Seeley Lake

Day 75, Monday, 8/31: Woke to more beautiful sunshine this morning! Left camp about 9:00 and headed to town. They have the best visitor’s center we have seen on this trip. It is along the waterfront and we didn’t have a problem with parking. Lots of brochures and maps of the entire northwest of Canada. We were impressed! Strolled along the waterfront area called Cow Bay. Obviously, everything is painted in a cow theme and it is a nice district with little shops and places to eat. After spending some time in the shops we decided to eat at Smiles Café. It has been around since the ‘30’s and served lots of troops during WWII, both Canadian and American. There were 2,000 American’s stationed here at that time. Bob had halibut fish and chips and I had a seafood basket, very good but too much to eat! After that, we headed out of town back toward the junction where we fueled before. Fueled again and headed east toward Prince George. Stopped at a provincial park called Seeley Lake, a small campground right off the busy road on the lake. Found a nice level spot and we had a great campfire. Quite a few people came in after us, small rigs mostly and some tents.
The traffic on the highway was a bit noisy but by the time we went to bed it had quieted down.

Prince Rupert

Day 74, Sunday, 8/30: It poured all night. We read somewhere that it rains an average of 14 FEET in Hyder/Stewart in a year! That is a lot of rain!!!! We were on the road by 8:30 and headed back to the junction with the Cassiar Hwy. Saw one black bear along the way, crossing the road. By the time we reached the junction turning off toward Prince Rupert we were about out of fuel but the price was right! Cheapest we have seen for awhile. It turned out to be quite warm today (in the 70’s) and the sun is shining. The drive to Prince Rupert is beautiful! Same steep rugged mountains, very green and you follow the Skeena River for most of the way. Lots of waterfalls, some eagles and some small glaciers too. Stopped in Terrace to make a Wal-Mart visit and a trip to Safeway for groceries. Then across the street to the liquor store for more wine…. Also, an ATM for cash. It is quite a large town, a little bigger than La Grande.
At Safeway, instead of a loonie to use a cart, they charge a quarter but you get the quarter back when you return the cart. While we were in the store, one of the checkers asked over the PA system for someone to bring in more buggies. We are not used to the carts being called buggies….

Prince Rupert is a beautiful seaside town and we hope to explore some of it tomorrow. Didn’t get to the RV park until almost 5:00 and had some cleaning up to do. There was a doe and a fawn grazing right here in the park and they didn’t seem to be afraid of anything or anyone. The sun is still shining and we are enjoying it!

No Griz... heading to Prince Rupert

Day 73, Saturday, 8/29: Got up late, headed to Stewart to do laundry…. $4 just for one load to wash. Decided that was too much!! On to Hyder to see the bears. It has changed dramatically since we were here 9 years ago. They have built a boardwalk from the parking area to the creek (a good thing). There is a gate on each end and sides all along so you are somewhat protected. They also charge now (US Forest Service) but we got in free with our Golden Access Pass. The regular price is $5 US or $6 Canadian. Lots of people with their cameras set up but no bears. We spoke with a Forest Service employee and she said the bear population has really gone down in the past few years. They had one bear sighting yesterday…. We watched the salmon in the stream for awhile and decided to leave. We have seen Grizzlies up close in the past so it’s OK.

Back to Hyder and stopped at a place we had halibut the last trip, Sealaska Inn. Right next door was a laundry and it was only $2 to wash so we started our laundry there… Went to the Sealaska Inn planning to have lunch but the restaurant doesn’t open until 2:00 (it was about 1:00). However, the bar was open so Bob had a beer and I had a diet Pepsi. They had a video camera of the Laundromat and we could watch from the bar! Not only was the restaurant not open but they only serve pizza now.

Decided to have lunch in the camper, finished our laundry and drove back to Stewart. It is not very far, maybe ½ mile between the two towns. No border check going in to Hyder but they do have a check going back into Canada.

Stopped at the visitor’s center and the young girl there wasn’t very friendly. In fact she was quite short with visitors having questions… Went in a few stores, didn’t purchase anything and headed back to the RV park. It was a beautiful day, blue sky and at least 70 degrees.
Had a nap and then downloaded pictures from the camera. Having dinner and plan to leave here in the morning.

Stewart / Hyder

Day 72, Friday, 8/28: Woke early and were on the road by 7:30. Hoped to see some critters but no such luck… Certainly spent a lot of time looking though. Not much traffic at that hour, but then there is never what you would call traffic this far north! Stopped to get fuel at a First Nation community called Iskut and waited for about 5 minutes for someone to show up to turn the pump on. Guess they weren’t all that concerned about customers! Headed down the road to Bell II (the second crossing of the Bell-Irving River), and had breakfast at Tatogga Lake Resort. Nice restaurant with one person doing the cooking and everything else. It was a ‘help yourself’ kind of place. You ordered at the counter, got your own coffee, and when your food was ready you came back to the counter to pick it up. Very good food and huge portions! We have leftovers for tomorrow morning! I heard it mentioned that she was staying open until mid-October. A good portion of these places are closed for the winter months.
Bell I (the first crossing) was an interesting place and we got a picture. It is a big heli-skiing place in the winter and had a lodge, and lots of cabins. We thought of Bell when we were at these places (we miss her!).

On down the road toward the junction to Stewart/Hyder. The drive west from the junction is awesome! Huge mountains on both sides of the highway, with glaciers, fast moving rivers, and waterfalls. We were wishing they had more places to pull over for pictures. We did see a black bear crossing the road and got a few pictures of it. Arrived at the Bear River RV Park about 2:00. It is close to Stewart but not in town. We unhooked the trailer and will stay here two nights so we can do laundry and go see the grizzly feeding area in Hyder. This RV park recommends that you don’t walk around after dark as there are bears and wolves that visit! They don’t allow tents or soft-sided RV’s here.

