Hello everybody! We're back!
After 2 weeks of traveling south through Alaska and BC we're back in the lower 48 again. Everything went pretty smooth, we enjoyed a lot more of incredible beautiful scenery, had no major breakdowns or mishaps what so-ever, made it back with everything and everybody still in one piece and basically had a great time!
It took me a while to get all pictures sorted out and to come up with a comprehensive story to connect the 120 or so that 'made the cut' but here it is so fasten your seat belts, sit back and enjoy!
The temperatures had plummeted the last week of August to almost freezing during the night and not much better during the day and the skies were grey. The low hanging clouds were dropping a nasty drizzle for most of the days.
Definitely time to leave!
We said our goodbyes on one of those overcasts mornings and headed south on the Parks Highway.
Because of the weather the fall colors lacked their normal vibrancy which really was a bummer since this part of the road is especially beautiful in the fall. Also Mount McKinley can be seen from various viewpoints along the road, weather permitting, and this day definitely didn't qualify.
We were glad we at least got to see it during our flight-seeing tour!
Again we passed through a lot of permafrost areas with its tell tale stunted black spruces.
We took a short side trip into Talkeetna, a cute little town that began as a trading post and still consists mainly of old historical cabins and stores from the times when pioneers, fur trappers and gold miners called this part of the Alaskan wilderness home.
Nowadays it's the main aviation and supply base for Denali climbing expeditions.
Later that afternoon we visited the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Trail Headquarters just outside of Wassilla. It has a nice visitor center where we watched an interesting film about this famous race and its mushers.
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is an annual long-distance sled dog race run in early March from Anchorage to Nome. Mushers and a team of 12–16 dogs, of which at least 6 must be on the towline at the finish line, covering the distance in 9–15 days.
There has been quite some criticism by animal-activists who say the race is dog abuse. Dogs die and get injured and they question the vet care the dogs receive.
Pro-racers claim these dogs just 'love to run' and the videos and demonstrations certainly show their eagerness.
My question is: do they also know when to stop? I have experienced with Sadie and other dogs that for example if I don't limit certain activities she will harm herself since she doesn't quit. Like keeping her from chasing a ball when it's hot or she might collapse or from overeating buy limiting her food. Both things she 'loves' to do!
We spent the night in Wassilla at Walmart where we did some major grocery shopping. Hopefully it will get us all the way through Canada since we don't want to pay $6 for a bread or a gallon of milk like last time!
This is a great place to sample some of Alaska's native cultures in one facility. Story telling, native dance and song, artist demonstrations and native games are demonstrated inside the Welcome House and a guided tour takes you around Tiulana Lake where native huts/cabins have been reconstructed each one representing one of Alaska's 6 native cultures.
In the summer there are demonstrations of traditional techniques for fishing, hunting and day to day activities but unfortunately this was the last day of the summer season openings and that part of the center was already closed down.
That evening we meet with another 'old' classmate of James from his years of studying at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara who so happens to live in Alaska at the moment.
She brings us to a great Sushi restaurant where we have a delicious meal and a great time catching up and sharing stories about Alaska.
The next day it is cold and windy as we make our way even farther south on the Seward Highway towards the Kenai Peninsula.
This beautiful Highway connects Anchorage to Seward and winds its first half between cliffs and ocean. On one side there's the gray rock of Chugach State Park and on the other Turnagain Arm in the Cook Inlet and the glacier-ed peaks of the Kenai Mountains.
We keep an eye out for Beluga Whales, the only all white whales existing that live in these waters, but we are not so lucky.
We do visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and are thoroughly impressed with this beautiful drive-through animal park. I never visit zoo's, I just can't stand to see animals living in such tight quarters but this park is dedicated to the rehabilitation of injured or orphaned animals although some of them will live her safely for the rest of their lives since they won't survive in the wild anymore.
When we eventually reach the Peninsula the road climbs up over 900 feet from near sea level to the Turnagain Pass and than up into the Kenai Mountains.
Our destination today was Coopers landing where the Kenai River, famous for it's salmon population, flows into the Kenai Lake.
The water really has this gorgeous turquoise color!
