Flying Moose not Squirrel

From Talkeetna

We left Healy and headed on down the road to Talkeetna in the rain. Our hope was to take one of the flight seeing tours of Mt. McKinley including a glacier landing. Well, it continued to rain for the next three days. We were grounded. The town of Talkeetna is a funky little town rumored to be the inspiration for the old TV show “Northern Exposure”.

Two of its restaurants were featured on "Dinner, Drive-ins and Dives". We ate at the "Roadhouse" for breakfast – yummy. Fun little town and worth the trip even if you do not plan on doing a flight. Still we were getting restless waiting on the sun. Tuesday the weather finally cleared enough for flights to resume and we were scheduled for the 5:00pm flight. While we were waiting for our flight, we were informed that one of the planes was stuck on one of the glaciers. Yikes! Turns out the weather can turn fast and it is possible for the fog to roll in fast and ground the pilot. They are prepared for this type event - food, sleeping bags and tracking device in the planes. Plans were changed and we were assigned to another pilot and a smaller plane. Smaller plane!? Hope we don't end up like the moose!

Our new pilot explained they would not be doing the full tour and no glacier landing. I was disappointed but we opted to do it anyway. It was amazing! The pictures really do not do justice to the scale of the mountains and glaciers. So wish we could have done the full tour with the landing but even still it was well worth doing. We even got to do fly over of Sarah Palin’s house near Wasilla but I didn't see Russia.

We stayed at the RV park in town. The spaces were a little tight but walking distance to everything in town. This time we had railroad tracks and an airport next to us. Fortunately, the trains were infrequent and the planes were grounded. We left on Wednesday for Anchorage and it started raining again.

The Great One!

We left Fairbanks on a clear day and headed on down Parks Highway. We caught our first glimpse of Mt. McKinley aka Denali. Wow! Even from a distance (or maybe more so) you get a real feel for size of the largest mountain in the North American continent. Even has Everest topped for the vertical rise since this area is closer to sea level. It magically disappeared the closer we got to the park itself. The odds are against visitors on a time line of being able to actually see the peaks. It is so large it has its own weather system and is often socked in with clouds. We felt fortunate that we saw it at all.
First stop along the way was the little town of Nenana famous for their “Ice Classic”. The town has a contest every spring with a large money prize going to the person who correctly predicts when the ice breaks on the Tanana River. Those Alaskans sure know how to have fun! We stopped for lunch at a little local café. Guess what they had on the menu? Green chile cheeseburgers! Yup – the owners were from New Mexico.
The drive from Fairbanks to Denali National Park was an easy drive. We stayed at McKinley RV Park in Healy which is about ten miles from the park. It could use a little sprucing up but the wifi was great! It was the best of the RV parks choices. We did check out the camp grounds in Denali NP and we could have fit in the larger sites. However, it would have been dry camping but much more scenic. Ya just never know which way to go sometimes. I have decided Trailer Life definitely has a prejudice against NP and State parks –they almost always say no slides even when we could fit. Beware even pictures of RV parks on the web can be very deceptive.

We took our first drive through Denali that night and booked our bus ticket for the next day. No private vehicles are allowed after mile 13. You have your choices between commercial tours or the parks own bus system. We opted for the park service for two reasons. First you could get on and off the bus at multiple points and catch another bus and second it was quite bit cheaper. You do need to bring your own food and water as there are no concessions in park itself past the 13 mile marker. They said the ride would be about an eight hour round trip to the Eielson Center and thirteen to Wonder Lake. We decided not to do Wonder Lake for time constraints with leaving the dogs alone. We made the right choice, even eight hours made for a long day. Even the caribou needed a nap.
We had another great day for seeing Denali but as the day wore on so did the clouds. Still the ride was spectacular. We also got to see the Dall sheep, bears, caribou and a fox. Can you spot the bear in the picture? The animals are quite familiar with seeing the buses and often get close to the road.

The next day Jack and I took hike and got to see some of the smaller animals and the tundra flowers. We saw arctic squirrels, a marmot and ptarmigans.
Later in the day we took in the dog sled presentation in the park. We got to meet and greet with the stars of the show, the Alaskan Huskies. They are not an official breed but they are the breed to be working dogs and able to go long distances pulling heavy loads. They seemed to be quite bored with all us tourist but really perked up when the handlers were picking the ones that would show us how it was done pulling a sled. Beautiful and amazing animals.
I have a lot of pictures and it was hard for me to pick which ones to show on the blog so do take the time to look at the full album linked on the picture below. Also check out the interactive map of Mt.McKinley on the park link. I will be talking about the flight we took over the glaciers in my next post. The next day the rain moved in and stayed for the next three days as we headed south to Talkeetna.

