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RV Alaska 5 |
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Our Site
Map LEGAL JARGON
| Wait for the pictures to load. Use the "UP" button to go back. Double-click on pictures to enlarge Back to "RV Turtle Topics" North Pole, AK Still raining we pulled into the North Pole and setup camp in a free campground with no hookups. North Pole, AK is only 11 miles south of Fairbanks. Of course we visited with Santa and told him to stuff plenty of presents into our RV! We headed for the "log cabin" visitor center in Fairbanks. Everything was located downtown which made it very convenient. We spent a lot of time in the Bureau of Land Management Museum. It had so many interesting exhibits about Alaska and its wildlife. Coming back from town I was in my glory when we spotted a Popeye's!! You know what we had that night for dinner! We went back to the visitors center the next day to make reservations for the next 5 days of camping in Denali. Warren went to an Internet Cafe to work on the computer while I did the laundry. That's the only way Warren can get access to the internet when we don't have hookups. Alaskaland was an interesting place where many of the old buildings were brought here and restored. Also on exhibit was the train car President Harding rode when he was here to drive a golden spike into the railroad track in 1933. Denali National Park Entered the Park, got checked in, purchased our shuttle bus passes, as no vehicles are allowed in the park. Once we got settled in our campsite 30 miles inside the Park the truck had to stay put. The only transportation were buses and your legs! We had a beautiful spot surrounded by black and white spruce, MOSQUITOES, MOSQUITOES,and more MOSQUITOES!!! Fortunately we had purchased mosquito nets for our head and shoulders. The next 2 days were glorious. We were very fortunate to have clear weather which made it possible to see Mt McKinley perfectly. Each morning we would start early, pack a lunch, prepare our backpack, catch the shuttle, and off for an adventure. It is hard to describe the beauty of Mt. McKinley----breathe-taking, enormous, up-lifting, heavenly, immense, silent giant, 20,720 feet of pure white snow. We viewed lots of animals--grizzly bears, moose, caribou, wolves, eagles, etc. Some days we saw more animals than others.One day we found a wolf laying along side the road in the river bed. On the other side of the road was the carcass of a dall sheep. The wolf had just killed the lamb and had its breakfast. It wasn't a pretty sight but part of life in the food chain. One day we hiked within 20 miles of the base of Mt. McKinley. We had another fantastic day hiking in the wild.We walked about 5 miles hill and dale photographing flowers, rocks, marmots and footprints of sheep, moose, wolf and caribou. Unfortunately the weather was cloudy and rainy again, so we decided to leave a day early. Before leaving we took a tour of the kennels where they keep and train the sled dogs. They let us pet and play with the dogs and then they presented a nice orientation and exhibit of how the dogs performed pulling the sled. Then off again to our next destination-Anchorage. Anchorage, AK We had a very slow trip to Anchorage as the roads were being worked on and the weather got progressively worse. We found a great campground, Anchorage RV Park, which had a wilderness setting with moose frequently visiting the park. We had not been able to use our cell phone the past 5 days as we were in a no service zone. So when we did check our messages we found the sad news that Aunt Fannie Mae had a stroke and passed away. We were glad that we had stopped to see her in Beaumont, TX. Anchorage is an intriguing city. We spent a couple days downtown visiting another"log cabin" visitor center. Had fun walking up and down the main street going in and out of stores and checking out the stands of merchandise set up on the street selling t-shirts, hats, etc. We had a delicious "reindeer" sausage sandwich for lunch as we sat in the park. Crimson had a great day, too, riding around in his pouch getting lots of attention! The next day, June 21st, was "The Day of the Midnight Sun." There were festivities downtown and we mingled with the natives... of Anchorage. Yes, we did stay up until midnight! It stays light all day and night. To prove it, at 12:00 a.m. we took a picture of me holding the clock with sunglasses on. Although it was a cloudy sky there was light enough to see the sun shining through. On Sunday we caught the Marketplace, similar to an outdoor flea market, right on the bank of Cook Inlet. It was excellent We had planned to just walk around a little while and ended up spending the day. Yesterday we took a trip to Whittier, AK. (not Whittier, CA.) about 75 miles from Anchorage. To get there you must pass through a 2 1/2 mile train tunnel. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel was just opened to vehicles last year, but the train still makes its daily run carrying passengers from Anchorage for the Glacier Boat Tours. It is a one way tunnel and vehicles travel to and from Wittier on the half hour, except when the train time comes around. We were impressed with the tunnel, but disappointed in the town. It's basically used as a fishing village, shipping and cruise ships traveling into the Prince William Sound. Went back through the tunnel stopping at the Portage Glacier Visitor Center. It is built right below the Portage and Byron Glaciers with floating icebergs all around. Great place to learn about glaciers and the area. Saw a black bear and a moose on the way home Our last day in Anchorage was spent getting organized for our next journey to the Kenai Peninsula where we'll stay in Soldotna, a very popular place for salmon fishing. Maybe we'll be lucky and catch some. I would love to have a Salmon Bake! Seward, AK On the 3rd of July we arrived in Seward and found hundreds of RVs occupying every campground and city park along the waterfront. There was not a place to stay. As we drove around we noticed a fenced in parking lot that had a couple of RVs parked. We drove in and found that it was a temporary RV parking place setup by the city. Before long the park was full. No facilities and it cost $10. We signed up for four nights. Thanks to our generator and 100 gallons of fresh water we can live in comfort for a week. This town seemed to be the place to be during the fourth of July. IT WAS! The next day, the fourth, we biked down the waterfront passing hundreds of RVs on our way to the festivities. At the head of town there was a race finish line. Seward is famous for "The Mt. Marathon" race. There are four divisions... youth, both girls and boys and adults, women and men. The adults start here and head up a mountain, about 3,022 feet, then return to the finish line. Everyone carries binoculars and can see the trail up the mountain. The race has been going on since 1915 on a bet by two guys in a bar. It took off and has become the thing to see and do in Alaska on Independence Day. Participants are from professionals to amateurs. Some dress in costumes and make political statements. Four runners came from the Florida Panhandle. When the runners come down the mountain you can see a trail of dust behind each runner. They come into the finish line crummy and muddy. Their behind and legs are wet and muddy from sliding down the trail. There are booths, stores, a parade and fireworks. Bar-b-ques, pie, hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, ice cream, almost anything you can think of was served by churches, fire stations, civic organizations and clubs. The whole town participates. One booth had Mardi Gras trinkets, beads and masks from New Orleans. It was a Mardi Gras atmosphere. The parade was small town, you know, with police, fire engines, horses, flags, politicians, cheep floats..... but lots of fun. That night at midnight (dusk) the fireworks were set up right in front of our parking area on the waterfront. Many people climbed up on top of their RV with folding chairs. We just walked to the fence and got the best seat in the town. The day ended with a BANG!!!!! The next day we took a ride around town checking out all the back roads. We went out to Lowell Point. It is a very isolated area with thick vegetation, steep cliffs right on Resurrection Bay. We passed waterfalls, hikers, bikers, kayakers, and, of course, fishermen. Then we decided to drive up to Exit Glacier. We caught up with the 3:00 p.m. Park Ranger Tour. The glacier is at the end of Resurrection River. The melting glacier forms the river. We took the trail that went up to the glacier, about a mile. The ranger was radioed that a black bear was on the same trail, but we didn't see him. Darn it! It's interesting to see how much the glacier has receded in past years. We stood at the marker 1951 looking ahead a mile away to see where the glacier is presently located. It was a beautiful sight with the sun glistening on the blue ice. It's blue because all the other colors of light are absorbed except blue is crystallized and therefore reflects the blue color. The rock around it looks like shale or slate, but instead is called greywacke. There is also quartz present. The rivers have a lot of glacial silt. Therefore,no fish live in the "glacial flour" as they call it. We had a nice hike right up to the glacier's edge. We had been looking forward to our next excursion on a glacier/wildlife cruise but the weather was terrible---low, low clouds, fog, wind, misty rain and cold. We were on a very small boat(43 feet), the Alaskan Sunrise. There were only 8 people on the boat which made it very personable. We left at 