So where have we been?

Wild life update!! too many to count

It's June 29th and we are in Tok, Alaska. Where is Tok you ask or maybe you didn't ask, but I am going to tell you anyway! Tok is about 200 miles south of Fairbanks. Since my last post, now about a week ago, we have had some interesting experiences. First off, I may rename this adventure the drip trip. We had a couple of days of sunshine, but it has been a bit damp up here. The locals keep telling us that June is usually their best month and all of this rain is quite unusual. I don't know if I believe them. Enough of the weather talk, the real post is below. It's kind of long and I have been writing it as I go along so if some of it is repetitive chalk it up to my advanced age.

June 23, 24, 25 Denali National Park
June 26th Sourdough Creek BLM Campground very nice near Gakona, AK
June 27th Glacier View private campground quiet but no amenities like WiFi McCarthy, AK
June 28th Porcupine Creek Alaska State Campground

Just in case you were worried about us,we did not strike out on some sort of wilderness survival thing. The past week was busy...very busy.

We had three wonderful days in Denali National Park. Believe it or not there was WiFi at our Riley Creek campground in the National Park, but we were busy doing other stuff.If you ever visit Denali and want to stay in the Park, make reservations. We were advised to do so by a couple that we met at another campground and boy were we grateful for their advice. Had I not made our reservations on-line prior to getting there, we would have been out of luck by the time we arrived.

I don’t know if I can adequately describe Denali. This is one place everyone should visit at least once in their life. It is a big place with big vistas and has one road. And to make it interesting, the park road can only be traveled for 15 miles by private vehicle. The only exceptions to the restrictions are for those with campsites 30 miles into the park. For those of us not lucky enough to be at Teklanika Campground, transportation into the remote areas is provided by bus. The bus system also requires reservations. We took a tour the first day and purchased tickets for a destination for the second. There is no other way to see or experience the park. Bus drivers will drop off passengers at random locations. All you need to do is tell the driver to stop. You get off and are free to walk in the wilderness. This is the real wilderness. The return trip is made by flagging down a bus and if there is room the person boards.Buses run about every 15-30 min. so no one gets left for the grizzly bears.

The single lane gravel road is not for the squeamish. It twists and has blind curves with very steep drop offs. Some people closed their eyes in the steepest portions. Everyone is required to wear a seat belt, but I gotta tell ya, they would be useless in the event that your bus goes careening off the side of the mountain. We took the Tundra Wilderness Tour. It lasts about 8 hours and is a bit pricey, but boy, did we get our money’s worth.

Our tour guide/bus driver was from Ohio but has lived in the Denali area for eight years. Up until this past year her home had no running water or electricity. This year she moved into a new place with electricity but still no running water. She gets her water from a nearby creek. She is a year round resident but would not disclose what she did during the eight months that the park is closed. Some speculated that she was a stripper in the off season. I just shook my head. Anyhoo, the tour began at 7:50 AM. The weather was beautiful and we boarded the bus not knowing what to expect.

It is hard to put into words everything that we experienced. There were moose and caribou and snowshoe hares. The park is known for Dall sheep and they looked to be posed on rocks just waiting for the tourists and their cameras. We saw a couple of grizzly bears, but the most awesome and precious sight was a mother grizzly nursing her two cubs. Once finished with their snack the two cubs found an ice patch and tried to get comfy and cool. We lingered there for a while.

The vistas need to be experienced in order to appreciate them. I have always thought that Montana was big. It takes forever to drive through and is wide open, but Denali is different. It is just vast. The second day we took the bus to Eielson Visitor Center which is about 66 miles into the park. We told our driver we would catch another bus for the return trip and then took a hike. It had a 1000 ft elevation gain in about 2 miles and was listed as strenuous. It was…strenuous. It was windy and cold at the top but had breath taking views. This is not a hike for someone with a fear of heights. It was open terrain all the way up and down. I hugged the hillside more than once and at the top was on my hands and knees –four wheel drive- for stability. I forgot to mention it had spots of 25% slopes, but we made it! On the way down it looked as if Mt. McKinley would make an appearance. Sure enough the clouds cleared long enough and there it stood all 20,000+ feet. Yeah, I took pictures –lots of pictures. The odds of seeing the mountain are 1 in 3. We felt incredibly fortunate.