From Denali

The Fair City of Fairbanks

We spent the next week in Fairbanks. It is fair size town for this part of the country with all the obligatory box stores and fast food chains. The area itself has the typical landscape we have been seeing black spruce and bushes in the boggy areas and a mix of pines, birch and aspens in the non boggy areas. We needed to wait for our mail and have some do-nothing down time. Fairbanks was a good fit. We stayed at the River View RV Park – nice enough on the Chena River. Good cable but slow wifi. The first day there we went to Wal-Mart to get our prescription filled. I thought – hey, I’ll get my frames adjusted. Well, they put them on a heat machine to bend the frames and for some reason it etched my lenses. They looked like crocodile skin. Happy to say Wal-Mart made good on replacing the lenses but it still was a bit of hassle and we had to stay a few more days then we were planning.

One of the days we took the drive to Chena Hot Springs. Along the way we saw quite a few moose. I got some great pictures of one of them feeding in a pond. We also saw mama moose and two calves. Very cool! The hot springs were great too. Not crazy with people like you sometimes see in the lower 48 and Canada for these type of places. We ate lunch at the lodge restaurant. They grow a lot of their produce on site in giant green houses so everything was super fresh. They have a few other touristy type things you can do there too. All in all, it was very pleasant day. And the weather was sunny. One of the few days the whole time we were in Fairbanks. One of those dreary days we spent at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North. They had few films about Alaska including one on the Aurora Borealis that were interesting. This time of year it never get's dark enough to see them. It was worth doing even if they were little overly proud of their “out house”. You’ll just have to find out for yourself about that comment.

Oh, and how can one forget about North Pole, Alaska? The very definition of the phrase tourist trap. But still ya gotta see Santa and the reindeer! Good fudge too at the Santa Clause house. I told Santa that Jack was very good boy. The lenses finally arrived and we were on way to the “Great One”.

You say Chicken, I say Ptarmigan

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Well, we thought the roads were bad before but by far the worse road is from the US border to the town of Chicken. It is mostly dirt and mud and chocked full of pot holes. We were pretty worn out by the time we got to Chicken. Chicken is a fun little place.

Just don’t ask if the generators are going to be running all night. I did before I found out that is the only source of electricity – yikes. You can tell the three establishments in town (ah that is the town) must get pretty worn out with all the stupid questions us tourist ask. Or is that part of the charm of Chicken? Two of those three places are RV parks so you can spend the night. Either way it is worth the stop and do eat at “Beautiful Downtown Chicken”. Yummy scones and cookies and other baked goods.

We left Chicken the next day. The road does improve substantially. The route is along a main caribou migration path. Wish it was the right time of year that must be something to see.

I read at one time there was 500,000 caribou on this migration path but now the numbers are somewhere around 30,000. So you might ask, “What is the difference between caribou and reindeer?” Technically, they are the same except caribou is the name given to wild reindeer in North America.

Finally, back on the Alaskan Highway! Driving was a piece of cake to Fairbanks. Some pretty views and a moose sighting or two along the way. I was beginning to think moose were mythical creatures like flying reindeers at the North Pole. Oh wait, did we just pass the North Pole?

Fun in the Midnight Sun

We stopped briefly in Whitehorse to stock up a bit before heading up Highway 2 for Dawson City. The landscape is changing. The trees are definitely shorter with the dominant tree being the lodge pole pine or as Jack likes to call them “pipe cleaner trees”. The going is slow on this route as well. So be prepared for taking your time. We stopped in Carmach for the night.

Dawson City is home of the Klondite Gold Rush, the largest gold strike in the North American continent. They are still mining in the area and finding gold. It is on the Yukon River and gave birth to almost all of the stereo types about the gold era. The famed authors Jack London and Robert W. Service wrote a number of books about this area around the turn of the previous century. It is a place with names such as Sourdough Jack’s, Klondike Kate and Diamond Tooth Gertie’s based off real people as colorful as their names. It is fun place with an interesting past. A bit of tourist trap – yup, but everyone is genuinely friendly and we ate some really good food. And definitely take in the show at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s. I was thinking it would be super cheesy but it was surprising professional and very reasonable for ten bucks per person. Can Jan Can Can? All proceeds from the show go to the town. I really get a sense of community from this little town out in the middle of Klondike wilderness. Dawson also has number of unique festivals throughout the year as well. One of them celebrates the longest day of the year by having big old party at midnight on top the overlooking mountain called the “Dome”. Dawson City is only 159 miles south of the Arctic Circle and I honestly have not seen a true night in quite awhile. Oh, and don’t forget to pan for gold!

A brief word about the RV parks, they really cram you in and are not much more than parking lots. And the price for diesel and gas is ridiculously high. There is not much you can do about either since they are the only choices.

So where do you go after Dawson City? You can either turn around and go back to Whitehorse or brave the George Black ferry across the mighty Yukon River. The Yukon River is swift and the ferry boat is small! The road on the other side is the “Top of the World” highway and crosses into Alaska. All accounts of this road say it is very rough going full of long stretches of gravel and pot holes. It is true. Narrow steep gravel and dirt roads with no guard rails and plenty of pot holes and washed out shoulders can be harrowing with any vehicle. Now imagine that towing 35ft , 13 thousand pound fifth wheel! And the road definitely gets worse from the US border crossing to the town of Chicken. More about Chicken next. That being said plenty of RVs do it every year but it is very slow going and stressful.

