Canada/Alaska Part 1

 (Don't forget, you can double click a picture to make it larger)

June 3rd – Today we set out on our journey from Whidbey Island, WA toward Canada & Alaska.  Our plan is to take about 3 1/2 months to travel thru Canada & Alaska.  It’s close to 6,000 miles, which is about what we travel in a year, so this is pretty fast paced for us.  When we arrived at the Washington/ Canada Border this morning, I was driving.  The Border Police started asking a bunch of questions as to what we had with us, such as liquor, guns & food.  I guess he either didn’t like my answers, or we were one of the lucky travelers who got to have our RV checked out by the border patrol. I actually think we just hit the luck of the draw, since they seemed to pull over about every other car.  He told us to take the dog out of the RV & us too.  He asked for the keys to the storage bins underneath & I figured we were there for awhile.  We really didn’t have anything that wasn’t allowed, except if you had liquor, you weren’t supposed to have wine or beer, which we had all 3.  After the guy spent about 5 minutes in the RV, he came out, handed me the keys & said we were good to go.  I breathed a sigh of relief, even tho we weren’t really carrying much of anything we weren’t supposed to have. 

Here's how Snuggles likes to travel

We continued on our way without further problems.  It was pretty easy traveling today.  The weather was sunny most of the way, except for rain in a few spots, then we’d hit a bright blue sky.  We ended up stopping in a place called Cache Creek, British Columbia for the night, about a 300 mile drive for the day.  Tomorrow we’ll travel another 300ish miles & stop in Prince George for a couple nights.  As most of you know, we like to stay put for  10- 14 days & that can’t happen on this trip.  So every couple of days, we’ll just take an extra one to R & R from the driving.

June 4th  Today our goal was Prince George, British Columbia.  It was about 275 miles, which is about what we like to drive.  It was an easy drive on another nice day.  We’ve decided to stop here for 2 nights.  We’ll take a wander into town tomorrow just to see what it’s like.  It has stayed light until 10:30PM- Unbelievable!
June 5th-  It rained all morning so we just took it easy.  after it stopped we had a few housekeeping issues to take care of outside.  This afternoon we decided to take a drive into Prince George.  We ended up meeting a nice  Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman, but he wasn’t on a horse.  We followed him all the way thru a work zone.  When that cleared, we continued in separate lanes and we went thru a yellow traffic light.  He decided to pull us over.  Said we didn’t really do anything wrong, but we should be careful at the traffic lights & try to avoid going thru yellow (sometimes you just can’t unless you want to throw everyone thru the window),  I guess he didn’t have much to do & just felt like meeting out of towners,.  He was quite friendly & just seemed to want to talk.  It was kind of weird!!  Not much to say about Prince George.  It looks like most small towns.
June 6th.  Left Prince George this morning for Smithers.  We stayed in an RV Park called Glacier View.  It would have been beautiful but the clouds covered the glacier.

Road Scenery

 

June 10 Our first week of this year’s Canada/Alaska venture has started with several new experiences. But before we get into them, one needs to have a better background to the “big picture”. When we heard the term “Canadian Highway”, we assumed it would be a bustling multi-lane road. In reality, you are initially on a well maintained two lane, asphalt road with next to no other vehicles for any 20 minute period. Ultimately, that becomes a less well maintained road & finally, for about 20 miles, intermittent hard packed gravel or dirt. But the scenery is everything we envisioned when planning the trip.

Glacier on the road to Stewart- make it larger & you can see the blue ice

 There are so many snow capped mountain ranges towering thousands of feet from the roadside, all with dozens of waterfalls, & a couple glaciers with their blue ice, that you become jaded. It was only when we saw three falls within a few hundred yards of each other, all cascading down at least a two thousand foot drop, that we felt compelled to stop & just appreciate the sight.

 

Likewise, the abundance of white water streams, rivers & huge placid lakes within feet of the roadside, & the total absence of other vehicles, towns or people, gives you this feeling that there is nothing else going on in the world, which is certainly true about our world. It is easy to see why some enjoy living in this environment.

