June, 2001
We started June where we left off in May - at the campground at the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska. We toured the State Museum and walked along the city docks and wharfs, enjoying some sunny weather. On June 2nd we took the M/V Kennicott to Skagway. Skagway was the "jumping off point" for the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897and the "downtown" has been restored to look much the same as it did back then. The National Park Service has a number of displays as well as the private ones. We drove the car up the route of the Yukon-White Pass Railroad and marveled at what the prospectors had to cross, lugging "a ton of goods" required by the Canadian Government to enter into the Yukon. On the 4th of June we loaded our vehicles onto the Alaskan Marine Ferry for the last leg of our trip. We sailed on the M/V Matanuska from Skagway to Haines...only an hour trip. In Haines we drove out from town in both directions to visit the Chilcoot and Chilkat State Parks, and we visited some of the shops in town and drove through the old Fort Seward. Another interesting stop was a tour through a salmon cannery museum where they now can salmon dog biscuits using restored machinery from the early 1900s. Wednesday the 6th of June we headed north. It felt strange to hook up the car and be driving the Bounder once again - a feeling of freedom. When we crossed into British Columbia the Canadian Customs Agents searched the RV, and passed us on in a short amount of time. As we continued north we passed into fields of snow and high mountains. We also had to drive on miles of gravel roads and even when on paved ones, had to drive slowly over the frost heaves. We stopped at the Klukshu Indian Village to see where the natives have a fish camp in the fall. Tom unhooked our car and drove out along the river to rescue a stranded couple with a dead battery. After meeting up with the Alaskan Highway in Haines Junction, we spent that night in a rest area in the Yukon.
We
celebrated Sandee's birthday on June 8th by getting her flat tire repaired,
doing laundry, washing the layers of mud off the RVs and cars, and attempting to
repair Everharts non-working brake lights (no luck on that one.) When Tom
asked a repairman about fixing our chipped windshield he said to wait, as we'd
be passing through Tok again on our way out of Alaska. When Tom asked how
long he would be there because we'd be in Alaska all summer, the man replied
that he'd "be here till it gets dark...that's sometime in October!" It is
really strange to be going to bed in sunlight. The sun just moves around
you in a circle as the evening passes. We spent so much time doing all the
chores we decided to stay an extra night in Tok. By doing that we also
crossed paths with two other couples we'd met on the ferries and we'll look for
them again around Denali National
Park.
Sunday
the 10th found us down the Edgerton Highway, in Chitina, where we had breakfast
at the "It'll Do Cafe." Chitina is a really small town that looks very
run-down, but is very busy with traffic of fishermen. Everharts say the
town has grown since they were here 4 years ago! We would have liked to
continue on to Kennecott, but the road is gravel, built over an old railroad and
it is recommended that you drive a 4-wheel drive vehicle. We did drive out
a mile or so and watch the natives using fish wheels and dip-nets to fish.
On our drive back we stopped to fill up with water at the Kenny Lake Fire
Station (where a Park Ranger had suggested we go) and encountered a local who
was not happy that we would use their water station. Back on the
Richardson Highway we could see the Alaska Oil Pipeline and the guys tried their
luck at fishing again near several different rest areas. (There are
many of them along the highways up here.) But, they had no success.
We spent the night on a turnout along Tiekel River, 60 miles north of
Valdez.
A moose at the US/Yukon border
Our surprising find on the 7th
was a fantastic museum at Burwash Landing. It had magnificent displays of
native culture and wildlife. There were no problems crossing the border
back into the US and almost immediately, we saw some moose along the road.
We drove on into the town of Tok and after checking things out and making
arrangements for oil change and lube on the next day, we settled in a dry
camping area behind the Chevron station. While in the cafe eating dinner,
in walked the Barretts, some friends from the Pioneer Bounder group in
Ohio. What a surprise!!!! We also ran into Leo, the man from
Ashtabula in his old car and trailer (that we'd met in Prince Rupert and again
in Petersburg) and he explained that the vehicle we'd seen pulling his trailer
in Skagway was the guy he'd paid to drive it over the mountains for
him.