Fishing is what the Kenai Peninsula is all about! Salmon and trout in the rivers and halibut in the Ocean. Somewhere between mid-May and early November various different salmon species each have their 'run' and fishermen from all over the world come here to catch their share.
We don't fish but we love to see them jumping and swimming in these beautiful rivers and off course we like to eat them!
We expected to stuff ourselves each day while we were here but that was a real disappointment. The salmon (and halibut) here is just as expensive, probably even more so (!) than anywhere else and thus not in our (daily) budget! Jeez.... I was really looking forward to that...
These are some of the really neat fish viewing boardwalks along the rivers that allow you to see for yourselves what it is all about!
While camping at the Kenai Princess RV Park in Coopers landing we left the next day for a day trip to Homer.
Via Sterling and Soldotna we drove up the Kenai Spur Highway to Kenai which is situated on a low rise overlooking the mouth of the Kenai River where it empties into Cooks Inlet.
Unfortunately it was a rather cloudy, windy and grey day otherwise we would have had a great view of the 3 major volcanic peaks in the Alaska Range in the distance: Mount Spurr, Mount Illiamna and Mount Redoubt which erupted in 1989.
A little walk down this deceivingly beautiful beach got James almost stuck in some quick sand! He escaped with a very wet and muddy foot.
Kenai is the largest city on the Peninsula. It became the second permanent settlement established in 1791 by Russian fur traders in Alaska.
There are many names in the area that remind of this Russian heritage, like that of the Kalifornsky Beach Road, the Kasilof and Ninilchik River or the little town of Nikiski.
Other Russian landmarks are the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church, founded in 1846.
And this next beautiful little church, high on a bluff, is the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church.
I didn't know why the orthodox crosses have 3 horizontal crossbeams so I had to look it up:
The Orthodox, Byzantine or Russian (Orthodox) Cross is a variation of the Christian cross, commonly found in Eastern Orthodox Churches. The cross has three horizontal crossbeams—the top represents the plate inscribed with INRI (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, in Latin), and the bottom, a footrest. According to Russian Orthodox tradition, when Saint Andrew was preaching in southern Russia, he used a similarly designed life-sized cross and tilted the footrest to show that those on Christ's right would ascend to Heaven, while those on Christ's left would descend to Hell. Consequently, in the Russian Orthodox Church this cross is sometimes called the Cross of Saint Andrew. In the Greek Orthodox Church, the footrest remains straight, as in earlier representations.
The smaller chapel on the bottom right is the St Nicholas Chapel, built in 1906, as a memorial to father Nicholai who distributed the first small pox vaccine in the territory.
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| The tiny town of Ninilchik Village |
When we approached Homer it started to rain real bad and as a result you can barely make out the famous 'Homer Spit' in this picture as it juts out into Kachemak Bay on the left.
The Spit is a 4.3 mile long, narrow bar of gravel onto which the Sterling Highway continues until it dead ends in the bay.
Homer calls itself the Halibut Fishing Capital of the World and tours and guides are available everywhere.
On this rainy afternoon there wasn't a soul outside at the boat harbor on the Spit.
Everybody was holed up in the funky 'Salty Dawg Saloon' situated at the bottom of the light house.
We made a quick tour of the numerous souvenir shops and than decided to join them!
Bald eagles are abundant in the Homer area and are often seen on the mud flats but only a couple of juveniles were brave enough to face the rain today.
On our way back the sun decided to come out again. What a difference a little sunshine makes! Everything looked so much nicer .
We had this nice view of the wetlands behind Deep Creek State recreation Area.
When we arrived back at Coopers Landing some fishers took advantage of the beautiful evening's sunset that the change of weather brought about.
The next day we drove only 50 miles to the Ptarmigan Creek USFS Campground since we wanted to dry camp tonight (saving money) and unhooked before setting of for Seward where we were going to take a 1/2 day cruise into Resurrection Bay.
We were thrilled that the weather gods were with us, it looked like it was going to be a gorgeous day! Just what you want to go for a boat ride!
At 12.00 we boarded the Star of the Northwest of the Major Marine Tours Cruise line and by 12.30 we were on our way.
