Before we go into the current detail we, wanted you all to know how much we are enjoying your replies and comments. They add humor to the end of long periods of driving, Keep em Coming. We have already heard from two who may try the trip next year, and found a possible buyer for the trailer.
As we have been out over five weeks, it is interesting to think about what we know about the rest of the world. In general if news was not covered on Public Radio, we don't know about it. We are aware of the UPS Strike, the accident in Paris, the bombings in Israel, and the train derailment in BC. Other than that, all we can tell you about is the weather in AK & Canada, which really has been quite nice. We are still grateful.
As we are not sure if all of you have been able to read this as integrated as text in the body of the message, our plan is to edit all of this when we get to SLC and then send it out again as Word Perfect, Word, and text files. Let's see if that ever happens.
When we were up at a campground in Palmer, we met the owner of a campground in Valdez. With no other basis for choosing at this point in the evening we went in to see Jeff at Eagle's Nest. He did remember us and put us in a site next to the owner of the Palmer RV Park who was down for the weekend.
While we had a great sunset the night before, the clouds moved in as predicted, and we had light rain most of the day. After a late start, we took a walk around town, replaced a missing power adapter, and meandered through town. It should be noted that Valdez itself was not affected by the oil spill of the ship with the same name. It did have the feel of a small New England Harbor.
We contemplated a tour of the Alyeska terminal and oil loading docks. For $15.00 per person and they don't let you out of the van, we passed. Instead after leaving camp, we went to the Alyeska pipeline visitor center. We were told that to get to the Visitor center, we should turn at the blinker, we are also told that "if you miss it the next light is Palmer 250 miles away". We watched a video that spoke about the pipeline and the challenges encountered at each stage of construction. It was quite clear that many challenges can be overcome when Petro dollars are involved.
After this we headed up the 10 mile 4,000 foot climb up Thompson pass. Not as bad as expected as, we could do this in 2nd gear. We share the feeling that Valdez is another place that we would have liked to stay a second night if time would have allowed. It would be a great place to try sea kayaking, in the protected waters of Prince William Sound.. One would think that in a six-week trip, you should have enough time to see everything that you would want. Again, we are reminded of the sheer size of this place.
We spent the night at Kenny Lake on the way to Chitina. We caught a moment of TV news from Denver while we were signing in and heard about the Paris Accident. This is, of course, the first TV we have seen since leaving Denver.
Sunday - cloudy and intermittent rain - 60's
It should be noted that the Wrangell - St Ellias National Park is the largest in the national park system. It covers an area larger than the size of Rhode Island, and has very limited access for the public. There are two roads into the park, one 60 miles and the other 45 miles, or one can "air taxi" to their destination. Our choice was the most popular 60-mile McCarthy Road. During the planning phase of our trip we had both decided we wanted to check out this place, and everyone we met on our travels said not to miss the area. Our book said this was a dirt road in poor condition, but even the largest RV could make it if you took your time. We asked a number of people, including two rangers, who all said we could take the trailer. We looked at hotels in the area if we drove without the trailer, but they were pricey. We thought of camping out at the end of the road, but from the information we had the trailer looked like the best bet.
Our first stop was Chitina, an old mining town with a few remaining residents. They now get so many people driving into the Wrangell St. Elias Park, that they have listed the answers to the 10 most commonly asked questions on an info sheet about the town. Of course, the visitors have to come up with the questions. For example, number 1 reads "60 miles, bumpy, dusty." Aside from the "It'll do Café" a few art stores, and a truck parked in the lake there is not much in Chitina, so off we went.
The McCarthy road is an old railroad bed, with the rails, and most of the spikes removed, and gravel put in the bed. It used to service a few miners living in the area, now it services a national park. We quickly discovered that the road was in disrepair, going a fast 15 miles per hour. Peter soon decided he didn't like driving under these conditions, so Ellie took over. It took about 45 minutes to do the first 9 miles, so we stopped to figure out the next step. After discussing options, we kept going. At 26 miles up the road we left the trailer in a "campground" and headed up in the suburban. This was after dumping the contents of the refrigerator on the floor, among other difficulties. It took 6 hours to travel the road, we were both in bad moods by then. We had dinner in "town" and went to bed in the tent.
