Alaska Adventure 2010

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2010-09-01T09:32:00.000-08:00

We're back in Bozeman. Lots of unloading and cleaning up, but nice to be able to do that in steps. That first l-o-n-g hot shower was a treat after a summer of nursing our water supply!

Thank you all for riding along!

Canadian Rockies

2010-08-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

We've been making earnest progress toward Bozeman and home. From the Cassiar Highway we made Vanderhoof, B.C., then it was another day's travel on to Jasper, AB. Last night we walked all over the back streets of Jasper and admired all the neat houses, a few original log cabins, and lovely flower gardens, then we treated ourselves to pretty good pizza back out on the main drag and hit the hay for an early start.

Today we made some serious distance. Up early, down the Ice Fields Parkway to Banff and the Trans-Canada Highway, through Calgary, and on south to Lethbridge. A 400 mile tug. I could tell you about the rain, but what's the point? There was fresh snow plastered on the Canadian Rockies and we were lucky to get a few peeks at the peaks.

Tomorrow the border, but surprisingly we won't stretch for home. Better to cap the trip off camping on the shores of Canyon Ferry Lake at the silos and ease into town Tuesday and have the energy and enthusiusm to unload the trailer.

Fresh snow on the Canadian Rockies.

Down the Cassiar Rabbit Hole

2010-08-26T18:29:00.000-08:00

Late August is early fall in the Yukon - aspens going yellow, fireweed's last blooms at the tops of the stalk, frosty mornings, closed and boarded tourist stops, but if you drop down to British Columbia via the Cassiar Highway it is late summer when you pop out. Everything is still green and quite a bit warmer and the gas stations are open. Just ask Alice.

So just before Watson Lake we bailed off the Alaska Highway and headed straight south for 450 miles on the Cassiar Highway. It’s paved the whole way now. We spent one night at the free RV camp at Jade City and the next day we stopped mid-afternoon at Meziaden Lake Provincial Park as the sun was out. We’re back into British Columbia now. Tomorrow we’ll hit the Yellowshead Highway and head easterly toward Jasper, Alberta with an overnight stop in Vanderhoof. Canadian Rockies here we come.

The past several days have been mostly showers, some heavy, so we’ve been traveling a bit longer each day to avoid just sitting around in the rain.

Jade City - the land of free camping.

Cassiar Highway southbound.

Joyce taking in the sun at Meziaden Lake.

The Six Hour Pit Stop

2010-08-24T10:23:00.003-08:00

Ah, the frost heaves of the Yukon finally got us. We busted a spring on the trailer 120 miles east of Tok and 80 miles west of Destruction Bay – about as far from help as you can get on the Alaska Highway! I was able to strap the axle up and slowly move the rig a ¼ mile to a Jim Cook’s roadhouse and café and strip off the remaining parts and clean things up. A few phone calls searching for a mechanic with the correct spring and Charlie was on his way from Destruction Bay. It took him almost two hours to get to us and with both of us working away we fitted the new spring. This was strictly a cash operation so we were left with literally no cash on hand after paying Charlie $400 in a mix of American and Canadian currency. We rambled down the road until dusk and tucked into a rest area with six other rigs for the night.

In my own defense I must tell you I was driving slowly through the whoop-tee-do’s. Close inspection of the pieces of the broken spring showed that two of the four leaves had crack through some time before – probably on one of our Mexcio trips would be my guess. You can bet I looked the other springs over as well as I could for cracks. Check your springs right in the center of the leaf stack.

I only went 50 yards in a great cloud of smoke when the spring let go!

An eagle sat and watched us for a bit as it dried its wings. I took that as a good sign.

Discovery III Stern-Wheeler

2010-08-21T13:50:00.000-08:00

Today was a lovely day for a boat ride - mid-60's, no wind, and plenty of sun. We took the paddle boat Discovery III down to the confluence of the Chena and Tanana River s. There we got off and toured a native village that re-creates the life styles of modern and pre-contact indigenous peoples of Alaska. The trip is a bit touristy of course, but extremely well done i.e. more on the informative side of things rather then popular entertainment. When you get to Fairbanks don't miss it.

