Day 111 - 2015-08-09
Tough day today. We
drove the Al-Can (AK 2) from Tok to the Canadian Border, headed for Whitehorse
and Watson Lake, YT. This is the only
section of the Al-Can we have not driven yet, so it’s an important leg for us
in that it means we will have driven the entire Al-Can on this trip. No problems with the border crossing. We are cruising through Canada on great new
road, looks like it was completed this summer.
Wow, this is great – and then it turned to absolute crap. The remaining 150 miles or so was nothing but
frost heaved asphalt, potholes, gravel, washboards, construction zones and
pilot cars. It was torture. I could not take my eyes off the road for an
instant. I was constantly dodging holes
and changing lanes. Average speed, about
25 – 30 mph. Bettie said the scenery was
beautiful. I only saw a little of
it. Finally we got to Lake Kluane’s
Cogden Campground. No places left on the
water by the time we got there, so we took a nice wooded spot and called it a
night. WHEW! 238 (13,140).
Day 112 - 2015-08-10
Lake Kluane is like a blue jewel in the middle of the
mountains.
We took a walk along the lakeside this morning, then hit the
Al-Can toward Haines Junction and Whitehorse.
On the way, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center next to the lake where we
saw MANY Dall sheep grazing on the hillside – much too high for a picture –
barely visible with binoculars and spotting scopes. We saw just a small part of the 4,000 or so
sheep in the preserve, but seeing them at all is really a special treat.
We stopped at an overlook at the end of the lake to take a
final look at it – the sun had come out and the lake was really showing its
colors.
We finished the drive into Whitehorse on, thankfully, much
better road than yesterday. 162
(13,302). We pulled into the free dump
and water station next to the Walmart and decided to stay the night – our first
Walmart camping experience.
It was early so we went to see the oldest remaining wooden fish ladder. It lets spawning Chinook Salmon move upstream past the hydroelectric dam in Whitehorse. We saw some BIG Chinook – all red and ready to spawn. Was pretty impressive.
We had dinner at the Sanchez Mexican restaurant – “Yukon’s
Only Authentic Mexican Food” – and it was damn good. Certainly took care of my need for a Mex Fix
for a while. Whitehorse is not an
archetypical tourist town. The two main
streets along the Yukon River house no bars, only one restaurant, and we had to
look long and hard to find a tchotchke shop.
We found this a bit surprising for a town that is the largest in the
Yukon (27,000 of the 37,000 residents of the Yukon live here), the territory
capital, and is a main crossroads for all the RVers who come to Alaska. Oh well, at least I’m not complaining about
it being too touristy.
Day 113 - 2015-08-11
We awoke in the Walmart parking lot from a better than
expected night’s sleep. Had to do it
once, don’t have to do it again, I hope. It was a driving day today. We are on the Al-Can, covering a lot of road
that we have already driven once – just looking at it from the other
direction. But of great social and
political import, today we actually “finished” the Al-Can. We took an alternate route on the way up and
today we finished driving the sections we missed. Drive a stake with our names on it in Jake’s
Corner, our official completion point.
As cool as that was for us, today was mostly all about laying down
miles, 257 (13,559), to get to the start of the Cassiar Highway, the road to
our next stops, Stewart BC and Hyder AK.
Day 114 - 2015-08-12
We turned south on BC 37 toward Stewart & Hyder. First stop, Boya Lake. What a pleasant surprise. It ranks in the top 3 most beautiful lakes we
have seen so far. Only a short drive
from the Baby Nugget RV Park outside Watson Lake where we stayed last night, 56
(13,615), Boya Lake reminds us of Kathleen Lake. The water is crystal clear, the colors range
from clear green to pastel blue.
We hoped to kayak today but the weather was not our friend –
wind and rain most of the afternoon. A
little inside time gave us the opportunity to do some trip planning, so all was
not wasted. As I’m writing this, the sky
is looking lighter in the south, where the weather has been coming from all day
– and I see a rainbow. Hopefully it
portends a better day tomorrow.
After dinner, we lit a fire and sat out to enjoy the
evening. A truck stopped by and made a
comment about our Florida plate. Jamie
and Beth live in St. Augustine. Had a
nice chat with them and found out they are headed the same way we are. Maybe we’ll see them again down the
road.
