June in Alaska

          Well the Chalets are hopping and so are we. We're not as quick to turn around a chalet as we were three years ago, but we are beginning to get the routine down. We've met many of the same folks that we dealt with the last time, the folks at the Hatchery where we get our water (Tom, the manager there is a KU grad who found his way to Alaska and never left), the postmistress of Moose Pass where we get our mail via General Delivery, the folks at the Trail Lake Lodge down the road where we eat when we don't feel like cooking. We've made the trip into Seward several time to do our grocery shopping and get gas for the car. Three years ago there was a spot along the road where we always saw moose. This year they are much more secretive. We haven't seen any moose and only a few bald eagles. We have, however, seen many more bears than last time. The guy in the picture above was just walking along the side of the road heading to his favorite fishing spot. We drove by slowly but were close enough to touch him (but we didn't!).

     We took a day trip to the little town of Soldotna on the Sterling highway for their annual Kenai River Festival. There were several vendors' booths set up to buy locally made items, lots to eat from hot dogs to funnel cakes, and lots of activities especially for the kids. The picture above shows the boardwalk along the river at the back of the park. This is a beautiful view and a great spot for a picnic lunch.

     Before we knew it it was time for our next family guests to arrive. Our son, Chris, and granddaughter, Aubrey, came up from Kansas to spend time with us. We had to work around chalet turnovers, but on days when we were busy, Chris took the car and explored the myriad of hiking trails in and around the area. Every morning he would get up early and hike the nearby trails to see what he could see. We went to Seward (above) and visited the Alaska Sealife Center and took the Kenai Fjord cruise. They also took a float trip out of Cooper Landing and got some great photos of bear and eagles. 

Just one fishing charters catch of the day!

Mom and young Moose

Young eagle. Not yet Black and White.

Fishing for Salmon

Sea Lions sunning on the rocks

Orca

     Towards the end of their stay, we hiked back to the Russian River Falls. This easy 2.5 mile hike was very pretty and had great views of the mountains and surrounding meadows. The Lupin flowers are all along the highway and populate the meadows with their bright blue flowers. On the trail Chris came across the big brown bear on his way to go fishing I suppose. After checking each other out, the bear went on his way and we continued down the trail.

     The ultimate goal of the hike was to see the salmon jumping up the falls on their annual spawning migration. I have seen this only on TV and didn't get the chance to see it the last time we were up here. We were not disappointed! It is amazing to watch in person. The amount of drive and energy that the salmon have to get upstream. You can see them bunched togethers in small pools of slower water and then, suddenly, one or two will take off up the faster water. They weave and bob trying to find the best route upstream. Sometimes the best route is to go airborne and they launch into the foam. Sometimes they make it, often you can see them tumbling back to where they began. But, they turn around and will try again.

The First Few Days

     Luckily for us, there was nobody in the Chalets. We had time to get parked and get set up along with checking out the Chalets and seeing what was new and what had changed. Because winter is so slow in leaving, Trail Lake across the street is still frozen! Things are still brown and dormant. We got settled in and immediately began helping to finish the exterior of the new Chalet, named Eagles Aerie. We also got ready for our own first guests of the season--our traveling companions Brenda and Geoff are coming up to stay with us for a week. We were afraid that if we were delayed much longer on this trip that they would be welcoming us to Moose Pass!

     As you can see, after they got here, there was still a lot of snow in and around the area. In fact, some of the hikes and sights that we planned on showing them were still snowed in. But there was still enough to do that we think they got a good taste of the Kenai Peninsula area and what it has to offer.

The cute Puffin

We cruised the Kenai Fjords to see all kinds of marine life

Brenda & Geoff in front of Aialik Glacier

One of many Orcas that we saw

Brenda visiting with a newborn sled dog

     So the first couple of weeks we got into our routine and had some time to explore the area with our friends. The weather finally began to warm up and, as you can see in the photo above, the leaves began to pop out on the trees. Spring finally arrived!!

Arrival and Set Up

     We made it to our intended stop in Palmer, AK. Got set up in the campground and then ran some errands. Got haircuts, went grocery shopping, etc. Then, a funny thing happened... it began to snow. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Finally, it tapered off but not after leaving four inches of heavy wet flakes! Well, guess we'll hold out another day before going on to Moose Pass. We passed the following day trying to get the wet heavy snow off of the slideout topper awnings. We couldn't close up because the snow kept the awnings from rolling up!

     It seems that the bulk of the snow fell in Palmer. Once we got out of the campground and out of town the roads were clear with hardly a hint of the recent snowfall. In no time we were driving through Anchorage and getting on the Seward Highway headed towards Moose Pass. 