The folks that run the trip even had a float plane take off and land next to the boat!

Discovery III

Detail of the paddle wheel.

Yes, he is that low.

Parkas now and then!

Arctic Circle Day Trip

2010-08-20T20:28:00.002-08:00

Today it was up and on the move by 7:30 AM. We were bound and determined to drive the first 115 miles of the Dalton Highway and get to 66.5 degrees north latitude i.e. the Arctic Circle - where the sun never sets on June 21st and never breaks the horizon on December 21st. Of course to get to the Dalton Highway you first have to drive 75 miles north of Fairbanks on the regular road system. We're talking a 380 mile day!

Other then lots of frost heaves as a result of the road being built on top of permafrost, some mud, and a few new chips in the windshield it was pretty routine. Our speed on the Dalton varied from 30 to 55 mph, I'd guess we averaged around 40 mph including the stop at the Yukon River for pictures. The biggest hazard was the trucks hauling gear north, those boys don't slow down for much - when we saw them coming we did slow way down and pulled over as far as we could to avoid the spray of rocks - that worked well. The road is wide enough to get well away from on coming traffic. We had our CB radio on channel 19 so we usually knew what was coming, and the road maintenance crew even gave us a personal estimate of the delay at one construction site.

We arrived by lunch time, got the required picture taken, and did a short hike to check out the campground that is set back well back from the road. Surprisingly there were zero mosquitoes.

It was a fun outing and a good scouting trip for future Dalton Highway adventures.

The Yukon River Bridge on the Dalton Highway.

The highway parallels the Alaska Pipeline the whole way.

Been there, done that, still need the tee shirt!

View along the way.

Bow hunters were doing well hunting caribou on the north slope.

Chena Hot Springs

2010-08-19T18:10:00.000-08:00

The soft life gets even better! We drove the hour out to Chena Hot Springs this afternoon and soaked in the outdoor pool until we were wrinkled (ok, make that MORE wrinkled) and limp. They perform the small miracle of taking the 156 degree spring water, tempering it down to 105 degrees and filling a gravel lined pond for one's basking pleasure. As a bonus no kids are allowed in the outside pool. What's not to like?

The ride out was fun also, the hot springs are literally at the end of the road.

Fairbanks

2010-08-18T23:06:00.001-08:00

Ah, Fairbanks. We ♥ you Fairbanks! We bellied up for the 'full Montey' at River's Edge RV Resort on the banks of the Chena River. La-dee-dah. We've got full hook-ups, high speed Internet, cable TV, trees, grass, and a man servant named Ralph. Ok, I lied about Ralph. A good place for a bit of decadence and an opportunity to 'dry dock' the trailer for some TLC before we start down the Alaskan Highway towards home.

You probably thought all this rolling stock just keeps going along without any issues. Not! The first order of business was to improve the trailer's braking ability. I pulled and cleaned the ground wires on the trailer and replaced the electronic brake controller with a new, improved unit. Next we open all the windows while we were away at the Fred Meyer Store buying about one of everything and got the humidity down from 65% to 30%, no more mold growing in the corners of the bedroom for us! Too much rain will do that ya know.

Tomorrow the truck gets an oil change - our beast of burden now has 134K miles and still doesn't burn any oil. Tomorrow afternoon is also a ride up to Chena Hot Spring for a long, hot, soak. Such is the life of a tourist.

We're not on Deep Creek Beach anymore Todo!

We are on the Chena River and final approach to the airport!

Denali N.P.

2010-08-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

We're camped in Cantwell about 25 miles south of Denali National Park. We drove up from Eagle River on the Parks Highway yesterday in a steady rain. No rain today, so we nibbled around the edges of the Park a bit. We took the shuttle bus out to the kennels and saw a sled dog demonstration and rather then ride back with the teaming masses we hiked two miles on the Roadside Trail down to the Visitor Center. It was nice to get out and walk.

Perhaps.

Yellow and reds of fall?

