Day 82, Aug. 19: I fueled up and departed Anchorage about 9
a.m. for the 320 mi./515 km drive to Tok, AK.
The attendant at the Costco fuel station pointed out the “Termination
Dust” on top of the higher peaks visible to the east of Anchorage. Sure enough, there was a light dusting of
fresh snow that could be seen. Now, I
know my timing to head south is right! I
drove through showers off and on and the mountains on either side of me were
mostly obscured.
 |
| On the Glenn Highway northeast of Anchorage |
Matanuska Glacier is
still visible from the road and I took some pictures of it—evidence of it
receding since I saw it 9 years ago was pretty clear to see.
 |
| Matanuska Glacier |
T
he weather cleared as I approached Tok—I
sure like sunshine and warmer temperatures.
Wildlife count: 1
bald eagle
Day 83, Aug. 20: I drove 226 mi./364 km from Tok to
Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory today.
Destruction Bay is on the shore of the beautiful Kluane Lake. Canadian customs didn’t hassle me this time,
so I passed right through the check point.
Skies were overcast so the higher peaks of the Wrangell Mountains and
the Kluane Range were all obscured. Too
bad because they are so beautiful. A
fairly large black bear was along the highway shortly after I entered Canada
but didn’t stick around long for good pictures.
Since I was the 2nd vehicle to stop next to him, I guess he
got tired of the company! <G>
I saw numerous trumpeter swans in lakes and
ponds along the way. They will surely be
migrating south soon. Winnebago’s 2nd
Alaska caravan was traveling along my route today so I was playing hopscotch
with some of them as we came south. We
are all parked at the same campground tonight, so I have been re-connecting
with old friends and meeting new folks.
Thanks David and Donna for including me this evening. I also enjoyed
meeting and visiting with the campground owner again—he is quite a character
and one that you might expect to meet in this big, wide country that is Kluane
Country. As I said in the post while
traveling north through this area, this is special country here and I love the
feel of being here!
 |
U.S./Canada Alaska Highway Permafrost Research test site for
specialized construction techniques
(Photo also shows black spruce which may only grow
to a 2 inch/5 cm diameter in 100 years!)
I have now traveled over the roughest stretch of road
for the trip once again as I retrace my route over this portion of the Alaska
Highway. The really rough area west of
the Lodge has been completely re-done since I went over it a few weeks ago. They work fast up here in the North
Country! The campground owner told all
of us that the rough area of construction west of Whitehorse is nearly complete
also, which is good news for tomorrow.
He also said the temperature went below freezing last night. The way it feels here tonight, it may well do
the same again. The wind feels like it
is blowing cold air right off the St. Elias Ice Fields above us as I write
this!
|
Wildlife count: 1
black bear, several trumpeter swans
Day 84, Aug. 21: Solar
eclipse day in the U.S.--It didn’t freeze last night, but it was cold enough
for me, and then some, as I got up this morning. I got an early start for the 167 mile/269 km
drive to Whitehorse, YT. It was a good
day for driving with mostly broken clouds along the way.
 |
| Kluane Country |
Unfortunately, the Kluane mountain range was,
again, mostly obscured except for the front part of the range which was
visible. The mountains that I could see
were as inspiring as ever! There were
broken clouds in the area I was driving through when the eclipse occurred. (The campground owner told us last night they
were supposed to be in the 90% range of totality.) There was a noticeable decline in daylight as
the eclipse began and the light seemed to have a grayish hue. When the eclipse was over, it turned to
bright sunlight quite quickly.
The foliage has definitely been taking on the fall colors
with lots of gold in trees along the road and up on the mountainsides. I noticed a little of this as I drove from
Anchorage; however, the change has been more dramatic as I have traveled into
the Yukon.
I arrived in Whitehorse shortly before noon and set to
work washing the coach and the car after checking in at the campground and refueling. Both vehicles were very dirty and they looked
a lot better 5 ½ hours later. I wasn’t
done yet, but the worst part was over.
Wildlife count: 20
Dall sheep on Sheep Mountain (too high for pictures)
Day 85, Aug.
22: Whitehorse is a city of about
25,000 population and serves as the capital of Yukon Territory, also commonly
called the Yukon. It is situated on the
upper reaches of the Yukon River at latitude 61 degrees North and is surrounded
by low mountains. More than 2/3 of
Yukon’s population lives in the city, which serves as the transportation,
communication, and supply hub for the territory. Tourism, government, and mining are the
mainstays of the city’s economy.
Temperatures can vary widely with the lowest recorded temperature of
-62F/-52.2C and the highest recorded temperature of 94F/34.4C. Annual
precipitation is quite low--about 10 inches a year divided between rain and
snow.
I spent time this morning finishing the job of cleaning
the coach’s exterior; i.e. getting bugs off the windshield and front end. It began to rain lightly as I was finishing
it, but finish I did! A good job done
(for now).
I spent time with Tina Woodland this afternoon, meeting
up with her again on my way south. It
was a delightful visit and I look forward to staying in touch with her as well
as seeing her in Arizona! She is the
General Manager and a partner in the Ford dealership here and is very
interesting to visit with. While we
didn’t discuss it, I would bet she has really broken down some barriers for
women up here! That will have to be a
subject of a future visit. For now, I
believe it is fair to say she definitely has an entrepreneurial spirit.
I continue to have internet connection problems here and
am not able to send emails from my primary computer. I am not sure what the problem is, but it may
have to wait until I get into the U.S. to be fixed. I have done as much as I know how to do at
this point! Grrr! In the meantime, I will continue working on
the blog and will make the posts when I can.
Day 86, Aug. 23: It began raining during the night and
continued throughout the day. It was a
cold (to me), gray, wet day! The morning
was spent cleaning up some paperwork that has piled up—a job that was long
overdue and isn’t finished yet. I then
went to the visitor center to see if I could figure out some way to send emails
regarding my blog updates. (No luck
again)
The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Yukon Beringia
Interpretive Centre, a fascinating venue.
There was a lot of new information and new exhibits presented since I
was here 10 years ago, so it was a worthwhile stop. Quoting from their brochure because they can
say it much better than I:
“…This multimedia exposition features life-size exhibits
of animals of the last ice age, interactive computer kiosks, and dioramas
depicting the unique landscape, flora and fauna of Beringia…
“The lost sub-continent of Beringia dates back to the
last great ice age. While the rest of
Canada lay frozen under massive sheets of ice, a region encompassing eastern
Siberia, Alaska and Yukon remained untouched by glaciers. Sea levels dropped by as much as 125 metres
and a grassy tundra appeared, supporting an astonishing variety of animal and
plant life.
The Beringian steppe was home to a wide range of
herbivores and carnivores. Most symbolic
of Beringia is the woolly mammoth,
predecessor of the modern Asiatic elephant.
Standing three metres high at the shoulders-the height of a basketball
hoop-these hairy, hump-backed giants roamed the steppe for thousands of
years. They fed on the tundra’s tough,
dry grasses, and eluded predators-chiefly human hunters.
“The scimitar cat,
endowed with serrated upper fangs, was a lethal killing machine. Built for speed and agility, this feline
specialized in ambushing its prey.
“The short-faced
bear towered more than a foot over today’s grizzly and was the largest and
most powerful land carnivore in North America during the last ice age.
“The New World’s earliest human inhabitants moved into
what is now North America from western Beringia, following the various herds of
animals. The First People were
resourceful and well adapted to hunting the herds of woolly mammoth and giant
bison. Ultimately, they survived them.”
Needless to say, I recommend this venue to anyone coming
this way. I also recommend the Yukon
Transportation Museum next door, which has some very interesting exhibits along
with the world’s largest weather vane—a DC-3 on a pedestal.
Day 87, Aug. 24: After working around the coach this morning,
I went back to the visitor center to try a new idea for getting my emails
sent. No success yet.
I met Wendy Tayler, CEO/President of Alkan Air, this afternoon
and enjoyed visiting with her about her business and how she got into it. She also gave me a tour of the facility,
which I appreciated. Alkan Air supports
mining operations throughout the Yukon in addition to providing med-evac
services in Yukon and out of Vancouver Island, BC, using single and twin-engine
turboprop planes. Charters are also
sold; however, the mining operations that they support seem to be their “bread
and butter”. They also operate a pilot
training center and Wendy is putting in place an innovative system for bringing
students to receive training. She said
that by next year Canada will not have enough pilots to fill available
positions. They have fully implemented
the TQM (Total Quality Management) concept in the company and she said she has
no trouble sleeping at night because the company is a smoothly operating
company in which everyone is committed to the mission.
I really appreciated the opportunity to visit with both
Wendy and Tina Woodland. A thread during
both visits that I picked up on, and which would not normally be part of
similar conversations in the States, is their concern for their employees. They emphasized in their own ways that
employee satisfaction is very important to them. They both have strong entrepreneurial
leanings and are succeeding in non-traditional positions that would certainly
be unique in the U.S. I look forward to
seeing both of them when they visit the U.S. and will also look forward to
watching their businesses grow.
Day 88, Aug. 25: Today was my last drive on the Alaska Highway
for this trip—252 miles/406 km from Whitehorse to a campground about 10
miles/16 km west of Watson Lake, Yukon.
Tomorrow, I will turn south onto the Cassiar Highway (BC Highway 37)
that runs just east of the coast mountain range in British Columbia.
Now, back to today’s drive which was a pleasant drive on
good roads through spruce and aspen woodlands and past low mountains. Weather was generally good with a high
overcast and occasional very light rain.
I saw a coyote high on a roadside embankment just southeast of
Whitehorse which was the only wildlife of note spotted. Several areas of broken pavement encountered
on the northbound trip had been repaired while I was in Alaska. The fireweed blossoms were almost entirely
gone for the year with just a few blooms spotted along the way. I don’t remember if I mentioned it before
but, when I was on a similar trip in 2007, I was told that winter would arrive
6 weeks after the fireweed blossoms are gone for the year. This year I heard a 3 week timeframe given by
one person and another in Denali said winter would “come soon.” No matter which estimate is correct, I would
say winter is on the way in the North Country as I look around and see the
current state of the fireweed and the changing leaf colors of the aspen.
I stopped at Johnson’s Crossing to have one of their
cinnamon rolls which are widely advertised.
The clerk said they still use the same recipe they used when I was here
10 years ago. In my humble opinion, there
are still much better cinnamon rolls along the Alcan. I also stopped at Rancheria Falls where I
walked out to the falls which provided a good stretch break.
 |
| Rancheria Falls |
Wildlife count: 1
coyote
Day 89, Aug. 26: I started down the Cassiar Highway
today—exactly 10 years to the day that I began this trip the first time. As I drove, I was listening to the news about
Hurricane Harvey on the satellite radio.
During the winter of 2007-2008, three friends and I spent the winter at
Fulton, TX which abuts Rockport. About
the only thing that separates the towns is a road sign—they are essentially one
community. One of those friends was on
my 2007 Alaska trip—she drove her motorhome and I drove mine to Alaska and back
down the Cassiar Highway. She eventually
sold her motorhome and bought a home in Rockport which was devastated by
Hurricane Harvey yesterday and today.
She was really been on my mind as I drove the 389 miles/626 km to
Stewart, BC today. I hope she was one of
the 40% of the town that evacuated before the storm arrived. (Note:
I found out my friend evacuated from Rockport the day before the
hurricane hit. She reported her home is
repairable.)
Now for the drive today.
I had light to moderate rain showers much of the way with the weather
clearing in places so I could see the fabulous countryside I was driving
through. The road goes south through the
Cassiar Mountains and then along the east side of the coastal mountain
range. Several passes are crossed and
tall mountains, lakes, and streams/rivers are predominate along the way.
 |
| Heading down the Cassiar Highway--Love this drive! |
 |
| Early morning reflections |
 |
| "The Jade Store"--a stopping place for travelers going south |
The road is much improved from 9 years ago, but you
still need to keep both hands on the wheel and be prepared for anything. It was an incredibly beautiful drive with
lots of waterfalls and changing vegetation as I drove south. A 5th wheel trailer had crashed on
a curve and was really rolled up into a ball with debris spread around for some
distance. My guess is that they took the
curve too fast given where the trailer ended up.
 |
| One of two black bears seen along the highway |
I left the Cassiar for a side trip on Highway 37A down to
Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. These twin
towns are at the head of the long, narrow Portland Canal (fjord) which
separates the U.S. and Canada. The drive
on 37A is down a narrow canyon with stunning scenery all along the way. I drove beside rapidly flowing rivers and
streams, watched clouds swirling around the tall rugged mountains, and looked
at dozens of waterfalls running full after the wet summer. (I read somewhere that a person quit counting
the waterfalls on this drive after passing 60!)
The roadway is narrow with few pullouts, so I couldn’t take pictures of
this awesome scenery. However, I did
take advantage of the pullouts near Bear Glacier to see how it compared with
the last time I saw it in 2008. A look
at pictures from then and now show that it has receded quite a bit.
 |
| Starting down Highway 37A to Stewart, BC |
 |
| Bear Glacier |
 |
| White lines show approximate location of the glacier's size in 2008 |
 |
| Bear Glacier--August 2008 |
I continued to Stewart where I will park for a few nights
to take in the wonderful scenery here and to watch bears at the Forest Service
viewing platforms. While checking in to
the campground, the attendant and I talked about the weather. She said she could only count 21 days since
early June that had nice weather. It has
been a cold, wet summer here. I quickly
parked the coach and headed out to the Fish Creek bear viewing area north of
Hyder to see if there was any activity this evening. Only one black bear was at the creek while I
was there. However, I saw some mature
and immature bald eagles in the river below Fish Creek.
 |
| Entering Hyder, AK from Stewart, BC |
 |
| Black bear at Fish Creek |
 |
| So, what do you suppose they are saying to each other??? |
This area is very remote and relatively untouched by what
people take for granted in more populated areas. The towns are ringed by towering mountains,
except for the narrow opening of the canal, and are as different as it is
possible to be. Stewart’s population is
around 800 and Hyder’s is about 90. (I
think some dogs and cats must be getting counted to reach that latter number!) Stewart has all the basic services and touts
its harbor as being Canada’s northernmost year-around ice-free harbor. Hyder is somewhat funky and prides itself on
being “the friendliest ghost town in Alaska.”
Logging, mining, and transportation comprise most of the local economy. There is no U.S. border check station here;
Canadian customs checks everyone re-entering into Canada.
Wildlife count: 1
red fox, 3 black bears, several bald eagles
Day 90, Aug.
27: I worked on the blog and
listened to reports of the Hurricane Harvey damage today. Then, I drove out to the bear viewing area in
the evening. A sow grizzly put on quite
a show for us for over an hour as she walked up and down the creek in front of
the viewing walkway while catching and eating salmon. I asked the Forest Service employee why she
ate some but not all of the salmon she caught and his response was they were
most interested in female salmon’s eggs and the skin of salmon at this time of
year. Altogether, I saw her catch four salmon during this time. When not actively fishing or eating, she walked up and down the stream in front of us. Numerous immature, along with a
couple of mature, bald eagles were on sandbars in the river below Fish Creek.