Hyder, AK

 We visited two towns (Stewart, British Columbia & Hyder, USA) that are literally a stone’s throw apart. It is also one of the few places where you can cross from Canada into the U.S. without encountering a Customs/Border Patrol inspector. Now using the term “town” is truly a misnomer. Hyder consists of about three buildings, one of which was the old type general store (think of Little House on the Prairie). The proprietor is a spitting image of Grizzly Adams & he was nice enough, or bored enough, to explain that Hyder consists of 75 souls, has no law enforcement & is governed by the community getting together in a town meeting & voting on whatever needs to be resolved. He stated the last decision was two years ago when they voted to have meeting attendees leave their guns at home. He further explained that the local black bears, who feel free to meander down the town road at any time of day, are all named (by consensus of those sitting on the general store porch). The townsfolk are presently concerned that, since the black bear sows have had a passel of cubs this year, some with as many as three or four, there will be a war when the grizzlies come down from the mountains for the salmon run. Near as I could tell, that was the biggest, or only, worry these folks had. And to better appreciate how desolate we are speaking, the milk we bought has to be flown in each week on a sea plane, with bread & eggs.

Stewart, BC

Now to some firsts: Since our east coast trip to Canada two years ago,

 Karen has been desperate to see a moose. One needs to appreciate that moose crossing signs are more prevalent along Canadian roads than deer crossing signs seen in the U.S. Over the last few days, she not only saw her moose stroll amicably across the road in front of us, with not a worry in the world,

  


 but also a coyote trotted down the road towards us & past with barely a sideward glance.        

 We also had one black bear so busy lying in a field of dandelions, just munching away on them, that he could barely bother to glance at us as we stopped no more than 50 feet away.

Meziadin Lake, BC around 9:30 PM

 Now should anyone think everything is roses, our stop at Meziadin Lake, BC best illustrates how the best laid plans can go wrong. This was our first stop this year without electrical hook up, also known as boon docking. Typically our four house batteries are more than sufficient to carry us for several days, & we always have an 8,000W generator for back up. What we believe we are presently experiencing is a cascading battery failure brought about by the age of the batteries. Apparently these fellows have a life expectancy less than the 7 years ours have been around. This wouldn’t normally be a problem, except when it occurs in the middle of nowhere. In researching the closest location that carries the type of batteries we need, & have four in stock (you have to replace them all at the same time), we will need to go to Whitehorse, Yukon, some 400 miles from our present location. It’s times like this one needs to remember “it isn’t the destination, but the journey that makes life interesting”.

This was called Blue Lake & it sure was blue

 The other event in Meziadin was the mosquitoes. While they aren’t the biggest creatures we’ve seen, they certainly rate in the top 5 & get the award for most abundant. It’s no wonder the fishing is so great up here: not only can the fish gorge on the bugs but fisherman can only take so long on the lake, hence leaving the fish to get ever bigger. Locals say the moderate Winter minimized the kill off, bringing this year’s swarms.  Some say the mosquito should be Alaska’s State Bird.  I’m beginning to agree with them. The RV parks along the way leave a lot to be desired.  There are some Provincial Parks that are actually “park-like”, but they don’t provide power & we can’t depend on our batteries at this point.  So, our other choices are mostly big, gravel parking lots, that provide water & power & some- sewer service.  The other thing that is really an adjustment, is the almost constant daylight. 

Snuggles couldn't believe we'd leave her in the car

When we take the dog out around 11pm, the sun has not set.  You really have to “make yourself go to bed”!  Luckily, we have blackout shades, so we can make the bedroom pretty dark.  Even when the sun sets, it doesn’t get totally dark.  You could see your way around outside with no problem at any time.  It’s very weird. 

 

  One night, when we stopped in one of the famous "gravel RV Parks" it rained.  We saw some really unusual clouds.        

  We also had a really pretty sunset at around 11:30 PM



After a couple days of travel on some really lousy roads, We decided to take a side trip on our way to Whitehorse. 

I wanted to see a little town called Atlin, that was supposed to be very scenic.  We decided to stay in a small campground about half way there & then travel to Atlin in the car. 

Bridge across 6 mile river

We happened upon a very small campground/restaurant on 6 mile river in Tagish, Yukon.  It was so peaceful & had grass, a nice change from our gravel campgrounds, we ended up staying 4 days.  