Fog Cruise

2010-08-14T19:20:00.001-08:00

We did a seven hour boat trip out of Seward today with Major Marine. It was a rainy/foggy day, but we got to see killer whales right next to the boat, and Steller sea lions. It was a rough ride when we passed out into the Gulf of Alaska, but nobody had to "try for distance" from the back rail of the boat. In fact the rowdy conditions deterred nobody from the salmon and prime rib lunch.

A moody day on the water.

Steller sea lions being rudely awakened.

Exit Glacier

2010-08-13T14:53:00.002-08:00

Holy Moley batman! Exit Glacier is in full retreat. When we were here in 2006 the toe of the glacier was about 100 yards further down hill just out on the level ground behind Joyce in the first picture. I put a person in the second picture to give you a sense of scale; I was going for the blue color of the cravasses.

We had a very nice hike and we were careful to avoid what Sewardians call "eye poison" i.e. the sun.

Joyce on the Exit Glacier out-wash plain.

The trail crew member with the yellow hard-hat gives a sense of scale.

Seward - A Visual Tour

2010-08-12T17:51:00.001-08:00

Adieu Deep Creek Beach

2010-08-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

Click on the picture for a Hi-Res panorama.

Time to Roll

2010-08-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Thursday morning we retire as campground hosts and go awandering. It is time to travel and find some warm, sunny days before summer slips away on us. Ninilchik set a record for rain in July and the trend continues. It's been a great stay and we've been able to see and do plenty, but the travel itch needs to be scratched.

First stop is Seward for a day trip on a boat out to see whales, puffins, and glaciers. Then we point it north toward Fairbanks via the Parks Highway and Denali as they've been hitting 80+ degrees most days. Chena Hot Springs is big on our list of stops too.

Sarah Palin showed up here for an over-nighter with her entourage to film a segment for her "reality show" i.e. Sarah and family dig for clams. We stayed well away, but were amused that for the scene where "Sarah cooks a wholesome dinner for her family" she had to borrow a skillet from a fellow camper. Reality indeed!

Silver salmon are running up Deep Creek now and folks are doing pretty well on the incoming tides. The run is on!

Engine room --- make steam!

Alaska Fishing Charters - Halibut Trip

2010-08-01T13:43:00.002-08:00

Today it was up early for a 5:30 AM halibut charter with Afishunt a.k.a. Alaska Fishing Charters. We had perfect conditions, it was dry and calm the whole time with very little wind, so the 30 minute run out to our fishing spot was very smooth. We had two hours of almost constant action, and we all got our limit of two fish each. Joyce hauled her fish up from 150 feet without stopping for a breather each time. As a bonus we saw otters, a seal, a whale, and a porpoise.

Captain Aurthur and mate Erin were terrific and kept this boatload of rookies squared away in a warm and friendly manner. At times we had three or four fish on so they had to scramble to keep up!

"Oh-dark-thirty" start to catch the tide change.

Rich inspecting our 32' boat, before the tractor launch.

Lin landed the biggest fish in our group at 38 pounds.

Lin goes to reload the bait, while Rich works a fish.

Janet seems pleased!

A pretty good morning of fishing, with a very professional outfit.

Herring Islanders

2010-07-30T19:38:00.002-08:00

Our friends Jane and Tim, and their two boys Logan and Bridger invited us out to their isalnd in Kachemak Bay for an overnighter. It was a fanstastic trip. We left Homer Harbor in sunlight and very calm seas for the crossing, once on their island they treated us to grilled salmon and fresh salad. Jane and Tim commercially fish salmon, so after dinner Joyce, Jane, and I went out to check the nets. On the way out the outboard engine decided to act up. A pin had fallen out of throttle linkage so we were idle only for a while - I was able to fish the necessary bits out of the bottom of the case, re-secure the likage, and get us going again. We got up close instruction in identifying the different varieties of a salmon an and their quality as Jane pulled the catch out of the nets.

We spent the night in their guest cabin and after breakfast we motored over to Jackolof Bay and walked along the road picking salmon berries in just a light rain.