Monday, September 1, 1997 - Overnight rain, clear and mid 50's during the day.
McCarthy is an old mining community turned "resort." The road ends in a foot bridge ½ mile from town. There are cars on the other side (the residents can drive across the river when it freezes in the winter) which can take you as far as Kennicott 4.5 miles from the bridge. McCarthy has several permanent residents and a lot of summer staff. They do make you feel quite at home. The peaks in this park are over 18,000 feet in height and are surrounded by glaciers. The scenery is to say the least amazing.
After getting out of the warm sleeping bags in the morning we got on our bikes and rode down the road and across the new footbridges (the cable car has been taken out of service) to McCarthy where we went to have a hot breakfast. After breakfast, we got back on the bikes and rode the five miles into Kennicott. Phone service was only introduced out here two years ago. We stopped and talked to the owner of one of the local guide services, who told us an entertaining story of a mass murder, which took place in town in the early 80's. A Park Ranger later confirmed the story. Ellie fell in love with the Kennicott Glacier Lodge and we decided that if we return, we would fly in and stay at the lodge. We then drove back out the road and spent that night back at Kenny Lake.
Tuesday, September 02, 1997 - Some frost in AM - mid 50's midday.
After getting up this morning we decided to take an inventory of damage, etc, from the road to McCarthy. It reads as follows; 2 Frying pans lost their handles, the sink drain pipe loosened up and began leaking again, the knob on the rear door to the trailer almost fell off, a few inside drawer knobs loosened up, the top of the stove was on the floor, and the grey water drain pipe was crushed by the axle. The interesting part is that the door of the fridge managed to open the latched door, dump a portion of it's contents, and relatch itself. The result of this was an omelet on the carpet of 12 eggs, and a ½ pound of cottage cheese. We had stains on the carpet from the pipe leak earlier in the trip anyhow.
As we have now seen at least 20 different campsites, we have begun to understand what characteristics we like, and which we don't. It seems that clean, warm restrooms are on top of the list. After that come level sites and unmetered showers. Dump stations at or below ground level also help as it eliminates the need to try to find a way to drain the hose if the dump tube is above ground level. A nice touch was one campground that left a drain hose in place. This saved us the hassles of taking ours out and cleaning it when done.
We found a short local hike, which gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs for a while. As we saw evidence of bears, neither of us felt real comfortable. It seems that there is a lot to be said for safety in numbers in lots of ways, be it more hikers on the trails, or more folks at the campground.
Before leaving town Peter spoke to some of the people at the local phone company which serves 2,000 customers. A lot of the issues dealt with many of the things he learnt at DU as far as small town phone companies, and how they connect to the long distance networks. Also discovered where the number of locations in Alaska where towns where connected via Satellite links within the state.
We then headed up to Tok via the "Tok cut off" We are convinced that it was originally designed as roller coaster by the Disney organization, which they decided not to use as the ride was too rough. Other possibilities include its history of use by the US Navy as a test bed for motion sickness, or by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, for use in bucking bronco training. We were quite glad when we got to the end of the 140-mile highway. Few bumps, but major frost heaves.
Our guidebook had recommended a specific campground in town that had a great sourdough pancake breakfast. As the few recommendations that the book had made have all been good, we took his advice. The only problem is that they had closed up the breakfast operation for the season two days earlier.
We had dinner at the local Salmon Bake. They only reason it was still open was because it was a husband and wife operation that could be run with just the two of them. Finding a seat was not a major problem. As we thought, Labor Day is truly a break point in the tourist load.