We grabbed a 5:40PM bus back –it takes three hours to go 66 miles. It’s the road folks! But on the return we saw a most marvelous moose. It was a fine specimen and BIG and was just munching away on something. My picture at last!! YES! When we got off of the bus, I thought about everything that I had experience. The one thing that I did not do that I wish I had, was getting dropped off in a random location to explore or just stand there in awe. Next time.

We indulged in showers and had pizza and beer for dinner. I know, it should have been caviar and champagne after the day we’d had, but you gotta go with what’s available. I could have done without the loud music which of course included some Led Zeppelin. Vivaldi would have been nice or heck even John Denver. But no we got “Almost Cut My Hair,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash. Picky, picky. The weather turned just as we were going to bed and our lullaby was thunder and rain on our fiberglass roof. That brings me to:

We set out from Denali after taking in the sled dog demo- which was free and is outstanding. When the dogs realize a few of them will get to pull a sled at a full run, they go nuts. Every dog comes out of their house and sits on top barking as if to say please oh please pick me this time. The dogs are quite friendly and loved to be pet but will retreat to their houses when they have had enough.

We are slowly making our way to Skagway and decided on the Denali Hwy. Apparently, I neglected to notice that it is a dirt road. At one time this was the only road that accessed Denali Park. Well, it was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride multiplied by at least ten. First, it was raining and then it was a dirt road with a fair number pot holes. The big fella took at least one pot hole too fast….lost a hubcap! Greg who loves to drive asked more than once,” How long are we on this road?” It was an interesting ride with one moose sighting. But once the pavement began, we did not last long and I found a nice BLM campground next to the Gulkana River. I don't know about you but there is only so much jarring I can take when on the road.

I have been meaning to say this for a while now. Please forgive my lousy grammar and punctuation and syntax and typos and you get the idea. I do write these things on the fly and try to edit but sometimes am just too full of Alaska to do a good job. It is amazing how many Alaskans –ones who claim to have been born here- sound as if they just came from the hills of Kentucky. Hmmm.

I am obliged to tell you that,we have not visited a museum in several days. Ahem. Car museums maybe hard to come by from here on out, but there’s always farm equipment….

The Road to McCarthy

Now June 27th and we are camped at the end of the road. So there is only one way into McCarthy and it is via Alaska Ten. DANGER WILL ROBINSON! Do not attempt this drive if you are prone to car sickness, or have a weak bladder. If your tires are bad or if you have a nice car, just forget it. If you are worried about breaking an axle or a nail you have been warned. This road eats tires and shock absorbers for sport. What a drive! I thought that the Denali Hwy was exciting, well this road made that one look like a well maintained interstate. This puppy is dirt,more like glacial till really. Large rocks -OK boulders- and a little bit of gravel is thrown in for giggles. The pot holes are not deep so much as they are continuous. I saw washboard and darn near cracked open a bottle of champagne. The washboard was much easier riding. No kidding. Before venturing out on this monster, we asked about the condition.The person at the visitor center advised to take it slow not over 20 mph, but wrote down the phone number of a guy who will come out and fix/change your tire for you if the need arises. Yes, these are serious pot holes, but the big fella put ‘er into four-wheel drive and piece of cake? Well, not exactly; it took 3 hours to go 60 miles. Like I said this was some road. Why you ask would we want to head to this place? What other reason is there but a mining museum? In fact the entire town is a museum of sorts. Actually, the town of Kennicott is the museum, McCarthy is just on the way. We got set up at the Glacier View Campground which has a view of the Root Glacier which of course was not visible due to the cloud cover and rain. The guy who owned the place was born in Bellingham and was an interesting fellow. We shot the breeze with him for a bit and were the only ones in his place for the night. Not many people go to McCarthy, even Alaskans are wary of the road. There are two ways to get up to Kennicott,walk 5 miles and risk life and limb--there are grizzlies--or take the shuttle.We got up early and caught a shuttle to Kennicott. Kennicott was the site of a copper mining operation until the late 1930's. The mine investors included the Guggenheims and J.P.Morgan. When the mining operations stopped, the town died and people walked out leaving food on their tables and their valuables behind. It is run by the National Park Service and is in various stages of rehabilitation. Oh and the Root Glacier that was not visible from our campsite was right in front of us. Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I was forced to buy a disposable until I could find the right replacement. All of you car enthusiasts or car museum junkies will be interested to know that Greg found an old engine block laying amid the rubble in Kennicott. The start of a car museum maybe? I told you that he sniffs out these things.