Showers are a wonderful thing!! When we camp remote we try to conserve water so we don’t have the opportunity to shower every day. Lately, it has been every 3 days and that is pushing it! It feels absolutely wonderful to be clean again. Nice to have
Wi-Fi to check e-mails, do the blog and banking, etc. We love camping remote but after a week it is nice to have the amenities. Tomorrow we go to see the griz’s….

Boya to Gnat

Day 71, Thursday, 8/27: Woke kind of late so we didn’t leave camp until almost 10:30. Had to finish loading up the boat, the RZR and the firewood… A bit chilly but no rain and no wind.

Someone we met at the RV park in Whitehorse (they had an Arctic Fox and a quad) told us about a trail/road to a microwave tower about 20 kliks down the road. He even drew a map for us. So, we found the place to pull over, unload the RZR, and the road/trail. The first part of the trip was through forest and a nice ride. We climbed quickly and were on top of mountains, winding our way up to the top! Kind of scary (for me) but not a bad ‘road’. The last mile was quite steep and shear drop-offs on one side. Once at the top (and my heart settled down a bit) we got out and took in the awesome view all around! It was cold due to the wind. If Dall sheep were there you could easily see them and probably be looking down at them! The guy that drew the map said they had seen sheep and Caribou but we didn’t see any. A few minutes after we got there a helicopter approached and landed at the tower!!! It was an incredible site to be on the top of a mountain and have a helicopter approach from below you… Got some pictures…. They stayed on the ground for about 5 minutes and then lifted off again. Not sure what they were doing there but it must have had something to do with the tower… We weren’t able to see if anyone got out as they were just over the ridge and we could only see the top portion of the chopper. Took lots of pictures and then headed down. Have to admit I closed my eyes in sections of the trip down. It was steep! Got back to the truck/camper, loaded the RZR and headed south…

Headed down the Cassiar Highway and just took our time, enjoying the remoteness, the mountains, etc.

Stopped at Upper Gnat Lake where there was a short side road to a nice spot to camp overlooking the lake. Not long after we were there a BC forest ranger came by to check. He was actually looking for someone but chatted a bit about whether we were hunting or fishing, which we are not. He didn’t have a problem with us camping there. We played some cribbage, some Skip-bo and had a wine or two. Listened to an audio book for awhile. Nice evening…

Boya Lake day 4

Day 70, Wednesday, 8/26: The wind kept up until we went to bed so no campfire last night. Woke to beautiful blue sky with just a little wind this morning. Doing some clean-up of the trailer and plan to take the screen room down today and let it dry out before we pack it.

Took another spin around the lake, enjoying the gorgeous scenery. When we got back to camp we winched the boat up into the campsite for loading in the morning. Trying to get everything ready so it won’t take long to load up and get going.

Invited Bob and his dog Barnaby to sit with us by the campfire and visit. It was a very nice time… After he went back to his camper I started dinner and Bob continued to stoke the fire until a very noisy kid next door drove him crazy with whining so he gave it up and came in. Not really the kid’s fault as he was only about 2 but it was still annoying. Fortunately we couldn’t hear anything from inside the camper.

Boya Lake day 3

Day 69, Tuesday, 8/25: Rained most of the night and well into morning. Had a leisurely breakfast and did some reading in the camper. About 10:00 it started to clear up so we were able to move outside. The fresh snow is even lower on the mountains this morning!

The camp operators here are a very nice First Nation couple, Jack and Sue Chief, with their grandson helping out. He is probably about 10 and likes to drive the ATV that they use in camp. Anyway, they do anything they can to make your stay here enjoyable and we appreciated the information about the trail and the map of the lake. Bob spoke with Jack this morning about the weather and what it might do. He explained that the elders say if the wind is coming from a certain direction then it is supposed to turn cold but that his wife uses the stupid internet to get the forecast…. (Neither of which are probably very accurate but I’d probably go with the elders!) He thinks it will be more of the same. Some rain, some clearing.

We decided to venture out in the boat about 1:00 and had a nice leisurely trip along the shoreline and around the islands. Saw lots of trees that the beavers were working on and fresh cuts too. Saw a beaver lodge up close but no critters… Motored over to the beaver dam where the hiking trail ends and saw our campground neighbor, Bob from Bellingham, there talking to a retired wildlife biologist. We exchanged a few words and decided a storm was coming so we headed back to camp. Didn’t make it far before the rain came down in buckets and the wind was blowing hard. About half way back it started to hail!!!! Fortunately we had our rain gear with us but we still got a bit wet. Had a nice hot shower (much needed after 3 days), and spent some time in the screen enclosure. It is now about 6:30, the sun is out but the wind is strong. We may not have a campfire tonight unless the wind dies down a bit. Drinking a bottle of good Canadian wine and enjoying the beautiful view of the lake…

Boya Lake day 2 - Cougar Day

Day 68, Monday, 8/24: Woke to blue sky and sun!! Still a bit cold but no big deal…. We could see fresh snow on the mountain tops though! After breakfast we took the boat out on the lake and did some exploring. The water is such a beautiful color and we spotted some beaver dams and some loonies. This lake is huge with lots of arms and islands. Good thing for the map. Spent about 2 hours just putting around. When we came back to camp, the campground operator (the grandpa) came by to tell us about a trail that goes completely around the lake that we can take the RZR on so off we went! Not a well used trail but not too overgrown either. About 4.5 miles in we spotted a HUGE cougar run across the trail about 100 feet in front of us!!! We stopped to take a look but he stopped a ways off the trail and turned to look at us. Decided not to hang around for a picture!! Have to admit I spent some time looking in the rearview mirror after that! Bob thought it weighed in the 200 lb. category. It was well fed…. The trail around the lake was about 18 miles and we were back in camp by 3:30. Since the weather was still nice we decided to take the boat out again, in a different direction. Spent a couple of hours just putting around. The water was calm and beautiful. Took lots of pictures and hoping the color comes through. We haven’t downloaded pictures for awhile and might try to do that today. Back to camp, built a campfire and got out the BBQ grill. A couple moved into the campsite next door and they are from Bend! They teach man tracking and have a search dog (Golden Retriever). They have two dogs but only one is trained to search. They know Richard and Charity Henry who are in the Union County SAR group. Small world! Visited with them for awhile and started to cook dinner when the raindrops began. We were able to finish the grilling before it really started to come down.