A blustery front was moving through, so after lunch Jane took us back over to Homer before it got any worse. It was an e-ticket ride in the skiff with really good wave action right off the Homer spit. We rolled up the Sterling Highway back into Deep Creek just as the rain really started to pour down.

Captain Jane passing out PFDs and prepares to shove off.

Tim and Jane's cabin.

Still life, cabin porch.

Joyce and Jane clearing the net.

Island view.

Good friends, good food, warm and dry.

Playing frisbee-golf with the boys on the beach.

An Egg McMuffin, Ninilchik Style

2010-07-29T10:52:00.000-08:00

We've been hearing good things about the Boardwalk Cafe down at the mouth of the Ninilchik River just before the boat harbor. We decided to try them out for breakfast. The "Sunrise Sandwich" is a fresh ingredient homage to the Egg McMuffin. We can report that the burgers are pretty good too - the other night while Joyce did the laundry up at ranger central I surprised her with some "take out" from here.

A fishing fleet works out of Ninilchik Harbor, this is a pretty tight anchorage, and boats need to come and go only on the high tide. We often see them sitting offshore waiting for an incoming tide.

Joyce is ready for breakfast.

Ninilchik Harbor.

Whiskey Gulch

2010-07-27T16:29:00.002-08:00

The sun came out and so did we. Joyce and I scurried off to the beach at Whiskey Gulch for some beachcombing. As you can see the tractor-launch there is on a different scale entirely then what goes on commercially at Deep Creek. Whiskey Gulch is a few miles north of Anchor Point off the Sterling Highway - it is a very nice, laid back place to wander. The road down is quite steep, we had to stop and put the truck into 4x4 on the way back up.

Glorious sunshine.

Gratuitous architecture photo from the ride home.

Rain

2010-07-26T15:06:00.003-08:00

We've had three straight days with a variety of rain. Everything from misting, to sprinkles you could ignore, to driving downpours, but mostly just plane, old, steady rain. Anchorage set a new record for today with .75" of precipitation (the old record was .50").

The weather has emptied the campground and the outhouse I clean each morning has stayed pristine - I'm good with that. The trailer does seem to be shrinking. Ha! In self-defense we fled last night to the one excellent Mexican restaurant in Homer. Don Jose's was a good time - warm, dry, and nice Kodachrome colors to the decor. The seafood enchilata was fresh and excellent and the steak fajita would feed two people. The margarita was good chemo-therapy for the rain, it wasn't watered down (oh my gosh, reduced to rain puns).

We roll out in just over two weeks so we're cleaning and organizing and getting ready to become road warriors again. I found an excellent blog by Sue Thomas that is chock full of Yukon/Alaska/BC travel lore, including places to boondock. Her photography is top-notch so I'm enjoying that greatly.

Some cheery news: An article I wrote for a British ham radio magazine telling of my operating exploits here in Alaska is being published this fall and I'm lead to understand one of my pictures will grace the front cover. Cool beans!

The really big news is that Joyce and I took the plunge and booked a month long stay in Kona, Hawaii for mid-November. It was great fun using the Internet to research, read reviews, and book the condo and flights. I guess three days of rain does have expensive side effects! So dear reader if you have Kona/Big Island tips for us please email or comment - we're rookies and appreciate any guidance/suggestions.

The hat! I must have that hat!

An Oklahoma couple cleans clams in the rain. Say that three times fast.

Kasilof River Dipnetting

2010-07-23T17:47:00.001-08:00

Today we drove to the end of the North Cohoe Loop Road and walked over to the mouth of the Kasilof River to get a look at the dipnetting action. The reds (sockeye salmon) are running! We saw probably 25 fish landed in the time we were there.

Dipnetting is for resident Alaskans only, and they're allowed to keep 20 fish plus 10 per additional family member. The nets can be a maximum of five feet across. The specifics are here.