Once we were done, the drive out was similar to the drive in…jolting describes it I guess. Pavement eventually emerges but while the Tok cutoff is paved, it is full of what they call frost heaves. Frost heaves are a bit like jumping on a pogo stick while riding on a roller coaster. Not sure why the word heave is used here but it maybe due to the sickening feeling that riding on them causes. I dunno, just a guess, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, Greg wanted to know about all of the little towns and scenery along the way, but reading was a challenge to say the least. I tried to describe the scenery that we should be seeing that was not there due to rain and cloud cover.Mostly, there are pseudo forests of trees that look a bit like pipe cleaners. I am not making this up. You have all seen model train villages, right? All of the trees in those miniature wonderlands have mothers and fathers and they live in Alaska. The trees are black spruce and have adapted well to muskeg and tundra and they are about the funniest looking things I have seen to date. I would be remiss if I failed to mention that we crossed the Copper River several times. There were no salmon out hitch hiking so no fish dinner for us. Darn, but maybe next time. We made it as far as a state campground about 150 miles from McCarthy/Kennicott and stayed there last night. We were the only ones there and it was a bit creepy I do say.

So here we are in Tok our stop for the night and day for that matter. We got here before noon. When out on this kind of an adventure, it is important to restock the beer no I mean frig, clean the cave, and do the laundry. Ya know clean underwear is important. It also gives Greg an opportunity to use an RV wash and get out his tools to tinker with things. We have been having some issues with the refrigerator and the battery charger for DC power seems to have quit working. This is not so great, because when we are not plugged-in at an RV park, several things run on battery power. Once he is finished washing "the rig" we are off to Muk Luk Land. It is a tourist trap, but how can I resist something with a name like Muk Luk Land. I simply have to find out what it is all about! I will fill you all in when I post again which I hope won't be too many days away.

Mary

A Chicken by any other name might be a....

June 22, 2010
Roads, Rivers, Rain

A special note to Ralph Rotten. Greg often pulls numbers out of thin air. So when he said that this trip has been a dream of his for 25 years, he may have meant ten years or even forty.I gave up trying to figure out this aspect of his persona--I'd say about thirty years ago. For an engineer he has no sense of time, BUT somehow remembers that we have been married nearly thirty one years. hmmmm.

I feel as if I need to say a word or two more about Chicken, so I will.

Originally, the miners that lived in the area wanted to name their town ptarmigan. Because no one knew how to spell ptarmigan, they decided on something simpler. And that kids is why that little wide spot in the road is called Chicken. The small community that was there, has all but disappeared and what is left are two RV parks and beautiful downtown Chicken. Beautiful downtown Chicken consists of a saloon, café, and a gift shop. The two RV parks are close by, very close by.

Once we decided where we were going to stay, it was mentioned that showers were available at $3 for a bit less than five minutes of water. I gasped but was then informed that all water is trucked in and there is no well. Oh and their sewage is trucked out. A generator provides power until about 9 or 10 PM when it is shut down for the night. It is fired up again at about 7:30 AM. Our camp was owned by a middle aged couple that came to the area to try their luck at gold mining. Not sure how that went but they have built quite a tourist business and along with the owner of beautiful downtown Chicken have marketed Chicken as a side trip to the cruise ship companies. While we were there a bus load from a Princess Cruise arrived. Mile Post magazine also has quite a bit written about Chicken. As small as it is, you gotta love their guts and kitsch. Where we stayed, offers fresh baked pastries with scones as a specialty. Yes, I bought some and yes they were worth it!

In case you ever want to visit and don't want to make the drive....Chicken has an airport with a runway marked with orange fluorescent road cones. Kind of novel –at least I thought so. So there are options except that all flight plans for mosquitoes were grounded due to bad weather. The cloud layer was quite low and visibility was tough for them. The gnats and no-see-ums didn’t get the memo though and with the mosquitoes not flying I am not sure you should take a chance on the alternatives.

We left Chicken yesterday, I could have stayed a day longer but we needed to get to Fairbanks. The Taylor Hwy was the next leg of the journey. It has some dirt sections but is mostly paved and ends at Tok. I am sure that it is a beautiful drive but the weather prevented us from seeing much of the scenery. What was visible, was a combination of bogs and forests and was lovely. The Taylor Hwy joins up the Alaska Hwy at Tok and officially stops at Delta Junction. There was an obligatory stop at the last Mile Marker for pictures, and then we were on our way to Fairbanks.

The road conditions were less than ideal. Many frost heaves made it pretty rough going but it must be very expensive to maintain roads up here and the fact that there is drivable pavement is something to celebrate. We crossed more rivers and creeks than I can count and one river still had sheets of ice on it. We arrived at our destination, Fairbanks at about 6:30 or so and noticed that we were back in civilization. There was traffic for one. We settled for a campground in a state park right in Fairbanks next to the Chena River. We did some sight seeing today. Hold on to your hats –we went to the antique auto museum. I swear to you Greg must sniff them out or something. This was a very elegant place with an amazing collection of beautifully restored vehicles from 1899-1930’s. The focus was on Alaska and automobiles. It included movies and pictures of Alaskans and their cars trucks and early driving experiences of the locals.

We will head for Denali National Park tomorrow and will be there three full days. I don’t expect to have internet access for several days. The wildlife –not including mosquitoes and gnats- have not been as evident the past few days. I am still waiting to get a picture of a moose and Denali may be just the place to get one.
Over and out.
Mary

The Longest Day or is it?

June 20, 2010
Day 11 of Moose and Mosquito Tours. Summer Solstice is approaching---twenty one hours of daylight and the birds are confused. The birds never stop chirping and I feel for them, but it does make it difficult to sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

Hello to the followers of Moose and Mosquito Tours. I am enjoying all of the comments. I do read them and share them with Greg –also known as the big fella.

Today we are “dry camped’” in Chicken, Alaska. After a five hour drive over the Top of the World Highway from Dawson City, Yukon Territory, we decided to stop a bit earlier than normal.
I will explain why later, but first a recap of our latest adventures.

When I last left you, we were in Whitehorse, YT. We restocked the larder, did the laundry, shaved, showered, shampooed, and we were ready to take on the town. Whitehorse sits on the Yukon River below the Whitehorse rapids and prior to the gold rush of 1898 was not much of a settlement. Today, it is a thriving town of 26,000 or so people. They even have a Walmart where many nomads like ourselves, are known to spend a night or two free of charge. As I previously reported we opted for the HI Country RV Park, which was crowded but at least it wasn’t a parking lot. But I digress, which is something that I do a lot, so back to the adventure. While in Whitehorse we toured the SS Klondike an old paddlewheeler that was used to ferry goods and people to Dawson City. A quick pb&j for lunch and it was time to take a guided tour of the old town. The young man leading the tour was college aged and quite personable. He provided great background on early Whitehorse and its prominent and not so prominent citizens.

Then we were off to the Transportation Museum. I won’t go on too much about this place except that it covered everything from snow shoes and dog sleds to snow mobiles. River craft, aircraft, old military vehicles, railroad stuff, firetrucks; you name it and they had it. It was a good museum, but we were there an achingly long time and so-much-so that I declared a moratorium on any more museums until further notice….OK it lasted a day. We ended our day with an outstanding dinner at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Barbeque. Greg ordered what turned out to be one pound of ribs. I kid you not! It was an enormous plate of ribs that he could not finish. It will be lunch sometime real soon. I had halibut with a bumbleberry sauce and brie. Yummy and the best part is that I did not have to cook. We left Dawson that night and spent the night at Lake Labarge in a government campground. Lake LaBarge is a beautiful spot in the Yukon River where the gold rushers would encamp providing that they made it through the perilous rapids near Whitehorse. The mosquitoes were swarming and we could not sit out and enjoy the night or the lake.


