Alaska Adventure–Days 37 & 38

Note that there are TWO blogs in this entry, so be sure to scroll all the way down!!

Day 37 - Merritt BC to Pasco WA

We left Merritt BC this morning with our sights set on the border, as we were only about 150 miles away.  Before reaching the border we again saw lots of logging and a huge saw mill just outside of Merritt.  Our route took us from Keremeos to Osoyoos BC, which to our delight is a huge fruit and vegetable area.  There were massive orchards of apples, peaches, and cherries along the way, in addition to fields of various vegetables.  The road through Keremeos was lined with farmer’s market stands where we picked up some cherries and apples.  In short order, we approached the border where there was a fairly long line.  When we got up to the booth one of the things they asked was if we had any fruit.  Oops - the answer was yes, which of course triggered a secondary inspection.  Luckily they didn’t take anything and we were on our way.  All total it took about half an hour to get through the crossing.  As soon as we got into Washington, we started noticing smoke, and before long we were really in thick smoke from all the forest fires.  We stopped at the Grand Coulee Dam but the smoke was so thick you couldn’t see much.  We continued across Washington before stopping for the night at Hood Park in Pasco WA which is a really nice park right on the Columbia River.

We are glad to be in the land of pounds, gallons. and miles.  The gas prices are also kind of nice…won’t be complaining anymore when the price goes up a few pennies, now that we know what our northern neighbors deal with!

Logs waiting to be made into lumber

Some really nice Farmer’s Markets along the way

A few more inches and we will be back in the USA

Lots and lots of smoke

The Grand Coulee Dam is quite a sight

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	383 miles
Hours on road:	10 hours, 15 minutes
Gas prices:	$3.96

Route:

Day 38 - Pasco WA to Glenns Ferry ID

In addition to a travel day, today was a day that proved out some new technology….  Several years ago we had a number of tire blow outs on our old trailer. That prompted me to build a tire vibration monitoring system to give early warning to pending problems.  The system uses a number of accelerometers to measure the vibration of the tires.  The theory being that most blowouts are caused by tread separation which usually starts with a bubble forming on the tire making it out of round.  The information is processed by software that displays the vibration level on a display on the truck cab and also sounds an alarm if it detects what could be a problem.  Well today - shortly after leaving this morning - as we were flying down the interstate, the system detected a possible problem with the right rear tire on the trailer.  We quickly pulled over, and sure enough there was a huge bubble about 3” in diameter on the side of the tire.  The bubble would most certainty blown and caused the tread to separate.  Who knows what damage it could have done had we not stopped before it blew.  We quickly changed the tire and were on our way in search of a tire store to buy our second new tire of the trip.  The Alaska Highway sure does takes a toll on the tires.   After getting a new tire, we continued on - finally stopping for the night at Glenns Ferry, ID at the Three Islands Crossing State park which is another really nice park.

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	371miles
Hours on road:	8 hours
Gas prices:	$3.76, $3.86

Route:

 

Alaska Adventure–Days 35 & 36

Note that there are TWO blogs in this entry, so be sure to scroll all the way down!!

Day 35 – Meziadin Lake BC to Prince George BC

Today we completed our drive on the Cassiar Highway and continued east to Prince George, BC, where we stayed at the Blue Cedar’s RV park.   Most of the drive was clearly in logging country, as there was logging truck after logging truck on the highway.  As we got closer to Prince George, we started seeing huge saw mills.  Each mill had huge piles of raw trees ready for processing, and also huge stacks of cut lumber ready for shipment.

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	392 miles
Hours on road:	8 hours
Gas prices:	$5.09

Route:

 

Day 36 – Prince George BC to Merritt BC

We left Prince George, BC, with a very cloudy sky, but it quickly cleared and ended up being a very nice day.  The further south we got, the higher the temperature climbed until reaching the mid-90’s.  Not sure we are ready for the high temperatures yet.  Shortly after leaving Prince George, we passed through Quesnel, and were immediately greeted with the nasty smell of a pulp mill.  Sure enough, there were several plants located just outside of town - belching smoke.  Not sure how the people in this town stand the smell or smoke.  The smoke continued for 20 to 30 miles south of town and really obscured the views in all directions.  We were really surprised that Canada would allow such industrial pollution.  There is no way the EPA would allow such gross pollution in the states.  When we were driving through the town, it felt like we stepping back in time 40 years to the steel mill towns of the northeast, with big smoke stacks belching smoke.

Toward the end of the day, we were treated with some Big Horn Sheep on the side of the road.  This is the best photo we could get through the windshield…

We ended the day in Merritt, BC at the Claybanks RV park, and we are now about 130 miles from the border.  Tomorrow, we will be back in the USA….