The variety of nets and people were really interesting. There were round ones, square ones, oval ones and rectangular ones - the nets of course. There was a festive, family atmosphere, with ATVs, coolers, tents, trucks and cars scattered just above the high tide line. Folks would wade out with their nets about five feet from the next person and be chatting away until a salmon trying to reach the spawning grounds at Tustumena Lake decided to run the gauntlet. Then the lucky netter would lunge back up the bank and haul the fish clear of the water as fast as he or she could move in their waders, thump the fish on its head, clean it, and plop it into a cooler of ice.

A note: Waders do make your butt look bigger.

Dipnetting on at the mouth of the Kasilof River on an incoming tide.

High summer fun, that's glacier fed water folks are wading in.

A good look at the action.

Another 'red' hits the cooler.

Skilak Lake Loop Road

2010-07-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

Today we packed a picnic lunch and headed north up the Sterling Highway to the Skilak Lake Loop Road. it was a great 20 mile tour on a very good dirt road with decent views of both the lake and the Kenai Range. Some big fish come out of this lake. Don't believe me? Check it out.

A bonus was finding the Hidden Lake Campground, a neat place tucked into the tree. Later, Joyce and I took a short hike down to the Kenai River just below Jim's Landing and had fun seeing salmon jumping as they worked their way up the Kenai River. There was enough bear scat on the trail to keep us talking with our "bear voices" as we went to and fro. No mosquitoes this year!

Skilak Lake and the Kenai Range

Mount Redoubt's Plume

2010-07-21T14:23:00.002-08:00

Our volcano 'neighbor' about 50 miles away across Cook Inlet is putting on a show today. A pretty good sized steam plume showed up this morning and kept growing as the day wore on. Redoubt last erupted in the spring of 2009. Here are a few links to the professional volcano watchers. The web cam and the web site.

Mount Redoubt venting.

On a much smaller scale we're starting to notice the first few fireweed blooms showing up. This is a sure sign that summer is rolling on. In another week we should have quite a show.

A sign that summer is slipping by.

A Full Day of Salmon

2010-07-17T22:13:00.002-08:00

We were given several sockeye salmon today. So Rich and Les worked their fillet knives, and then we vacuum packed the results and pop'ed them in the freezer. Yum! Later in the day we had several helpings of slamon kabobs from the fund raiser the Ninilchik Health and Wellness Center put on. Boy was that a treat! Full stomachs and full freezers and plenty of Omega-3.

Rich and Les getting after it.

The Food-Saver vacuum packer in action. Janet checked me out on her machine and then let me solo.

Tacky tourist shot to see if you're paying attention. That's a fiberglass fish.

Eveline State Recreation Site (Homer)

2010-07-15T18:58:00.002-08:00

Just 20 minutes out of Homer on the East End Road is the Eveline State Recreation Site. There are two relatively short loop trails on this 80 acre parcel and both have stunning flowers this time of the year. If you're in Homer and only have time for one hike I'd recommend this one. We've been out to this little gem of a hiking spot three times because of the flowers and the views across Kachemac Bay to the Kenai Range and its glaciers. The pictures tell the story, but you can sense Edmund loved Eveline very much.

Directions: Out of downtown Homer (not the Spit) on East End Road for 13.8 miles past the McNeil Canyon School, take the left onto Alpine meadow Drive and go .3 miles to the trailhead with good parking. There are usually trail maps and a flower guide at the trailhead bulletin board

At the trailhead.

Joyce on the trail checking out the lupine.

Somebody's dream house sits above the Alpine Meadow Trail.

Click on this one for a hi-res treat.

We Love Our Ranger Station

2010-07-15T11:12:00.001-08:00

Having access to the local ranger sub-station makes it possible to live well down here on Deep Creek Beach. We're on the schedule to do laundry and take showers up there a few times a week. Ah, glorious, hot, never-ending water! Those visits lighten the load on the trailer's water systems so we only have to hook-up and bounce to the dump station once every two weeks. Getting the trailer back into our spot is always an adventure, I never claimed to be a big rig specialist!

