Skagway, Alaska

Well, after a two day absence, we are back in Alaska.  Today, we started in the Yukon, crossed into British Columbia and entered into Alaska.  All in 126 miles and 3 hours.  The scenery coming into Skagway was incredible.  But, it’s an 11% grade downhill for 11 miles, so we didn’t get any photos along the way.  We will going back.  Our campground is rather spartan – close quarters, on the main drag, wifi in the laundry room only and no satellite/antenna/cable for television.  But, we’re not here to watch TV.  It is cloudy and sprinkly here, so we’ll be taking our umbrellas.  Heading for a walk into town as soon as I’m done here.  Had to get our health insurance paid, so it was imperative to get wifi and thought I would update everyone as long as I was here.  More later, and hopefully some photos also.

Whitehorse, YT

Again, we are staying at Takhini Hot Springs. Nice relaxing soak before bed. Celebrating Terrie’s birthday but don’t know where. Tomorrow, Skagway.

Leaving Haines, Alaska

Today is when the geography lesson kicks in as I explain our travels.  We are headed to Skagway, Alaska next.  It is 40 miles by sea and 360 miles by road.  Haines and Skagway are on a giant fjord, with no road connecting them along the edge of the fjord.  So, we have to drive back out to Haines, Junction, over to Whitehorse and then down to Skagway.  So, the next two nights we will be staying just outside of Whitehorse in a little place called Takhini Hot Springs.  With the cloudy, rainy weather the hot springs still sound good.  Hopefully I will have internet there to post some photos.  And tomorrow is Terrie’s birthday, so we will be partying.

Earthquake

We have been unable to contact anyone for the past 21 hours since a 5.9 magnitude earthquake disrupted communications to SE Alaska. We are all okay. The quake hit at 3:00 am. It felt as if a wind storm was violently shaking our fifth wheel. It appears cell service is back but campground internet is not. We have not seen any news reports about this on satellite, so we still don’t know if there was other damage or injuries. We leave Haines tomorrow headed to the Yukon tomorrow morning.

Haines, Alaska

Today is our second day at Haines Hitch-Up Campground in Haines, Alaska.  We will be here until July 26th, then heading back up to Tekhini Hot Springs near Whitehorse, YT for a couple of days before going down to Skagway, Alaska.  We will be celebrating Terrie’s big birthday in the Yukon.  The weather has been pleasant and we got through the Beaver Creek to Burwash Landing area without breaking any more springs on the trailer.  There was a Texas pickup that rolled over right in front of the Canadian Border Station.  Talk about ruining your day.  We have less than a month on our great adventure to Alaska.  Our first night after leaving Alaska was at Kluane Lake.  We stayed at Cottonwood RV, which is just an expensive dry camp.  Nice scenery, but we could have stopped at Congdon Creek and had the same view and a fire for half the price.  The drive to Haines was wonderful, especially the road quality compared to the Alaskan Highway from the border to Destruction Bay.  Yesterday, we did a lot of walking in Haines and got through most of the town.  Had fish and chips at the Halsingland Hotel last night.  I had the fuel filters changed on the truck today after almost 9,000 miles.  We got to visit the Haines Packing Company and got some fresh Dungeness Crab meat and some scallops.  Tonight, we had sockeye salmon, sirloin steak, mushrooms, scallops, potatoes, cauliflower, and sourdough coffee cake along with a bottle of Yellowtail Merlot.  Now, John Ames would say that’s not camping – but that’s how we roll.  We also visited Chilkat and Chilkoot State Parks today.  At Chilkat, we got to see two glaciers.  At Chilkoot, the bears and eagles are feeding on salmon coming up the Chilkoot River to Chilkoot Lake.  We saw one grizzly and numerous eagles tonight.  We’re heading out there again tomorrow morning and then taking in the Eagle Preserve.  I haven’t downloaded any pictures from Haines yet, but here are some of the pictures from our trip to Kennecott and McCarthy.

Single Lane Bridge on McCarthy Road over Copper River.

Fish Wheels for Native People to Harvest Salmon.

Dilapidated Train Tressle

Front of Mill

Kennecott Mill Building

Kennecott Glacier

Kennecott Mine

McCarthy/Kennecott

Too late to post pictures. I will do it tomorrow night if we have internet. Great day, neat historic site, long hike, breathtaking scenery, two 16,000 ft mountains, the Copper River, largest U.S. National Park, two glaciers, and fourteen hours. That’s getting the most out of a day. Shower, bed, moving day in the morning. Might hit Destruction Bay, Yukon.