From
Tok, on June 9th, we took Alaska Highway 1 (Tok Cut-Off) towards
Glennallen. This is a nice paved road and we moved right
along About 47 miles from Tok, we pulled over to look at a small
lake. While Jacques was getting out all his fishing gear and spraying for
bugs, Tom took his old pole and went down the hill to the water. By the
time the rest of us got outside, Tom was back, yelling for us to get the camera,
he'd caught a nice sized salmon!!!! ( I think Jacques was a little
jealous.) Needless to say, we enjoyed a fresh baked salmon for dinner that
night - while overlooking a gorgeous view of Willow Lake and Mt. Drum from a
rest area on Alaska Highway 4/Richardson Highway near Copper Center. (In spite
of the giant killer mosquitoes surrounding the RV.)
Tom's first salmon...June 9, 2001 approximately 20" and 8 lbs.
We
certainly have enjoyed having every day a sunny day...we seem to have left the
rainy ones behind in Haines. And we have "dry camped since then as
well...don't need lights to read, even in the middle of the night, but have run
the generator to make margaritas and occasionally run the microwave and even the
air-conditioner when parked during the day. What a difference a few miles
makes!
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pages.
Next
major stop was Anchorage. Along the road in Palmer, we stopped to visit a
Musk Ox Farm - and learned a few things! We spent the night of the
11th at the Anchorage RV Park and then moved to the Wal-Mart lot next to the
Chevy dealer while Everharts had their brake lights repaired and Tom and I went
to visit my cousins Vonjia and Kris. What a great dinner and visit we
had!! Thursday the 13th of June we drove along the beautiful Turnagain Arm
and then to Cooper Landing where we stopped at the Russian River Ferry
facility. We spent three nights there experiencing "real Alaskan
fishing." They issue parking permits by 24 hour periods, so the traffic is
constant coming and going. The two parking lots were full of motor homes
with a long line waiting to get in most of the time over the weekend. (It's
always light outside and lines shorter around 3am!) The ferry is an interesting
operation. It holds 28 passengers and all their gear (and various dogs,
chairs, sleeping bags, etc.) It is powered by the the rushing water and tied to
an overhead cable. The pilot uses rudders to guide the boat on its 30
second trip over and about 90 second ride back across the river. Many
fishermen camp out on the far side of the river. There are big tables down
in the river where people can stand and fish may be cleaned with the
remains flung into the river. There were two major territory "openings"
while we were there and Tom and Jacques were among the many people in line at
5:15am two days to catch the ferry across the rushing Russian River and hike to
the "good " spots to fish. They even "made the paper" in Sunday's
Anchorage paper after being interviewed by a reporter among the fishermen.
We figured the ferry moved about 2000 people each day between 6am and
11pm. Both of those days, the guys caught their limit of
salmon. To celebrate Father's Day, Tom also "caught" a rock in the
palm of his left hand when he lost his balance attempting to land a fish.
That required 3 stitches from the busy folks at the Soldotna
Hospital. So, on Sunday the 17th we moved the RVs to the parking lot
of Fred Meyer store in Soldotna where we joined about 100 other RVs. That
afternoon, Tom and Jacques went on a boat trip on the Kenai River with a fellow
that Everharts met on a previous trip to Alaska. The King Salmon must have
seen them coming and went elsewhere that day. We plan to stay in
Soldotna a few days while we venture out around the Kenai Peninsula. We
hope the glorious sunny weather continues!
June, 2001 page 2
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Vonjia, Mary and Kris in Anchorage
The Russian River Ferry in action
Tom and Jacques and their "limit" of "reds"
- June 16, 2001
Jacques and Tom cleaning their catch at the edge
of the Russian River
We spent four nights in the
parking lot of the big Fred Meyer store (very similar to Meijer in our home
area) in Soldotna. The have a large designated area for RVs, complete with
water and dump stations and trash bins. They must figure we'll pay for our
camping with purchases made in the store. They're totally correct on that
one!!! There are about 50 to 75 units here each night...the traffic is
constant. Here
we took a few days R&R from driving and caught up on "chores." The
guys did go back to the Russian River Ferry on Tuesday, the 19th and brought
back fresh salmon for dinner.