While sitting out, we enjoyed the sight and sound of the
resident loons. I had never heard the
call of a loon. It is hauntingly eerie
and beautiful, and echoes when no other sound seems to. I hope we hear them again before we leave.
Day 115 - 2015-08-13
It rained all night long.
We woke to rain and the dreary skies that go with it. As much as we want to kayak Boya Lake, it
does not look like we will be able to.
So, off we go – highway BC 37 – on the road toward Stewart and Hyder.
The road was today was not the best.
Lots of potholes, frost heaves, and washboards, so it was a slow
trip. We stopped to get fuel in Dease
Lake and a motorhome that had been shadowing us for a while pulled in behind
us. Next thing we heard was “Where in
Florida?” They were from Crystal River, Fl.
We are amazed at the number of Florida people we have seen up here.
We pulled into the Kinaskan Lake campground about 2:30 to
find an absolutely perfect campsite – right on the lake with a gentle slope to
a gravel beach.
We set up and wasted no time getting the kayaks in the
water. As we were putting them back on
the racks, we saw Jamie & Beth pull in.
After dinner (Soldotna sockeye salmon) we went to their site for a
fire. What a nice way to spend an
evening. We’ll miss this when we get
home. 170 (13,785).
Day 116 - 2015-08-14
For the first time last night we had to turn on the heater
before time to get up. Freezing outside,
our first frosty morning of the trip.
But, the weather cleared overnight and it is bright sunshine
outside. We loaded up and continued
toward Stewart & Hyder.
Had a problem with the truck today. We were cruising down a long grade about 50
mph. The truck was on cruise control and
was downshifting as normal to maintain our speed. Suddenly, it dropped into 2nd
gear, the rpm’s shot up to the redline, and the truck shut down – I guess it
went into some kind of self-preservation mode – but the result was that I had
no power steering or power brakes. I
wrestled it to the side of the road and it started up again. WHEW!
We were in the middle of nowhere.
Back on the road, the truck ran fine except the cruise control wasn’t
working. About 30 miles later we stopped
for fuel. When we started out again,
everything was 100%. I guess it’s a good
thing that the new technology prevents the truck from hurting itself, but it
sure gave us a scare for a few minutes.
The good news is that it ended well, so on to new adventuress.
The entire trip from Watson Lake to Stewart/Hyder ranks in
the top 5 drives of the entire trip. We
spent many miles on two lane blacktop travelling along beside clear lakes,
running streams, and glacier-fed rivers.
As we got closer to S/H we were surrounded by mountains. The last leg on BC 37A took us by Bear
Glacier, which feeds a lake right next to the road.
We saw two black bears on the road into town. Both were just hanging out next to the road
eating clover and dandelions. They were
unconcerned with us, so we took a few pictures and left them behind.
We checked into Bear Paw RV Park in Stewart
mid-afternoon. 181 (13,966). A little later we drove across the border to
Hyder, AK for some dinner and a trip to the bear viewing area. On our way out there we spotted two VERY
small bear cubs crossing the roadway. We
didn’t see momma, and we didn’t linger too long in case she showed up. We arrived at the viewing area on Fish Creek
and the salmon were in full spawning mode.
This is one of the most interesting sights we have seen. Hundreds of salmon spawning in this clear
creek in only 6 inches of water. There
was a lot of commotion from that activity and it is easy to see why a bear
would come there. Sure enough, after only
an hour or so wait, a grizzly came down to feed. It took several salmon, but interestingly,
bit into a few and rejected them. Just
spit them out and went after another one.
In this environment, I suppose it’s OK to be picky. Here’s the only decent picture I got
today. We will try again tomorrow.
Day 117 - 2015-08-15
It was COLD last night.
Both of us got up in the night to put on warmer clothes. First time that has happened. But we earned a clear pretty day for our
trouble. Our plan is to go to Hyder,
souvenir shop a bit, drive out to the Salmon Glacier, come back for dinner and
go back to the bear viewing area.
We found success in the souvenir shops in both Stewart and
Hyder – post cards for Bettie and magnets for me.
Bettie mailed her postcards at the Hyder Post Office, one of the more unique we have seen.
The road to Salmon Glacier is about 15 miles
of gravel switchbacks that rise from sea level to around 3,000 feet. We saw bears on the road on the way up. The views were breathtaking even before we
saw the glacier.
