How Lucky Have We been?

When we left Watson Lake last Wednesday and headed towards White Horse, we had encountered a lot of rain and were actually running a day ahead of our original schedule because of that. We would have actually stayed an extra day at Watson Lake or one of the earlier stops if we had not run into the rain, as we new the views in this part of the drive are quite spectacular. As we drove, we passed at least three streams running down out of the mountains and under the road, which were torrents as we passed. Geoff remarked that the streams were running so hard that if they got worse, they would go right over the road.

In the past few days, we have heard that a section of the road between Watson Lake and White Horse is now closed because of flooding. If we had not gotten into White Horse a day early, we would likely still not be here. As it is, we know also of road problems between White Horse and Skagway, AK, our next stop, but they sound less sever. There is at least one lane open in places and they have been working on Saturday and Sunday to get the road fully usable again. We will see but we think we have been very lucky to be able to keep with our schedule to arrive in Alaska today for the first time.

We will be returning to White Horse in September on our way back to the lower 48 and, if luck continues with us then, will be able to see some of the spectacular sights we missed between White Horse and the Cassiar Highway, where we will turn off the Alaskan Highway, in search of those views.

White Horse, Yukon, Canada

Day One: The rain and cloudiness continues. we’re not able to see any of the surrounding scenery so we might as well be in any small town in the world. We went to the Beringia Interpretive Center. Now we had never really heard of this before but Beringia (bur-in’-gee-a) is the term for the “never glaciated” area of Alaska, Yukon, and Russia, which created a land bridge over which migrated humans into North America for the first time. The land bridge occurred because the large amount of water tied up by the glaciers caused the sea level to drop and uncover the land. Many animal remains have been found in Yukon buried in the permafrost layers and uncovered by gold miners, including skin and fur intact. So many Mammoth tusks have been found, you will find jewelry made from them here.

Day Two: The rain continued in the morning and we headed to another indoor activity; the Transportation Museum. Here they have relics from the days of the Gold Rush and the White Pass and Yukon Route narrow-gauge railway. This railway ran from Skagway, AK to White Horse, YT, and miners, equipment, and later, tourists into the area. They also have some equipment from the building of the Alaska Highway and airplanes that used to fly into the rugged parts of the territory. The most prominent outdoor feature is a DC-3 airliner which is now balanced on a post and is able to rotate as the wind blows it, making it the world’s largest weather vane.

When we came out of the museum, the weather had started clearing and the sun was shining for the first time in days. We headed off to lunch, did a little bit of shopping we needed to do (cord for fixing a broken window shade and a replacement for a lost lens cap). Then we went to see the SS Klondike, a paddlewheel cargo boat which traveled the Yukon River in the days of the Gold Rush from White Horse up to Dawson City to bring supplies to the miners and ore back for processing.

In the evening, we did some more planning with our friends for our journeys after Fairbanks, AK and watched some TV shows they had recorded on their DVR. They were also able to get a satellite signal so we were able to watch Bill Maher (we share political views with them, which makes finding things in common to talk about besides our travels easy).

Day 3: The sun was shining and the air was clear and we were so happy because today we had a planned outdoor adventure. First, Geoff went to the guitar workshop at the Yukon Bluegrass Festival and then he participated in a “slow jam”. It was a lot of fun for him, as he had not played guitar with any other people since he was at Sun-N-Fun. After lunch, we went with our friends on the Schwatka Lake Cruise. This is a small boat that runs up the Yukon River from the power dam in White Horse about 6 miles toward the headwaters. Along the way there is lore and music and sightings of wildlife, like the bald eagle we saw in a tree right where we turned around. The weather was perfect for this, our last planned outing in White Horse, Yukon.

Today is Martha’s birthday so we are all going out to dinner for a celebration and then back to the rigs for Ken’s homemade cake. tomorrow we leave here for Skagway, AK, USA, assuming the road that was washed out between here and there has been repaired to the point where we can get our two big rigs by it.

The Yukon Territory

Our journey today was from Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon. Watson Lake had been so rainy it was not a fun visit. Also the internet in the campground did not work well at all. We drove pretty much straight through. No photo ops as the weather was overcast and rainy all the way. We did stop for lunch in a rest area and our traveling companions told us a story about that stop. They were parked behind us and the rest area did have toilets (washrooms in this part of the world). As we were eating, a semi pulled up on the road next to our friends, not in the rest area. The driver got out and took a leak on the side of the road, in full view of their window. He did not walk the short distance to the washroom. The main question is, why didn’t he stop just anywhere along side the road to do this? Why right at the rest stop and in view of someone eating their lunch?

When we got into Whitehorse, it was not raining and we almost through we saw some blue sky showing through the clouds. We got park, Geoff went and washed the car, and then we all went out for dinner. It was a celebration for our friends, who are marking their 42nd Wedding Anniversary. We went to a popular salmon and ribs place downtown and, at first, it looked like we would have a long wait, but we got in reasonable quickly. We stuffed ourselves, and then took a short driving tour of the downtown area before heading back to try to catch the Daily Show on the campground cable. Sadly, it was not on when we expected, but a later checking of the schedule shows it to be on an hour later. We miss it, since none of us can get a TV satellite signal any longer.