Both of us awoke very early and we were on the road by 7:30 AM, now on our way to Dawson City. Dawson City is located at the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers. It was the destination for the stampeders of 1898 and has a very colorful history. Some of its denizens were poet Robert Service and author Jack London. Dawson City was also the destination of my grandfather, Pa, who’s biography I just completed. He arrived in the Klondike in about 1899 or so and had claims in the Dawson area. Visiting Dawson was an opportunity to walk in his footsteps or try to imagine what his life as a prospector may have been like. I learned that his claims in the area were a 5 to 6 hour drive into the hills or creeks as the locals say- and he walked or rode a horse two to three days to register his claim. That is just how it was then.

Robert Service Cabin

 The Canadian government has wisely declared Dawson City a national historic area. Many of the old buildings are under the jurisdiction of Parks Canada. It is a monumental task to preserve some of these sights. Things were built on permafrost, and as it melts, the structures lean. Some are precarious looking. We took a guided walking tour of the town which again was a good way for us to learn about the people and places. Our tour guide was a local and a real hoot. She waved at everyone that she knew and pointed out someone known as, “Caveman Jim.” Apparently this young guy lives in a cave somewhere nearby and has for a number of years. He rides his bicycle into town when he needs things. After the tour we found ourselves at the Dawson City Museum. Well, the moratorium lasted one day, OK? Once again, a great small town museum with history going back to the ice age…mastodons and such. It probably did not rate too high on the big fella’s list of favorite museums, but I enjoyed it. We were there a remarkably short time. Hmmm. While we were in town, of course there was a mining exhibit that could not be missed. Dredge number four was the largest wooden-hulled bucket lined dredge in North America. It was huge and we got to go inside of it. Whoopee right? Well, this is big fella territory and he was snapping pictures right and left. For the engineers in the crowd, he took pictures of the resistor. There were several dredges operating in the area from about 1905-1966. The tailings from gold dredge operations line the road and dominate the scenery as you drive into Dawson . They are mountainous and now have trees and other vegetation growing in them. That is about it for Dawson City but we missed the fire department museum. Damn!

We spent two days there and opted for the government campground just outside of town. We had campfires both nights. The first night the mosquitoes had a feeding frenzy. Greg was the primary victim but the buggers had the audacity to get me about the ankles. Little jerks! Night two, I put out the citronella candles-which Greg thinks don’t work- we were hardly bothered at all. Our campground neighbors said they were besieged. HA!

So, this morning we caught the George Black ferry to the other side of the Yukon River and began what I thought would be a nightmare ride on the Top of the World Highway. We had been warned that it was 113 miles of doing 15mph. Also, it was said that it was an OK road on the Canadian side, but hoo boy that American side is one lane and nothing but hairpin turns, steep drop offs without guard rails, and pot holes. Well, we made it. Yes, it was a gravel surface for most of the way. Yes, it was narrow sometimes, but the views were worth it. It was hardly the worst road that I have encountered. There are some places in Montana that I don’t ever want to go again because of the roads. We stopped at the top which is right before you cross the border and enjoyed the view and the moment. The day was sunny with a few clouds.
The border crossing was easy, but a word to the wise here—no duty free shop. Horrors! We decided to end today’s drive at Chicken, because why not! It is a wide spot in the road with a couple of RV campgrounds and of course beautiful downtown Chicken. There is WiFi but no phone service, go figure and three old men from West Virginia travelling without their wives. Greg heard one of them say that yes they left the spouses at home but heck the wives were sending money as it was needed and told them to stay away as long as they wanted These are women that I want to meet.

Top of the World Highway

Just a word or two about our Miller Times; yesterday’s was maybe the most unusual. Greg fixed me a gin and tonic, he had a martini, there was brie, crackers and to top it off chili dogs for dinner. What could be better? Chili dogs are now off limits! But here we are in Chicken, Alaska at our “dry camp” and it is pouring rain. What!?! A dry camp has no electricity. I don’t quite get the connection but I didn’t want to argue and I was able to get a showere. Yippee.