What a perfect day!
During the tour we enjoyed a fabulous lunch, as much as you could eat, Alaska salmon and prime rib served buffet style.
Cheesecake and brownies for desert!
Barely out of the harbor we had our first sea-life encounter. This adorable sea otter!
The smallest of all marine mammals, the playful sea otter spends most of its life in the water, feeding on fish, squid, sea urchins and crabs. They often float on their backs, using their stomachs as a table for their food. They are generally 29 to 39 inches long with light brown heads and flipper-like feet.
And a little later these Puffins!
These clowns of the North Pacific spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to raise their young. Both horned and tufted puffins are often seen during the cruises. Puffins gorge themselves on small fish, often making it nearly impossible for them to take off and fly.
And this colony of Steller's Sea Lions.
This rare, endangered species lives in large colonies, feeding largely on mollusks and fish. They grow to 6 to 8 feet and weigh 1,500 lbs. (males) and 600 lbs. (females). They are distinguished from their cousins, the California Sea Lion, by their light colored, reddish fur.
Kenai Fjords National Park and the mountains around Prince William Sound contain some of the best viewing areas for glaciers in all of Alaska. These glaciers and ice fields can be very large. For example, the Harding Ice Field covers more than 700 square miles and is the source of over 35 named glaciers.
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| Bear Glacier, the largest glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park |
And just when we thought this couldn't get any better we noticed some splashing in the distance.... and than some fins........ and than we were suddenly surrounded by a large "pod' of Orca's!
Everybody on board started to frantically snap away with their camera's! It was amazing! At one time one of them came alongside the boat, dove underneath the bow and appeared again on the other side!
My camera didn't do a very great job (not enough zoom) but I managed to get a few shots.
Often called Killer Whales, Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family and have no natural predators. These 15- to 30- foot sea mammals are able to swim at speeds of up to 30 mph. Orcas generally travel in pods. The diet of the Orca Whale is incredibly varied and on any given day could consist of fish, squid, porpoise, seals, birds or other animals. The highly distinct black and white markings and tall dorsal fins make each Orca unique.
The captain stated she had never seen any Orcas on this short tour and never had them come up this close to the boat on any other tours. Period.
She thought we were the luckiest people, not only did we choose the first sunny day since a month (!) to do this tour but now we could add this exciting encounter to our bragging rights!
Back in the harbor we agreed that this definitely was one of the highlights of Alaska so far!
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| How big, James........? Right..! |
On our way back we decided to 'do' one more glacier since they claim this is one you can practically walk right up to and get so close you can almost reach out and touch it.
This one's called the Exit Glacier, 3 miles long, which descends some 3,500 feet from the Harding Icefield.
Well,... it turned out you could not get as close anymore as you used to! This glacier, like many others, has been retreating over the years, although as a matter of fact it has done that already since the Little Ice Age. 'Year' signs along the trail show you how far it reached in previous years.
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| The great white explorer.... |
The next morning we took off early and had to leave this beautiful Peninsula behind us again.
This is one of the luckiest pictures I ever took out of a moving truck, at a bend in a bumpy road, trying to miss the telephone pole, the front window frame and the side mirror!
Backtracking to Anchorage again we stopped at the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge commonly referred to as 'Potter Marsh', a very popular spot for bird watching.
This man made marsh, created during the construction of the Alaska Railroad, is accessible via an extensive boardwalk.
Alas, most birds had left for warmer climates already and I cannot blame them, we're ready for a little sunshine ourselves!
At one time we'd considered this refuge as a workamping spot and even talked to a ranger on the phone but decided against it in favor of Healy where we had hook-ups and had to work much less hours!
From here we smoothly sailed by Anchorage and Palmer on the Glenn Highway east to Tok.
The first 35 miles or so after Palmer the 'Glenn' makes it's way through the Talkeetna and Chugach mountains with a stretch of extremely windy and narrow roads and quite a few improvement projects to slow you down even more.
I'm not feeling to comfortable during this part of the day with all the frost heaves, pavement breaks, dips and steep grades with equally steep drop offs and barely a guardrail or turn-out in sight.