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On
Thursday, June 21 we drove to Homer, stopping in Ninilchik to watch the people
clamming and to visit the old Russian Orthodox Church. In Homer we camped
two nights in a city park on "the spit" which is not much more than a sand bar
in the bay. But, we did enjoy watching all the halibut fishing boats come
and go and the great view of Cook Inlet and the distant volcanoes. This
was the longest night of the year and people were out around their campfires
till 3am or so and it was still light. Next stop was Anchor Point and the
Anchor River where Jacques tried his hand at King fishing and we drove on the
western most highway in North America. Here we camped next to another Bounder
and discovered its owners are friends of Mary's cousin. Small
world!! Down at the beach we watched a huge tractor pull the fishing boats
out of the Cook Inlet as they came racing up to shore...a unique
operation. On Sunday we moved the Kisilof River south of Soldotna where
the guys tried fishing again...but no luck! And on Monday, the 25th it was
back to our old spots at Fred Meyer in Soldotna. There are a few more
things to visit around here and we can again catch up on "chores."
June, 2001 page 3
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Kachemak Bay, Homer Alaska
The "boat ramp" on Cook Inlet at Anchor Point,
Alaska
The
weather has been "glorious" the last several weeks. Daytime temperatures
have been near 70 and the sun is always shining (like, 22 hours a day!).
We've seen only a few sprinkles of rain here and there. The mountains have
snow at the top, but they are always in the distance. The volcanoes viewed
from Homer had steam rising above them. The local kids are in shorts and
bare feet and playing in the icy water. The saddest thing about the
scenery is that many, many of the spruce trees are victims of a spruce beetle
and are dried and dying. It makes you wonder what the scenery will be like
in a few years when you look off in the distance and all you see is the
reddish-brown dried trees.
On
Wednesday, June 27 we drove from Soldotna on the Sterling Highway to the Seward
Highway and down to the town of Seward. On the way, we had to drive
through an area of heavy smoke from a raging forest fire. We weren't
allowed to stop, but we could smell the smoke inside the closed coach. We
camped on the waterfront of Ressurection Bay in an area that before the Good
Friday,1964 earthquake (The Day the Earth Shook and the Sea Burned!) was a
commercial/business area. The earthquake and twelve hours of 30 foot
Tsunami waves wiped it all out. Now there is about a mile long stretch
with space for about 300 RVs to park facing the water and mountains beyond....a
beautiful place. (And we all hope that doesn't happen again!) We arrived
early because of the expected crowds for the 4th of July holiday. (Check
back in July for report of the big events!) There is a paved walking/bike
path all along the waterfront and we have enjoyed walking and biking its entire
length. Planning to spend a week here has allowed us to take it easy each
day. Tom even visited the hospital and had the stitches removed from his
hand. We have toured the Exit Glacier at the Chugach National Park and
hiked up and down its surrounding area as it is a landed glacier. A
highlight of our stay was a trip to the Alaska Sea Life Center. It is
about two years old and funded in part with monies paid by Exxon in fines after
their big oil spill. The center is a rehab and research facility as well
as having exhibits of many sea animals and birds. The huge tanks where the
animals are kept have viewing areas on two levels so that you can see above and
under water. It was fascinating to watch from both areas. We drove,
once again, to the end of the road (every town seems to have one) where there is
a state park and some fishing charter businesses. We watched some folks
get some sea kayaking lessons..brrr!!!!!...that water is
COLD! The camping area has filled up and people
build campfires all along the water, cooking and visiting around them until late
at night. Several caravans of RVs have arrived as well. And the huge
cruise ships glide into and out of port daily, going in reverse and turning
around right in front of our site. We're looking forward to all of the
events planned to celebrate the 4th of July!
A
tufted puffin at the Alaska Sea Life Center, Seward, Alaska
Harbor
seals enjoying a nice day at the Alaska Sea Life Center,
Seward,Alaska
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