There is one thing that I neglected to mention about Dawson City. To celebrate the longest day Dawson locals get liquored up and drive to the Dome which is a peak right above town. Apparently, the city provides a shuttle service for those too impaired to drive. Good thing because the road is straight up with no guard rails. But there they sit and watch the sun go down at about 11PM and then wait for two hours until it rises. Just thought that I would mention it.

No wildlife, unless you count a few raptors, and squirrels. I know that there are a few moose left in Alaska, so I can hope. Greg just reminded me that we did no museums today. Hmmm.
More with the next WiFi.
Mary

Gin Laundry Friendly People, Forgotten items

Sign Post Forest Y.T.

June 16- Wild life update: None,zip,zero,nada,zilch. Museum update: one

Megan- please make sure that the interloping bears and moose mind their manners. They are riff raff and may try to get at the wine I have stashed. They may get angry but throw 'em a beer, that should placate them for a bit. And whatever you do, don't tell them it'll be a month before their next martini. Mayhem will be the result. OK.

We made it to Whitehorse, the gin is replenished, and the trip can resume. Tomorrow will we see the sights of this outpost. I am writing to you from the HI COUNTRY RV PARK. Once again, no I did not misspell high/hi. It's these Canadians who insist on spelling things their own way.Back to the matters at hand. This commercial park is about 5 minutes south of downtown Whitehorse. All of us here are tried and true campers and really INTO roughing it. Being environmentally aware we insist on being "camped" arm pit-to-arm pit. This is what camping is all about. Yes, it is the maximum wilderness experience. We have a campfire pit that would smoke out the entire place -perhaps the entire town- if we decided to have one. While securing their spot, our neighbors darned near took out the one tree in the entire place.

You already know that last night we stayed at the Continental Divide campground. What I did not tell you was that it offered a FREE RV wash. Free is the operative word here and the Big Fella was all over it. It had a power sprayer which is no doubt one of the highlights of the trip for him. I am quite sure that the entire experience made him light headed as he managed to spray me, inadvertently of course. In addition he was able to use some tools! I am not making this up. With a clean camper and truck, we were on our way. But as an aside....

I forgot to mention the rock graffiti. The Milepost Magazine calls them rock messages, but really it's just graffiti without the spray paint. It began in 1990 or so when a swim team from Fort Nelson spelled out "P Break" in rocks on a berm along the shoulder of the highway. Now 20 years later and there are miles and miles of so-called messages on the berms. Most of them are the Harry+Sally sort, but some are kind of clever, I guess. None of them stand out.

One museum today and it was my kind of museum. The George Johnston Museum in Teslin is dedicated to the inland Tlingit people and one in particular by the name of George Johnston. He was an entrepenuer and photographer. His photographs present a history of the tribal traditions of the inland Tlingit from the 1920's though to the 1950's. The museum also had artifacts from the area. It seems like a harsh existence to me, but I doubt they thought it so.

Today was a driving, doing the laundry, getting groceries kind of day. Not too exciting, but there will be more opportunities for wild life and I do hope a moose or two more. Our next stop is Dawson City but not before we take-in the sights of Whitehorse.

Ryan's birthday is Friday, so if you see him make sure to wish him a happy birthday!

More when we have internet access.

Mary

Long Johns and Hot Springs

June 15- Wild life update! A BIG MOOSE, on the side of the road and it had a calf. However once again we were driving too darned fast to snap a photo, but maybe next time? There have been more black bears, bison galore, and a grizzly -sitting in a rest area- having a mid morning snack. It caused the inevitable “bear jam.” Folks could not get off the road fast enough wanting a picture. Of course we kept on going, but I really am not interested in getting up close and personal with a member of the brown bear species.

And now it is time for a mosquito report: they have made their presence known and are in full attack mode. Greg has been the unfortunate victim. Up until yesterday, it was too cold and windy for the buggers. However, it has warmed-up and there is a virtual mosquito air force that hovers around poor Greg. They don’t seem to care for me although I hear them. I fear it will only get worse from here on out.