The scenery was absolutely spectacular though!
Another glacier! This is the Matanuska Glacier, 4 miles wide at it's terminus and one of the few glaciers that has remained fairly stable for the last 400 years.
The Chugach Mountains
Leila and Tahneta Lake, just before reaching the Eureka Summit (elevation 3,322 feet), the highest point on the Glenn Highway.
That evening we camp at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground & RV Park and 'score' this beautiful site along the Tolsona Creek.
Not that we have to fight for it since the campground is empty and will actually close for the season this coming weekend.
It's really cold that night and we've heard rumours about snow at the higher elevations for the day after tomorrow.
This puts us a little bit in a bind since we're thinking of driving to Chicken tonight and to Dawson City tomorrow via the Top of the World Highway.
Which will definitely bring us to 'higher elevations' and thus possibly to the snow which is not where we want to be with our big RV and our truck without 4-wheel drive or winter tires.
After a lot of debate we finally decide to take the chance since the forecasts are all different and usually not very accurate for these regions either.
After passing Tok we head for the hills and make our way to Chicken via the Taylor Highway which climbs from the Tanana River valley up and down grades from 5 to 7 percent to Chicken at 1640 feet.
The Tanana River
We reach Chicken around 3pm and do a little sight seeing. Chicken was supposedly named by early miners who wanted to name their camp ptarmigan, but were unable to spell it and settled instead for chicken which is the common name in the North for ptarmigan.
As a result, Chicken is the place to find all sorts of decor and stuff with a 'chicken' theme.
Still an active gold mining town, you can try your luck panning in a creek or even going out on a real claim.
The old Pedro Dredge No. 4 is on display from the days that floating mining dredges were used to dig out ponds to allow them to float across the area to be mined and scrape the bottom and edges with a line of buckets (the digging ladder).
As I said, chicken everywhere! (This one's made from recycled high school lockers from Homer)
How about these restrooms; the 'chicken poop'
There's even an annual Bluegrass music fest called......Chickenstock!
Looks like we got ourselves a hitchhiker on our Hitchhiker :-)
Since we were early and the road was dry and the weather was good and Dawson City is only 108 miles away and it is light until 8 pm.......we decide to move on and drive to Dawson City today.
If it snows tonight the road might not be passable for us tomorrow and we'll be stuck here for a couple of days or longer until it stops and dries up.
Although it's a cute town it's not something we'd want to do.
So,...up we go!
The road turns into dirt the moment we leave town, something we had anticipated and is very windy and narrow, also something we knew ahead by reading our 'milepost' road book. So nothing to worry about .......
The scenery is spectacular as we slowly make our way up to the Canadian Border at 4127 feet.
About half way the road starts to get wet and somewhere around 3000 feet we see the first snow appear along the road. Snow? Yeah, SNOW!
Apparently it already snowed here last night and the road is turning into thick slippery mud the farther we go. There's no stopping or turning around now possible, since there aren't any turnouts, heck, there aren't even any shoulders!
James is fighting to keep in control of the truck and to keep the wheels from slipping and us sliding back downhill, either in the ditch on the left or down the steep mountain side on the right!
On top of that a fog rolls in and over us and soon we don't see 20 yards in front of us.
Although not being religious I'm not beyond praying in these kind of situations so I'm doing a lot of silent bargaining, begging and promising!
And than finally, we almost miss it because of the fog, finally, we reach the border and Canada customs.
We try to engage the custom guy in a little upbeat conversation because we're so happy we made it until here but he's like all of them, so 'official' he's practically rude.
Oh, well..be like that... we're so relieved it doesn't really matter and after one final climb to the summit at 4515 feet the road improves immediately. We're back on asphalt! Hallelujah!
The fog also lifts a little so we can see where we're going again. As soon as we can we stop and try to catch our breath (I was seriously close to hyperventilating) and in my case try to get rid of the jitters and relax my sore muscles that have been in a tight crunch through this whole ordeal.
Now we can see what's around us we finally understand why this is called the Top of the World highway!
The view is stunning. I was going to say breath taking but I'm too glad I got mine back for the moment, thank you very much.