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	354 miles
Hours on road:	9 hours
Gas prices:	$4.55, $4.96

Route:

Alaska Adventure–Days 33 & 34

Note that there are TWO blogs in this entry, so be sure to scroll all the way down!!

Day 33 – Teslin YT to Dease Lake BC

We drove in rain most of the morning as we continued retracing our steps along the Alaska Highway.  A few miles west of Watson Lake, YT, we turned south onto the Cassiar Highway.  The Cassiar Highway was a new road for us, as it cuts down south through the central part of British Columbia.  For the first 60 miles it was like driving on a moon scape as all the trees on both sides of the road and as far as the eye could see were burned, and only dead trees remained.  Four years ago they had a huge fire that burned nearly 75,000 acres of forest.  We were a little surprised at the condition of the road for the first 150 or so miles, as it was very narrow and not marked - and very rough.  It seems the standard repair technique for frost heaves in this section is to simply remove the road and back-fill with gravel. 

After several hours of bumping, bouncing, and slowing to a crawl for rough spots we finally made it to Dease Lake and stayed at the Water’s Edge RV Park.  The park is nothing special - with no water or electric.  They did have a very slow internet but that ended at 10PM when the owner shut off the generator!  Looks like there is a nicer park on the other side of town.

Here are some of our last views from the Alaska Highway

After turning onto the Cassiar Highway, this was the view for miles and miles.  It felt kind of spooky - especially because there was almost no traffic and no towns.

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	311 miles
Hours on road:	7 hours, 5 minutes
Gas prices:	$5.65

Route:

 

Day 34 – Dease Lake BC to Meziadin Lake BC with side trip to Hyder AK

After leaving Dease Lake, we were very happy as the road improved significantly.  There were still a few gravel sections but where there was pavement it was fairly smooth.  The farther south we drove, the more dense and prettier the forest became.  The distant mountains were breathtaking with snow-capped peaks and low hanging clouds.  We arrived at the Meziadin Lake Provincial Park, which is at the junction of the road going to Hyder, AK.  After setting up camp, we made the 40 mile trip to Hyder, which is the furthest southern town in Alaska that you can drive to.  The town is located on that long finger of Alaska that stretches south along British Columbia.  The main purpose for going to Hyder was to watch the bears at Fish Creek.  The forest service has build a large viewing platform along the banks of Fish Creek where you can safely watch bears feed on the salmon in the creek.  It was raining when we arrived, but we weren’t disappointed, as there was a large grizzly bear snacking on salmon in the creek right below the viewing platform.

The drive from the Cassier Highway junction to Hyder was one of the most beautiful we have experienced on the whole trip.  Even though it was raining, the views were amazing, as there were at least two glaciers and many multi-stage water falls right along the road.  The whole area had the feel of a rain forest, as everything was green and there was moss growing on all the trees and rocks.  The border crossing back into Canada was the quickest and simplest yet.

Now where did that salmon go…

Yum… that was good….now where is the next one…

Tree roots growing out into the stream of glacier fed water

Moss growing on a dead tree

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	307 miles
Hours on road:	5 hours, 15 minutes
Gas prices:	$5.68, $5.20

Route:

Alaska Adventure–Days 30, 31, & 32

Note that there are THREE blogs in this entry, so be sure to scroll all the way down!!

Day 30 – Homer AK to Chickaloon AK

On Sunday morning we woke to rain in Homer, and with the forecast to be much of the same for the next several days we decided to alter our plans.  The original plan was to spend a few days in Seward, AK which is east of Homer.  The main attraction in Seward was another Glacier cruise, but with the weather looking bad we decided to not do the cruise and started heading back toward Canada.  The cruise would have been very similar to the one we took in Whittier under beautiful skies, so we didn’t feel too bad about skipping one in the rain.  This is one thing we have learned about Alaska is you have to adjust your plans to accommodate the weather.  It’s a lot different than at home where you don’t have to plan around the weather.

Just as we were leaving Homer, we got a special treat of seeing two Bald Eagles on a roof top.  Such pretty birds.

New York may have had Woodstock, but Ninilchik AK has Salmonstock.  Looked like they have a huge crowd given the large number of tents pitched along the side of the road.  Too bad they didn’t have better weather but suspect everyone had fun.

After fueling up in Anchorage, we headed northeast through the Matanuska River Valley toward Tok.  The area was very pretty - even in the rain, so we suspect it is fabulous on a really clear day.  This is the Matanuska River.

We ended the day in a gravel pull off between Chickaloon and Glennallen.  One of the nice things about Alaska is they have no problem at all with an RVer spending the night in a pull off along the road side.