After dinner we went back to our campsite so that Peter could repair the drainpipe. After weeks of too much light late in the day, it was necessary to use a flashlight as he lay under the trailer and repair the pipe with duct tape. Also discovered was a gas pipe, which was loose as a screw on a hold down clamp was broken. The 4 D-Cell maglite only made one attempt at remodeling Peter's jaw as he lay under the trailer. Ellie assisted with tool handling while reading over Linc & Jeanne's notes, to prepare for the next portion of our trip.
When we went in to the campsite office to transmit our Email, we spent nearly an hour talking with the owner, Gary Kranenburg, about; how to make sourdough pancakes, flying tanks of propane to remote Indian villages, grant writing, and using the local road as a landing strip by airlines. Many of the locals have quite colorful backgrounds.
Wednesday, September 4, 1997 - Crystal clear warming to mid 60's
Peter made a phone call to Chevrolet to talk about some minor problems with the truck, Silly things like the tachometer sticking occasionally, and the windshield washer system leaking for several hours whenever it is used. Overall, everything is holding up very well considering what we've done. We stopped at the post office to pick up our mail package. Overnight service from the lower 48 works fine if you give it 3 or 4 days.
Our guide books said that the drive up to top of the world highway is a must do if the weather is clear and it is today so we decide to take the detour up to the highway and into Dawson Creek. On the way up we see loads of hunters who are out as moose season had just opened. The two of us agree that sitting on the road with ATV's and rifles, is not really much of a sport. The natives very likely have more class. Based on the number of guns at the ready, Ellie was quite pleased that we did not see any wildlife at the side of the road today.
Our stop in the community of Chicken made McCarthy look like a thriving metropolis. We are told that the nearest phone in 75 miles away. The question is whether this is the truth or does it just sound good to impress the tourists such as ourselves. The trip over Top of the World highway was not all that exciting, compared to other roads we have driven, nor was the road as bad as we expected. Maybe our road surface standards have been changed by McCarthy. The trip was made nicer by the fact that it is fall up here, and the trees and brush is in full color.
We have started talking about how we might do our next trip to Alaska. We have realized that it will be a long time before we are able to take another 7-week trip but would like to return. It is also clear that while the Alaskan highway was an important experience, it did take about 3 weeks total of our trip. Perhaps next time we will find some friends who want to drive our truck up the Alcan and fly back, and another team to fly up and drive back. If we could pull this off we could have our truck and trailer in Alaska, and some others could enjoy the trip. We trust you'll let us know if you have any interest.
When we really start to get ridiculous is when we fantasize about future trips. We realize that we are unlikely to get another chunk of time this long for a long time. The crazy thing is that everytime we got somewhere we really liked; we looked at the calendar, and our schedule, and realized that we would have to cut a stop out of somewhere else if we took another night. That would result in about 10 days of non-stop driving at the end of the trip. We came to the conclusion is that the next time we do a trip like this we will plan in a certain percentage of "slack days", that can be used as needed.
You may remember our previous words and over-analysis of the bear spray issue and customs. We passed through Canadian Customs today and it was very brief. "Where do you live", "Denver", "how long will you be in Canada", "8 days", "Are you carrying any weapons", Just bear repellant", "Have a nice day" clearly a case of much ado about nothing. The information sign about the Yukon tells us there are over 200,000 square miles and about 35,000 people, talk about a lot of space per person. Imagine if you had 5 square miles to call your own.
We covered 187 miles today in just over seven hours. We have found that slow & somewhat steady is the best way to travel especially on dirt roads that go up and down mountains. We have just enough power to climb hills in second gear, and then stay in second to remain in control on the downhills so we don't burn up the brakes or go careening off a mountainside. Peter remains convinced that a bigger truck with better brakes and a more powerful engine is the answer to this. During this time we saw a total of 45 vehicles coming towards us. Think about those ratios next time that you are stuck in rush hour traffic. Traffic is so light that when we decided to swap drivers, Peter simply stopped in the middle of the road and we each walked around to the other side (after stopping in the middle for a quick kiss).