We will probably be here for 4 nights and it looks like there is a lot to do in the area. I will probably only make a single update to the blog for the whole time in White Horse.

From Lake to Lake

Today was not a good day. Rain, rain ,rain. We were hoping for some clearing so Geoff could try to get a picture of the transit of Venus across the Sun, but no such luck. Actually the rain did not start in earnest until the end of the day, but it was pretty much socked in the entire time. We took some pictures of the RVs on the stretch of highway that runs along Muncho Lake but the conditions were not favorable.

Along the way to Watson Lake in Yukon, we saw lots of wildlife. We saw black bears numerous times and some buffalo.

We made one extended stop on the way at Liard Hot Springs. Here we walked about 1/4 mile on a boardwalk to the hot spring pool. It was a cool day, but the water was very warm and felt good. The water comes out of the round at about 120 degrees and it was not comfortable too close to the source, but the water went over a spill into a lower area where it was more tolerable. There was even a family with kids playing in that end. It is probably the only place in this part of the continent where you will find orchids growing wild.

When we got into Watson Lake and into a campsite, it started raining and has not let up yet. We still walked over to the local planetarium and watched a show on the Aurora Borealis. They also have a huge “sign post forest” here, started in 1942 when the Alaska Highway was being built and it now has over 71,000 signs.

Tomorrow, we are going to see if we can get internet access at the local library. If this makes it to the blog on 6/6, then it worked.

Slow Going

Today was a pokey trip up over the passes from Fort Nelson to Muncho Lake. The going was made a little slow by the road being quite bumpy in places but we were also taking our time a bit because we did not have far to go and because we were hoping the sky would clear up a bit. Fort Nelson was a total rain-fest. The campground was one, big puddle. Jordy always came in totally soaked.

From there we climbed up into and over some of the clouds. The tundra was various shades of green but it was still overcast which meant stops for picture taking were skipped. We did not stop until we reached the Tetsa River Outfitters lodge and a promise of cinnamon buns. Yum!

We did start to see a little bit of clearing as we climbed higher and stopped off along one of the many rivers for some quick pictures. Our next big stop was at the Toad River Lodge for a look at their hat collection and lunch. The service was a little slow bu t they had internet and we were able to get a quick look at Facebook and our email before going back into the wilderness.

When we got closer to Muncho Lake, the sky actually started to clear a bit and we saw some sunshine. The decision was then made to park at Strawberry Flats Campground on Muncho Lake for the night. No hookups but a nice view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

Into the “Wilderness”

Relatively speaking, that is, as phone service and wi-fi are spotty and DirecTV reception has disappeared. Today, we have it to a degree in Fort Nelson, BC, at the campground where we are staying. Last night, we were at a more primitive campground at the Sikanni Chief River, about 157 miles out of Dawson Creek. We have 20 amp electrical power only and that was from a generator. Cell service was non-existent, and Ken could not get satellite access from his big Motosat system. It was a little rainy but the sun came out for a while and Geoff got the chairs out so we could sit by the river. We also walked down the river a little ways to see the bridge pilings which were still there from the original Alaska Highway bridge over the river. It was wooden and destroyed by fire.

In the morning, Ellyn and Jordy went out for a walk and Ellyn took a picture of this foot print, proof of bears in the area. On the way into Sikanni Chief, we spotted our first moose. Shortly after that sighting, there were two more crossing the road in front of us and we were able to get a picture this time.

Today we got to Ft Nelson and decided to camp for the night because it was rainy and the forecast for tomorrow is slightly better. There are supposed to be some nice views between here and our next stop at Muncho Lake and today was not very photogenic. We did stop into the towns Heritage museum, which was started by a local gentleman and then taken over by the town. There is a lot of memorabilia from the days of the building of the highway, as well as stuff from the local oil industry. It was worth the $5.00 admission fee, especially when we got to get in out of the cold and rain in a wood fire heated log cabin.

Evening entertainment was watching a video on Alaska which chronicled many of the sights we hope to be seeing as we continue up the highway. Keep watching here and on Flickr for our photos.

Mile “0” on the Alaskan Highway

Dawson Creek, BC is a funky little town, not too notable except that it is the southern most end of the Alaskan Highway, built at the beginning of the Second World War to allow guns and troops to defend the northern passage from Japan to the U.S. I cannot imagine what it was like when all those Army troops descended on this town and began plowing a road towards Alaska. We’ve seen a movie about it and it seems like an impossible task but it was made possible by brute force.

Campers started using this route to the north in the 1960s and now we get to drive our massive luxury-mobiles on this engineering marvel. Our friends, Ken and Martha, whom we are traveling with, did this trip in 1989. We saw some of their pictures the other day and tomorrow they will reproduce them in the present day when we wheel our rigs past the Mile “0” marker in downtown Dawson Creek.

We have some historic spots we will be stopping at for photo ops on the way and our goal is to stop in a campground somewhere around Fort Nelson, BC, about 280 miles away.

