold aspens framed by sparkling rivers and streams. This is definitely an area we'd like to return to with some sort of camper (the road is definitely not YOW friendly!).
In the next few days, we plan to travel back to the Yukon, this time at Circle, a native village. After that we'll be exploring the Denali area.
But let me start with Olnes Pond. Sharon, our friend from the Milepost had ssuggested it given our pecuniary nature...we didn't want to spend any more money than necessary in campground fees! Olnes Pond used to be a state campground but has been closed for some reason and is therefore free! About 20 miles north of Fairbanks, our site is right on the Pond and absolutely gorgeous.
The Dalton Highway is similar to the Dempster...a combination of both paved and dirt. We much prefer the dirt as the paved is subject to frost heaves which makes it very wavy whereas the dirt only has occasional pot holes. There's nothing flat about the Dalton...it's either uphill or downhill so thank heavens for the pac brake.
There's only one gas station along the Dalton at a place called Coldfoot Camp...the price? $5.89. Also in the Coldfoot area is the outstanding Arctic Interpretative Center, designed by a combination of the National Parks Service, BLM and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. The displays are excellent backed up by lots of resosurces.
The Boreal Lodge in tiny Weisman, our home for Saturday night, consisted of a 4 bedroom lodge with two bathrooms (meaning we had to go outside to use it and shared them with 5 other people) and a shared kitchen. Weisman is totally off the grid so the Boreal Lodge is as well...supplied by a combination of solar panels, wind turbine, 2 diesel generators and a paddlewheel generator. But it was perfect for what we needed. We walked around town for about an hour...beautiful and totally charming. Most of the few homes are log, most dating back to the very early 1900s. The Koyukuk River runs along side the town...ice-y cold and a wonderful source of fish.
The North Slope is a vast area of gently rolling hills in wonderful fall colors of gold and red, braided rivers, and many bow hunters. We only saw a few caribou and the area is so wide open we have no idea how a hunter could sneak up on a caribou! Besides, we saw no antlers in any of the trucks so I don't think they did!
At the end of the North Slope and 3 miles from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields is the supply town of Deadhorse. Very industrial in character, the hotels are lodging for the workers in the oil fields and, originally, the builders of the Dalton. Nothing fancy here...just the basics of two twin beds, a dresser, two small tables and a bathroom...private! I'm glad we brought our own foam pillows and down comforters! The restaurant was also basic but decent.
We signed up for the Prudhoe Bay tour which was fascinating. Lots of facts to share: 1) the oil fields provide 20% of the U.S. oil needs, 2) the fields are 40 miles x 15 miles in size, 3) the operation runs 24/7/365 in 12 hour shifts with workers working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. 4) salaries range from $50K-$200K, 5) there's a zero tolerance for both alcohol and drugs...and they mean zero, 6) once workers get themselves to Anchorage, everything is paid for...jet transportation, food, housing, clothing and equipment.
The following may surprise some of you. In terms of the environment, the area is clean and very wildlife friendly (the original pipelines were built quite close to the ground which interrupted caribou migration but they've been raised and there's no problem...in fact the caribou herd has increased 7 times since the highway and fields started to a current population of 30,000). All construction is done in the winter when ice roads can be used: buildings and wells are set on special pads to protect the tundra and permafrost. When the oil fields are depleted (estimated at about 50 years), everything man made will be removed and all sites will be re-seeded with native grasses and shrubs. Based on all we've seen, we both still strongly believe that the future must focus on development of alternative energy but that all North Slope oil, currently 17 fields, should be harvested and that includes ANWR.
Our long drive back (11 hours) began in cloudy, misty cold and we were afraid we'd never see the Brooks Range. But as we crested Atigun Pass, the clouds and mist were replaced by glorious sun and blue skies. Spectacular views were everywhere, the mountains above timberline enveloped in the reds of bear berry along golden ground cover. Below timberline, we found deep green spruce and bright gold aspens framed by sparkling rivers and streams. This is definitely an area we'd like to return to with some sort of camper (the road is definitely not YOW friendly!).
In the next few days, we plan to travel back to the Yukon, this time at Circle, a native village. After that we'll be exploring the Denali area.
Friday, August 15, 2008
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!
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!
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