To get to Salmon Glacier from Stewart BC, upi have to cross
into AK, drive a bit down the gravel road, then cross back into BC. As weird as it seems, the US and Canadian
governments clear the border through this area.
So if you ever wanted to know what the Canadian border looks like, here
it is.
Salmon Glacier is by far the most “viewable” glacier from
the road of any we have found. Our first
look at it was from the toe, looking up the valley.
I thought it was very interesting that it has an ice cave at
the toe just like the one I stood in at Worthington Glacier. Too bad this one is not accessible by
foot.
The overlook at the end of the road is a great place. You can see the glacier extend 13 miles up
into the ice field. The moraines are
very distinct.
On the drive down, we got a look at the Salmon River
Valley. This scene typifies the terrain
here – some of the most spectacular we have seen anywhere.
We had dinner in Stewart, mainly because “The Bus” (a very
funky seafood place in Hyder) was out of beer.
Afterwards, we went back to the bear viewing site at Fish Creek. We found out as we arrived that we had just
missed a bear. We decided to wait and
within about 45 minutes the same grizzly we saw yesterday came to fish. It put on quite a show, fishing and eating in
the creek for over 30 minutes. Here are
a couple of pictures.
Driving back to the campsite we saw a mother bear and two
tiny cubs cross the road in front of us.
By far, this is not only some of the most beautiful, but also the
“wildest” territory we have visited. 70 (14,036).
Day 118 - 2015-08-16
Today we drove. 211
(14,247). Back up BC 37-A to the BC 37
intersection at Mezziadin Lake. We
checked out the campground there, very pretty, right on the lake, but it was
only 30 miles from Stewart so we elected to move on down the line. We got caught up in construction for a short
time, and once again, the line was all RV’s.
Time for all of us travelers to head home I guess. We elected to skip Prince Rupert, a long
drive to the west for a place that did not seem to have much going on, so we
turned east on the Yellowhead Highway (BC 16) and ended up in Telkwa Lake
Campground for the night. We talked
today about having skipped some really nice places, but at some point you just
have to admit it’s time to start home.
We have plenty of time left, but will not linger just for the sake of
it.
Day 119 - 2015-08-17
British Columbia is a pretty place. Since we left Stewart, nothing so far has
jumped out at us and screamed “take my picture”, just lots of miles of forest
and lake bottoms. 262 (14,509). We are on our way to the Jasper/Lake
Louise/Banff area, which will be the last “big stop” of our trip. Tonight we camped at Purden Lake Provincial
Park about 40 miles east of Prince George.
Campsites deep in the woods, close to the lake. Great place to camp.
The fact that we are heading east only reinforces the
reality that we are headed toward home.
Today was a turning point for us.
We stowed away the blackout panels for the vents and door. We are getting back into the circadian
rhythm. Actual sunrises and sunsets are
somehow very comforting. Its 8:45 PM and
dark outside. A few days ago, it never
really got dark at all. Hard to adjust
to all the rapid changes. And, tomorrow or the next day, we change time
zones. Oh well, we’ll live.
Day 120 - 2015-08-18
Thirty miles or so down the road from Purden Lake we came
across a BC park called “The Ancient Forest”.
This is a rare inland rainforest.
The oldest trees (mostly cedars) are estimated to be over 2,000 years
old. We took a hike in the park and
found “the Big Tree”. Not a real catchy
name, but this thing has a 16 foot diameter, so no arguments.
We also spotted one lone cedar that has grown in a
spiral. It is the only one in the forest
that did this and they don’t really know why.
They say the entire trunk of the tree is spiraled, not just the
bark. Really unusual.
We continued on the Yellowhead Highway (BC 16) and made
another stop at Rearguard Falls. This is
the terminus of the king salmon run here, apparently because the salmon are not
able to make it up the falls. The river
is that same vibrant teal green as was the Kenai River, and the falls were
roaring. We saw several salmon attempt
to jump it, none succeeded.
Our last stop today is the Mt Robson Meadows
Campground. 147 (14,646). Mt Robson is the tallest peak in the Canadian
Rockies at 3,954 meters, call it 12,000 feet.
We were lucky enough to catch it on a mostly clear day, shining in the
afternoon sun.
Oh yeah, I tried a new beer today. Red Truck IPA from Red Truck Brewing in
Vancouver BC. Darn good. This one makes the hit list.
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