Nugget City to Boya Lake

Day 67, Sunday, 8/23: Got up early and drove to a place called Nugget City, about 42 kliks down the road. It is an RV park, store, café and some cabins. Very nice and we had breakfast there. On to the junction for fuel and then south on the Cassiar Highway. There were quite a few motor homes at the fueling station, part of a tour group, and they were also going south to Dease Lake. Some major road construction for awhile on this road, very muddy and potholes. It is still raining…. Pulled into one of our favorite spots from a previous trip, Boya Lake, and found a good campsite right on the lake. We think it is the same spot we camped in the last trip (9 years ago!) because we are on a peninsula with a place to pull the boat in. Unloaded the boat, the RZR, set up the screen tent and unloaded firewood. We are here for at least 3 days, maybe more, depending on weather, etc. It is a BC Provincial Park and is $15 a night but you have to buy firewood. Fortunately, we have plenty… The campground operator is very nice and has her grandson helping out. He is going to bring us a map of the lake to use when we take the boat out. The lake is a beautiful aqua color. Just wish it would stop raining!!!!!!! Not exactly warm either, high of 50 today. We did bring plenty of warm clothing and can sit in the screen room and not spend all our time in the camper. Did a major clean-up inside the trailer, repacking some of the bins. Had time for a nap too!

On to BC...

Day 66, Saturday, 8/22: Rain, rain, go away!! Rained all night and still raining…. We are packing up and heading south to northern BC. Plan to stay in Provincial Parks for about a week so we won’t have WiFi or cell service for awhile. We will be going down the Cassiar Highway through BC. Plan to stay several days at Boya Lake but that all depends on the weather. It is a beautiful lake and we had hoped to put the boat in….

Probably no blog for at least a week….

Whitehorse Day 3

Day 65, Friday, 8/21: Rained all night and most of the day today! We left for Skagway about 7:00 and got there around 8:45. Some fog as we went over the pass…. Realized when we got there that we were back on Alaska time so it was only 7:45… Drove around town for a bit and then found a place to get a latte. The downtown area has wooden walkways on both sides of the street and all the buildings are as they were in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s. Seems like every other store sold jewelry, probably to all the tourists who get off the cruise ships! There was a large cruise ship in the harbor and lots of people walking around. Bought a few things at a Christmas store, then continued walking the town. Ended up at a fabric/cross stitch/yarn store and spent some time there (and some money). About 11:00 we went back to the Skagway Brewery and had lunch (since it was 12:00 Pacific Time). Bob had a beer sampler and we both had halibut fish and chips. Very good! After that we headed back to Whitehorse. Saw a black bear along the side of the highway. We stopped to get pictures and he didn’t even look at us, just kept munching on something. Of course we didn’t get out of the vehicle… Went back and forth across the border for the 6th and 7th time! No problems, but then we only had the truck. Left the camper and cargo trailer here in Whitehorse at the RV park. They didn’t even ask if we made any purchases in Skagway, just if we had alcohol or tobacco products.

Bought a few groceries at NOT our favorite store (Extra Foods) but were told by our RV park neighbors that if we inserted a loonie to get a cart and then returned the cart we would get the loonie back so we did that. We are too stubborn to pay a loonie just to use a cart! It was packed and we waited at the checkout for about 20 minutes…. Still not our favorite store! We are doing a load of laundry since we will be camping remote for the next week and taking advantage of having WiFi too. Bob was hoping to take the ATV to the smallest desert located in Carcross but looks like 70% chance of rain tomorrow too so we may not do that. On the way back from Skagway we did stop at a wildlife museum there and it was fantastic.

Whitehorse Day 2

Day 64, Thursday, 8/20: Did some sightseeing in Whitehorse today. Discovered that parking is an issue downtown where the tourist places are… We finally found a spot and went to Tim Horton’s for breakfast (a breakfast sandwich similar to any other fast food place). On to McBride’s museum and it was very interesting, about what it was like living here a century ago. Those were hardy folks! After that we went to Baringia Interpretive Center which was about the ice age and how the original people got to North America across the land from Russia/Asia. It was interesting also. Then on to the Transportation Museum which was also very good. A lot about early life here in the Yukon and how they managed to survive and travel. Back to camp for some wine with the neighbors! They had wine from their area, Kamloops, BC and it was nice to visit. We will try to acquire some of the special wine they let us taste. The plan is to go to Skagway in the morning, a quick trip down and back.

Backtracking to Lake Creek

Day 60, Sunday, 8/16: Out of camp late as usual. This section is very beautiful but remote. We noticed that quite a few of the RV parks/lodges (there aren’t many) are closed for the season already!! The Border… Confusing… The only thing they asked was where we were from and if we had firearms. We said yes to the firearm and Bob went into the office to register and pay the $25 (again). It is only good for 60 days and it has been almost that. Never asked what was in the trailer, what did we bring, etc. Noticed a pile of firewood nearby that they had evidently confiscated… Apparently you cannot bring firewood in from Alaska… Again, they never asked us about our firewood, or booze stash. Once across the border it was miles and miles of frost heaves and 30 mph. Not the best road!