     As you can see from the photo above, the day was gorgeous! The drive along Turnagain Arm was uneventful and we settled in to roads that we were very familiar with. We turned into the driveway of the Chalets and made our way up the hill to our next summer home.

Goodbye Canada... Hello Alaska!

Wed. May 15, 2013 - Well, the snow seemed to settle in the upper elevations of the mountains and not down in the valley. You can see the dusting that the trees got and the direction of the wind. Roads were clear. We set out and soon ran into the Alaska Highway that I remember. Roads were rough and rolling. 20-40 mph max with frequent slowing down then starting up. Kind of like driving in town without the traffic. We knew this was coming but still don’t have to like it.  The poor car and coach are looking rough too! Dirt and road grime plastered on them. The poor car gets it double since it is towed behind the big rig. 

Can't see out any window!

Came up on our second bear today. He was a big fellow at the side of the road. As we approached, he jogged across the road and then climbed the nearby hillside into the trees. 

The thing that made the trip tolerable was the magnificent beauty of the countryside! 

The worst part of the whole road was the last 10-15 miles before the border crossing. Yes, that is the road scraped down to the base dirt (photo below). It was really washboarded and even at 10 mph, things rattled in the coach.

Border crossing was easy again. the border guard actually asked to see the dog’s vet certificate. Finally, somebody asked for it! We have paid to have a vet complete the form each time we have gone up or back to Alaska and they never even asked for it. We took everything in stride today and really did enjoy the view along the trip. 

We arrived in Tok after a long day and got in to the campground. There is still a lot of snow piled up around but the sites are clear. Tomorrow we head down to Palmer (near Anchorage) for a couple of days to re-stock and get organized for our summers adventures. 

On The Alaska Highway

Lumber waiting to be processed

Sat. May 10, 2013 - Another nice day to drive. It was little cloudier today and at times I thought it might rain. We hit several significant up and downgrades. Some as much as 10%. Don’t know how they drive this road in the winter! 

The road conditions were not as good as I remember from last time. There was a lot of rolling lengths that necessitated slowing down. It took us 30 minutes longer than planned to make today’s trip. On the bright side, we saw our first bear of the trip. He was off the side of the road. That is the only wildlife that we have seen (besides the birds) so far. 

We got to the campground and it looks well cared for. The sites are well cared for and long gravel pull throughs. The manager told us that just a week ago there was 3 feet of snow on the ground. Now it is mostly gone. She also told us that they just turned the water on to the sites today. We have run into at least three other folks that are on the way to Alaska and were in Mile 0 last night. One couple have lived in Alaska for 30 years and they spent the winter in San Antonio. They are headed back to be camphosts at the Military base in Anchorage. They wanted to be there by May 1 but they had to delay for weather just like we have. Again we heard that the weather is running 3 weeks later that usual. Surprisingly, there are a lot of mosquitos out and they are HUGE! Where did they come from in just one week??? We’ll dump all of our holding tanks tomorrow because we know that our next stop is electric only and the one after that hasn’t turned their water on yet. We will have to run self contained for a few days.

Summit Lake

Sun. May 11, 2013 - Happy Mothers Day! Today’s trip was scheduled for only 188 miles. Guestimate at 3:45 travel time. Shortly after leaving Ft. Nelson, we started seeing sprinkles of rain on the windshield. As the day went along, the clouds got lower and the rain heavier. My fix on the leaky bays didn’t work well. When we stopped, I still have a puddle of water in two of them. Both bays are directly behind the rear wheels so I suspect there is a small hole where the water is forced into from the spinning tires. Not much I can do now except plan on drying them out if we travel in the rain. On a brighter note, we saw lots of Caribou today. 

Most of the time they were standing either just beside or actually on the road. You have to be very careful when rounding a corner! The road conditions have not improved any so travelling at the posted speed limit is a dream. Usually we travelled 10 to 15 kph lower than posted and still had instances where the coach rocked or rattled about. The scenery, however, was breathtaking (even in the rain). Tall mountain peaks to sheer valleys and roaring streams. There is one area where the mountain appears to be folded back upon itself. It is quite a unique geological feature. Muncho Lake is seven miles long and only about a mile wide and the highway runs along the shoreline. 

Today, the lake is mostly ice or covered with snow. It is showing signs of melting around the edges but not much is clear. We are seeing more snow along the highway, and the remaining drifts are deeper but so far nothing is on the road itself. We stopped at a little place called the Tetsa River Services and Campground. They advertise themselves as “The cinnamon bun center of the Galactic Cluster.” So we had to stop and try one (well two really… we don’t share cinnamon rolls very well.) 