Resident Eagle at Campground

Deck at campground overlooking the river

We drove to Atlin, which was a huge disappointment.  It was a bustling town during the Alaska Gold Rush & this boat took people out on excursions during that time.

Atlin



Road Scenery

The best scenery was on the way there, about 30 miles into the trip.  We could have skipped the rest, but oh well, one never knows.   

We arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon.  It is the second largest city in the Yukon & has a population of about 27,000.  It’s a nice little town, sort of reminded me of Geneva, close to where we lived. 





When we got to town, we went immediately to the Napa Store we had spoken with a couple days earlier.  They had told us they had the batteries we needed, but when we arrived, they only had 2 of the 4 we needed & wouldn’t get more for another week.  After checking around & finally finding some at about 2 1/2 times the price we’d pay in the US, we decided we would only use RV parks with electrical hookup until we got back in the US or found some more reasonably priced when we got to Alaska.  While we were in Whitehorse, we did a little sightseeing. 

  We visited Mile High Canyon,        

  which has a very pretty, green colored river running thru it.        

Karen with Giant Beaver

  We also visited a museum that was all about the Alaskan/Yukon area during the ice age & what kind of plants & animals were here at that time & no longer exist.  It was very interesting.    

  We also drove by the airport to see the “largest weathervane in the world”.  As you can see, it’s an airplane mounted on a spindle.     

  After leaving Whitehorse we went to Destruction Bay, our last stop before reaching Alaska.  There really is no town to speak of, but the lake, surrounded by mountains, was very pretty.  Once again, we spent the night in a gravel parking lot.   


Road Construction & poor roads from here to Alaska

  Little did we know, the condition of the roads awaiting us.  And we thought the ones we’d already traveled were bad!!  Ha, Ha!       June 24 The last two weeks have been interesting for decidedly different reasons. First, least anyone tell you the roads in Canada & Alaska are much better than otherwise reported, they should be advised that they are actually considerably worse. Due to permafrost (permanently frozen earth) heaves, no matter how much attention the roads get, there are constant rolling hills in large (up to 100 miles) sections of road. It is actually so prevalent they have developed a sign warning travelers about some of them; it is called the “washboard”, is black on yellow & looks like wwwww. Unfortunately, all too often one comes upon the washboard without a sign &, if you are going more than 40 MPH, you quickly find yourself, & vehicles, enjoying a free carnie type roller coaster ride. Now our RV weighs 33,000 lbs & has eight computerized air shocks designed to smooth most any road condition: they got to enjoy the roller coaster with us.

Yeah!  We made it to Alaska

 On the other hand, going 35 to 40 MPH has its advantages. We have more time to enjoy the stunning views & our mileage went from 6 ½ MPG to 8.  The down side of all these great views of never ending snow capped mountains, never ending waterfalls cascading down hundreds of feet of mountainside right next to the road & glaciers galore with their blue ice is that you start rating them like an Olympic judge;

Yes, that was a pretty waterfall, but it didn’t include any rainbow colors so it only gets a 7.2 score.












While we have seen several black & brown bears, a couple moose (finally Karen is happy), coyotes, white trumpet swans & one bob cat, we had expected more, considering you are traveling in the middle of nowhere. In both countries, a large town may consist of two or three stores & 200 inhabitants. Some towns shown on the maps are no more that a single building & maybe 50 locals. One becomes very conscious about the gas gauge since the next “town” may be 200 or more miles down the road. We decided to stop in a town called Glennallen so we could take a couple car trips from there.  We wanted to go to Valdez, but decided not to take the RV 230 miles out of the way for a one day trip.  Again, we spent 3 days parked in a gravel “campground”. 

Our car was so filthy, it almost blended in with the gravel.  They didn’t allow car washing there & the “car wash” wasn’t open yet because the sewer line was still partially frozen. 

Our trip to Valdez was really scenic. 










Thompson's Pass coming into Valdez  (double click)

As mentioned before & I’m sure will be mentioned many more times, there are so many rivers, & mountains & waterfalls, you lose count.  If you stopped to take a picture of all, you’d never arrive at your destination. 

We did enjoy a close up view of the Worthington Glacier. 