We're 2/3 of the way through our stay here. The "Milepost" and the Church & Church Alaska camping books are back out on the night stand now and we're planning and plotting what to see on the way north to the Arctic Circle. We know we'll tow over to Seward first and take a day cruise to see what we can see. A halibut fishing charter has been booked for early August so we're trying to take full advantage of our summer here in Ninilchik before we go.

The Cassiar Highway is calling too, but I think we'll avoid the Top of the World trip from Tok over to Dawson City as the Taylor Highway washed out big time last weekend. They got over 3" of rain and the road is gone in several places. They're forging a rough single lane path in to extract the 20 or so stranded RV's. News links: here.

The lowest tides of the summer just happened here so we were pretty full with folks itching to get after the clams. I think they did well. We've dropped down to less then 20 rigs a night now which is just fine. Of course because of the position of the new moon we also got the highest tides of the season too. Waves get to within about 5 feet of the trailer. We sit on a gravel berm a few feet above the high tide line so no worries mate!

It may look rustic to you, but it's a palace to us.

Hiking the Caribou Hills

2010-07-11T16:40:00.001-08:00

We broke into the 70's today under sunny skies so it was time to go find a hike. I ran out to the end of Oilwell Road and found a big parking lot mostly used by ATV'ers and snowmobilers to access the Caribou Hills. I'd call that a trailhead. I hiked generally south and east into the hills for a few miles on an ATV trail. It was an excellent workout as it rolled up and down. Lots of nice views of the volcanoes across Cook Inlet, no mosquitoes, plenty of moose sign, and lots of fireweed coming on for their showy August display.

Driving back down Oilwell Road I could see into the Kenai Range and found another 'trailhead' for a future hike.

The ATV/snowmobile trail that does triple-duty for hiking.

The Caribou Hills has lots of neat cabins with awesome views.

Who can help me identify this one?

Kenai Peninsula Weather

2010-07-09T19:58:00.001-08:00

The weather has been consistent the last week, 55 degrees and rain showers. Even the locals are lamenting that their gardens have stopped growing. Just to show you how varied the weather is on such a huge land mass like Alaska, Fairbanks has topped 80 degrees already this summer. This morning we did have full-on sun and a good look at the mountains. Nice!

The Ninilchik Public Library has become one of our favorite haunts. I'm reading about Captain James Cook and his voyages of discovery. I knew Cook Inlet right behind me was named after him, and that things ended badly in Hawaii, but I was amazed to know he took a single ship out from England and found the east coast of Australia. A good read.

We're well over 1/2 way thru our time here so rain or shine I've started doing maintenance on all things on wheels in anticipation of becoming a road warrior again. The latest project was to adjust the king pin on the fifth wheel trailer and the matching hitch in the bed of the truck to get the trailer to tow perfectly level. It wasn't off by much, but I might as well make it as good as it can be. I even gave the pin box on the trailer a fresh coat of black paint.

Summer wear Kenai Peninsula style.

In Search of Bullwinkle

2010-07-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

We took a ride last night up Oilwell Road looking for moose. Oilwell Road runs 18 miles east into the back country toward the Caribou Hills. We hadn't gone but a few miles when we found our first moose representative. He sure didn't like being caught between us and the small RV park behind him. Later on we found a bull just starting to grow out some antlers.

Hitting one of these guys out on the Sterling Highway is not trivial. They can step out of the brush along the road and be idling along in your lane in seconds.

As a bonus we got to experience muskeg first hand. I found a small lake just sprouting some liiy pads and blossoms and slopped my way out there for a picture. I knew I should have thrown my rubber boots, the staple of Alaskan footwear, in the truck!

Moose trot.

These guys are very happy with the few mosquitoes this year.

It looks like dry ground, but it's muskeg.

The New Generator

2010-06-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

It was off to Homer early this morning to find a new Honda generator. The old one was just two months old and just getting broken in, but yesterday afternoon a thief cut the lock and made off with it while we were away. Drat! We're hearing more then a few stories this summer about thievery on the Kenai Peninsula, so if you come this way watch your stuff. Anyhow, for RV'ing you sure can't beat a Honda EU2000i. Quiet, reliable, and easy to service.