8:30a.m. and spent a long day on the water returning at 6:30p.m. We had breakfast and lunch on the boat and all kinds of snacks. We had quite a party. It was exciting when approaching the wildlife. The sea otters were floating on their backs and they reminded us of "the old man of the sea." The Stellar Sea Lions were lying out on the rocks. There were some big ones weighing up to a ton. The babies were playing in the water and you could hear their boisterous bellowing. Three Dall's porpoises approached the boat following along having a good time jumping through the air and water. There were many types of water fowl-cormorants, black-legged kittiwakes (a member of the gull family), murres, parakeet auklet, and, of course, our favorite, puffins, both tufted and horned. They were everywhere! The most exciting viewing were the whales. We saw about 7 humpback whales jumping out of the water (breaching), flapping their fins, rolling, and diving, splashing their tails behind them. We viewed the Bear Glacier from a distance. But the Holgate Glacier performed beautifully. There were lots of cracking and loud sounds prior to the calving. That's when large sheets of ice fall from the glacier landing in the water below sending a huge wake out to sea. That's a spectacular sight! Crimson spent the whole day in the RV all by himself which caused separation anxiety, but he was a good boy and was very glad to see us! Valdez, AK The approach to Valdez was picturesque and we stopped often to take pictures. As we arrived at Valdez it began to rain and it rained for three days and three nights. Sounds like a Bible story. The mountains were not visible and we started to understand what they mean by "Cabin Fever" We decided to head for home since that was our plan anyway. We miss our family and the heat of summer??? It's like riding a horse, when you turn him towards home he is hard to stop. But not so fast, there is still plenty to see and visit along the way. After driving all day towards Watson Lake, which was about 50 miles away, we heard a pop. Warren stopped the truck and found that the 5th wheel had a blowout. It was evening with nothing around. No cell phone service either. We slowly hobbled to a rest area. Remember the 5th wheel has two axels and can ride on three wheels. Oh yes, it was still raining!!! The next morning the rain had stopped and we changed to the spare. In Watson Lake we bought a used tire, because it was Sunday, naturally, and there was not the same load rated tires available and who knows if there would be one tomorrow when the other store opened. It will do until we can get a new tire. So, off we went down Hwy. 37 B.C. This road had about four 20 mile stretches of gravel road with many pot holes. The safe speed was about 20 mph, tops. We got to a beautiful lake and pulled over for the night with six other RVs. After taking a dozen pictures, eating dinner while overlooking the lake, we showered and retired for the night. That day and the next we saw many Black Bears along the road. One came up to the truck, so we closed the window and took close-up pictures of him. Hyder, AK About 50 miles off of Hwy 37 we found Hyder, Alaska, (pop. 80), one of the most remote places we've been. It was worth the detour. That afternoon we drove up to Salmon Glacier on a very rough mountain road for about 23 miles. The Glacier was actually located in British Colombia. It is the fifth largest in B.C. Again we shot about 150 pictures. It was wonderful and beautiful. On the way back in Hyder there is a part of the U. S. National Park where people can walk out onto a protected platform to view Grizzly Bears catching Salmon fish in the river. About one hundred people were there that evening and we got more pictures of Grizzlies. Mary Ellen is keeping score of how many and what variety of animals we see. So far we have seen 33 Grizzly and 31 Black Bear!!!!! The next day on our way out we went to a RV wash in Hyder. The guy has a gold mine business there as very dirty RVs line up to have their units washed for $1 per foot. That's Canadian dollars which is only about 66 cents American. Hyder is remotely located next to the Canadian border, so they use Canadian money since they have to purchase everything in Stewart, B.C, which in at the border. It's a hundred miles to another Alaskan town. Everyone has their rigs washed here because there are no more gravel roads all the way back to the States. There is a Canadian Customs station there and we went through it about four times in two days. Stay tuned to our next adventure as we travel through the Canadian Rockies on our way to Jasper, Lake Louise, and Banff, Alberta, heading for U.S. soil!
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It is impossible to rightly govern the world
without God and the Bible.
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