The Yukon Territory

June 23 - 30, Days 16 - 22

We continued on north from Ft. Nelson to our next destination which was ~75 miles away.  No need to overdo it, right?  On this 75 mile stretch, we saw more black bears, stone sheep (which are different than big horn sheep), and moose.

The highway you see in the picture with the moose is the Alaska Highway.  So far, not a bad road at all, but the chip and seal surface does produce a little road noise.  We stopped at the Tetsa River Services & Guest Ranch, where their claim to fame is delicious homemade cinnamon rolls.  The rolls are about 6” in diameter, about 3” thick, and served warm with the icing melting down through it.  While they were great, I understand the daughter of a friend of mine also makes great homemade cinnamon rolls, so I will wait until I sample hers before I declare “The World’s Best”!

We arrived at the Summit Lake Campground of Stone Mountain Provincial Park.  Their provincial parks are much like our state parks, except theirs have no electric.  Since we arrived just after lunch, we had our choice of campsites.  We could back right up to the water of this serene lake and enjoy the tranquility of the surrounding area.  Once set up, we hiked ~1.5 miles to the summit on a very rugged, rocky trail, crossing through a stream.

Summit hikes are never disappointing.

Since we only drove 75 miles yesterday, we thought we should go a little farther today.  So, we drove 85 miles to MacDonald Campground of Muncho Lake PP, seeing more stone sheep along the road.  Since we drove ‘so much farther’ we decided to stay 2 nights at Muncho Lake.  Each campsite is right on the aquamarine colored lake.

It has been a little hard to get used to the amount of daylight.  Here is a picture from our campsite at 10:45PM

Our next stop on our trek north is Liard Hot Springs PP; about  54 miles from Muncho Lake.  There were several signs warning motorists about wildlife on the highway.  We saw more black bears eating the tender, new spring grass along the highway, and seemed rather indifferent that we pulled off the road and stopped less than 10 yards away from them.  As we continued on, we encountered this guy resting at the edge of the pavement.

So close that I had to cross the center line to keep from being too close to him.

Liard Hot Spring is yet another natural mineral hot spring but its distinguishing feature was a completely natural setting with a gravel bottom and lush, green vegetation growing right down to the water. 

The temperature of the water in the upper pool near the source of the water is ~126°, too hot for us, so we went to the lower pool where the temperature is said to be about 112°.  Unfortunately, the downside of this heat, humidity, and vegetation is the perfect environment for the Canadian and Alaskan state bird; the mosquito.   None the less, we could visit the hot spring 24 hours per day for as long as we wanted; in my case, about 15-20 minutes.

Leaving Liard Hot Springs behind, we pressed on towards Watson Lake, Yukon Territory where there is a “sign post forest” started by a soldier in WWII and where the village encourages people to keep adding to the sighs.  To date, there are over seventy six thousand signs.

Our next stop is near Whitehorse, Yukon Territory where we stayed in a government campground for $12/night including all the firewood you want to burn.  This was on Marsh Lake which also had a beach.  However, it was a bit different from the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores as it was more dirt than sand.  Also, the water temperature was ~60°, the air temperature was ~58°, and it was very windy.  But that did not stop people from playing on the beach or swimming in the water.  Not just any people, but the rugged souls of the Yukon Territory.  Whitehorse is the capitol of the YT, so we will spend some time there so we can get more supplies and post to our blog.

 

OBSERVATIONS (from unscientific data), and other facts:

Out of 10 rvs, there are:

·         2 class C motorhomes

·         2 fifth wheels

·         2 travel trailers

·         2 slide on truck campers

·         1 pop up tent camper

·         1 class A

Out of 10 pickup trucks that tourists use to pull their rvs:

·         5 are Ford

·         3 are Dodge

·         2 are GM (Chevy and GMC)

·         All are 4x4 and 9 out of 10 are diesel

Now on the Alaskan Highway

June 21 - 22 - Days 14 - 15

We stayed at Charlie Lake just north of Ft. Saint John last night.  Tragic history about our army troops there while building the Alaskan Highway.  This morning we pressed on north with no urgency.  Stopped for lunch at one of the many pull-offs.  You just don't get tired of the scenery:

           Our lunch view

We saw four of these guys today, and one cow moose with her calf.  This one was real close to our RV.





OBSERVATIONS (and other unscientific experiments)

While working for the company from which I retired, I had the opportunity to visit many automotive assembly plants which made me notice all vehicles.  So in my unscientific experiment, I noticed that out of 10:

• pickup trucks (non tourist) - 6 were GM (Chevy & GMC), Ford and Dodge had 2 each
• big trucks - Peterbuilt and Kenworth had 9 and the other one was divided amongst all others
• sport utility vehicles - 8 were Jeep, and the other two divided amongst all others

Nearing Alaska Highway

June 19 -20 Days 12 - 13

The carvings in Chetwynd were rather remarkable:

Even the hand carved welcome sign

   The gater was my favorite

On this one, the wings were a separate carving from the bench







Moving on up to Dawson Creek, BC was one of our first goals; the start of the Alaskan Highway, mile post "0"

The favorite tourist spot

 






                                 Mile post "0" in Dawson Creek, BC

While in Dawson Creek, we went to the Alaska House Museum which showed the history of the Alaska Highway.  There was a 20 minute video presentation of  the history which contained interviews with some of the still surviving army engineers.  To our surprise, one of the the interviewees was the father of close friends of Bonnie's. 

We have seen several bears, which is always a thrill!

Farther north into Canada

June 15 - 19 - Days 7 - 12

Since we last posted, we drove across Montana which allowed us to witness numerous beef cattle ranches and the wide open country side.  No wonder they call it Big Sky country.  Prices are an indication that you are getting more remote.  We drove up along beautiful Flathead Lake then stopped in Kalispell, MT for the night.  As we approached Canadian Customs & Border Protection, we were prepared with our passports as well as a list of food items we were transporting.  I had read on the internet about how the Canadian Customs agents have RV travelers pull over then board their rv’s to search for illegal items, such as handguns, certain fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh meat.  So we were ready, making sure what we were carrying would pass.  As it turned out, the agent asked me a few questions and sent us on our way.  Maybe crossing on a Sunday morning made a difference.

We made our way to Radium Hot Springs, BC, a place recommended by a friend of mine who had lived in Canada for part of his life.  This natural hot springs was a welcome treat after driving eight hours.  For US$5.00, you can spend as much time relaxing in the 102° pool, or go over to the ‘cool’ pool of 94°.  

Most everyone thinks BC stands for British Columbia, but the locals told me it really means Bring Cash as prices are very expensive.  The cost of a gallon of gas today was US$5.41.  After spending the night in a nearly deserted Provincial Park, we continued on to Lake Louise, AB.  Here we hiked ~4 miles while it rained most of the time.  But the view of Lake Louise and Lake Agnes was worth it.  The color of the glacier lakes looks almost fake, but the color of them is just as you see it in the pictures below.

A view of Lake Louise on the hike to the top where the tea house is located beside Lake Agnes

Same lake higher up on the trail nearer the tea house.

 

Mirror Lake, another mountain lake on the way up to the tea house.

The tea house is in the log cabin structure in the background.






After Lake Louise we continued on up to Lake Peyto along Canada Hwy 93.  There is snow on the mountains around Lake Peyto nine months out of the year.

Our view of Lake Peyto

As we continued on, we stopped for lunch.  Not a bad view for lunch time!





When lunch was over and we started moving again, we saw some cars stopped on the highway, which is almost a sure sign of wildlife.

We took a short hike (5 miles) near the British Columbia Welcome Center to Lake Kinney which was at the base of Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.

I did not get to finish up where we were yesterday because the library was closing, so here is the rest of yesterday's post. We are in Chetwynd, BC, half way between Prince George and Dawson Creek, where the village hosts an annual chainsaw carving competition where the competitors come from all over the world.  We arrived two days after the competition, but the carvings contained unbelievable detail.  We are now on to Dawson Creek to continue our trip north.  No shortage of rain and cool air up here.

Mushing on to Alaska

 June 13 and 14 - Days 5 & 6

Driving with little stopping.  We will cross over into Canada tomorrow and continue our journey.  I will post more when I have more to post and find an internet connection.  But the previous two days were quite fun.