Stayed at Lake Creek YT camp. Quiet and right next to a fast flowing creek. It was among the best. Of course, as soon as we got there Bob spotted an Arctic Fox RV and had to go visit. They were from Utah, an ‘older’ couple J who bought if from Thunder RV in La Grande. We had a great campfire and listened to a John Grisham audio book.

Backtracking to Tok (Day 59)

Day 59, Saturday, 8/15: It rained pretty good during the night but we woke to sunshine! Didn’t leave camp until after 10 but it’s only a little over 200 miles to Tok. Nice drive with beautiful views but lots of frost heaves in spots. Didn’t see any critters today…. Arrived in Tok about 3:30 and staying in a nice RV park. You can sure tell it is the end of their season. Not many rigs here and they are preparing to close in a few weeks. This was, however, the most expensive site on the trip. Tok is only 90 miles from the Canadian border so we are spending this evening getting everything in order for the border crossing. Hope they don’t take my wine!!!

Whitehorse

Day 63, Wednesday, 8/19: Woke early because we wanted to be on the road and back to Haines Junction by 10ish. Planned to go to Bear-ittos for a breakfast burrito but realized they didn’t open until 6 and we were still on Pacific time which was 5:30. It was OK though, because a very large cruise ship was docking as we got up and it was an awesome sight! It was lit up and just pulling up to the dock, very close to where we were camped. We drove around and got an even closer view. Spotted two bald eagles down by the waterline sitting on a rock and enjoyed seeing them too. Back to the café for the burritos, coffee and a Danish for the road. Nice drive back to Haines Junction with a little road construction along the way. No critters!! I think they sense us coming and hide….

Once back in Haines Junction, hooking up the cargo trailer, we discovered that we cannot find SPOT! We have searched everywhere and think maybe we left it at the Lake Creek Yukon Territorial park… Too far to go back… So to those who were getting our signal: SPOT IS MISSING!!!! Drove on to Whitehorse which was about 100 miles and staying at the High Country RV Park. Very nice and great WiFi here! We unhooked the trailer, unloaded the camper and plan to spend a couple of nights here. There is a lot to see here in Whitehorse so we will be doing some sightseeing tomorrow. Bob e-mailed the SPOT website informing them that we left the kennel door open and Spot is missing. They responded back saying they would suspend our account for the time being. So, if someone finds it they won’t be able to push the Help or 911 buttons and cause unnecessary concern. I’m hopeful that someone found it and it may turn up eventually. We are through the really remote places so we should be OK. Don’t worry! We are having a glass of wine, visiting with some Canadians next door and relaxing…

Haines Day 2

Day 62, Tuesday, 8/18: Woke to some sunshine this morning. Bob took a stroll out on the pier and through town while I slept in… We decided to eat breakfast at a restaurant next to this RV park called the Lighthouse. It was nice and we had a good view of the harbor. We then drove to Chilkoot River and Lake which is about 8 miles on a dead end road. Lots of people fishing but no signs of bear except for some bear poop in the middle of the road (and it looked fresh!). Signs everywhere saying it is a bear feeding area and to be alert. Got fuel and came back to camp. Then we walked through town and had lunch at the Bear-ittos bakery and café. Had halibut tacos… Bob went back to the camper and I went shopping at a fabric store called “Material Girls”. It was a great little shop and a very nice lady working there. Her 94 year old mother lives in Seaside. Got a few pieces of fabric and also some cards at another shop along the way. Bob had a headache so we had a bite of supper and he went to bed and I watched TV….

Haines Day 1

Day 61, Monday, 8/17: More frost heaves for another 50 miles. Stopped at Sheep Mountain information center and saw lots of Dall sheep on the mountainside! The most we have seen so far. Wishing we had better binoculars and a better camera! No other critters were seen today. We left the trailer at an RV park in Haines Jct. and drove south. Long day to Haines although nice scenery. Had clouds and fog along the way and visibility was limited at times. Crossing the border once again into the US and they only asked where we were from and if we had any alcohol. I said, yes some wine in the frig which was true since we left the other stuff in the trailer back in Haines Jct.! He said as long as it was for personal consumption it was OK. We are here for a few days at Oceanside RV park right on the water. Close to town so we can walk there tomorrow and check it out. Evidently there is a cruise ship in the harbor that couldn’t dock today because of the high winds. Someone said the weather is remnants of a typhoon in the Pacific… Since we haven’t listened to any news or weather we have no idea what is happening! We do have cable TV here so maybe we will learn something…

Discovered that we left SPOT in the trailer in Haines Junction… Oh well…

Lalen Lake then towards Glenallen

Day 58, Friday, 8/14: This morning Bob and I fixed biscuits and gravy (evidently one of John’s favorites) and scrambled eggs. The weather cleared up enough for John to take Bob up in the floatplane for about an hour and it was wonderful! I got lots of pictures of them taking off but we should have sent the camera and binoculars with them! John is a very good pilot and I was not worried about them. After that, we got our rig ready to go and followed John and Dale to Palmer to a ‘Friday Fling’ (farmers market type thing). We also visited a fabric store and a gift store (much to the guy’s chagrin…. Too bad because I got lots of really awesome fabric!!!! After that we had to say our goodbyes and head down the road. We are staying at the Grandview RV park east of Palmer. On to Tok tomorrow…. It is supposed to rain the next few days…. L

Lalen Lake day two

Day 57, Thursday, 8/13: Dale made ‘sourdough’ for breakfast which is what they call sourdough pancakes and she made beer syrup. It was awesome!!! John and Bob went to some tool stores and Dale and I played cribbage and scrabble. The weather has not been great so we stayed indoors most of the day. It was relaxing and fun. The guys brought home some steaks to grill and Dale fixed creamed new potatoes and peas (wonderful). We had fresh tomatoes too. It was great. After dinner we watched a movie.