I realized that I haven't put too many pictures up that actually show what $10 buys you here at Deep Creek Beach in terms of a camping spot. Enjoy the photos.

Looking west toward the beach front sites.

Same camera position, but a more southerly view.

Go West Young Man, Go West ...

2010-06-25T18:55:00.001-08:00

Or not! Anchor Point is where Horace Greeley's 1865 urging seems to run out of room for wheels to roll. This is the farthest westerly you can drive on the continuous American road system. It's boats, barges, or airplanes from here on to Nome.

Anchor Point was named by early settlers to note the fact that in 1778 Captain James Cook's boat lost an anchor off-shore near here while he was exploring what is now Cook Inlet looking for the fabled Northwest Passage. He got to turn around.

On a more contemporary note, Anchor Point is know far and wide for the burgers, shakes, and fries at the Blue Bus Diner. Yes, a blue bus is built into the north wall of the place. Joyce and I give it three stars.

With a 4x4 you can go 100 yards farther west out onto the beach.

Seldovia Day Trip

2010-06-25T09:11:00.002-08:00

Joyce and I took the tour from Homer across Kachemac Bay to Seldovia run by Central Charters and Tours. It was a great day. Along the way 'Captain Ron' (without an eye patch, unlike the movie) guided our 70 foot boat right up to Gull Island so we could get a good look at all the nesting sea birds including two kinds of puffins. He even put the boat downwind so we could confirm that guano has an odor! Further along we encountered raft after raft of sea otters, and two humpback whales. We got close enough so you could see the baby otters using their mothers' chests as day loungers. Even 'Captain Ron' admitted we had a special crossing to be able to see so much.

Seldovia is small enough to easily explore on foot. We ate halibut tacos at the Tidal Pool Cafe and then wandered around the rest of our three hours land-time on the back roads and alley ways and along the Seldovia Slew. We even found a remnant of the original wooden boardwalk that wasn't destroyed by the flooding after the big 1964 earthquake.

The trip back was the direct route and in just over an hour and one more humpback viewing we were back in Homer and looking for a pizza joint for supper. At $90 for two we thought the day trip to Seldovia was a great value and it certainly added to our enjoyment of the Kenai Peninsula.

Point of departure, Homer. The boat we took has the white dot.

Gull Island

Gull Island close-up.

A raft of sea otters.

Seldovia Harbor.

Seldovia Slew

Who can resist visual humor?

Seldovia has lots of 'pocket parks' loaded with flowers.

Intrepid Travelers

2010-06-22T17:52:00.001-08:00

We had a couple from Germany spend the night with us on their way to Homer. Peter and Loei shipped their RV over to Halifax, Nova Scotia and have been working their way across Canada and Alaska. They've already been up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle so we got a road update from them - lots of construction going on with up to two hour delays, but very good road surface.

Ultimately they're headed to the southern most reaches of Argentina. They figure it will take two years.

Their Euro RV has the same five cylinder diesel engine as Winnebago uses in a small class 'C' motorhome. Are we looking at the future of RV'ing here. Might be. It will be fun to watch Americans have to slim down to match the rigs! Yes, it is probably part of the "One World Order" conspiracy they yammer about on the radio up here. :-)

Tierra del Fuego bound travelers.

Skyline Trail

2010-06-21T22:44:00.001-08:00

It dawned on us that we've already burned thru 40% of our time here on the Kenai Peninsula. Less polishing the porcelain and more time hiking and exploring I'd say. To that end a group of us decided to hike the Skyline Trail off the north side of the Sterling Highway way back up the road almost to Coopers Landing.

For our first real hike here we picked a doozy. Only one mile in length, but 1,800 feet of vertical - I kid you not. We scrambled over rocks, roots, ledges and spooked off a momma black bear and her cub to get ourselves a grand view before the rain caught up with us. Here is a link to a nice newspaper article about hiking the trail in the fall.

Joyce on an 'easy' section of the trail.