Another hour later we make our descend to the Yukon River where the little George Black ferry is waiting on this site of the river.
This is a free ferry that runs 24/7 from 'break-up' (of the ice) somewhere about mid-May until 'freeze-up' around the 3d week of October .
In the summer the wait can be as much as 3 hours but we're the only ones here tonight so we can drive straight on.
It's a tight fit (we actually called in advance if they could take us
knowing it was a tiny ferry) but everything goes smoothly.
Boy, oh boy, are we happy to get settled at the Gold Rush Campground & RV park in downtown Dawson and we crawl into bed almost immediately! Aren't beds pure heaven sometimes?
We vow not ever, ever to do something like that again! What a day!
We think the sunset looks particularly dramatic this evening but that might have something to do with our mindset, what d'ya'think ?
The next morning we make a 'grand slam' breakfast, we're still celebrating! Than it's time to take a good look at the RV and truck and access any damage done yesterday.
My word, are they dirty! Unbelievable! Sticky red mud is caked on everywhere!
Other than that we can't find anything broken or damaged which is rather amazing considering what they went through yesterday.
We decide on a leisurely Sunday stroll through Dawson City's historical center after spending a little while at the excellent Visitor center where we watch two very good video's about the city's history.
Dawson City developed from a fishing camp used by the Hän-speaking people of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in into Yukon's first capital during the Klondike Gold Rush (1896-1899) when gold was found and thousands flocked north to try their luck in the fields and creeks surrounding the booming city.
By 1899 it was all over and all but 8000 (from the 40.000) left. When the Alaska Highway was build and bypassed it 300 miles to the south the damage was so much that Whitehorse replaced it as territorial capital.
Today, Dawson City is a colorful city with carefully restored buildings and, in the summer, costumed interpreters.
It being the end of the season and a Sunday on top of that there was not much going on anymore.
Lots of stores were already closed but we visited a few and enjoyed walking the wooden boardwalks and looking at the authentic frontier houses.
We would have liked to see the show with can-can dancers at Diamond Tooth Gerties gambling hall but it was closed due to a poker tournament. How appropriate!
After another really cold night, it actually froze both nights we were here, we left town after pressure washing the vehicles at the local gas station.
There is actually some snow alongside the road and every now and than we encounter a little snow flurry.
We're pretty sure the Top of the World got lots more overnight, there's no way we could have made it if we had waited!
The road, now called the 'Klondike Loop', basically follows the Yukon and is in great condition.
Just north of Carmack we come across 'Five Finger Rapids', named by early miners for the 5 channels, or fingers, formed by the rock pillars in the river.
It formed a dangerous obstacle for the overloaded sternwheelers who had to winch themselves along a cable through the nearest (east) passage.
We spent the night at yet another beautiful Yukon government campground, Twin Lakes
It's already closed for the season as in that there is no maintenance or service available but the gate is still open and you're free to stay for the night if you like. Good deal!
The next day we continue to drive south towards Whitehorse. It's a beautiful day and we have a nice view of Lake Laberge:
And of the 'Miners Range' with Pilot Mountain (6739')
After gassing up around Whitehorse we bypass the city since we've already seen it on the way up and head even farther south for Carcross where we park and disconnect the RV at Carcross Tagish First Nation's campground near the airstrip.
From here it's only 65 miles south to Skagway so we decide to go ahead and see it today.
Isn't this the most gorgeous bright coloured lake? It's aptly called Emerald Lake or Rainbow Lake by the locals and on it's shore somebody built what has to be his or her dream house.
The road winds and climbs it's way along numerous lakes and mountains like Bove or Tagish, Tutshi and Summit Lake and Montana, Caribou and Lime Mountain.
In order to reach Skagway we have to scale another pass and the higher we get the more foggy it gets.
We reach the White Pass Summit (3292') in a fog so dense that we slow to a crawl for a while until we've descended again as far as the US border, about 7 miles from Skagway.
Yup, another border crossing! Skagway is situated on the 'Alaska Panhandle' so we're going to be in Alaska for a couple of hours again, that State sure has some crazy border lines!
The bend poles you see here on the side of the road are there to let the snow plow know where the road is. Go figure! Must be some snow!