Lalen Lake

Day 56, Wednesday, 8/12: It really feels like fall here, with leaves changing color and starting to drop! Seems odd for mid-August. Made another quick stop at Wal-Mart and then met John and Dale at a quick mart near their home. They live off of some back roads and they said the kids knock the street signs down so they came to get us…
They are wonderful people who have an ‘animal house’! 3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 horses and bunnies. They live on a lake and have a small airplane at their dock as well as a small boat. Dale and I went to the Wednesday market in Wasilla and bought some fresh veggies and strawberries. We had fresh strawberry margaritas and I made enchiladas for dinner. Dale had baked a cake. It was a great evening (what we remember of it after going through ½ gal. of tequila!!!

John is a retired Anchorage police officer and Dale works out of their home with the marine industry. She has a wonderful office upstairs with a view of the lake and the mountains! We had a great time visiting with them.

Homestead RV again

Day 54/55, Monday/Tuesday, 8/10-8/11: Drove to Anchorage, then Palmer this morning and after getting propane and a quick Wal-Mart trip we are back at the Homestead RV Park. Doing laundry and catching up on e-mails. We did see a moose and a Dall sheep on the way here but didn’t have a chance to stop for pictures. Grilled some steaks and relaxed. It looked like a storm was headed our way but it passed us by. Called some friends of my sister and brother-in-law who live outside of Wasilla and plan to visit them tomorrow.

Hidden Lake/Willawaw

Day 53, Sunday, 8/9: Well, we managed to survive what could have been a major disaster this morning. ‘Someone’ lit the pilot light in the oven, laid the propane lighter on the oven door and then closed the door, sending the lighter to the bottom of the oven. The intent was to slowly heat up the leftover breakfast burrito filling for breakfast. The oven was turned on to about 250 and about 20 or 30 minutes later I heard a weird sound in the oven. Opened the door to an oven full of flames!!! Immediately closed it and yelled for Bob who was in the ‘garage’. Almost used the fire extinguisher but he realized that it was something plastic burning so he reached in with a sock on his hand and pulled it out and onto a pan which he took outside. It was quite frightening!!! Also, we discovered that we didn’t have a battery in our smoke alarm since there was smoke and it never went off!!! Anyway, we averted what could have been a very disastrous situation. One of us could have been hurt/burned if the lighter had exploded after we took it out and the camper could have burned up if we had not found it right away. As it turned out we only ruined a pan (no big deal) and had a bit of a mess to clean up in the oven. Whew!!!! Needless to say, we threw the leftovers away and had something else for breakfast. Only one of us is now allowed to use the propane lighters….

Loaded up the camper and trailer and were on the road about 11:30. It was only about an hour’s drive to the next campground which is called Willawaw (another nice forest service campground) and it is on the highway to Whittier. USFS up here either gets more funding, or is much better managed. Really nice campgrounds and cheaper than what you find in Oregon, Washington, Idaho. Unhooked the trailer and set off for a 2 ½ mile tunnel. It is single lane and you have to wait for the opening time which was about 25 minutes and it cost $12 round trip for a single vehicle. Quite an experience. Not much to see in Whittier except lots of boats and they do have a small area on the water with restaurants and gift shops, etc. Found a place to have fish and chips (I had ½ shrimp and ½ halibut) and it was wonderful. We then drove back to the tunnel and only had to wait about 5 minutes this time. This tunnel is not only used for vehicle traffic but also train traffic so you are straddling train tracks as you drive through it. There are several glaciers along this road too.

Back to camp. We took a bike ride to a salmon viewing area and now having a campfire. Guess we didn’t get enough fire this morning L Played some cribbage and Skip-bo this evening.

Hidden Lake Day 6

Day 52, Saturday, 8/8: Slept in this morning and Bob fixed breakfast burritos. We pretty much just hung around camp all day except to drive to the other campground for more water and to buy some firewood from the camp hosts. It is fairly cheap here so we got a couple of bundles to take with us. Took a short bike ride and did some reading.

Hidden Lake Day 5

Day 51, Friday, 8/7: It’s amazing how our plans change. We have decided to scrub the side trip to Girdwood since the only reason for going there was a restaurant (bar). Instead we are planning to go to Whittier which looks much more interesting according to the Milepost. We will stay two more nights here and leave on Sunday.

Drove to Seward today as planned and it was sunny and warm. Went to the Exit Glacier National Park and took a short hike there. It is about 8 miles off the main road but well worth the drive. Beautiful view of the glacier and the Resurrection River. On to Seward and there were several large cruise ships tied up there. Managed to find a parking place downtown, had a halibut sandwich and did some shopping while Bob took a nap. Quaint little town with lots of tourist spots and it was busy!!!

Back to camp for another campfire and some relax time. The campground was full when we returned! The hosts said it would fill up on the week-end and it did. Glad we got here on a Monday….

Hidden Lake Day 4

Day 50, Thursday, 8/6: It did rain pretty hard during the night but today has been cloudy in the morning and some sun this afternoon. We drove to Soldatna this morning and both got haircuts at a place in the Fred Meyer complex. The girl that cut my hair graduated from high school in La Grande and says she really misses it there. She was probably in her early 30’s and I’m sorry I didn’t get her name. I believe her grandmother still lives in Union. Then a quick wash of the truck and Bob was planning to attend a Rotary meeting at noon. When we got there they said the Rotary Club meets every Thursday at noon like clockwork except for today!! So, we grabbed a bite of lunch, took the truck for a lube and oil change and drove back to camp. It has been another lazy afternoon of napping and reading. Only a few mosquitoes here but those black things (no see ‘ums?) are annoying. We have a campfire going and also some mosquito coils lit. They don’t seem to bite so maybe they are just gnats?