Ahh! but quite beautiful and like nothing anywhere else. The landscape turns to tundra and when you look north it is a feeling of absolute wilderness. You can only imagine what it must be like in winter. I was quite excited about crossing back into the US and into Alaska as well. This is the most northern land border crossing into the US and it is always good to be home even when your Canadian neighbor is friendly and welcoming.

Bear in Mind

We had decided when planning this trip to take the less traveled road going up and coming back via the famed Alaskan Highway. The opposite of what most folks do. We are planning on heading east to Minnesota after Alaska and it made more sense doing it this way. The road less traveled is the Cassiar Highway.

It is a beautiful drive. We saw at least ten bears along the roadside. However, it is slower since there are frequent areas where the road is being repaired along the way and stretches of gravel. Little did we know at the time, it was just a warm up for some of the roads to come later. We spent the night at the very scenic Mountain Shadows RV Park. It is good stopping point about half way to the junction with the Alaskan Highway. There was a moose sighting as well but I was too late to catch it.

Next day we continued up the road. The closer we got to the Alaskan Highway junction the more evidence of a recent fire late last year could be seen. We also noticed tents with signs for mushroom buyers. I asked about this later at the gas station at the junction. They were buying morel mushrooms from the locals picking them and the women showed me some that she picked. She did warn that there was also a mushroom that looked very similar called false morel that can kill you. Ugh, I think I’ll pass.

We finally made it to Yukon and the Alaskan highway! Now what? It was decision time. What exactly do we want to do first? I’ll take this opportunity to mention the “Milepost” . This travel guide book became more and more valuable the closer we got to Alaska.

It pretty much gives a play by play of the road conditions, gas stations, scenic loops and stops along the way etc. Most of the places it mentions for restaurants and RV parks were good recommendations ( so far) with one blaring exception. That exception was the Rancheria Lodge and RV park. It sounded historic by its description having been in the guide from its first publication in 1949. But it was apparent that it no longer had owners that took any sort of pride in up keeping the place. And it had the biggest ravens I have ever seen in my life! They were hanging around some coffee cans on picnic benches in front of the restaurant. I was thinking maybe they were feeding them so I looked in the cans. Nope, just cigarette butts. Hmm, never knew ravens smoked maybe they were the cause of all those forest fires we saw? So skip this place. We stopped down the road the next day for breakfast at Dawson Peaks Resort and RV. It would have been a much better choice by far. Spoke with owner\ cook and she gave us some suggestions for the route to take next. So we took her advice decided to do the inland route first and headed up towards the historic Dawson City. I feel gold fever coming on!

Smithers Time

Next day we headed to Prince George. We needed to stock up on some supplies and food. The town is fairly large with all the typical chain stores and restaurants. We have been trying to get some miles under our belt but the going has been slow and we spent the night at Dave’s RV near Vanderhoof. This place was immaculate and owned by a friendly elderly couple. Good place to do an overnighter. Headed out in the rain, it has been raining for the most part since we left Lake Louise.

Still trying to make some time but luck had other plans. We were driving along enjoying the lush forests and snow capped mountains and occasional bear spotting when “BOOM”! Oh, not a good sound when pulling 14,000 pound 5th wheel. Jack immediately pulled over so we could investigate. We were thinking it was a tire but they all looked good. Jack soon found the cause a large ominous looking metal pipe leading to the turbo charger was no longer attached. Hmmm. Jack to the rescue! One of the real perks of being married to a mechanical engineer is he can pretty much figure out how anything works and find solutions to fixing almost anything that breaks. He dug out his magical tool chest and assortment of handy dandy items and found an old sewer clamp. Five minutes later we were on our way. The nearest town Smithers, BC was about 50 miles away but this time luck was on our side. There was a Chevy dealer. Unfortunately, this was Canada Day and we had to wait to the next day to take the truck to the dealership. Turns out it was not the clamp that was the issue but the pipe itself. They had to order the part and the earliest would be Tuesday before we could get back on the road. Good thing it was under warranty that pipe ended up costing 1,400 dollars. Yikes!

So what does one do for five days in Smithers? The area is very pretty with snow peaked mountains and green meadows.

They had a glacier at one time but technically it is not one anymore. Looks the same to me. There is pretty hike to “Twin Falls” cascading off the glacier, wild life rescue shelter( we saw baby moose, bears and a coyote pup) and just some really beautiful areas. I read it also has some of the best fishing rivers in the world – I ‘ll take their word on that one. And of coarse skiing in the winter. The town itself has some shops and lots of statues of odd things around town for such a small place. The farmers market was one of the best I have ever been to too – lot’s of yummy food. I was even able to take a yoga class. Jack and I also celebrated our 8th anniversary and had a nice dinner at the local Alpenhorn Bistro. All in all, if you have to be stuck somewhere for 5 days Smithers was as good place ( beats Saskatoon). The RV park we stayed at was Riverside Golf and RV park. It was pleasant enough but the Wifi had some issues and no sewer.

Next heading for the Cassiar Highway 37. Still cloudy and raining when we left Smithers.