Life, family, and travel

WELCOME TO ALASKA!!!

June 18th

I took off a little early today to find a reputable RV dealer. I wanted to find out if I needed to pull and grease my trailer bearings. I thought that I would be good until about 10,000 miles. No animals today, but I’ve included a few scenic’s. The first is of the St. Elias Range from just west of Whitehorse.

Below is my first glimpse of the Ice fields near Kluane Lake. You can see Mt. Kennedy in the background if you look real close.

I originally wanted to stay near Kluane Lake, but as it was only 10:30 when I went through, I just didn’t want to stop. My bad timing because there are numerous spaces to spend the night and they are all pretty. The road between Destruction Bay (near Kluane Lake) and the US border (+- 100 miles) was pretty bad. They either had frost heaves or they were repairing it. I was down to 35-40 miles an hour most of the time. When I finally pulled over, all of my clothes were off the top bunk, even my indoor / outdoor thermometer had jumped off the peg onto the floor. I think that a rock jumped up and cut the brakes on the back axle. I still have good breaks, but they could be better.

The Custom agent at the border was very nice. He just asked the usual questions and let me go. I think he was looking at my license plate when I drove up. That may have helped.

This next picture shouldn’t need a lot of explain. Just look at the expression and you will know what I mean.

I thought about trying for Tok, but decided I would stop at a rest area about 30 miles inside the border. 

 

**************************************************************************************

June 19th

I arrived in Tok with no problems and finally was able to phone Cindy. It was nice to hear her voice again. I took the Glenn Highway (the Tok cutoff) and I think it was maybe the best overall scenic portion of the trip so far. There were lots of mountains, streams, glaciers, and just plain pretty. The roads were all tar & chip with only a few gravel sections. It was, however, full of dips and humps. I liken it to a roller coaster. Every time I got the speed up, I’d have to slow down or bottom out the trailer. It was very frustrating.

I was going by some little no-name lake and saw a swan swimming around I stopped for a while and watch him. It was almost like being at Yellowstone. People saw me stopped and looking at the lake so they would stop also. It was no problem, it was just funny.

Right after the “swan lake” I saw a moose run across the road about 4 cars in front of me. There was no chance to get a photo but it sure caused several cars to slam on the breaks.

I saw my first real glacier, Matanuska Glacier. It came from the mountains almost down to the road.

 

I could even see the deep blue color inside of the ice although the photo doesn’t show it very well.

There were absolutely a whole lot of boon docking locations along the road. Most of which were pretty nice, however, I wanted to sightsee in Anchorage tomorrow so I kept driving. It turns out I should have stopped. I ended up in a city of Anchorage RV park that is OK but not as nice as most of the spots I passed. I’m sure there is a place I could park for free, but it was pretty late by the time I arrived.

 

Playing Catch Up!!

Cindy:  Obviously, I'm falling behind on posting Chuck's updates!!  He has faithfully sent me an update for every single day of his trip.  I'd like to catch us up a little bit, so I plan on combining multiple days in the next few posts - so that you can all read less outdated material!  I appreciate all of your prayers for us - keep it up.  So let's get on with it!

............................................................................................................................................................

June 15th

I left Summit pretty early so I could find a replacement tire. I stopped at every lodge or gas station between summit and Watson Lake. Several said they could fix a tire but nobody sold any. Watson Lake not only had one but would sell me one for an exaggerated price. He had me and knew it. Evidently no one else sells tires between there and Whitehorse. As I left Summit, I took a photo of Steamboat MTN. It didn’t really look like a steamboat from where I was at!

I saw my first Stone Sheep in the MacDonald River Valley. A nice ram was standing on the side of the road. I guess they like to lick the minerals out of the crushed rock. He was not afraid and just kept on licking.  I couple of miles down the road I came upon a small group of them. I pulled over and watched for a few minutes . Suddenly a guy comes roaring up in a diesel pickup truck, slams on his brakes, takes a photo out his window, then guns it out of there. This sent the sheep running. Some people truly are jerks. I finally saw some bear.  

A black bear near fireside and then a brown bear near Coal River (I don’t think it was a grizzly, I could not see the whole thing as it was walking away). As I got close to Liard Hot Springs, I saw several herd of Woods Buffalo. They certainly are massive!

My original intention was to stop at Liards Hot Springs and set for a few minutes in one of the hot pools out back just for Cindy. But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. First off, I don’t care for it. Second, I want Cindy to speak to me when I get home! I had also hoped to stay at Mucho Lake, that is, until the tire episode. It's such a beautiful place - I might stay there on the way back out.

As the mechanic was changing my tire, I stepped next door and had a real hamburger and fries. It was all homemade and delicious. I got to talking to a truck driver in the restaurant. I asked him about a cheap RV park that I might spend the night. He highly recommended I travel down the road 90 miles and stay at the Continental Divide Lodge and RV park. This is where he stays quite often. It has a restaurant, laundry, pub, showers and free wood. Turns out it was very nice and reasonable.

While I was at Watson Lake, I stopped at the signpost Forest. It all started back when they were building the highway. A guy had to build a sign post to replace the original one that got destroyed. He asked his Captain if he could put is home town (Danville, Illinois) on it. And so it started. It’s estimated that currently over 55,000 signs are in display as well as numerous license plates. I noticed all of the usual big cities like LA, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton etc.

I saw a lot of signs from little places I recognized. Like Red Bluff AR, Marshalltown IA, Paoli IN, Ottawa IL. I realized how long I have been traveling as I recognized a lot of them as towns I have worked in before. There were also a lot from overseas. I saw quite a few from England and Germany. There were also quite a few that were written in a language I did not recognize.

.....................................................................................................................................................

June 16th

I left a little bit late today as all I wanted was to get to Whitehorse YK. I didn’t see any animals but the scenery made up for it. Looking East from the continental divide just west of the lodge:

Nisutlin Bay Bridge. This is the longest water spanning bridge on the Alaska Highway at just over 1,900 foot:

I arrived in Whitehorse about 4:30. I went to the visitor center to locate literature on RV campgrounds (every place to boon dock within about 25 miles is posted “No overnight stays”). You don’t think they had this planned do you? About the cheapest, within reasonable driving distance, was Hicountry RV Park. Typical RV Park, stacked in like cordwood but fairly well shaded and they had sites with only electricity and water. I got for 2 nights as I want to do some site seeing tomorrow. I spoke to a couple last night and they suggested I take the White Pass & Yukon Route RR. I got some literature and the trip I want would be an all day trip. The round trip costs about $340.00 US. I’m not sure I want to spend that much for something I can see from the road. Of course, I also want to see the S.S. Klondike. A stern wheeled river boat that plied the waters after the gold rush in 1929.

My main objective is to see the “Frantic Follies”. This is a family orientated, burlesque style show that I have heard is very entertaining. On a whim I drove to the office and was able to get a ticket for tonight. It was certainly all it was billed up to be. In one of the funniest skits they got a gentleman from the office called “Roger”. He was a regular scoundrel. He stole the show with his antics.

Of course MY favorite part of the show was the Can Can. We were not supposed to take video, but I did anyway. The last skit was based on Robert Service’s poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. The actors did a fine job.

.....................................................................................................................................................

June 17th

I stayed in Whitehorse today to do some site seeing. First I viewed the S.S. Klondike, a sternwheeler that plied the Yukon River between 1930 and 1955. They had it filled with all kinds of artifacts and old photographs.

From the Klondike, I went downtown and went through the MacBride museum. They had set up quite a few exhibits including the original cabin of Sam McGee of the Robert Service poem “The cremation of Sam McGee” fame. Evidently he was friends with Richard Service. Richard thought that Sam’s name rolled off of the tongue nicely so he incorporated it into the poem. And so starts the legend.

No visit to Whitehorse would be complete without seeing the world’s largest weathervane. It’s a Douglas DC-3 that sits on a pedestal and rotates to meet the wind.

After lunch, I went hiking in the Miles Canyon. This canyon was an imposing challenge for the gold seekers on their way up the Yukon to the gold fields. What made it even worse was right after the narrow canyon, it was followed by the Whitehorse rapids. The government erected a suspension walking bridge across the narrowest part.

I was concerned with crossing because they had installed the cable clips backwards and married the cables. Of course as I was going across, several young boys had to see how far they could get it swinging. Sometimes I hate young kids!

 

 

 

 

Going to the Sun!

Cindy: I'm posting the following info and pics I received from a friend of a friend who lives in northwestern Montana.  It's interesting for 2 reasons.  One, Chuck had considered taking the "Going to the Sun" road through Glacier Nat Park, as it's one of the most beautiful places on the continent, if not in the world.  Two, because the snow conditions in Glacier are much worse than what's typical in June, and the snow melt that is just beginning is going to effect those lands on the Missouri River throughout the next month, at least.  I'm including both pictures and comments:

Date: Sunday, June 12, 2011, 6:44 pm.  Expecting more snow tonight (12th), with drifts up to 90 feet when you take into account the existing snow.  Typically, snow in the Montana Mountains, now 6-10 feet deep, is half water, so 3-5 feet of water is yet to come down.  Snow melt is just beginning.  In the above photo, you can see the cut in the sides of the mountains that represents the "Going to the Sun" road.  If you've never been on it before, it's crazy steep over the edges and the road hugs the cliff wall most of the way up!

As you can see in this close-up, these boys have NO FEAR!  That rock wall/ledge they are above and plowing is about 2 feet high off the roadway, and is the only thing that is between the roadway surface and a several thousand foot trip to the bottom of the mountain.

And they have a LONG way to go!  You can clearly see where the road is "supposed" to be on the left side of the photo, and almost make out the road just to the right of center.

A REALLY long way to go!!!!  Here the roadway is completely covered by snowpack, but it's there.  (the L shaped bend between the rock walls and the tree line below it)

Here is what it looks like at the top.  This is Logan pass.  The Logan Pass Visitor's Center, usually open for tourists by June 18th, is in the center of the picture.  WAY behind the visitor's center, on the other mountain, you can see the road in the background climbing it's way to the visito center.  From the right side of the building to the small group of trees located some distance to the right, is normally a large parking lot full of cars and campers. This is what 180% of normal snowpack looks like, and how it affects the tourism industry of this area.

A ham radio friend of mine (a friend of a friend of the friend who forwarded me, Cindy, this email) who lives at the lower elevation of 3400 feet near Flathead Lake, sent me these photos taken by a helicopter flyover by the park service, said:  I'm hoping they have the road open to Logan pass by July 4th.  I hope that if the road is open by July 4th I can take the kids sledding in the morning and swimming at the lake by evening and watch fireworks over the lake at night!  Latest word is the road might open on July 18th (one month later than the average) ...

Current status of the Going to the Sun Road.

Current schedule and conditions for plowing the road.

June 13th

June 13th

As the showers didn’t open up until 8:30, I went to the lake again and was able to see 2 sets of Trumpeter swans. They were swimming in line just like a bunch of ducks.

One thing to note about Provincial parks in Canada, they supply all of the firewood free! It’s in pretty big chunks and you have to split them, but obviously I can split them. Of course, I have stopped too late every night to have a fire, but it’s good to know it’s there.

After I pulled out, I next drove by Beaverlodge BC. Of course I HAD to stop to get a photo of the world’s largest beaver.... One of these would make a lot of hats!

The scenery sure is a lot better now. This is near Hythe AK

Ever onward, I finally came to the start of the

Alaska Highway!!!

in Dawson Creek. I stopped at the gateway to get my tourist photo. Then I walked around town for a while. I needed to get a photo of the historical mile marker 0 - It’s right in the middle of an intersection.

I watched other tourist brave the traffic and stand in the middle of the road and on the marker itself to get photos. As the old saying goes, “There’s one born every minute”.

After walking around for a while, I drove out to Walter Wright Pioneer village. It is an impressive collection of old homes and building that have been moved to this site. He also has quite a few old pieces of period correct equipment, cars and trucks. I spent a couple of hours wandering around. It was kind of nice to not be in a big rush.

After stopping at the local grocery store for a few items, I started on the

ALASKA HIGHWAY!!!!!

I only got a few miles down the road and I noticed it was starting to get late so I stopped at the Kiskatinaw Provincial Park overlooking the Doe River. I might just a have a fire tonight and finally cook some wieners. This is a photo out of my front door.

June 12

Cindy: I want to preface this with an explanation.  I have been without internet since Wed, June 15, and have had some trouble keeping up with these blog posts - Thank you Karen for the use of your computer on Thursday!!  Because of various and sundry distractions, I will usually be behind on the posts by a few days - but rest assured!  I'm sharing every word and picture from Chuck!

June 12th

What a lazy morning. I didn’t get up until almost 8:00. By the time I fixed and ate breakfast, showered, cleaned up and unhooked, it was almost 9:30.  Finally, I’m into some woods! The photo below is near Fox Creek AB.

Stopped in Sangudo AB and saw the world’s largest sundial. It was pretty impressive. They used different kind of rocks from the surrounding region to make the markers. Of course it’s so cloudy I couldn’t tell what time it was. Good thing I had my watch on!

Right Cindy?  (Cindy: Chuck is referring to a trip we took a long time ago where I thought I'd be cute and hang on to his watch, just to see if it was possible for Chuck to live a day without a watch.  He couldn't, and we still refer to that time)

Just down the road from Sangudo is the world’s 2nd longest, wooden constructed bridge. It’s just a little over 2,400 feet long and spans the Paddle River. I couldn’t find a place to see the whole thing.

Next I stopped in Grande Prairie. They have a pretty nice museum there about local history etc. Naturally, I was too late because it had closed for the day.  I had stopped at four of my boon docking locations that I had mapped out. Two were exceptional as they were off road adjacent to rivers. Unfortunate, all of the access roads were very muddy because of all the rain and I didn’t want to take a chance of getting stuck.

One of my boon docking locations is down at the bottom of the hill to the right. I finally stopped for the night at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park west of Grande Prairie. Turns out it's a very nice park. It is the home of several Trumpeter Swans as well as numerous other birds and wildlife. I walked down to the lake and watched for quite a while but never did see any. Just a few ducks. I’ll go out early in the morning and try my luck again.

I’ve spoken to several people about my intended route into Alaska. All of them advised me to keep on the Alaska Highway into Alaska first. After I’m done in Alaska, I can swing back north and see the places I missed. They said that this would give the government time to fix the frost heaves in the road. As it doesn’t matter, I think I will heed their advice and go to Alaska first.

I spoke to another couple, they were saying that last week it snowed here and got down between 0 to 5 degrees. I didn’t think to ask if that was Fahrenheit or Celsius.

That’s cold no matter which one it was.

 

Cindy:dear Chuck - at least when it's really cold, the mosquitos aren't out of control.  Have fun!  I'll be praying for you.