At the bottom of our last hill the road ends. In order to get across the river to Dawson City we must take the free ferry. We wait about 45 seconds for the boat and the ride takes about five minutes. We later find out that during high season the wait can be as long a 3 - 8 hours if an RV caravan shows up. Over the next 24 hours we find dust from this ride in places that you would not even imagine. We had to dust off the screen of the notebook before this could be typed, and it was inside a zippered case.
A quick stop at the travel information center tells us that there is a fun show to see in town that starts in 38 minutes at 8:00pm. The show is a five person series of skits based on life in the old days of the Yukon. A bit campy but still a good time. After the show and some quick dinner, Ellie heads outside and finally sees the Aurora Borealis or Northern lights. She came in once or twice when Peter truly had to come out to see it. She finally came in after a few hours when she ran out of yarn. After seeing traces of the northern lights once while living in Olympia, WA, she had been waiting for the opportunity to see them again. This time the green light filled the sky. Very neat ( she has run out of words to describe all of the things we are seeing again)!
Thursday, September 04, 1997 - Mid forties in Dawson City warming to low 70's in Whitehorse.
While walking around Dawson City in the morning, we become aware of how much this place resembles a ghost town. I know we keep repeating this theme, but we keep noticing what happened after Labor Day weekend was over.
We stopped at the information center for the Dempster highway, which runs up to the Indian village of Inuvik. We decided that this road would become a part of our next trip. On our way out of Dawson city, we stopped at Klondike Kate's for Ellie's coffee, the message board read, "10 days left… but who's counting" The weather report we heard on public radio covered a large area to say the least. Try to imagine one station with reports for Boston, New York, and DC, along with a few towns in between. We quickly become confident that we have hit the fall colors in the Yukon very close, if not at, their peak.
One of the few vehicles that we saw on the road today, was a courtesy car from Whitehorse Motors. It caused us to think of the logistics of having to bring a car in for service when the dealer is about 520 Km from your home. Can you ask a friend for a ride? We don't think so.
As we approached Whitehorse we pulled of to a scenic view area to take a photo. After we got back in we noticed that that access to the road was truly quite steep. We started up and after digging in the wheels, we shifted into four wheel drive. That still did not work so we backed down the dirt and gravel embankment with the trailer, shifted into low range, and then made it up. Disaster averted.
Along the road we saw a tandem bicycle, fully loaded, with a platform on the back for a dog. As they were climbing a long hill, the dog was wandering around on the side of the road about 50 feet in front of them. (Don't worry mom, this is not the type of ride that we intend to try on ours.)
As all of our previous stops in Whitehorse resulted in several lost hours, we have nicknamed the town "Time Suck". This one would not be much different but at least we were prepared for it. The next folks to arrive at the campground had just flown in and were in a rental unit. Peter was able to help them get their water heater lit. It was strange to think that after 35 days of this stuff, we are almost "old hands" at it.
Friday, September 05, 1997 - Cloudy mid 50's clearing by nightfall
We got an early start by our (Peter's) standards as we were out of the campsite by 8:30am. We went to the local GM dealer to have the tach looked at. They thought it would need parts, which would have to be special ordered, as we needed the US component, and their channels have primarily Canadian parts. They documented this so hopefully we can get it serviced under warranty when back in Denver. After here we went to our favorite grocery store, (we've stopped their three times). As we hit the grocery store on a mid week morning after tourist season parking was much easier. Instead of parking four blocks away behind pizza hut, we parked in the grocery store lot and simply took a half dozen spaces.
We also stopped at a few gift shops, bought more gas, and the Museum of Transportation. The museum had simple displays about all of the different types of transportation that had been used in the Yukon. The most unique was a log-railed railway that had been put in place during the early days of the gold rush.
As we were leaving the Museum it was about 1:00 and were thinking of how to save time, we decided that rather than have lunch right there in the lot we would drive to where we would buy propane. That way we could do two things at once. As we were finishing up, Peter decided to make some hot chocolate. Rather than dirty a spoon to stir in the Bailey's, he figured he would cover the two small holes on the top of the lid with his fingers and swish it around. The only problem was when the lid blew off due to the steam pressure, it made a mess of a lot more than the spoon.