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	343 miles
Hours on road:	7 hours, 15 minutes
Gas prices:	$3.99, $3.95

Route:

Day 31 – Chickaloon AK to Koidern YT

We started the day in rain and it continued that way most of the day.  We stopped in Tok for the necessities…laundry, fuel, propane, and water before heading toward the border.  We had planned to stop just short of the border, but as we got close we finally outran the rain, so we decided to continue and get through the 40 miles of construction just east of the border while it was dry.  One nice thing about going through the construction after 5 pm is all the workers were gone and there were no single lanes with pilot cars to contend with.  The road was as rough and slow as it was as we came in weeks ago.  The border crossing was really easy with only a few minutes of delay. 

We stopped for the night at Lake Creek Yukon Government Campground near Koidern, YT.  The Yukon government campgrounds are very similar to our forest service campgrounds, only a little nicer.  They charge $12 a night, but that includes all the wood you want to burn.  They have so many trees here that I’m sure that they have more wood to dispose of than they know what to do with.

We noticed this “food truck” parked near a gas station in Glennallen, AK, which is a really small town in the middle of nowhere.  Earlie,r we noticed a similar truck in Tok.  Not sure how much business a food truck selling Thai food would do in Alaska…

This is a photo of Fireweed which is growing everywhere in Alaska and the Yukon.  It’s an interesting wildflower that grows and blooms all summer and is covering most of the road ditches and hill sides.  According to the locals, the blooms start near the bottom in the spring and as the summer progresses, the higher part of the plant blooms.  A sign of the impending winter is when the upper-most buds are blooming.

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	366 miles
Hours on road:	10 hours, 5 minutes
Gas prices:	$4.21, $4.76

Route:

Day 32 – Koidern YT to Teslin YT

Today we had a very nice day as we continued to make our way across the Yukon.  Between Haines Junction, YT and Whitehorse. YT we stopped to see the Canyon Creek Bridge.  This is one of the few original Alaska Highway bridges still standing.  This bridge was build in 1942 using local timbers in 18 days, in what was described as the most ambitious and important bridges built by the Army Corps of Engineers during the highway construction.

 

The bridge decking is simply small trees placed crossways across the main bridge beams.  Had to believe army trucks and jeeps rumbled across the bridge.  Hats off to the 18th Battalion, whose skills have stood the test of time.

We ended the day at the Teslin Lake Yukon Government Campground, just west of Teslin, YT.  This was another very nice Yukon campground.  Tomorrow we make our way toward Watson Lake, where we turn south onto the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia, which will be some new territory for us.  The last few days, we have been retracing the route we took a few weeks ago, as it’s the only way home.

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	330 miles
Hours on road:	9 hours, 30 minutes
Gas prices:	$4.96

Route:

Alaska Adventure–Days 27, 28, & 29

Portage Lake AK to Homer AK

The drive to Homer from Portage Lake was very picturesque as the road followed the Cook Inlet. In several places we had great views of the Inlet and the mountains on the other side.  Once we got to Homer, we found a campsite on the Homer Spit, which is the thin strip of land that separates Kachemak Bay from the Pacific Ocean.  The campgrounds are nothing special but they are right near the beach.  At this time of the year the big event in Alaska is the salmon run, and we were lucky to see the start of the running of the Silver Salmon (Coho).  Just outside of the campsite is a large tidal pool that is full of salmon looking to lay their eggs.  In many places, the fishermen are almost shoulder to shoulder.  Every few seconds, huge fish jump into the air. 

A view of the Cook Inlet

The fishermen were really bringing in the fish

Close up of a salmon in a creek

Jumping Salmon.  Must be frustrating for the fishermen when a huge fish jumps right in from of them but not on their hook

A guy from Germany caught this salmon in a creek.  The red sack in his left hand is the egg sack.  This poor fish made it all the way from the ocean but didn’t get a chance to lay its eggs.

This sign was along the fishing area in Homer.  Guess they even have scammers here.

We spotted this eagle near the campground. 

Small shop along the Spit

A view from the beach looking toward Kachemak Bay and the mountains beyond

We made a visit to the Homer Farmers Market.  They sure grow some nice things here.

Part of our planning for this trip was to watch several TV shows about Alaska.  Our favorite show is called “Alaska – The Last Frontier” on Discovery channel, which is about the Kilcher Family who homesteaded in the Homer area.  With a little detective work we found that the homestead is only 10 miles east of Homer, so we decided to see what was there.  We found the homestead down a small dirt road, and to our surprise we found this sign.  Calling the number, we got invited to visit the homestead and learn about its history.  We didn’t get to meet any of the people on the show but did get to spend about 2 1/2 hours on the homestead, and got a much better understanding of how the Kilchers came to call Homer their home.  Truly an inspiring story.

Fans of the show may recognize Charlotte and Otto’s house and barn.

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	189 miles
Hours on road:	4 hours, 14 minutes
Gas prices:	$3.99

Route: