Summer on the Alaska Highway

Reasons to put off driving the Alaska Highway for 30+ years

• Can’t miss summer in: Montana, Michigan or Spokane
• It’s a long way there, wherever there is in Alaska.
• Fear of being confined for many hours in a car. It gets boring!
• A firm belief Alaska is just Minnesota with mountains but larger flies & monster mosquitoes

(7 20-19) We begin what becomes a journey of 6200 miles by getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere less than 70 miles from home.

We eventually to arrive in the beach town of Penticton, British Columbia where we go for a walk “by the sea” sort of, and we find a wonderful Greek restaurant.

The following night we spend in Wells Gray Provincial Park. This is our only night camping.  We were here with a canoe over 20 years ago and always meant to come back. This trip we hike to a few of the parks 41 waterfalls, not something you can do in a canoe.

Our next highlight was Prince George. For breakfast we cross the street to our first Tim Horton’s for the famous donuts. Outside Tim H’s loud opera music was playing to discourage loitering. The donuts aren’t that great. We enjoyed a morning walk in the park (Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park) along the Frazier River.

We ate a picnic lunch outside the closed Visitors Center in Chetwynd. I discovered that we were in the chain saw carving capital of the WORLD. Previously I had no idea that chainsaw carving was an international sport or art. Some carvings were modern themes and quite impressive but I quickly tired of the bears & fish themes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNHaLRxkHBA  Pictures and videos don’t really capture how large and  impressive the sculptures are.

At last we made it to Dawson Creek, BC, the beginning of the Alaska Highway even though we are still in Canada. We choose to stay in the Traveler’s Inn because it is adjacent to the city park, had a refrigerator, and we can easily walk to the Alaska Highway mile zero marker. We learned that there are two official mile zero markers so photographed them both.

Traveler’s Inn was a very basic motel but it had something I’ve never seen in a motel, a large art niche.

The drive north to Ft. Nelson was rainy and Fort Nelson was rainy, so we didn’t do or see much and left in the morning as quickly as possible.

We did take a break photograph break as we drove over one of the passes and it cleared up a little.

Our next stop was Laird Hot Springs Provincial Park. There was some excitement regarding visiting the hot springs because a young couple had been murdered just outside the park a few days before.  Canadian news kept us overly informed regarding the incident.  It was believed that the perpetrators had fled to Manitoba which is quite a distance away.  The crime was still recent enough that we saw the Canadian Mounties walking shoulder to shoulder swinging metal detectors along the berm of the highway.  We assumed they were looking for evidence and not stray change.

The campground at the Laird Hot Springs was full and the trails were closed due to bears not criminal suspects.  Swimming in the hot springs was lovely.

We spent the night in Watson Lake home of the famous Sign Forest.

The collection of signs brought from all over the world was larger than I ever imagined. The resident water fowl & birds  were in hiding when we hiked around the lake that evening but the mosquitoes were NOT!  Dennis hated my motel choice.  We stayed in a remodeled Air Force dormitory originally built to house the crew building the Alaska Highway.  The motel owner was gregarious and helpful.  It was very clean and quiet as we were required to take off our shoes so we wouldn’t muddy or scratch the wood floors.  Dennis’ problem was that as in most dorms, the bathroom and showers were down a short hall. He’s still complaining.

The next morning, we ate our bowls of granola at a picnic tables in the woods in front of the motel. I think we awoke before the mosquitoes. The road west from town was mostly deserted and we occasionally saw black bears grazing on the grass beside the highway.  One car sped past us and then we saw it hit a bear. The bear was tossed up in the air and landed very bloody behind the car. It eventually limped off into the woods. We stopped to see if the driver and car were okay. The young woman driving the car was quite shaken, but her car was fine. We were in a bit of shock just from seeing the incident. Seeing a bloody bear get tossed over a car isn’t something you forget. We saw some beautiful scenery on the way to the Yukon including our first boreal forest.

I was excited when we entered the Yukon Territory. It seemed like we must be far from civilization. The Yukon or at least Whitehorse was not quite what I expected.  When we checked into a downtown motel the clerk warned us that there was going to be a music festival down the street that might get loud. Retrieving some things from our car I was approached by young panhandlers. They were quite polite. I showed them I had nothing with me but car keys.  Dennis said he felt like Whitehorse was a town where people come to party.  It’s pretty touristy but we also saw several few young homeless people. We walked all over town. the nicest part was  by the river.

We wanted to have dinner off the tourist track and decided on a place called Antoinett’s.  The menu for Saturday night was Asado, a Spanish inspired Caribbean barbecue. Who would have thought; in the Yukon? I had my first (and last) Arctic Char (grilled fish). We also had grilled lamb, lime basil chicken, jerk pork and grilled melon, orange and pineapple.  This was not a meal I expected to find in the Yukon.

We had a couple of nice hikes on our way to Dawson City (not to be confused with Dawson Creek.)

My first choice motel in Dawson City was rejected by Dennis. He did not want to stay in a former bordello. He also didn’t want to stay in the cowboy hostel. We got a room at the Triple J. Like Whitehorse, Dawson City also hosts a huge number of tourists but the buildings seemed to be more authentic frontier reproductions. We later found out that Dennis’ grandfather had built a boat in Whitehorse and traveled down the river to Dawson City where he got a job doing carpentry on the post office in 1899.

On the edge of town, we found Robert Service’s cabin and a reconstruction of a cabin that might possibly have a few logs that were part of a cabin Jack London once lived in somewhere in the Yukon wilderness.  I guess Dawson City wanted to claim a Canadian and a U.S. author. Wouldn’t it be handy if their cabins were neighbors?

In the rain, we took the ferry in across the Yukon River to Alaska and to the Top of the World Highway. It would have been beautiful in other conditions.

We couldn’t see the top of the mountains we were driving over much less the top of the world.

It was too wet and rainy for a picnic, so we stopped in Chicken, Alaska for lunch. Chicken has no electric or gas lines, no running water, and only 1 or 2 year-round residence. Yet Chicken features about 3 restaurants, a bar and numerous souvenir shopping opportunities. I don’t want to think about the sticky mud that was everywhere.

We checked into the Bush Cabin at Burnt Paw in Tok.  This is a town with nothing to do but it’s strategically located so we had to stay there both coming and going,  Our cabin was cozy and cute.

Delta Junction was the end of the Alaska Highway. Our trip from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks was pretty dreary most of the time. I’d describe the scenery as foggy.

Fairbanks

It was quite a treat to be welcomed to Fairbanks by Dennis’ cousin Joe.

It stopped raining and the sun actually emerged during our stay with Joe.  Joe did all the driving and made sure we saw everything that interested us in Fairbanks.  Our first afternoon we toured the Univ. of Fairbanks. The University museum is a good introduction to both Alaskan history and art.

The next morning, we took a paddle-wheel tourist cruise up the Chena River. I think you would call it a comprehensive tour. The cruise managed to pack-in Arctic traditions, Alaskan history and a Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce sales pitch into one morning. We saw bush plane maneuvers including the plane landing by our boat. Next was puppy training and a dog sled race at the Susan Butcher sled dog training kennel. We learned the specifics of the traditional native salmon fishing and smoking. We checked out a caribou herd and learned the difference between reindeer and caribou, which I don’t remember. The boat landed in a designed for tourists Athabascan village for us to explore.  The river cruise’s “Why we love living in Fairbanks….” promotional lecture was almost convincing.  Apparently, Fairbanks has recreational snow, no ice, friendly people, great schools, reasonably priced real estate, and the super-low temperatures are easily overcome by wrapping-up in the endangered caribous’ fur.

We did all this before lunch!

Tourist Trap #8  — My Favorite!

After lunch we rode the open tourist train to Gold Dredge #8.

Along the route miners popped out and taught us about gold mining in Alaska.  At the dredge we were given a bag of pay- dirt, a pan, and a lesson in gold panning. I suspect that every bag of dirt was a winner. Joe and Dennis gave me their gold flakes and with 3 pans combined I had $47 worth of gold flakes to encase in earrings. Dredge # 8 is a model of efficient tourism. As one train load of tourist finishes panning gold the next train of tourists arrives.  You may have your gold dust weighed, valued at today’s market rate, and then have the dust turned into a souvenir.

There are gold themed exhibits and the old gold dredging machinery to explore.  We took our train back to the parking lot and the wall of tour buses, but we were not released. Seated under the Alaska pipeline we were given a short lecture on Alaska’s new gold; oil of course.  For any who may be concerned: science & technology have solved all pipeline problems. The pipes are built above the permafrost so the ground won’t heat too much and the caribou can walk beneath the pipes.

In other places the line is built underground and the pipes are designed to keep the oil cool. The pipeline is earthquake proof and terrorist resistant. There will be NO SPILLS but if there are, they will be cleaned up quickly and there will be no environmental damage.  Did I mention oil provides Alaska with good paying jobs. Those glaciers you see retreating are being replaced by new glaciers forming somewhere. We only saw retreating glaciers during our trip. This summer Alaska’s warm temperatures were record breaking but if I lived in Fairbanks where the average high temperature in December is 5 degrees I wouldn’t complain about global warming.

Joe’s Tour

We visited Pioneer Park (in Fairbanks not Seattle) and watched another good Alaskan history presentation. This one was in the round. The theater floor we were sitting on turned to spotlight the pictures on the wall. I didn’t get seasick for which I was grateful.  We also toured some interesting spots in downtown

Fairbanks. Our last plan was to tour the University’s Experimental Botanic Garden. Initially, I enjoyed looking at the variety and size of Alaskan flora especially the giant cabbages. The summer days with so many hours of daylight produce some remarkable vegetation.  Unfortunately, during our visit to the experimental garden one of the student gardeners accidently riled up the experimental bees.  I was stung 2 or 3 times before we made a beeline for the car.  Fairbanks looks like a great place to live but I am well aware that we visited at the height of the record warm summer.

Denali

Joe found a great deal for us at a Princess Denali Wilderness Lodge just outside national park.  Denali was kind of a bust.  It was raining most of our drive from Fairbanks to the park entrance.

There was a slight break in the down pour so we took a muddy hike to Horseshoe Lake which had a beaver pond. Not exactly a site to drive 1500 miles to see.  Dennis fired up his Fitsewalk app and clocked us at 4.2 miles in 1 hr. 36 min. and 40sec.  Amazing the pace you can maintain on a muddy, rocky trail when you are motivated by rain drizzling down your neck.  Fortified by the park concessionaire’s hot soup we took another short hike. We got a better view of the heart of the park through the rain. We would have had to sign-up for a bus tour to go any further into the park.

The Princess Wilderness Lodge was not a bust.  It was an interesting experience.  The main lodge has 4 restaurants and there are about 20 other satellite buildings with basic motel rooms.  There is no Internet access except in the main lodge, so you really are in the wilderness.

There’s a large fenced area near the lodge with fire circles. You may gather with your family around a real campfire, have drinks brought to you, and the kids can order marshmallows to roast.  Your server will throw a log on the fire for you now and then.  A few hardy families seemed to be enjoying their campfire experience in the cold drizzle.  In the morning fog we saw a couple of dozen happy kids stuffed into a horse drawn covered wagon with a cowboy keeping the kids in at each end. They were taking a wagon tour of the hotel grounds. Possibly this will be the highlight of their Denali experience as the fog and rain didn’t appear to be abating.

Palmer

The temperature rose 20 degrees from 53 to 73 as we entered sunny Palmer Alaska. We had a picnic lunch in the park. Joe had clued us in that Palmer, AK had a fascinating story.  In 1935 a federal agency (FERA) took applications from farmers from Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin who wanted to begin homesteading in Alaska as part of an agricultural experiment. Families accepted were brought to Palmer to see if a successful farming community could be created in Alaska.  Lots went wrong but some families succeeded.

Dennis was fascinated by large building with a sign “Cool Junk.”  He admitted if the sign read “Antiques” there was no chance we would have entered.  Some of the junk was cool and a lot of it was rusty.

We drove from the grassy plains by the Chugach Mountains across Glenn Highway to Copper Center. We were very lucky that Princess at Copper River was booked. We instead had reserved a rustic room in the town of Copper Center (possibly 5 buildings) where we could hear the Copper River from our front porch.

We laughed at the limousine full of Princess guests escaping from their hotel to have salmon sandwiches at the café attached to our motel. It was a beautiful but remote spot.

Valdez  (8- 3 -19) Dennis wondered why our GPS estimated it would take us 2 hours to drive 90 miles from the Copper River Visitors Center in Wrangell-St Elias National Park to Valdez.  Actually, the drive took us 4 hours. There were 3 stops for road work, two short walks, and a quick picnic lunch. The drive through the mountains into Valdez was beautiful: rocks, glaciers, and mountains dotted with an occasional waterfall.

When the sun burns off the mist Valdez is beautiful.  The mountains appear to come right into town seem incredibly high and the water in Prince William

Sound is very blue. My familiarity with ports is mainly the Great Lakes and Puget Sound. The number of boats docked in Valdez and the evening fish catch, is way more impressive than any at any other dock I’ve seen.

One night we ate the fresh catch, tourist priced halibut and salmon, at the Fat Mermaid; the most obvious tourist restaurant.  Our last night we ate pizza on a back street with the locals.

We took a day long (Stan Stephens) tourist boat cruise through the Sound to get as close as possible to Columbia Glacier.

The cruise wasn’t all about ice, but the ice was fantastic. It was really cold on the boat deck. We saw the salmon fishing crews spreading and pulling in their nets. There were Stellar sea lions that had this incredible bark and Dall’s dolphins which swam beside our boat. A humpbacked whale breached the water 3 times near our boat. The boat was a great way to view wildlife. I will need to add a slideshow.

Our final day in Valdez we took two hikes. The first was the most beautiful. We waded through Mineral Creek and walked up a jeep road. The hills were beautiful and lush with dense green shrubbery. We could see waterfalls coming down from the mountains.  We met a younger couple with their 2 kids who live in Valdez; small world he grew-up in Coeur d’ Alene. The kids were dressed for swimming.  We learned this is typically what is meant by “going swimming” in Alaska.  You go to a creek or waterfall on a sunny day.

Our second hike Gold Creek Trail along the sound was not so picturesque.  Much of the trail was through dense bushy vegetation, with only occasional views of the water. Valdez was so beautiful in the evening.  I took one last walk down to the dock to see the day catch cleaned and watch the sunset.

(8-6-19) We thought Copper Center was remote. We had no idea what we were getting into when our friends from the Unitarian Church Sunny & Bob Cook said come visit us if you ever make it to Alaska. We did. Sunny and Bob have a cabin outside McCarthy, Alaska. To get to the twin towns of McCarthy & Kennicott we took a two-lane highway to Chitina where the hour trip on the rough gravel road to the twin towns begins. Even before reaching Chitina you leave indoor plumbing and drinkable tap water behind. The drive from Chitina is at least an hour but very beautiful.  There are two automobile bridges to cross to get to the Cook’s cabin outside McCarthy and they are open only to residents. Bob and Sunny met us and on the footbridge and Bob drove our car to the cabin. Bob is a retired nuclear engineer and the cabin is quite amazing.They have electricity run by solar panels with the power stored in golf cart batteries.

There is filtered water from a stream and also a water line to their small lake. They have a generator that runs a small freezer and shelves in a crawl space under the cabin floor works as a refrigerator in the permafrost. (Unfortunately, the permafrost refrigerator was getting a little too warm this summer.) Building such a comfortable cabin in the wilderness was quite a feat. Even the outhouse was situated with a wonderful view. Our first evening with Bob & Sunny we

drove into McCarthy proper and listened to music and songs written and performed by participants in a summer song writing workshop. I think everyone in town was in attendance and Bob and Sunny knew them all. On the way back to the cabin a black wolf crossed the road in front of the car in no particular hurry. We slept in a cozy loft above the garage. The next day Sunny drove us down the road to Kennicott.

We met the “muffin man” who bakes for the hotel in the summer and cooks in Hawaii in the winter.

Sunny patiently busied herself around Kennicott while we took a few hours to hike up to the glacier.

It was a wonderful day in a beautiful remote area we never would have thought of visiting except for Sunny and Bob’s invitation.  Their historical knowledge and enthusiasm for life in this remote area of Alaska are almost contagious.  It’s certainly not easy to build and sustain a comfortable home in the wilderness.  I don’t think we’re up to it.

We were sad to leave such a beautiful spot but it was time to move on. We had to retrace our steps back to the Copper Center and on to our cute cabin in my least favorite town Tok. The only good thing I can think to say about Tok is that the proprietor of Burnt Paw Cabins makes very tasty waffles for breakfast. Unfortunately, they are trying to sell the property so no guarantee the waffles will be there if you go.

Our next stop was Haines Junction (pop.800) nestled between the peaks the town is in a stunningly beautiful setting.  Just before town we reached town we stopped for  a hike. There was a nature guide explaining bark beetles & tree succession. This was a damp forest where the dying trees were home to interesting fungi.

The restaurant recommended by the motel owner was called “Guys & Dolls.” It turned out to be a trailer serving Greek food with outside seating only.  The view was pretty nice and the food was good but why Guys & Dolls for a Greek restaurant? After dinner I wandered over to the bakery where they were having a concert that our motel manager said would feature “real Yukon music.”   I’d call it Irish and folkie but as in McCarthy, I was amazed at the number of talented local musicians.  In the morning we learned about native culture at the Da Ku Culture & Visitors Center and took a hike on the edge of town. The park featured bird watching opportunities.  We saw few birds but got a picture of only one.

One more notable thing about Haines Junction. There is a single municipal building.  This means one side is the town library and the other side is where you can buy beer.  There are signs and arrows so you don’t get confused.

Teslin was our last overnight stop in the Yukon. This was no doubt our least desirable motel and Teslin tied with Tok for worst town.

What attracted us to this motel in Teslin was it advertised a laundromat also there were no other towns anywhere nearby. Our room across from the diesel pump so close that when large trucks came in for fill-ups there was a cloud of dust and our room shook.

The next day (8-9-19) was a beautiful drive on the Cassiar Highway. I’m sure I’ve never been on such a so many continuous miles of beautiful roadway.  There were views of tall mountains, some with glaciers or snow covered peaks. Occasionally I could spot a high mountain waterfall.  We were driving along a valley floor with sparkling streams and rivers sometimes crossed with wooden plank bridges. Through the brush and trees you could sometimes spot a lake.  All the lakes were a beautiful. We stopped for lunch at a Provincial Park called Boya Lake which had a the most unusual blue color. The temperature was in the high 60’s and we saw our first swimmers.  Dennis guessed that they must be European and they were.  We asked about the water and the woman with a distinct German accent said: “very refreshing but you wouldn’t want to stay in for a long time.” We took a hike through the aspen forest to the world’s biggest beaver dam.

We spent the night in the town of Dease Lake which isn’t a picturesque or interesting town and isn’t on the lake; at least very close, we looked and never found it. We could see that it’s hard work during a short season in northern B.C.  Our Northland Hotel had the only restaurant in town open after 6pm on Sunday. The restaurant was a VERY SMALL pizza place with 3 young women handling all the business.  By 7:00pm there was about an hour wait for a pizza. The women kept their cool and smiles during what they said was their busiest Sunday of the season.  Bright and early next morning we saw one of the pizza makers cleaning rooms.

On our way to our next stop Stewart, BC we stopped for a hike and early lunch at Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park.

The lake wasn’t quite the beautiful blue color of Boya Lake but it was picturesque all the same. The lunch stops, in the two provincial parks on the Cassiar, were the only times I considered that it might be fun to be camping.  The problem is I don’t like the thought of rolling out of my tent in the morning with temperatures in the low 40’s and struggling with fingerless gloves to make coffee. I hesitate to mention the cold trudge to the outhouse.  It takes more than beautiful scenery for me to sacrifice my warm bed.

Three quarters of the way to Stewart/Hyder (pop.300/ Hyder 100)  I declared the diversion to Stewart couldn’t possibly be worth it.  Especially since there was a huge logging truck barreling down on us from behind.  Dennis was speeding and taking curves like a Grand Prix driver. Initially the motel I had booked, Ripley Creek, looked a little scary. I think it turned out to be the best motels we stayed in the whole trip. Our second story room was large with a nice table in front of a big window.  There were  comfortable lounge areas on our floor with a view of the back

It’s a lovely old town and a short drive across the border to Hyder, Alaska.

We got up early and drove to Hyder to see the bears eat the spawning salmon.  The rangers said the only bears that day appeared at 6 AM before the Visitors Center opened. Inconsiderate of them. Watching the salmon spawn was still quite interesting and  painful from the salmon’s point of view. The ranger insisted we drive up and see the glacier which we did.

On our way out of town we took the hardest hike of our trip. It was hard because the trail was steep, not well marked and the view at the top was unspectacular compared to the effort involved.

We head to Smithers, B.C. One fear Dennis had before embarking on our Alaskan trip was that we would encounter long lines of slow RVs on narrow highways. Instead on the road to Smithers we encountered trucks with huge loads of logs being driven every direction.  Shouldn’t they all be going to the nearest sawmill?

In Smithers (pop. 5,400) our adventure seems to be at an end. We are back in civilization. Smithers isn’t a bad town. It’s surrounded by mountains in every direction. There is a statue without explanation of a man blowing an alpen horn situated among something we haven’t seen in a while, chain stores. Our motel manager recommends Telly’s Grill for dinner. A small picture of Telly Savalis is on the restaurant wall but there is no explanation. Did Telly ever visit Smithers?  Smithers exists because of the timber industry but all the logging trucks are on the road headed out of town. Smithers is a mystery surrounded by mountains.

We hike up some mountain bike trails in the morning

and then head to Prince George again. We stay in the same Econolodge, eat breakfast at the same Tim Horton’s. The classical music outside has switched from loud opera to loud instrumental. No loiters in site otherwise it’s all the same.

Next stop is a motel on the outskirts of Kamloops B.C. We go for and evening hike in an area so dry it reminds me of Helena and other dry parts of Montana.

We strolled the downtown Kamloops Riverwalk in the morning. Sometime after I took a picture of the combination Library/Museum/Municipal Building we  miscalculated our route getting back to our parked car.

It’s hot and we start arguing about whose fault it is that we are on literally the wrong side of the (railroad) tracks.  All these days together, we have gotten along fine. I guess we aren’t going to file for divorce one day from home.

We heading down highway 5 to Merritt and then to Penticton. The traffic is bumper to bumper!  We planned to spend our last night in Osoyoos another B.C beach town that claims the title “Snowbird Capital of Canada” with a average winter temperature a cozy 34.3 F. Tonight was supposed to be my chance to swim but it was late and raining. I took my towel to the lake in the morning to find I was at the dogs only beach. Eventually I found a beach and I had the whole beach to myself. It’s was little cold even for Canadians but I swam anyway.

We took a different route home where the border guard welcomes us back to the USA. We arrive in the early evening August 15^th. After 27 days of travel it’s time to rest before we fly to Michigan.