As we proceeded we started to see a number of closed services. We are glad to have a 45-gallon tank and we continue to fill it everytime it gets below half full. Overall, we felt good about the day. We covered 325 miles between 2:00 & 8:00 pm and had the dishes done by 9:30. Even with a late start, we covered some miles and kept on schedule. As we are taking a loop route, this was to be the day of the trip where we would double back on 300 miles of road.
What continues to shock us about the weather is that we have been told this year's precipitation has been 40% above average. We assume that it must have been wet early in the year. We also wonder if it has been responsible for the poor condition of some of the dirt roads. Yes we did dump the fridge again. This time the egg carrier was double wrapped in a plastic bag. All we had to do was remove the shells, and they were ready for french toast in the morning. What a time saver.
We spent that night at Boya Lake Provincial Park. What is truly unique about the BC parks is the quality of the care that they receive. When you arrive at a site, it has been raked smooth, the fire ring is cleaned out, and a few logs are neatly stacked next to it. Our site was also right along the lake and was very peaceful and quite. It's worth the tradeoff of not having electricity. We figured out how to deal with these nights. We would run the heat at night when we were hooked up to the truck with the motor running. Before going to sleep we would place the sleeping bags on top of the blankets which would keep us warm for the night. We would then have just enough juice left in the battery to take the chill off in the morning before we would reconnect and start the truck. The only risk is forgetting something and having a dead truck battery in the morning.
Although not as spectular, the Aurora Borialis made another showing tonight, along with a ton of stars, wolf calls, and silence only found in the wilderness.
Saturday, September 6, 1997 - Clear and warming to mid 60's
After a great French toast breakfast, and some morning fog photos, we were rolling by 10:00. A few of the photos were of a squirrel who was up on top of a pine tree and was tossing off all of the pinecones so he could climb down and eat them at his leisure. Only one hit Ellie.
The Cassiar "highway" (highly overused term) is a narrow, mostly paved road that provided an alternate route to the ALCAN. We are told that it favored by truckers as it cuts a day off the trip. Much of the oncoming traffic along this narrow road is thus tandem tankers rolling at 60mph. In many places the left lane was smoother so we would drive in it and move over when there was oncoming traffic. For Ellie, this meant pull over when there were three tractor-trailers coming towards us. There are more "SLOW" signs on this road than there are mountains in our view, and there are lots of mountains. Peter's quote of the day was "the mountains are beautiful, but there are so many of them"
For those of you who have heard the expression "built like a brick shithouse". We actually saw one today. To save on bricks, it only had about 5'10" of headroom, not of problem for either of us.
By the time the day was done, and we arrived in Stewart, BC, we had covered 325 miles in 10 hours on the road. No, you don't "make time" while averaging 35 mph. While people had told us at times that we should be able to tow a trailer at 65, they forgot to mention how much you need to slow down to go up or down hills, or over rough roads. Or how long it takes to get back up to speed after any of the above. We were both quite tired. The distances become very real when you stop to think that you are now on your way back, have driven straight through for four days, and have at least that many to go. Yes Linc, lots of hours behind the wheel. (btw Linc, the southern section of the Cassiar is MUCH worse than the upper this year.)
For those of you who have always bought a box of half full box of cereal and wondered why, we have discovered that there is some truth to the statement "contents may have settled during shipment We have noticed this the most with the coffee creamer and the hot chocolate. You need a chisel to break out a spoonful of either of these powders after a long day of dirt roads.
The last section of the road from Bear Glacier fed a stream that looked like a great section of white water for Jeanne Murtagh to try kayaking. Call us and we will give you the exact location. If there is this much water in September, we can only imagine what June would look like.
Trailer repairs would wait till the morning. All we would have to do was put the nuts back on the mounting bolts for the A/C unit. We are amazed at how well the trailer systems hold up with the vibrations. Yes, the microwave and CD player still work.