On the Road Again

Thursday, July 8, 2010
Well we got a new tire. Of course it cost about 75% more than it would have at home, but that's vacations.
At the grocery store they have this nifty system that requires you to deposit a dollar coin in order to use a cart.

Put the cart back in a row and you get your dollar back.
It keeps the lot clear of carts and the system works. I'm sure people like the T-partiers would see this as anything but simple cooperation for the common good.
Sorry, politics can sneak in sometimes.

So on over to Watson Lake. Just past there the terrain changes and we start seeing wildlife big time.

Bison like to wallow in the dust next to the road.









Black bears appear right and left.

Fox, and Elk.







The Scenery is again excellent.

A couple of people told us not to miss the Liard Hot Springs.

We stopped, checked it out. I guess you had to get in a soak for a while to appreciate it. There were hot pools near where this was taken.



We were near the Nortwest Territories and saw a few vehicles from there. Now those guys are really up there in the far reaches of the earth.

We kept driving until late in the evening.

This time of day is when the animals are really out.
We saw more moose. A huge bull, and we're loosing count of how many cows and calves. Then the elk were around every turn.

We got into the position of being in the middle of nowhere and no place to stay at 11 at night.
 
The other guys pitched a tent.

The cabin we found was on the far side of rustic.
After swatting bugs for a while, Kern & I got to sleep.

Next morning, a dazzling sun, and crisp air.

 Note the solar collector aimed at a sun that stays low in the sky. Power is otherwise by generator.

We "bathed" by the sink and hit the road.
A couple of miles down the road, another bull moose.

Many miles today. Gradually we lose the high peaks for the last time.
When we get to Fort Nelson, BC the cells work again and the terrain changes back to farms and civilization.
We can now drive 65 and 70 ( 110 kph).

Kernal likes the grain elevators.

We get to Dawson Creek, BC where the Alaskan Highway begins (or ends for us). There is a marker in the middle of a square that everyone going through here must photograph.



A tour bus pulled up and the old people got out

to take basically

this picture.

Just lots and lots of miles now and for the next 2 or 3 days.

Canola fields are getting bright yellow up here.

Tomorrow, many more miles. About equivalent to driving home from Seattle.

Ups and Flats

July 6, 2010
Back across the Yukon

Up this morning to a very good breakfast of blueberry pancakes and reindeer sausage.

We left our B&B about 10.
We started from Tok planning a day of many miles ending near Watson Lake, 6 or  7 hundred miles down the road.

We had to wait for some construction. No big deal.

We crossed into Canada on three questions this time.

Some big toad stools.

Some fireweed. Called that because it's the first vegetation to recover after a forest fire.




These mountain avalanche chutes look like the branches of trees.

Some really cool cloud formations caused by the winds pushing air up the slopes and over the tops of mountains. You had to be there.

So we were tooling merely down the road thinking about what to have for lunch in the town of Haines Junction when I became aware of a new noise on the van rapidly getting louder. I tried to deny it was there, but in a few seconds I realized we had a flat tire.

NOT IN THE PLAN !!!

Fortunately of course I had help. And a good spare.
We dismantled the rear rack, dug out the jack, and got the tire changed in a half hour or so. By the time we got to Haines Junction there were no shops open, and probably no tires in town to match the rest of mine. I'll only use Michelin.
On to the big city of White Horse a hundred miles farther on.

On the way our luck changed.

A real grizzly, all be it a small one.
We pulled over to watch him. He totally ignored us as though we were no where near.

He nuzzled stuff on the ground and casually walked across the road without even looking each way for traffic.

We hung out the windows and snapped away.


 




 


 If we hadn't had a flat, we wouldn't have seen the bear.There's always a positive twist.

No more moose today.





Kernal insists she can tell the difference between bear scat and moose shit at 65 mph. (plops vs turds). In fact she claims to be an expert. Both appear regularly on the berm of the road for some reason.
We may need to bring home a sample to have a real expert  (some one like Cloyce for example) to identify for sure.



When we got to Whitehorse, no tire shops were open, but on the first phone call I got us a B&B for the night. For 90 bucks we could have gotten a smoking room in a sleazoid motel. For 99 bucks a room we got the whole lower floor of a nice house, washer and dryer, and what's promised as a huge breakfast. Can't beat those B&B's

Tomorrow, a new tire and hopefully we'll cover some real miles.

Heading out

Monday, July 5, 2010
Chugiak, AK

Departure day for the the return trip.

On Saturday when we packed, we talked about Jason buying a rack that mounts on the hitch receiver, and in that way we could haul a set of snow tires. We then left until Monday.  Later on the phone we discussed some dimensions because they were building a box to mount on the hitch rack. We talked width and height, but not length. They also assumed my van was as high off the ground as a pick-up truck. In the interest of hauling more stuff, they built a box which ended up being more like a small building. Good and sturdy and water tight, but a bit large. Especially for the Wal-Mart rack underneath.
We fit it on just to see how feasible it could be.

We decided the box was too long and heavy for the rack underneath and would likely be a tail dragger if we tried to use it. Fortunately Jason decided to give up the box and just load the tires on the rack.  It's still out there a bit, but I think we'll be OK.

The four of us.

One last look at the Matanuska Glacier.



Kernal also spotted another moose and calf today.

Our tally so far:
Moose:
  9 cows (or more, we're loosing track)
  1 bull
  7 calves
Black bear: 10 +/-

Caribou: 1 buck
Elk:   1 buck, 1 doe
Porcupine: 2, ( one squashed)
Grizzley bear:  0
Bald Eagle:   0
Mounties: 3
Amish:   0

We made it up to Tok, AK. For some reason Kernal and I now have trouble staying awake.
The moose sighting startled the bejesus out of me.
We were planning to make it Haines Junction ,YT for the night if we could since there is little between Tok and there. It turns out Jason knows some nice people in Tok that have a B&B. They invited us to stay the night for free, so we did.

Tomorrow we plan to make some miles. We should cross back into the lower 48 about Thursday evening, and home sometime Saturday.

Seward, AK

Sunday, July 4, 2010
Seward, AK


Dinner here last. This was about 10:30 PM local time.






This morning we drove down to Seward, AK which is on Resurrection Bay just off the Gulf of Alaska south of Anchorage.

We drove along a fjord with steep and high mountains on either side.

Then more huge mountains with their peaks in the clouds.

We got to Seward which is normally a "cute" little town, but today was the biggest festival day of the year. No wonder we couldn't find a room down here last night.

Kernal remembers to take pictures of me, but I usually forget to return the favor. She IS here though. 








This is a deep water port and a tourist stop. 











Today the town was crammed.



The big event was the Mountain Marathon. It all started about 1915 with a bet between 2 guys in a bar that it wasn't possible to run to the top of the peak and back down in an hour. The first winner took and hour and 2 minutes.  It's been an annual event on the 4th ever since. A mile and a half each way, but over a 3,000 ft climb. 

Here's the men's winner at 44:40. The fastest time was junior boys class at 27:29 minutes. 












This guy pushed pretty hard. 

It was about 50 degrees with a good breeze. The coldest 4th of July I've ever seen, but these guys were hot.


A picnic of smoked salmon, bagels, cream cheese, and coffee with a glacier view. Then back to our room. 

Tomorrow morning we start the trek back home.