The last post was from Charlie Lake which is near Fort St John, B.C. We are now in the Yukon Territory near the Continental Divide in an RV Park called- you guessed it- the Continental Divide. The past few days itinerary included a couple more museums, soaks in the Liard hot springs, and a lot of driving. Probably the most memorable museum was in Fort Nelson. It was a combination historical attraction and flea market. It was jammed full of stuff casually displayed, and included a collection of chain saws, out board motors, and a rare white moose –stuffed. There were old vehicles in various states of restoration, and a 16 cylinder generator that powered the town for 13 years. Greg was in heaven. The curator was a scowling skinny guy with an amazingly long white beard. We asked one of his assistants how everything there was acquired. People in the area know about the museum and just bring things to them. She did mention that they refuse stuff. Based on what I saw….not much.

It was a hoot and we might have stayed longer but it was time to find a spot for the night. The driving conditions were not so great. Intermittent showers, gusting winds, and Greg described the road itself as lumpy, made for an interesting couple of hours. We found a beautiful Provincial Park on the shores of Summit Lake just as the sleet started. All night the wind was wicked and I was thankful to have brought my long johns.

Ah yes, roughing it as we are means that on cold mornings the heater is fired up. Rather than doing the campfire dance trying to get warm, we take the chill out of the cave with propane. We were on our way by 9 or so and ready for the Liard hot springs which were about three hours north. There is a Provincial Campground right there and we were set-up and eating lunch by 1:00. A short walk to the pools and we were fully immersed by 2PM and soaked until about 4:30. So far this has been my favorite stop. I am not a hot tub devotee, but these hot springs are just the right temperature. The pools are natural; no cement sides, only a boardwalk that makes it easier to get in and out. Oh, and I forgot to mention this site is a particular favorite of moose. Lots of moose prints were around in the swampy areas leading up to the pools, but regrettably no moose were there. We went back this morning for a wake-up soak.

The vistas from the highway are beautiful and vast. The mountains and forests are just too beautiful. We arrived at our current location at about 6 PM, had our Miller Time, some chili, and Greg is off getting a shower as I write. I am not sure how many miles we have covered since the last post, but our total miles are well over 1000. Tomorrow it looks like we will be in Whitehorse or close to it. We are nearly out of gin so it may be sooner than Whitehorse.

I expect that we will both sleep well tonight. Greg has been doing his best imitation of a supersonic jet or an f5 tornado. What more can I say? The man snores but hey,he may be a bear deterrent.

As always, the next post will be from the next WiFi spot.
Mary

Moose and Black Bears

June 12, 2010 –Fort St. John B.C. We have been without internet access for a few days so there is much to tell. But first…

Moose update: On June 10th, two MOOSE were sighted on the road from Quesnel B.C. (Kwe- nell) to Barkerville! What are the odds that on day two I would see not one but two moose, or is it meese. I don’t know but I was beside myself. Thrilled I tell you, I was positively thrilled. No pictures, but the first sighting was from a distance and was a bull with a rather large looking rack. The second was a cow and lord help me but she was drooling or had just lifted her mouth out of a puddle. This one was barely off the road. I begged the big fella to pull over because I needed a picture. Alas, he kept driving. Darn!

Since my last post, we have made our way up from Cache Creek to Barkerville, Prince George and Dawson Creek. Today we are at about mile 50 or so of the Alaska Highway near the town of St. John, B.C. There have been several stops for museums and points of interest. Among them are Hat Creek Ranch, Barkerville, a very cool small town museum in Quesnel, and of course the Alaska Highway House in Dawson Creek. We are not as far north as I thought we would be, but the joys of this adventure are the spur of the moment side trips. Hat Creek Ranch was one of those moments.

Hat Creek Ranch is an historic stop on the old Cariboo Waggon Road. No I did not misspell wagon. It was misspelled by the locals here in B.C. We took a tour and wound up with a lively group from Australia. Greg spoke to one man and mentioned that we had spent part of our honeymoon in British Columbia. The gentleman thought that we had just married and asked how the bedding was going! There was an awkward moment when Greg informed him that our honeymoon was 30+ years ago. The subject was changed rather quickly. Never-the-less, we both got a chuckle out of that one. The next stop was Barkerville, but first was the Quesnel museum.