June 11 and 12 - Days 4 & 5

First, let me offer my apology to all the citizens of North Dakota.  Without giving ND a thorough tour, I wrote it off as a flat, nearly wasteland.  We were in complete awe of the beauty of the lay of the land and it was a complete pleasure driving across it.  So much so that we stayed two nights at Theodore Roosevelt National Park near Medora, ND.  We noticed that 'things' are just as big in ND as they are in Texas.  We explored one diversion route called the Enchanted Highway which led us off the interstate down to the tiny village of Regent, ND.  This village was rescued from the caldron of ghost towns by a teacher who executed a plan to save it.  Part of his plan was to coax travelers into Regent with seven magnificent, larger than life iron sculptures, then offer them a room in a deserted, refurbished elementary school.  It was great!

Pheasant Family

                                          Grasshopper






When we arrived at TRNP, we were greeted by a whole village of prairie dogs (what a cute name for rodents).  Then, we went on to our campsite right beside the Little Missouri River.  This NP is a gem that is visited little.  Inside the park were wild horses:

and bison.  This next picture was my view when I got up around 6:00am and was taken from inside our RV, in the perfect campsite (#21):

The 36 mile scenic loop was where we spotted the wild horses, several bison, and the beautiful terrain.

There was a place in the town of Medora that performed live entertainment outside.  Viewing the stage, allowed the guests to see the canyon as the backdrop:

Bound for Alaska

June 9, 10,  and 11 - Days 2, 3, and 4

Just a quick update.  These days are rather uneventful as we have just been driving without stopping to see much of anything.  Although we did see a couple of interesting structures; one was the arch in St. Louis and the other was a bridge at Kansas City.

 
 



 Stainless steel arch in St. Louis at the Mississippi River

 Different bridge structure at Kansas City









We are leaving Jamestown, ND this morning in the rain and so far, we have traveled ~1,400 miles.  When we stopped for the night last night, it just happened to be near a buffalo museum where we saw an albino buffalo and a statue of the worlds largest buffalo.

Yep!  There is the worlds largest buffalo statue with Bonnie hugging his left front leg







Just a quick amusing story:  
We stopped to fuel up at station where I have a rewards card to get $.03 off per gallon.  Before fueling, I went in to cashier and told her the pump did not reduce the displayed price to which she replied, "yes, that happens sometimes.  Just go ahead and fill up then bring the receipt in and I will give you the difference in cash."  So I put in exactly 21 gallons and took the receipt into her.  She was busy with other customers so I told the other girl at the cash register right beside her that she told me to bring in the receipt for a cash refund.  The second girl told me I would have to wait for the first girl because figuring the difference was too hard for her. (SERIOUSLY?)  So when the first girl was finished with her customer, I handed her the receipt and she searched for a calculator to figure the refund.  Both girls were checking the receipt for a while then she opened the cash drawer and gave me $8.00!  I told her "oh no, that's not right, that is way too much money.  It should only be $.63."  She told me that was the right amount and that is what I was supposed to receive.  Other customers were lining up behind me and she wanted me out of there so I went back out to the rv and told Bonnie what happened.  So, I went back in to tell her again and her register was closed and she was stocking buns at the wiener machine.  I went over to her and told her that there is no way the refund was right because it was way too much money.  She told me it was correct that her manager told her to take the number of gallons times three.  I told her, yes, it should be times three cents, not three.  She said no that is what the manager said and I was to take this money.  UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!



 June 8, 2014 - Day 1


The intended route

Clicking on the above link, "The Intended Route", should allow you to see the intended route from Madison, Alabama to Fairbanks, Alaska (or give you the Google Maps link).  Roughly 4,400 miles. 

A quick capture of the instrument panel shows the mileage of the rv before leaving our driveway.

The trip before the trip!

A couple of weeks before we headed to Alaska, we made a whirlwind tour of the southeast. We need to spend a little bit of time with our grandchildren before we go 3 months without seeing them.

Jim, Hunter, and Logan

Bonnie with Kristin's three boys.  From left to right; Logan (4), Bonnie, Hunter (6), and Jim (12).

Picking strawberries

Picking strawberries in North Carolina with Kerri's family.  From left to right; Jack (9), Kerri, Bonnie, Maggie (5).