Barb with her cinnamon bun

We also decided to fuel up there. The cinnamon buns were great but the gas is the highest I’ve EVER paid for fuel at $7.00 /gallon!! Luckily we’re getting better than planned mileage. Our stopping point was the Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park. There is a campground (with no hookups or services) but the sites are nice, and level gravel. 

A short walk on a nice boardwalk leads you to the newly renovated hot spring pool. When we were here before, there were two pool where you could go to hang out and soak. When we got there this time, the upper pool was blocked off and no admittance signs were posted. We heard that someone had discovered some ancient snail that lived in the pool and the park closed it to preserve it and its environment. Anyway we went down to the lower pool and made use of the renovated changing rooms to put our suits on. 

Then we hit the water which was very warm with an aromatic bouquet of sulphur. Not overpowering mind you and it definitely did not deter us from soaking in the 106+ degree waters. We opted to stay hooked up and the park manager directed us to the bus parking site in the picnic area of the park. She told us to treat it like our own campsite (put down jacks, put out slides, and relax) so we did. We paid the same as if we had one of the campsites, but we didn’t have to unhitch the car (which I wasn’t inclined to do after the long days drive with a hot tub calling my name!) There are a surprising number of folks camping here. Again, last time was three years ago and a week earlier. Today, being a Sunday we thought that any weekend campers would be packing it up and heading home. Guess these folks wanted to spend the entire Mothers day camping out so most are slated to leave tomorrow. The park workers were scrambling around putting the finishing touch ups on the park. The manager told us that they officially open this coming Wednesday for their summer season (they are open year round but with only a skeleton staff). The next few days will be long and tiring drives. Luckily, the scenery helps to keep things interesting. Hopefully the roads don’t get much worse after Whitehorse (like they did before) but I’m not holding out much hope. We will just have to slow down and take it easy.

Mon. May 13, 2013 - Was a nice overnight. We stayed warm even without hook-ups. Got an early start since we were pretty much ready to go. Just had to pull in slides and pull up jacks. The car and the coach are looking rough after traveling in the rain. The car looks like it has taken a dirt bath! The drive started out sunny but soon turned cloudy. 

Came across a lot of Buffalo today. They just sit/stand by the side of the road. You can tell its spring as there are lots of little ones. Caribou today seemed to be pretty brave. Saw them several times and they were in the middle of the road. They would move as you approached, but you still slow way down just in case. We passed through Watson Lake and paused to put in some fuel. Watson Lake is know for the signpost forest. People from all around the world have put up signs from their hometowns.

Part of the signpost forest

It is quite a sight and well known on all of the tourist information brochures. We crossed the Continental Divide today. As we approached the snow was much more prevalent and the rivers were very icy. In fact, some places there were huge block of ice floating downstream. It started to rain again and rained for some time. This, combined with the usual spring road conditions, caused us to drive slower than planned. We made it into Teslin by mid afternoon and found our campground. It is just across the landmark Teslin Bridge and looks out over the lake. 

Our thermometers say it is 57 degrees out, but the wind off of the frozen lake makes it feel a lot colder. I have a feeling that tonight will be the coldest we have spent since leaving Kansas. But the views from our windows are again spectacular. We are set up for the night and now look forward to some reading and relaxation.

Tue. May 14, 2013 - Up early and on the road. Weather is mostly overcast but can still see the mountain scenery. Roads are better than I remember but Barb seems to recall that the stretch from Haines Junction to Tok was the worst so I guess we’ll see tomorrow. Nothing much to report for today. Easy drive with little to no traffic. Took our time and got excellent gas mileage for a change. Still paid a little over $5 per gallon to fill. Not exactly what I budgeted. 

Stopped in Haines Junction at Kluane Kampground. We have stayed here before and it offers some fantastic views of the mountains from our front window. Near freezing for the low tonight and snow is predicted overnight. Forecast for Tok is for snow tonight and into tomorrow morning. May be an interesting drive tomorrow… Rough roads, wet snow, and a border crossing. Stay tuned for how it goes.