We could have walked on it, if we’d had ice cleats & hiking boots.   










Bridal Veil Falls

 


Also, some of the waterfalls in the mountains around there, were really spectacular!  As we’ve said so many times before, the pictures don’t even come close to showing their true beauty.

We drove over to see the Valdez Terminal of the Alaska Pipeline.  You weren't allowed past a certain past a certain point. 

But the setting was nice & you wouldn't really know what it was.  So far, we haven't even seen the actual pipeline.

We spent one day at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Never heard of it?, neither had we. Just a few items that make this Park, which is as great a misnomer as saying there are only a few egotistical blow harts in Congress, are: 

· It’s the largest Park in the U.S. It is, in fact, larger than several of our smaller States combined. · Not only is it larger than Switzerland but its mountains are higher. · Of the 16 largest mountains in the U.S., it holds 9 of them. · There are literally hundreds of glaciers, some as deep as 1,000 feet · It snows between 25’ & 50’ each Winter.

   

They had a nice museum which we also toured.  I'm standing in front of something called a Fish Box.  The Indians, mostly, put it in a stream to catch the fish.  It was pretty clever.






Glacier along the way

Glacier

Due to some  unexpected maintenance issues with the RV, we decided to change our route a little & make an unscheduled stop in Anchorage.  We were planning to come here, just at a later time.  Luckily, it wasn’t out of our way.  We’re staying at joint base Elmendorf -Richardson (Army & Air Force in Anchorage).  

It seems the roads managed to damage both the tow bar, designed for up to a 10,000 lb. vehicle (ours is 3,000), but also meaningfully bent a steel sleeve that holds the tow bar to the RV. We’re told an elephant shouldn’t have been able to damage this item. We have made temporary repairs to the tow bar assembly & new replacement parts are on their way , and we are likewise replacing the sleeve. The biggest issue, our all important inverter/converter has one of its three circuit breakers giving us problems. Now this shouldn’t be a big deal, except the closest place you can get this part is Seattle , WA.; The part costs $18, shipping is $70. Go figure.  We were planning to take the RV to a repair shop to have the work done.  But, leave it to Karen, she takes the dog for a walk shortly after we arrived & returned with 2 guys who wanted to look at the inverter.  It seems they both are mechanically inclined & knew exactly how to make the repair.  In fact, they did a temporary fix & told us to let them know as soon as the part arrives & they will gladly make the repair.  You meet the nicest people in RV parks. Always looking on the brighter side, we met 2 couples in Whidbey Island this April who were leaving the day after us & following pretty much the same route.  We’ve been staying in touch along the way.  One of them had a rock damage their RV radiator & they’ve had to wait on the side of the road 5 days for a flat tow to Anchorage. Not ones to miss on opportunity, they decided to pan for gold at a local creek. Haven’t heard how that panned out (pun intended).  They should be arriving at the same “campground” as we, in the next day or two.  This is actually a campground with trees & everything!!  We did realize there is a down side to this – mosquitos love treed areas!
We received our part & Collins was able to replace it.  Unfortunately, it did not resolve the problems.  The breaker did need replacing, but we still don’t have power to our outlets when we’re not plugged in to shore power. We spoke to the maker of our inverter & now they think it’s probably a circuit board.  We’ve decided we aren’t trying to order any more parts, we’ll make do til we get back to the lower 48.   We did find out our batteries are only 4 yrs old & they don’t seem to be a problem.

Beluga Point at Turn Again Arm outside Anchorage, AK

While in Anchorage, we reconnected with the people we met in Washington.  We did a couple day trips together & enjoyed some “happy hours” a couple evenings.  Collins even introduced them to Chocolate Martinis one evening.

One Sunday  we went to downtown Anchorage for a street market. 

They had a lot of booths selling fur products.  Go figure. We were going to go to the 4th of July parade, but it decided to start raining that day.  They did their fireworks at midnight, but it still wasn’t dark.  We didn’t go for that.  We left Anchorage a few days before our new friends, but they were also headed to Seward, where we would again overlap a few days.  It’s nice to know someone along the road.  We’ve also been giving each other travel info as we go along. 
Stay tuned.  We’re heading to Steward, Homer, Denali & more.  We’ll keep you posted.