When we reach Skagway we cannot believe how many people are walking around it's streets! Hordes!
We quickly learn that there are 3 cruise ships in the harbor who have just deposited their passengers into town for the afternoon.
By golly, how many people are there on these ships?
When we take a walk to the harbor later on we understand. These ships are GIGANTIC!
Skagway was another fishing and trading camp inhabited by the Tlingit until it's access to the White Pass and Chilkoot trails to the gold fields during the Klondike Gold Rush turned it into the largest city in Alaska by June 1898.
It was a lawless town, described by one member of the North-West Mounted Police as "little better than a hell on earth." Fights, prostitutes and liquor were ever-present on Skagway's streets.
The most colorful resident in those days was bad man Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith. He was a sophisticated swindler who liked to think of himself as a kind and generous benefactor to the needy. He had gracious manners and he gave money to widows and stopped lynchings, while at the same time operating a ring of thieves who swindled prospectors with cards, dice, and the shell game.
He was shot and killed by Frank Reid and Jesse Murphy on July 8, 1898, in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf.
We went to see the matinee of the 'Days of the 98 Show', a daily production that portrays Smith's criminal antics and death in Skagway. We loved it, it was very well done, fast paced and humorous and very entertaining.
When the 'golden days' were over Skagway almost became a ghost town like all others in those days but persisted, both as a port and as a terminus of the railway and later as cruise ships and the Alaska State Ferry System brought tourism and business to the town.
This ship is from the Holland America Line and is called the 'Zuiderdam'. It flies a dutch flag. I sort of feel proud although I'm not a big fan of these mammoths.
(Have you ever read " A supposedly fun thing I'll never do again" by .... It's hilarious but cures you for good from ever wanting to go on a cruise yourself.)
We walked main street for a while, looked at the many Gold Rush era buildings, had some hot chocolate at the old historical railway station and were ready to 'get out of dodge' or rather 'out of this tourist trap'.
Back at our campsite we appreciated our nice and quiet campsite in the woods near Carcross even more now and drove for a little sightseeing through town in the evening.
Got it? CARibou CROSSing - CARCROSS
Coming up in May via the Central Access Route and the Alaska Highway we'd planned to go 'down' via the Cassiar Highway and after taking the shortcut on Tagish Road to Jake's Corner we backtracked part of the Alaska Highway we had been on a couple of weeks ago only to take a right on the Cassiar going south just before Watson Lake.
The road was pretty bad that first stretch and the by times heavy rain that day didn't make it much better. There are potholes and frost heaves galore and the road is very narrow and windy. Well...what else is new?
We didn't see much of the famed Cassiar Mountains and were pretty tired by the end of the day when we pulled into Jade City hoping we could camp at their campground.
As we'd encountered before they were already closed for the season but fortunately the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store lets you drycamp for free in their ample parking lot. They even serve free coffee in the store!
Very nice people and beautiful Nephrite jade mined in their own 'Dynasty Mine' in the Cassiar Mountain Range - home to 90% of the jade in the world.
During a rare break in the still very dreary weather we managed to get a peak of Lower Gnat Lake and the Cassiar Mountains when we were back on the road the following day.
We were a little worried about the upcoming 'Gnat Pass' (summit at 4072') since the snow level seemed fairly low but we passed it without any problems or most importantly, snow, and almost missed the summit marker entirely.
We stayed that night at the campground of Bell 2 Lodge which gave us full hook ups and WiFi, although the latter cost us $20 (for 24 hours minimum) extra!
James needed to check on some California-job-stuff so we had no choice but ..seriously!
At least they had great super hot showers. (for free!)
We had only 160 miles to go the next morning before pulling into lovely Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, which is conveniently situated just 1 mile from the Meziadin Junction where the Cassiar meets the Stewart-Hyder Access Road.
Well, what a coincidence! That's just were we want to go next!
This surely is a gorgeous place! No hookups but big spaces right on the lake, very well maintained, spotlessly clean and only $16.
We did our usual 'routine' of parking and unhooking and after making lunch to go we were on our way again.
We left Sadie in the RV this time. She really doesn't like to drive, although she is even more nervous about being left behind, and it's not easy for her to get in and out, even with the steps we made for her.
On our way to Stewart we ran into another glacier! I know, we're getting a little wary of them too!
On top of that this is another 'Bear Glacier'! They could at least use different names! Oh, well.
This glacier used to fill the whole valley, but in the 1940s it began to retreat
rapidly. The lake in front of it is Strohn Lake.
After another 30 miles we reached Stewart which lies at the head of Portland Canal, a narrow saltwater fjord approximately 90 miles long. It forms a natural boundary between Alaska and Canada and the deep harbour is Canada's most northerly ice-free port.
Two miles beyond Stewart you drive into the town of Hyder. Oh, and by the way, also straight into Alaska again!
Yup, you're crossing the border again. At least there's no US customs here.
Off course we're on our way to see the bears at the new (2001) million-dollar bear viewing platform at Fish Creek 3 miles north of Hyder.
This is the
only official bear-viewing location in Alaska that is accessible by road. The
platform is the Forest Service's answer to what had often been described as "a
tragedy waiting to happen" due to the large numbers of bears and humans here,
particularly in late July and early August.
OK, the very, very, tiny bird at the top left is a King Fisher. You have to take my word for it. The eagle is a juvenile Bald one and the fish (top right) is a Dog Salmon.
This is the beautiful lagoon where that morning 3 bears and a pack of wolves were seen.
Unfortunately we weren't that lucky. We did see Bald Eagles, King Fishers, and Salmon though and spending some time in this beautiful and peaceful place was well spent regardless.
Apparently, the bald eagle is the only eagle unique to North America.
At one time, the word "bald" meant "white," not hairless, hence the name.
Well we watched and watched and watched, one of the ranger's there called it bear waiting instead of bear watching, but nothing happened, so after 3 hours we went back home.
And what do you think? We were almost back when this black bear crossed our path!
Canada and Alaska have one of the highest concentrations of bears in the world and there are warnings signs all over the place.
Back at our beautiful campsite we sat outside for quite a while that evening.
We had to bundle up when the sun went down and it got cold pretty fast. James hired a personal 'leg warmer':
The next morning we drove the last stretch of the Cassiar Highway.
At last we had some nice distant views since the skies were clear for a change.
Just before the junction with the Yellowhead Highway we passed the mountain chain of the Seven Sisters.
After passing Kitwanga we continued the days journey on the Yellowhead Highway and around lunch time we spent some time at this nice little rest stop.
This little guy was treed by Merlin and Sadie and yelled at them until we left! Boy, was he mad!
Sadie had gotten rather hot in the back seat and took the opportunity too cool of a bit amongst the waterlilies in this nice little lake.
That afternoon the landscape totally transformed and for the first time in months we came across farmed land again with cows and horses in nice green pastures amidst softly rolling hills.
With it came more and more traffic and bigger towns with Dairy Queens and Safeway's and traffic lights!
We're back in civilization again, I guess.
Our campsite for the night is probably the largest yet. We're at Fraser Lake at the Beaumont Provincial Park and we manage to get about the only spot that's large enough for us here, and than some!
Wow, we have a whole grassy field behind us and nobody even close to the sides.
We all enjoy the campfire that night. It's been a while since we had one.
Merlin has a new 'favorite spot' he likes to hang out. It's on top of an empty beer carton in the basement.
Do you think he could make some money advertising for Leinenkugels?
The next day starts out pretty easy going, the weather is nice and the road is great.
Even the first miles onto Highway 97 are fine although we do start to climb pretty soon thereafter and perhaps the name of this road, Sea to Sky Highway, should have been a giveaway?
OK. Than there's this.
I don't know about you but for some reason when I come across something like this it's usually when we're already for a while on that road and there's no turning back unless you want to loose a day or something like that or there is no place to turn at all!
What also doesn't help is that in a lot of cases I'm reading the Milepost backwards since we're taking most roads just the other way around.
This means that I don't know quite what's coming unless I'm reading a day ahead, something I don't always have, or make, the time for.
So there it is: fasten your seat belt!
Beautiful? Yes. Scary? Yes, yes, yes!!
We're on a former logging road, much improved (asphalted at least!), that connects Vancouver with Whistler and Lllooet.
Described as : a 'scenic drive with spectacular views' - granted - but 'not always a relaxed drive'! Well, that's an understatement!
We're once again extremely grateful for the Banks power package we installed on the truck and even more so for the the exhausts brake we added!
When we finally arrive in Whistler with smoking breaks I must admit I'm not in the best of moods but we're at least lucky enough to snatch up the last large enough spot in the otherwise completely full Riverside RV Resort.
It's sunny and very warm here and we enjoy a couple of hours of well deserved relaxation in our lawn chairs. After a hot shower I feel almost human again and a nice outdoors meal brings this day once more to a happy ending.
Whistler lies between 2 famous ski hills, Whistler and Blackcomb and is one of the top ski resorts in North America. It hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games.
Even in the summer you can ski here as they'll fly you to the Horstman Glacier by helicopter.
Whistler Village apparently is a cute European style village with cobbled streets and pedestrian only plazas. The shops and restaurants are very upscale and exclusive.
Since we're too pooped to move and don't have the money for this kind of shopping we forgo a visit. In hindsight I wish we'd at least taken a short walk through town but that's how it goes sometimes.
The highway follows the east shore of Howe Sound as we're slowly descending to sea level the next morning when we make our way to Brackendale, Squamish, Brittania Beach and eventually Vancouver.
Horseshoe Bay
The Lions Gate Bridge brings us into Vancouver where we manage to spend 2 hours driving through very bad traffic because we're following the wrong highway (the old one)!
We probably see all of Chinatown which by the way must be the largest of the whole country! There's no end to it!
When we finally make it through and roll up to the US Border booth at the busy Sumas-Abbotsford border crossing we're off course selected for an inspection by the agriculture department.
We've got to get out and inside to fill out some paperwork, Sadie is moved to a kennel and when they come back 30 minutes later they've confiscated the dog food, some tomatoes, potatoes and a little plant I had in the bathroom!
Since the dog food wasn't in the original bag they can't be sure what's in it and they don't allow certain meats to be brought in the country. Great, we just got that bag!
Oh well, at least we're back in the US again and it's only another hour or so to Mt. Vernon where we do some grocery shopping at Walmart before we drive the last stretch of the day to Cameno Island.
Once again we make ourselves at home in aunt Esther's front yard who gives us a warm welcome and immediately springs into action to prepare us a wonderful meal!
All veggies on our plate come straight from her garden, they're practically still growing!
Look at this bounty!
Although the summer started late in this neck of the woods it was a warm one and the garden has produced great.
It's fun to be able to see (and sample) the 'fruits of our works' so literary.
In case you don't remember, this was how it looked like :
Before it became this:
And now it looks like this:
Isn't that beautiful?
We had a great time catching up on all that happened over the summer, enjoying a lot more of great food, coffee and pie and stayed another day to fix a few more things that were on Esther's new 'honey-do-list'.
All too soon we had to leave again and we took off with a full fridge and freezer due to generous donations of berry preserves and all kinds of veggies and fruits!
Thanks so much once again, Esther! We love you!
Leaving at 1 pm because we didn't have very far to go wasn't a real smart thing to do because now we had to battle rush hour in Seattle!
Oh well,...let's just say we got a good (long) view of the city....
And than again in Portland! Needless to say it got late.......
We were supposed to show up for dinner at 7pm and didn't make it until 8 or so, ......what else is new.
Fortunately they're all Hesses and we agreed that they're notorious (amongst other things) for showing up 'fashionable late'!
We enjoyed some really excellent Alaskan Salmon! Ha! So much for going all the way up there!
After spending the night parked behind their home we drove the 20 minutes or so to our last winter's stomping grounds in Dayton after breakfast the next morning and picked us a nice spot again at the Willamette Wine Country RV Park.
Funny how that almost felt like coming 'home' again.
So there you have it! Done! We're back!
I'm going to try to post this monster-post and hope it goes through!
Keep your fingers crossed. I'm scared to death that it somehow gets deleted or something like that!