Tomorrow we are planning to drive to Seward which is about an hour away. Will spend a 5th night here in this campground and leave on Saturday for a place called Girdwood. It is a ski resort in the winter and a tourist place in the summer. There is a restaurant there that we would like to visit. It is amazing the information you find in the Milepost. We have used it daily and changed our route according to things we find in the book. Sometimes it is not accurate but for the most part it is very helpful. There have been some places that sound great but when you get there they have gone out of business.
It even had the day and time for the Soldatna Rotary meeting! I often read interesting things to Bob as we are driving down the road and it even identifies places we can pull off the highway to take pictures or just to let vehicles go by if there is a line behind us. Very useful and we would recommend it to anyone traveling through Alberta/Yukon/NWT/BC and/or Alaska! Can’t imagine making the trip without it!

Hidden Lake Day 3

Day 49, Wednesday, 8/5: Another lazy day. Bob started cooking breakfast outside but it started to drizzle so we finished up in the camper. This is a great campground and we are happy to stay here for a few days. Did a bit of house cleaning, including sorting some of the bins in the trailer. Need to do that once in awhile because things get scattered. I combined two of the food bins so we now have another bin for stuff we have purchased along the way. Visited with the camp host (very nice couple, retired university teachers probably in their 50’s) and they have a very old yellow lab (almost white). Bought some firewood and she told us about getting water from the Upper Skilak Lake campground which is about 5 miles up the road. The water here has to be pumped and it takes 14 pumps to prime and 60 to fill a 5 gallon water container! We didn’t count but she did!!! Anyway, we decided since we have 4 of the 5 gallon containers to fill we would take the drive! After filling the tank in the camper we both took showers for the first time in 3 days and it was WONDERFUL!! Took a 1 mile hike on the ‘Burney’ trail named after a young man who spent several years in this area studying lynx and snowshoe hares. At the end is a nice overview of several lakes (Hidden and Skilak). Good to get some exercise…. We are now having a campfire and a glass of wine and hoping it doesn’t rain.

Hidden Lake Day 2

Day 48, Tuesday, 8/4: Got up fairly early to a cloudy sky and a bit of wind. Drove to Sterling where we stopped at a small RV/Auto parts store and purchased a couple of light covers for the cargo trailer that had broken. On to Soldatna. Nice town and we will probably go back on Thursday for haircuts, oil change for truck, Rotary, etc. It started to rain a bit after Soldatna and we continued on to Homer. Scenery was nice along the way even though the actual views of the mountains were limited due to the weather. Homer is a great town! We drove out on the spit and had lunch (fresh Halibut fish and chips, Mmmmmm). Bob says we drove to Homer ‘just for the Halibut’…. Sorry, but it is true. Homer claims to be the Halibut fishing capitol of the world. Got some good pictures and stopped at a bead store and a fabric store on the way out of town. Couldn’t resist…. Back ‘home’ to the camper about 5:00 this evening. Not sure what our plans are for the rest of the week. We do want to drive to Seward and we also want to go back to Soldatna.

Hidden Lake Day 1

Day 47, Monday, 8/3: Went into Wasilla first thing to fill our extra propane tank and Bob needed a new sweatshirt from Wal-Mart. It seems his only zippered one came out a size smaller after washing! Then we drove to check out an RV park in Palmer to see if we want to stay there on our way back through. It was nice but we liked the Homestead one better…. Then on to Anchorage! Arrived at the Arctic Fox dealership about 10:30 and picked up the part for the jack. Found a ‘Safeway’ on our way out of town and it was the best one we have ever seen! It was called Carr’s but it was definitely a Safeway and listed as such on the internet. Wonderful store with everything you could imagine. Filled our little frig to the max. After that we headed south. Beautiful drive along the Cook Inlet. Mountains on one side and the bay on the other. Tide was out along with the sun. Some road construction but not too long of a delay. Turned onto the Sterling Highway which goes to Homer and stopped at a forest service campground on Hidden Lake (located in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge). Wonderful spot and although we aren’t on the lake itself, we have a large site with lots of trees and lots of space between campers. Unhooked the trailer, and Bob worked on the jack. Once the part was replaced it worked perfectly so we unloaded the camper from the truck since we are going to be here for at least 4 days and plan to do some traveling (sightseeing) with just the truck itself. It was quite warm today, in the 70’s. I know that doesn’t seem warm to those of you back home who are suffering through the 100’s but for us it was warm. We did have a nice campfire and grilled dinner.

The first portion of the Sterling Highway which goes to Homer parallels the Kenai River that is the most beautiful aqua color! Watched some rafters go by and saw lots of fishermen along the shoreline.

Palmer Area Day 2

Day 46, Sunday, 8/2: Another beautiful sunny day in the 60’s. Have spent most of the day just relaxing, on the computer and reading. Still enjoying my Amazon Kindle very much!!

They are having an ice cream social here at the park tonight from 6:30 to 7:30. Not sure if we will attend…. Took the opportunity to put a small roast in the little crock pot I brought since we aren’t traveling and have electricity! Plan to leave in the morning and head to Anchorage, then on to the Kenai Peninsula for about a week. Probably won’t have WiFi since we will be staying mostly in forest service campgrounds there.

Posting some pictures taken at Denali! Mt. McKinley (Denali) and the sled dog demonstration area.... Note to Bell: Bob did not give any attention to the dogs, he is remaining true to you!

Palmer area

Day 45, Saturday, August 1: Slept in this morning, had a bite of breakfast and then went on down the road. The closer you get to Wasilla the more traffic you encounter and it is Saturday so lots of people out and about. Nice drive and a warm sunny day.
Arrived in Wasilla about noon and found a Wal-Mart to do some shopping. It is a recently remodeled superstore and looks nice, not a big box like most of their stores. It was crowded though, the parking lot almost full. Bought groceries and grabbed a bit of lunch. A few miles past Wasilla is the junction with the road to Palmer which we took and a few miles ahead found a very nice RV park called Homestead. It was listed in the Milepost and is one of the best ones we have stayed in. I would describe it as quaint! Nothing fancy about it but very clean and a friendly couple that run it. We did 4 loads of laundry first thing since it had been awhile… Put our groceries away, sorted some cupboards and we are good to go. Plan to stay here two nights because we don’t want to be in Anchorage before Monday when we need to pick up the part for the jack. WiFi is great here so we can get our internet fix before going off to remote places again! Plan to grill some steaks tonight.

Our granddaughter Cassie flies home from Maui this evening, getting into Portland about 11:30. She has been gone over a month, visiting her other grandparents there. Imagine this will turn into an annual event cause I’m sure she had an awesome time! We miss her!

Trapper Creek

Day 44, Friday, 7/31: Can’t believe it is the last day of July already! The time is going by fast. Left Healy and headed for the little shopping village outside Denali. Saw a shop that I had to visit as we passed through yesterday. It is a fabric and craft shop! Bob was grumbling about not being able to find a place to park but we managed!!!!! The one and only rv spot….
Spent about 45 minutes in the shop and could have spent a lot of money but didn’t. Just a few items…. On down the road toward Anchorage. It started out to be a nice sunny day but the clouds moved in and it is a bit chilly with the wind. Beautiful scenery, lots of mountains, Fireweed, etc. We haven’t had WiFi since North Pole so we are hoping to find a park that has it. The last place it didn’t work…. Came to a town called Trappers Creek and found a nice park and it is a popular ATV area. Tried to hook into their WiFi but realized there is something wrong with our connection so Bob re-installed the program. In the meantime he unloaded the RZR and we took a 50+ mile ride on Petersville Road. It goes in about 40 miles to some cabins but about 18 miles in there is a place called Forks Roadhouse. It has been there since the ‘30’s and used to supply food, drink and lodging to miners in the area. It is still in operation today so on our way back from exploring we stopped in and had a pint of beer (or two). Very rustic with some big friendly dogs greeting us at the door. Visited with the folks there and bought 2 pieces of homemade pie to bring back with us. Evidently their busiest time is in the winter when there are thousands of snowmobilers who frequent the area. They must have enough business in the summer too because the guy who made the pies said he had made a dozen or more today! They serve burgers and such too. Rode back to our campsite and fixed some dinner. Bob played around with the computer and was up at 2:00 in the morning on the internet!!! Guess we are addicted to it somewhat and when it is not working we are lost. Talked to Jim on the cell phone earlier in the evening and it was good to hear about their trip to Georgia.

Denali to Healy

Day 43, Thursday, 7/30: Up early and on our way back to the park entrance. Passed about a dozen buses coming in as we were going out! No critter sightings today…. We did stop at the park headquarters and attended another dog sled demonstration. Gog a good seat this time and hopefully some better pictures. It is very cloudy/smoky today. Stopped at the dump station and then on to the long term parking area to hook up the cargo trailer. Everything was just as we had left it. Drove to Healy, a small town about 20 miles north of the park, and we are staying in an RV park here. There is a Polaris dealer next door and Bob checked it out with the thought we might take a ride. This RV park is probably the worst we have stayed in and you couldn’t tell at first because the sights are down a hill from the main area. Decided we would just spend the night, forget the ride and head out first thing in the morning

Denali Day 6

Day 42, Wednesday, 7/29: This is a windy place…. All night it was gusty and we are thankful for our RV. There are quite a few tent campers here. Slept in this morning.
Spent most of the day just relaxing and we did take several long walks along the river bed. Played some cribbage and did some reading. The wind died down enough to have a campfire in the evening.

Denali Day 5

Day 41, Tuesday, 7/28: Up early to catch the bus which was about 15 minutes late. About 10 of us waiting and we met a nice young couple from Switzerland. The bus made quite a few stops along the way (a visitor’s center about half way and a couple of rest areas). The driver was on the alert for critters and he could really spot them. He would try to stop so everyone could get a picture. We saw 9 grizzly’s, several moose, some wolves, caribou and some falcons nesting in a tree right along side the road. The campground we are staying in is at mile 29 and the end of the bus trip is Wonder Lake at mile 85. Fortunately for us, Mt. McKinley (Denali) was clear and we had a beautiful view. They say you can only get a good view about 20% of the time!! Lots and lots of buses!!! We were the first bus in but coming out there were dozens of them and the road is quite narrow, steep and winding most of the way. There was just enough room for them to pass each other and scary if you were on the outside looking down! The buses are not plush tour buses but more like school buses so it could get quite bumpy. We arrived back at our campground at 3:30, making for a long day but well worth the trip. Think we got some good pictures and met some interesting people too. We did have wind again today but the sun is out and it is warm (60’s). I think the wind is quite normal here and we don’t mind since it blows the mosquitoes away!

Denali Day 4

Day 40, Monday, 7/27: Broke camp, took the trailer to the parking area, headed to the Mercantile for firewood and ice and then off to Teklanika. It is a nice drive and soon after the Savage Creek Campground you enter the tundra. Didn’t see any critters today but hope to see some on the bus ride tomorrow. The campground is remote but nice sites and we did see a few big rigs here. It has been windy and the mosquitoes are out (unlike Riley Creek where we didn’t have a problem with them). Partly cloudy with some sun breaks. We took a walk around both loops of the campground and found the bus stop for tomorrow’s excursion. Need to be there by 6:30 AM…. so we will need to set an alarm. Also hiked out in the river bed. It is a very wide bed with streams flowing through it. Someone said they had seen a moose on the hillside but we didn’t see it.