And In To Canada

Wed. May 8, 2013 - Got off to another early start. Seem to be waking up at 6:00 am no matter when we go to bed. Much better day to travel today. Winds are not bad and the sky is clear. Border crossing took maybe 10 minutes max.! Pulled up to the booth and shut off the engine. They like for you to do that so they can hear and don’t have to shout out their questions. The guard looked at our passports and visually matched the photos to both of us. Asked us the usual questions: where are you from?, how long are you going to be in Canada?, how much alcohol do you have on board?, any weapons?, any tobacco or tobacco products? I admitted to our can of Bear Spray but he didn’t want to see it. Didn’t ask if we had a pet onboard and thus, did not ask for the health certificate that we so diligently purchased from our vet in Kansas!!! He then returned our passports, wished us a safe journey and we were off again. Away we drove and immediately became reacquainted with the metric system. Speed limits in Canada are posted in Kilometers per hour (KPH). We quickly reset our GPS to metric and used it to monitor our speed. The land in southern Alberta is lightly rolling farmland. Off on the far horizon you could barely see the Rockies but we won’t get near them for a day or two. Driving into Calgary is like any other major metropolitan drive. We weaved around construction barriers and made our way to the Flying J. Here the metric system pops up again. Fuel is priced and dispensed by the liter. I had to dig back into the notes from our previous Canadian travels and found my cheat sheet with conversion formulas. The temperatures are reported in Celsius so we also have to convert for that. For our purposes, any temps above 5 C (about 40 F) are good. We passed the afternoon in the RV parking area of the Flying J and plan on departing tomorrow after rush hour. A planned 5 hour drive so we should get to our next destination early to mid afternoon with plenty of time to relax. The intro photo is a shot of the sign along the highway. Notice... Diesel is actually a penny per liter CHEAPER than Unleaded.


Thur. May 9, 2013 - Not a bad nights sleep. Got up at the usual time and, in the process of getting ready to go discovered that the cars battery had gone dead. So I had to make an emergency repair and hooked up the battery charger. Got the battery to a level that the car would start and we could proceed. Hit a traffic delay as soon as we got on the highway in Calgary. Slowed us down for a bit. We made it through the city and, once again, the trip was relatively quiet. As we rounded around Edmonton, we hit another traffic snag. We creeped along and finally were on our way. A little west of Edmonton we branched off onto Highway 43 which we will follow into Dawson Creek. We found several rolling waves in the road. Last time we came through, we didn’t get road conditions like this until after Whitehorse. When we got to the CG, we discovered that all our clothes in the back bedroom closet had bounced off of the rod! We stayed in this CG last time we came up. The approach has improved, the road has been paved. But the CG is till dirt roads and short spaces. They put us in a slot they said was 75 feet long, but we stuck out at the front and the car stuck out in the back. I checked with the manager and he said it was OK. The park is surprisingly full for this early in the season. They have only been open a couple of weeks. (and three weeks ago they had 20+ inches of snow here.) Turns out that most of these folks are seasonal construction or oil field workers. The WiFi is supposedly better range but so far we have had to tell them to reboot the router once and it is out again. Luckily it worked long enough that we were able to make reservations at the next two CG’s. (just in case there are more folks traveling than we had planned on.) If we should come this way again, I think that I will replan the stops and bypass this place.  Not many photos of this stretch of road. It is mainly rolling farmland, nothing spectacular or noteworthy.

Fri. May 9, 2013 - Another sunny day for driving. Periodic winds but nothing bad. Several places along the highway were really rolling. I don’t remember this being bad until Whitehorse last time. (I know I said this yesterday but it is frustrating to be on a four lane highway and have to slow down to 40 mph to avoid having all our contents to be rearranged!) I didn’t recognize any landmarks along today’s route. Only when we came into Dawson Creek did things look familiar. Guess there was nothing remarkable in the terrain getting here that stuck in my brain. We started to see more forest and less farmland as we progressed today. Still relatively flat and treeless in Dawson Creek but that is about to change. We lost the four lane highway about halfway here and now it will be two lane all the way to Alaska. The scenery will become more mountainous as we start our climb over the Rockies. We unhitched the car today and did some grocery shopping to resupply for the next few days. We also took our Canadian change to the bank and got it exchanged for paper money. We had $38 in change!! Good WiFi here so we made email reservation requests for most of the remaining campgrounds that we plan to stay in. Figure, based on the forecast, we will stay on schedule from here on out.   Not as many folks in the campground here as there has been so far. No problems getting in. There is still more traffic on the road than I remember from last time but we’ll see if that continues once we are on the Alaska Highway. Daily bug cleaning duty still to go (have to get those bug remains off of the front of the coach as sometimes they can actually eat through the paint. Besides the fact that it makes for a really messy windshield if I don’t!) A nice meal out then some relaxation at the campsite. Oh, and by the way… it is not getting dark until around 10:00 pm!! I really like the longer days and can’t wait until we get set up in Moose Pass so we can enjoy them fully. 

     Saw this guy as we rounded a wooded corner. Startled the bejeebers out of me. Wasn't expecting it.

     Nice campsite in Mile 0 RV Park in Dawson Creek. They had just turned on the water at the sites so we lucked out there.

     This is the Pioneer Village adjacent to the RV Park. It has several exhibits that depict early life in the area. Admission is free but donations are accepted.