 |
| The salmon are what draw the bears and birds to Fish Creek |
 |
| Black bear in pond on back side of fish viewing platform |
 |
This is the grizzly that put on the show for us
Came to check us out on the platform before going after fish |
 |
| Looking for salmon |
 |
| Going after dinner |
 |
| Did I get it? |
 |
| Success! |
 |
| Oh, that is good! |
 |
| Yes, it is good |
 |
| I think I will check out the "audience" before going fishing again |
 |
| Back to the task at hand |
 |
| More dinner! |
Wildlife count:
Great blue heron, several bald eagles, 2 black bears, 1 grizzly bear
 |
| Going for dinner |
 |
| Success! |
 |
He took the salmon to a "secure" location near the
viewing stand, sat down there, and ate it |
 |
| That is all, folks! |
 |
| Leaving Hyder one last time (for this trip) |
Wildlife count: 1
grizzly bear, several bald eagles
Day 92, Aug. 29: It was time to leave the beautiful area of
Stewart-Hyder and move on. I sincerely
hated to leave; however, I don’t want to be caught too far north when the
weather changes. I traveled 206 mi./332
km to Smithers, BC. Clouds capped the
mountains along the canyon as I drove the 40 miles/64 km from Stewart back to
the Cassiar Highway and turned south.
 |
Waterfalls were flowing fast as I started
up the canyon from Stewart, BC |
I
continued through beautiful mountainous terrain and passed several large logging
operations along the way. Smoke from the
many large forest fires in BC began showing up against the mountains.
 |
| Driving the Cassiar |
I took a short side trip into Gitanyow, a small First
Nations village which has one of the largest concentrations of totems in
northwest BC. It was a good place to
stretch my legs and to see what has changed in the past nine years.
I took note of the large glacier high up in
the mountains west of Smithers and saw that it, too, was smaller than when I
camped there in 2007. The campground I
stayed at then looked right at the glacier.
Wildlife count: 1
red fox, 1 bald eagle, 1 black bear w/ 2 cubs (too much traffic for picures)
Day 93, Aug. 30: I stayed in Smithers today and spent the
morning washing much of RV exterior—now I can see what color the back of it is
once again! I also worked on the blog
and put up a new post for the blog. Then
it was time for some grocery shopping and to find a car wash. The Jeep was filthy from the trip down from
Alaska! Smithers has a vibrant main
street in an alpine setting with lots of shoppers and people milling around on
Main St.
Day 94, Aug. 31: I departed Smithers, BC and drove 377 mi./607
km to Williams Lake, BC today. The
countryside was still mountainous as I continued down the eastern side of the
coastal mountain range; however, it opened up in areas where some farming
and/or ranching is done. Logging still
seemed to reign supreme throughout the route.
I passed numerous lakes (some of them were large), creeks, and rivers
along the way. I stopped in Houston to
see the world’s largest fly rod—it is about 60 ft./80 m. long.
 |
| Fly rods come in giant sizes at Houston, BC |
Later I passed Fraser Lake west of Prince George and
followed the Fraser River off and on throughout the day all the way to Williams
Lake. It is a major river in this part
of the Province. Soon I passed through
Vanderhoof, which is the geographical center of British Columbia, so I am
halfway to the border. Traffic began
picking up as I approached Prince George making me think at times I should just
turn around and head back north!
Ha! An “18-wheeler” (semi
truck/trailer) passed me as I was doing the speed limit. An oncoming pickup truck and I both moved to
the edge of the shoulder of the road and came nearly to a stop in order for him
to “thread the needle” getting between us.
It was a very close call! My
third of the trip—all of them similar, passing with oncoming traffic too
close.