Glenallen – Mosquito Capital of Alaska

We finally found the mosquitos. We are at Dry Creek SRS camping for two nights. Poor Sirius had hundreds on him. Tomorrow we are going into Wrangell-St. Elias NP to visit the Kennecott Mine. It should be interesting viewing this historic mining town. I hope to share photos tomorrow. What’s that buzzing sound? More mosquitos in formation in the camper. Gotta’ go, this looks serious.

Leaving Valdez

Today we are relocating from Valdez up the Richardson Highway to position ourselves for a drive into McCarthy, Alaska.  This is near the site of the Kennecott Mine in Wrangell-St.Elias National Park.  The mine is still intact as it was shut down in a hurry back in 1938 after copper prices fell.  Copper was shipped by rail from the mine to Cordova, Alaska and then by boat to California.  The scenery is supposed to be breathtaking.  This is one of two roads that leads into our largest National Park.  It only goes 59 miles.  The last five miles are either walked, biked or shuttle bus.  It is supposed to take about 3 hours to drive into McCarthy.  We are hoping for sunshine so we can see the beautiful mountains.

Yesterday started cloudy and turned to rain and today is raining also.  So, we are packing in the rain.  Yesterday, we took the Stan Stevens Cruise in to see the Columbia Glacier.  We also got to see a solitary Orca whale, otters, a harbor seal and a stellar sea lion.  We also got just a glimpse of two humpback whales.  After today, it might be awhile before we post again because of lack of internet, but we’re not sure.  So enjoy these pictures just in case.

Our boat – Glacier Spirit

Tanker fueling at Valdez Terminal.

Orca Whale. (Use your imagination.)

Closer view of Otter with Pup.

Mother otter with pup.

A boat near the face of the Columbia Glacier.

Face of the Columbia Glacier.

Blue Ice from the Columbia Glacier.

Scoters flying across the water.

Raft of Otters.

Valdez – Waterfalls and More

We had a beautiful sunny day today, so we revisited a few places to get some photos with sun in them.  Tomorrow we are headed on a Stan Stevens cruise and it will be pack ’em up time when we get back.  So, in case I don’t get anything posted tomorrow night, I’m including some of today’s photos.  Sunday, we are headed to McCarthy.  That’s a small town that supplied the Kennecott Mine when it was in operation until 1938.  It is now part of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park – the largest national park in the U.S.  And, one of the least accessible.

Another waterfall.

Drive into Valdez.

Horsetail Falls.

Three different falls, including Bridal Veil on the left.

Bridal Veil Falls

Valdez Glacier

Waterfall at the campground.

 

 

Valdez, Alaska

We are currently in Valdez, Alaska on July 18th. Still over a month left, but we are working our way back home. We have traveled over 7100 miles already and are still seeing new sights. Our diesel fuel has averaged $4.88/gallon. We have averaged 2.7 nights per stop and 212 miles on our travel days. The average day has meant 5.3 hours of traveling. But who’s counting, right. I first learned of Valdez, Alaska when I was an apprentice back in the 70’s working at Caterpillar in Aurora, Illinois. We used to give tours and play a video about the construction of this thing called the Alaska Pipeline. It wasn’t in use yet, but was getting close. Oil came from the north slope of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay and was transported by pipeline to a seaport at Valdez, Alaska. I never thought I would ever see Valdez – it seemed like a long way away with no reason to go there. Well, here we are. Valdez is a port off of Prince William Sound. It is surrounded by mountains, glaciers and waterfalls. We are camped just outside of town near the Valdez Glacier, past the airport at the Valdez Glacier Campground. Last night, after we got camp set up, we toured the area. Across the bay, you can drive up to a fish hatchery located right where a stream enters into the bay. Here, they have a fish ladder set up that directs the returning salmon to the fish hatchery to begin the process all over again. Waiting for the salmon to return are fishermen, sea lions, otters, eagles and bears. We haven’t seen the bears yet, but the sea lions were first up. Then, as the tide goes out, the eagles come in to feast on the salmon that are dying. Some great photo opportunities. Tomorrow, we are taking a Stan Stevens Cruise to Columbia Glacier. We hope to see whales, porpoises, puffins, and other wildlife in addition to seeing the glacier calving. So, how about some pictures from the last two days.

Another eagle soaring.

Eagle soaring.

Eagle in a cloud.

Eagle eyed eagle.

Eagle with a fish.

Valdez Glacier. Note the sign.

Fireweed – one of Terrie’s favorites here in Alaska.

Explanation of the fish weir.

Fish on the fish weir.

Waterfall on the way into Valdez.