June 28

We left Denali National Park about noon yesterday after a trip to the Visitor’s Center to see a wonderful film, “Heartbeats of Denali” which showed parts of the park only wilderness backpackers can see. We drove south to Willow and are staying for three nights at the Susitna Landing which is an Alaska Game and Fish Park right on the Kashwitna and Susitna Rivers. They fish for salmon here, however, due to the spawning season you can only fish from midnight Friday through midnight Monday for the next two weeks.

John did do a little fishing when we first got here-clad in waders which covered his entire body. I laughed when I saw him,but, being the great sister I am, I'm not posting pictures--they are for bargaining chips later! These are berries along a stream—just waiting to ripen up and provide nourishment for some bear or moose. There was a sign on the side of the road to watch for moose since 240 had been killed in this area this winter by vehicles.

After dinner we drove back north with the intent that John would do more fishing, however, we caught a glimpse of Mount McKinley the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet and decided to continue driving to see if we could get a clearer view. We ended up at the Denali NP South Viewing area and got the views you see below.

Sunday June 27

This post and all the photos are the work of John!

Got to take the Kantishna Experience tour bus into the interior of the park today. It left from the Wilderness Access Center at 0730, with a light drizzle of rain. My hopes of seeing Mt McKinley were pretty high but in reality the chance to get a view of the mountain was not good. The guide for the trip was a really colorful gal, fisherman, dog sled musher, and had the gift of gab.

The first wildlife we spotted was the same 4 caribou bulls Linda and I had watched two days ago, they hadn’t moved very far.

The further we got into the park the more animals we saw. The dall sheep were all on the uphill side of the bus so I didn’t get any pictures of them that were very close. This one is the best and they were probably ½ mile away.

The road meandered thru the steep mountain pass and onto a huge valley, the arctic tundra. This is where the grizzly bears roam. The first ones we spotted were a mom and 2 yearling cubs.

The mom and one of the cubs were the typical blonde color and the other cub a dark brown. Must have been adopted, he lagged back while the other one was right next to mom most of the time.

The weather was still dreary and only saw the sun one time all day. Lots of rain, wish we could get some of it down in NM. The bus driver stopped any time someone spotted any wildlife. Some little kids on board would yell out when they saw a ground squirrel. They were having the time of their young lives.

We stopped at the new Eielson Visitor Center, the best spot to have a clear view of Mt McKinley. This is what the mountain would look like on a clear day

and this is what my view was today, a solid cloud bank….maybe see it next time.

The bus wound its way to Wonder Lake and Kantishna which is 92 miles into the park. It was a gold mining town and not turned into a tourist destination. There a park ranger met the bus and gave us the 50 cent history lesion. I was more interested in getting back on the comfortable bus and seeing more bears.

On the way back we spotted 2 pretty nice Bull Moose just munching on the willows. They were not bothered in the least of the bus and people hanging out the windows snapping pictures. Must have never been shot at before!

A few miles down the road we came up on the highlight of the trip for me. Saw a mom and 3 year old cub grizzly. They were darn near snow white! Probably would be white if they had a little better personal hygiene habits!

The bus got back to the Wilderness Access Center at 730, made for a long day but one I will remember for a long long time. I almost forgot how comfortable a school bus can be!

June 25 Denali National Park

Our first day at Denali National Park started off with a drive into the park to the Savage River trail head, mile 15, where all private vehicles must stop. It was a beautiful sunny morning and we were treated to moose and caribou before reaching the trail head.

There is a two mile path at the trail head which follows the Savage River and we walked it seeing the Alaska state bird, (willow parmigan) a very toothy ground squirrel, (which was yelping at me and I have lots of pictures to prove it!), marmots (I almost stepped on the first one we saw because I was leading), porcupine and John saw dall sheep. John did great walking that far and said it was probably the longest walk he has had for a couple of years.

In the afternoon we took a drive on Stampede Trail which was a jeep road for about half the distance and then we headed east and found a huge beaver dam which had three busy beavers working on shoring it up with additional sticks and twigs.

It is dry camping at Denali and limited Internet at the mercantile store, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to post again.   It's been raining all day today and John went fishing.  Tomorrow he's taking a 12 hour bus ride 90+ miles into the park for wildlife viewing.  I did the trip when I was here before, so I'm just going to stay close to camp, do the laundry and get ready to move on Monday.

19 hour road trip to the Artic Circle

Yesterday we left camp at 5:30 am to head for the Arctic Circle.  Our first stop was at the Yukon River, the largest in Alaska--looks like the Mississippi according to John.  The bridge has a wooden deck 1/2 mile long which is built to flex 2 1/2 feet in length.  It is an amazing structure. 

Here's a shot of us by the visitors center next to the bridge with the pipe line in the background.

At noon, Alaska time we arrived in the Arctic Circle

Driving another couple hours to the Arctic Circle Visitor's Center and the Village of Coldfoot we found that the sun doesn't set up there from May 31 - July 31.  Then it was on to the top of Atigun Pass at 4800 feet elevation, the highest highway pass in Alaska.  We were definitely in tundra area - no trees, ground cover that is "mushy" like moss and very unique being at the top of the world.  Here's an image of John's truck on the top of the pass--cold and rainy as a semi tops the crest from the north.

The tundra in the Brooks Mountain Range where some ground snow is still evident--all the mountain tops are clear because the low sun hits them, but not the valleys.

This morning we leave for Denali.

June 22 Fairbanks

After the midnight baseball, we got a slow start and left the RV park after noon.  John dropped me off at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks and he went north to fish.

Pioneer Park has a variety of original log cabins being used as shops and food service locations, there are museums, miniature golf and a wooden carousel.  I visited several exhibits during the afternoon.  This wooden cabin steam operated shovel was used at the Panama Canal in Hawaii and during the development of Davidson Ditch here in Alaska which as a major water line.  Kelly, we'll have to see if there are any images of it at the PC on our trip.

I left the park to walk and found, within a half block the sign for the City of Fairbanks Snow Storage Lot and the Chena River where there were people floating the river as well as teenagers jumping off the bridge into the murky water.  Good day.

I went fishing on a little stream at mile marker 11 on the Elliott Highway (Chatanika River). The kid that set in front of us last night at the ball game told me it was a good place for grayling.  He was right, just not for big ones.  It was crystal clear and flowing pretty good.  Caught 8-10 Artic grayling, a real pretty fish.  The first one was all of 6", gave one hell of a fight! The biggest probably in at 10"...my wrist will take months to get back to normal!  Looking forward to the trip on the Kenai and the Halibut in the ocean. 

Midnight baseball in Fairbanks, Alaska

Monday, June 21 started out with off an on heavy rain but we managed to leave the campground at Tok about 7:30 am on the way to Fairbanks.  At Delta Junction we stopped at the end of the the Alaska Highway - we made it!

Just outside of town you have a first sighting of the Alaska Pipeline which in this case is crossing the Tanana River via a suspension bridge which is 1200 feet between the two towers and this is the second longest bridge for the pipeline.  In comparison, the steel truss bridge to the left is only 783 feet long.

We had a great lunch in Fairbanks at Soapy Smith's Pioneer Restaurant--Alaskan King Crab Cake Special.  Yummy!  Then we rushed down to buy tickets to the 105th Midnight Sun Game which started at 10:30 pm.  Gates opened for early entry at 8 pm and we were there.  The world is a small place--the guy in front of us grew up in Cuba, New Mexico and he and John traded NM stories.  Behind us was a teacher from the University that has a sister-in-law in Rio Rancho!  When the game started, between the Fairbanks Goldpanners and the Military Heroes it was totally bright light and here is an image of the field at 12:05 am this morning 6/22 when the game is stopped for the signing of the Alaska State song and a ceremonial pitch of another ball.  Great experience.

Before the game we went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska which is not only a beautiful building, but it had interesting history and beautiful art.  One of the pieces of art provides an opportunity for interaction, to a degree.  Created in 2005 it is titled, "The Great Alaskan Outhouse Experience."  You are challenged to sit on the throne, as it is, and find about 10 items.  What a hoot!

Tomorrow we are taking a day trip up to Coldfoot and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Perserve.  Thursday - Monday we have a reserved space at Denali National Park.

June 20 Tok, Alaska

The sun never really sets here and we have light all night long, so we’re wondering how it will be different tomorrow on the longest day of the year.  Today has been cloudy and sprinkling on and off.

Today John bought an annual out-of-state Alaska fishing license and tried his hand at fishing, got skunked! Fished the Tok River for about 3 hours both upstream and down stream from the bridge over the Glenn Highway. Did see some real fresh moose tracks, mom and little one (they have huge feet!)

I spent the day reading and enjoying not being in a moving vehicle! When John got back from fishing he noticed that one of the rear tires was wearing more than the others so he changed it with the additional spare I bought before leaving NM. We have two spares for the truck and two for the trailer.

No photos today.

June 19 we are in Alaska!

Today was another long ride—328 miles over the worse roads so far! Without stopping except for fuel or for road construction the trip took over 9 hours. The roads from Haines Junction, where we spent the last two days to the Alaskan border are the responsibility of the US Government under an agreement with the Yukon Territory since over 85% of the traffic is American. The problem is that for about 130 miles, there is glacial soil along the road which is unsuitable for road embankments. The permafrost melt causes the ice rich soil to liquefy and then it refreezes and expands or heaves which “wreaks havoc on the drivability of the road surface.” True statement!

The image below shows a research project which is testing a construction technique that minimizes melting of the permafrost by allowing cold air to penetrate the road embankment –for several miles there are these poles with pipe going under the road surface. Well, to resolve this problem, we are heading north on the way back over the Top of the World Road to Dawson, Yukon Territory and we’ll miss the permafrost problem.

Fun things today—seeing two cars from Kentucky with their homemade trailers…1930 and 1931 Fords.