Denali Day 3

Day 39, Sunday, 7/26: Woke up around 2:30 this morning and it was actually dark outside!!! First time in quite a while…. We are further south now and days are getting shorter too.

Bob is fixing breakfast outside on the camp stove this morning. It is nice not to have bugs and the wind has died down. The plan today is to take the shuttle to Savage Creek campground and look around there. We will decide after that if we want to buy tickets to go further into the park.

We took the shuttle bus over to the Wilderness Access Center intending to go to Savage Creek. Asked the bus driver how far into the park we should go and he said to Eielson which is the 8 hour tour. He said we could also camp at Teklanika Campground which is 30 miles into the park and then catch the shuttle bus there, making the trip 6 hours instead of 8. The deal is you have to stay 3 nights there and only make one trip in and one trip out. They like to limit the traffic on the park road. So, we decided to make a reservation. At first we were told it was full but we checked with someone else and they said we could go tomorrow. Once again they gave us a refund for Riley Creek and we are set to go to Teklanika for 3 nights starting tomorrow. It is now only $8 a night. The shuttle ticket to go all the way to the end of the road is $31 each. The first day you have a reserved seat, and after that you can go on a stand-by basis. You aren’t allowed to tow anything to Teklanika so we are leaving the trailer at the long term parking here. Had to do a little shuffling to make room for things we might need that are normally in the trailer. Price of a small loaf of bread at the store…. $5.99… ouch…
Decided we don’t need bread that bad!

We did hike from the Visitor’s Center back to camp today and that was a nice jaunt. They have lots of trails around here and it was good exercise. It has been cloudy today and in the high 60’s.

Denali Day 2

Day 38, Saturday, 7/25: The campsite we chose is really sloped and we had to use quite a few blocks to level out the camper. The people next door are leaving today so we decided to see if we can move there since it is fairly level and then we can just unhook the trailer. We are in an ‘A’ site and it is a ‘B’ site so will have to make arrangements with the registration people.

After breakfast we walked to the Mercantile where the camp registration is located and they were fine with us moving but had to change everything in the computer. Since a ‘B’ site is cheaper she had to give us a refund and then we paid for an additional 2 nights, making it 5 nights here. Ended up costing $11 a night for the ‘B’ site. They mark them according to length, ‘A’ being longer for bigger rigs. We unhooked the trailer so now we can use the truck/camper if we want to drive around. In fact, we did drive to the Visitor’s Center to check things out. It is really different than we expected. Unless you are hiking or backpacking, you have to take shuttles or buses into the park because they don’t allow personal vehicles. There is one campground about 16 miles in but once there you have to use the shuttles to go anywhere.

We decided to catch the shuttle to see a sled dog demonstration and the line was so long it took 3 shuttle buses to fit everyone in!!! The demonstration was at the Park Headquarters, about a 5 minute drive from the visitor’s center. They have 25 to 30 dogs each in their own pens with neat log dog houses with their names on them. Some were sleeping and others wanted to be petted. The park ranger gave a talk and the dogs started howling and barking, knowing that some of them would be chosen to pull the sled! They picked 5 dogs, 2 in the back (power), 1 in the middle (turn dog), and 2 in the front (lead). He drove them around a circle walkway and boy were they fast! 17 to 20 miles an hour. It was fun to watch and the dogs were so excited. It is the only sled dog group in any of the National Parks and you could tell the dogs were well taken care of. They have one or two paid park employees and the rest are volunteers.

After we got back to the visitor’s center we decided to get an ice cream cone since we had seen lots of people walking around with them. Then we drove to the Wilderness Access Center where you can purchase tickets for the shuttles and bus tours. We haven’t decided what we want to do yet.

Came back to camp and enjoyed a campfire. It isn’t as windy this evening and a bit warmer too

Wal-Mart to Denali

Day 37, Friday, 7/24: This morning we decided not to make coffee and just walked to a Carl’s Jr. for breakfast. Wanted to be at the Polaris dealer by 9:00 when they open. Got there a bit early so we played another couple of games of cribbage. No problem returning the item and off we went. A guy that works there told us about a place to ride the RZR so we located it but decided to head on down the highway toward Denali Park. Bob put more coolant in the truck as the light came on again. Not sure why it is doing that….

Nice uneventful drive with some pretty awesome scenery the closer we got to the park. Drove through the Denali Village (outside the park) where there are tons of tourist/gift shop type places/people and we just kept going! The first campground is called Riley Creek and it is quite nice with lots of room between sites. We had heard several different stories about how you have to make reservations a year ahead or no you just go and won’t have a problem. Luckily it was the latter. For a Friday afternoon we were surprised that we had a half dozen or so sites to choose from. Found one that is right on a river (well, down an incline a bit) and you can hear it from the camp and actually see it too if you look through the trees. It’s on the edge of a loop and we don’t have anyone really close to us. We paid for 3 nights but might stay longer. Fortunately Bob has a Golden Access Passport that gets us in the park free and we only paid half price for the camping which made it $14 a night. Of course, no hook-ups but that isn’t a big deal as we are self-sufficient and there is a dump station and water if we need it. It is a little windy and chilly this evening (need a sweatshirt) and we plan to have a campfire, a glass of wine and BBQ some brauts. Tomorrow we will investigate the park. They have a bus stop here in the campground for the shuttle buses that take you into the park so we will probably take advantage of that. We could also walk or ride our bikes. Will see how far it is and what kind of terrain. They do discourage people from driving in the park as parking is very limited.