Say the word museum in our house and both kids will run the other direction. Family vacations/camping trips always included a museum or two. Being a good parent requires that you expose your children to local culture, and small town museums are just the ticket. These excursions –to museums that is- always lasted a bit too long for their attention spans, and things would deteriorate kind of fast. I got to where that looks of horror would cross their faces, when they knew a museum was about to be entered. They thought it was torture. But I digress, the little museum in Quesnel is a gem. It is full of local history and memorabilia and includes a haunted doll. Once finished with the museum, it was on to Barkerville.

Barkerville is a ghost town from the 1860’s Cariboo gold rush. It may have been inhabited until the 1960’s, but is now a well preserved historic attraction. It was a stop on our honeymoon 30 some years ago and was fun to go back. Neither of us had any recollection of the place so it was like seeing it for the first time! It was on the drive up to it that I spied the two moose and as a bonus a little black bear ran across the road in front of us.

Today was the day for bear sightings. We saw three as we were on the road from Prince George to Dawson Creek. Dawson Creek marks mile one of the Alaska Highway and merited a stop. The exhibit on the highway construction is well done and helped give me some perspective on what an accomplishment it was. It was completed in eight months and at that time was a feat of engineering. It was nearly 1500 miles of road building in 1942.

portion of the Original Alaska Highway

Since we left on Tuesday, we have traveled about 850 miles. Gosh, we only have 1430 more miles until we get to Fairbanks! Tomorrow, we are off to Fort Nelson and another 250 miles closer to our destination.

I am still hoping for more moose encounters.I know they are around because there are warning signs along the roads. I am keeping my eyes peeled and next time I will get a picture. Stay tuned for the next dispatch.

Day One

Wednesday, June 9th -we are on our way.

I was a little sad to leave today. My styrax tree is about to bloom. It's white umbrella flowers are so fragrant and are loved by both bees and humming birds. The peonies that I transplanted a couple of years ago have finally produced blossoms and are just ready to burst. I counted 23 blossoms! I took a picture of the peonies and will post them once I figure out how to do that.

This was a driving day. No stops for road side attractions just cruising Canada Hwy 1 and the Fraser River Canyon. The canyon is deep,dramatic,and magnificent and after about five hours we are in Cache Creek, B.C.

It is raining but true to our Northwest heritage, this liquid sunshine did not discourage us. We are undaunted! Yes, tough cannot begin to describe us. We are weather beaten and proud. Ok, we sat in the camper and enjoyed our first Miller Time of the trip. Greg had a martini and he poured me a nice chardonnay. There was smoked salmon,cheese, and crackers for a light appetizer. This is what we call roughing it. Would love to have been outside enjoying our happy hour, but I made the sacrifice and opted for inside.

Tomorrow we head for Barkerville with stops at the Hat Creek Ranch and maybe a museum or two. Miller Time was followed by dinner and a walk. With yesterday's packing excitement Greg is bushed and is snoring like a freight train,and I can honestly say that we are -officially- on vacation! The first day is under our belt.

Today was less than exciting and I will try to make the next dispatch a little more interesting.
Mary

Packing Batie Style

Welcome to Moose and Mosquito Tours, or how Greg and Mary spent their summer vacation. For the next month we will be on the road driving from Seattle to Alaska. Yup, we are going the long way to the northern-most state in the U.S. Why take a luxury cruise where you spend the entire trip eating,drinking and being entertained, when you can camp,swat bugs, and worry about grizzly bears. Greg tells me this has been a dream of his for 25 years. Well, my dream was to buy a laptop, so I did. I can't use it as a bug repellant but I can blog about the bugs and everything else that we encounter,which will hopefully include at least one moose. I really want to see a moose on this trip, and it seems like I should. Right? I know that we will see, hear and feel many skeeters. In fact I hear that people actually put saddles on those northern mosquitos and ride 'em around. No kidding!


I will try to write when we have internet access. I look forward to comments and stay tuned the big trip is about to begin.

Mary