Catching Destruction Bay’s plywood police car greeting visitors entering their city, population 54! Didn’t get an image.  John spotted another grizzly, both mom and cub.

I spotted this moose in the wetlands.

 

We’ll be here in Tok, Alaska for two days and then head north.

June 18 Haines Junction, Yukon Territory to Haines, Alaska

We had a great day today! While it started out cloudy and cool, the day ended with wonderful sunshine. We drove about 150 miles south to the US – Haines, AK and back. Tomorrow in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory they are having the Kluane to Chitkat International Bike Rally which draws more than 1,000 participants in an 8 –leg 148 mile race. There are solo riders and teams of 2, 4 and 8 bicyclists. Today the road was virtually deserted, we saw only about 10 vehicles the entire round trip, but people were setting up lanes and signage for the race. The road climbs to an elevation of 3,510 feet at Chitkat Pass…dedication on the part of bike riders!

Just south of Chitkat Pass is a river and a mountain, both named Three Guardsmen and below is an image of the clouds abutting the mountain. The peaks appear so tall (but not compared to NM) and the snow was beautiful and all along the route clouds were butting up to the peaks – interesting something so light can’t simply rise above the solid rock faced mountain.

In Haines, AK we visited a hardware store since we’ve lost the large level, a liquor store and the harbor.

On the way out of town we stopped to take images of the fishing wheel. The Indian tribal members can fish any river or stream and use a fishing wheel. As you can tell it is movable and it rotates around like a scoop which picks up the fish, at the top it deposits them into the funnel like canvas and they are stored underneath. On our way into town a man was harvesting the fish from the container below the fishing wheel. Interesting.

Within a 13 mile corridor we saw four bears—three on the way south and this one that John shot on the way back. The grizzly was seating dandelions!

Great day. Tomorrow we head north again and perhaps cross the border. Internet and phone service will be very difficult until we reach Fairbanks.

Catching up from Haines Junction, Yukon Territory

June 15 we left Pink Mountain RV Park and drove through over 200 miles of windy, narrow mountain roads without any shoulders in the drizzle and rain…When we stopped for lunch along the road I took this shot of the hillside that had recently given way. You can see how green it is here—and you can also catch a glimpse of the tree roots overhanging at the top.

One bright spot of the day was stopping at The Trapper’s Den which was a small log cabin turned into retail outlet for furs, camping and hunting equipment, books, and good conversation with the trapper who is native to the area and traps over 500 square miles of area each year. He sells the fur and the meat of some of the animals. It was like going back to childhood and watching Saturday morning television about the Yukon, even if this place is south of Fort Nelson.

The MilePost is a great tool. We found our campsite for June 16th at the Muncho Lake Provincial Park which has 17 lakeside campsites without services. I was a bit dubious at first, but we pulled in and found wonderland. Our site had a private pathway to the lake and as you can see, it was beautiful. We enjoyed a few cocktails out there and John caught three fish in 21 minutes. I only caught two of them on camera because I was trying to enjoy my wine!

On Wednesday we left about 6:30 in the morning and within an hour John spotted a herd of buffalo, including two young ones and two bulls who were wrestling around. They were on the east side of the road and difficult to photograph, but about a mile or so north there was a lone bull and John got this image.

We spent time in the City of Watson Lake and visited the Sign Post Forest which was started by the men working on the road in 1942. Originally it had about 10 signs from one central post but today there are over 65,000 signs from around the world. If you plan ahead you can bring a city sign, your own license plates or a homemade one with whatever you want on it. The visitor’s center has a map to a local hardware store where they will sell you a piece of wood and the centers provides paint or markers, nails and a hammer—just install yours where there is a space.

Just before stopping for the night, John spotted this bear along the side of the road and I'll pulled over and he shot this image.  Note that the legs and belly are wet--he was coming up from the river.

Last night we stayed at Dawson’s Peak Resort and RV Park. It is right on Teslin Lake in the Yukon Province. The lake is 85 miles long and beautiful. We followed it almost all the way to Whitehorse today. Here are a couple pictures of the park.

After we parked yesterday a huge motor coach from South Dakota pulled in next to us and the owner, Merv, came right over to talk to John. He has absolutely no concept of personal space…at dinner at the lodge John and I were eating and he joined us with his wife. In less than 10 minutes of talking to me he asked for a bite of my salmon dinner! We know way too much about this dude, his ranches, and his health, his everything…had just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary and the wife only had an opportunity to say “hello” during the evening.

Today we stopped at Whitehorse and visited the Yukon Beringia interpretive Centre which provided information about the ice ages and the original land bridge from Asia to North America. They had several exhibits that were interactive and one, how to hunt allowed one to use an Atlatl which is a throwing board used for throwing a dart. John is pictured practicing this art. The animals had nothing to worry about!

Then we drove to Haines Junction and stopped early in order to clean the trailer, do laundry and just rest. All of those tasks are done and we’re going to barbeque pork loin for dinner. Tomorrow John will probably fish and we’ll explore the little town. Should be in Alaska by Sunday—so far we have driven 4374 miles.