About 120 miles north of Williams Lake the smell of smoke
in the air from all the forest fires became very noticeable.
 |
| Lots of smoke in the air! |
Thirty miles north of Williams Lake I came
across a large (42 or 45 ft./13 or 14 m) motorhome from Florida parked on the
side of the highway. They had blown the
right front tire which caused quite a lot of damage to wiring, hydraulic lines,
etc. in that area of the coach. They did
not have a roadside service agreement, so were really stuck. They were dependent on their regular
insurance company to assist them but, as they were finding out, that was no
help at all. I gave them my business
card and told them where I was parking for the night and to call me if I could
be of any assistance. I am sure they are
in for a VERY long night. It is beyond
my comprehension that someone would buy a $400,000 or $500,000 coach and not
pay $150 a year for a good roadside assistance agreement! I have had one since I bought my first Class
A motorhome in 1996 and I have had to use it in Canada (towed 300 miles one
night—didn’t cost me a penny out of pocket) and in the U.S. Have only used it 3 times but, when you
really need it, you have it. About five
miles further down the road a pickup was getting loaded up on a trailer. The pickup had been towing a trailer that was
parked nearby—couldn’t tell what the problem was, but at least they were being
taken care of.
The campground host told me that Williams Lake had been
evacuated nearly two weeks in July because of the fires around the town. Many elderly people and people with various
illnesses have not yet returned because of the amount of smoke in the air. She also said many farms and ranches have
been lost to the fires, which in some cases came right up to the edges of towns
(which were saved).
Wildlife count: 1
deer
Day 95, Sept.
1: The drive today took me further
along the Fraser River 246 mi./396 km to Hope, BC. The smoke from fires hung heavily along the
route and the damage was evident for many miles along the way. And to think I am only seeing a very small
portion of the area where fires have burned!
Fires had, indeed, burned right to the edges of some towns and had
jumped the road I was traveling in many places.
I could also see where it had jumped the river in other places. There is just a lot of devastated landscape
in this area of the province!
 |
Yes, that was the sun in Williams Lake, BC
Heavy smoke filled the valley from nearby fires |
 |
The smoke parted enough that I could see some of the
beautiful countryside in southern BC |
After leaving Cache Creek, I soon entered the steep
Fraser River Canyon. I have heard this
is a beautiful drive; however, I really wasn’t prepared for it. The canyon is narrow and steep with the road,
in some places, many hundreds of feet above the river below. It was truly spectacular—but not necessarily
for the faint-of-heart! I loved it! There were several tunnels to drive through—I
believe I went through seven, but I may have missed one or two.
Hope is another town I found in a beautiful setting on
the Fraser River. It is ringed with
steep mountains and has a rich history steeped in First Nations settlement and
trading, and later with Hudson Bay Company trading and a gold rush in 1858. Since this is the beginning of a long holiday
weekend in both Canada and the U.S., I was fortunate to find a campsite in town
right on the river. No hookups were
available; however, since the night would be warm, that didn’t matter.
 |
| The Fraser River runs next to my campsite--final night in Canada! |
Day 96, Sept. 2: I drove 218 mi./351 km from Hope, BC to
Puyallup, WA today, crossing the Canada/U.S. border at Sumas, WA. I got an early start in hopes it would
expedite my time at the border; however, it still took about an hour waiting in
line. The crossing was uneventful once I
made it to the front of the line.
The drive from Hope to the Abbotsford, BC area was along
the bottom end of the Fraser River Canyon.
The awesome views from yesterday continued right to the mouth of the
canyon where the countryside opened up to farmland. I saw numerous large dairies in the
Abbotsford area as well as vegetable farms and fruit orchards. These types of farms were also prevalent
after crossing into the U.S. until I got into the greater Seattle area. Seattle was Seattle—what can I say? Wall to wall traffic north and south with
people trying to get out of town for the long weekend. Mt. Rainier was clear and served as a
landmark for the area I was driving towards.
 |
| Getting close to the Abbotsford, BC area |
After parking at the Puyallup Elks Lodge, I visited Sandi
and Al Koch and later went to dinner with them along with Shannon and Tom
Straws. A nice evening! The Seattle area has been having a heat wave
and it got up to 88 degrees today. Quite
a change from what I have experienced all summer. I have a nice surprise here at the Elks—Dan
and Jenny Sheppard, fellow SWAG members, are parked right next to me. Small world!
(SWAG is a geocaching group based out of Yuma, AZ.)