From the Mountains, to the Prairies…

Today we left the mountains of Jasper National Park and headed into the prairies of northern Alberta and into Eastern British Columbia. The roads were good most of the way, with an occasional stretch of bumpiness or construction. Most of it was two lane but we did have some sections with built-in passing lanes. The traffic was light, however, so there was not a lot of demand for passing. We got stuck once behind a logging truck and had to wait until we topped a hill to be able to pass. But the trip went well and we got into Dawson’s Creek, the mile zero location of the Alaskan Highway, by 4:00 PM.

One of the nice things about being this far north is that, we still had 6 hours of daylight left after we arrived here. We went out for dinner, explored a tiny bit around Mile Zero, and then came back to do some planning for the next week with Ken and Martha. It looks like we will now be going from Skagway to Haines by ferry instead of doubling back to Whitehorse before going up to Fairbanks. We will still have a week to kill between Haines and Fairbanks to get there for the solstice.

Today Ellyn found out there will be a rare transit of Venus across the face of the sun visible from Alaska while we are up here. Now I have to figure out how to get enough filter on my camera lens to be able to get a photo or two. Hmmm…

I’m also still working out the method of recording the amount of daylight in Fairbanks on the solstice. I have an app which seems to work pretty well and I hope to capture one day into one minute. Here is a test video I made in Banff leaving the app running for most of a day (probably closer to 15 hours).

Back to the Ice Fields

Today was a much better day up at 6,000 ft in the Canadian Rockies. We returned to the Columbia Ice Fields and went on the tour we had tickets for but had missed yesterday because of the snow storm. The weather was a lot better, although still not perfect, but we had a good time anyway.

On the way up, and mostly on the way back, we stopped for some photo ops. The Athabasca River and the Sunwapta River both have pretty nice waterfalls on them and we took a lot of pictures. We also saw some wild life; a black bear and a grey jay. Plus, when we got back to the camp grounds, we saw a female elk there with a calf.

Banff to Jasper

It is a relatively short drive from Banff National Park into Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, but we were planning on pulling off at a lot of scenic areas. We pulled out of the Banff campground at 9:00 and headed up Canada 1, past some of the sights we had already visited while in Banff and soon were stopping for photo ops. There were some low clouds hanging over the peaks of the mountains, but, as we stopped and waited for a while, they began breaking up and we started getting the shots we really wanted.

There were tour buses filled with European tourists going along the same route and, when we stopped along side one, there were nearly as many pictures taken of our two rigs as there were of the mountains. We were getting questions about how they were to drive and how we were able to tow the cars “4 wheels down”, something I guess they had not seen before.

After a while, the clouds were more reluctant to part for us, and eventually, we started getting rain and wet roads. One of our goals was to stop at the Columbia Ice Fields and take the tour. We had already purchased the tickets in Banff and it was perfect for us to stop there on the way to Jasper. However, when we got there, it was snowing. Big, wet flakes of snow. We decided to take our chances on coming back down from Jasper the next day and hoping the weather would have cleared, at least a little. We were also hoping the road would stay clear enough for us for us to get to Jasper without further problems. It did.

The campground we are staying at has a lot of trees but Geoff was able to get the manual TV dish set up and connected to the satellite well enough to be able to see the Daily Show, which had been off the air for 2 weeks. Woo-hoo! A good end to the day.

Banff National Park–Last Day

Today was our last day in Banff. Tomorrow morning we head north up Canada 1 to Jasper National Park. It is not a long distance away but we suspect we will be pulling off at a lot of waypoints to enjoy the scenery.

Today, we took Jordy on a hike along the Bow River. It was a really nice day for a hike but we had to keep an eye on Jordy, as he was very curious about the horse droppings along the trail. He also wanted to drink from the standing water along the sides of the marshes. Toward the end of the hike it got cloudy and sprinkled a little on us.

This evening we went to dinner theater with Ken and Martha. It was pretty cheesy and Canadian themed but the singers were really good, the food was great, and we met a nice couple from Medicine Hat, Alberta. They were in town for a conference and decided to stay on for a couple of days.

The scenery here is fabulous and we’ve been told it is only a sample of what is still ahead of us. We can’t wait. On the road tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.

Banff National Park–Day 2

Our second full day in the park and this was our most relaxing so far this trip. We took our time all morning, got to sleep in a little, did not leave the RV until almost noon. Geoff saw a ground squirrel outside the RV and took a few pictures.

Then we drove into downtown Banff and did a little souvenir shopping and had lunch. Then we drove to Sulfur Mountain, named for the hot spring at its base, and took the gondola ride to the top. The views were amazing! You look right down on the Bow River Valley where the town of Banff is located, and the 360 degree view is of the many peaks of the Canadian Rockies. The top is above the snow line and cold but the sun was shining and it was not windy, so it was a very enjoyable time. We took about 150 photos.

In the evening, we lit up a campfire and had Ken and Martha over for smores. It was a chore keeping Jordy away from the fire. The campground here has a big pile of firewood for the campsites with fire rings to use and it was nice and dry, so the fire started very easily. We do not do campfires very often and are still using the fire starters we made from dryer lint and old candles nearly 4 years ago when we were cleaning out the house.