The Kenai Range behind Jean and Skilak Lakes

Chocolate Lilies

Sue, Shadow, Joyce, Gene, Lin, and Rich.

Summer Solstice

2010-06-20T14:44:00.001-08:00

The earth has moved in orbit so its 23.5 degree tilt is leaned toward the sun in the northern hemisphere now. That makes a huge difference this far north. We'll have just over five hours 'night' here on the Kenai Peninsula. The sunsets at 11:35 PM, but the northern sky still carries some light even at 2 AM. Sunrise is 4:41 AM which I keep missing for some reason.

Like most everybody else here in the 49th State we tend to go, go, go until we drop. Dinner is around 9 or 10 PM maybe, maybe not, and we seem to finally run of of steam around midnight or even 1 AM. The bedroom windows have been taped over with aluminum foil so we have a very nice "sleeping cave".

We just shook off seven straight days of rain, so having the sun back for this pagan time of the year is very, very nice. I'm not sure if we should worship the sun or our solar panels; maybe the panels are minor gods.

10:00 PM

Lucky Break

2010-06-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes things just fall into place. This old guy has been hanging around and letting photographers get some great shots.

Click to expand.

Hello Homer

2010-06-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

The tide of humanity here has flowed out, it's been raining for two days, and we have a day off. What to do? Time for another trip to Homer! We had a great day - we walked all the shops on the north side of the Spit, and didn't spend a dime, visited the great displays at the Oceans and Islands Visitor Center and took a hike on the loop trail out back, we drove to the end of the pavement on the East End Road, and tried the pie at the Caribou Cafe. Now that's a run on sentence!

On the way home we made a list of things that made us happy:
1) Gore-Tex anything
2) Dressing in layers
3) Propane, lots of propane
4) Honda generators
5) Knowing where the clean bathrooms are on the Homer Spit
6) Spring flowers, any with vibrant colors will do, names optional
7) Did I mention propane?

Here are some photos from our day trip, you can get the usual Homer pictures from the Chamber of Commerce web site, so I'm featuring other aspects today.

A nice moody day in Homer.

Definition of a 'slab' of pie!

Homer housing I

Homer housing II

Showers bring flowers.

Amazing what you see when you look.

Slammed

2010-06-13T18:14:00.001-08:00

Do you know where everybody goes when you close the Kenai River for King Salmon fishing, and make the Anchor River catch and release only? Good guess, Deep Creek! We got slammed just like Memorial Day weekend, this time we handled it without any extra troopers, rangers, fire patrol, or other authority figures. The four of us did fine of course, and folks were on their very best behavior. Oh, yeah - the fishing sucked.

It has been a series of extra low 'clamming tides' and some very high tides too. We're perched about five feet beyond the reach of we think is the highest tide - we'll see tomorrow morning when we get a + 21.3 tide right at sunrise.

This is one camp site. Enlarge for editorial comment.

A visual weather report, featuring Alaska summer wear.

And you thought I was kidding about the tide line. A view from our 'dining room' window.

Kasilof

2010-06-09T15:43:00.002-08:00

The small town of Kasilof ( pronounced Ka-SEE-loff, not CASTLE-off I'll have you know) puts out a great travel brochure full of history, local color, and maps. We decide to use our day off to go north up the Sterling Highway and see what we could see.

We stumbled into Rocky's Cafe just above the Kasilof River for breakfast and it was excellent. Funny too - the menu is entirely entertaining. After you've been seated for a while your gaze catches some really nice stained glass that fills the transom of each window.

Later we toured the small but interesting local museum just down Kalifornsky Beach Road. We looked, but the rest of Kasilof eluded us.

Welcome to Rocky's.

Joyce kept her menu for some light reading.

The Bard ate here?

One of many stained glass windows featuring local scenes.

White Rice

2010-06-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

Our Internet friends Bob White and Cathryn Rice just rolled in to spend a few days in the area. This is our first get together other then cyberspace. We share a mutual love of Mexico, towing Arctic Fox fifth wheel trailers all over North America, and a summer of adventures in Alaska.

This is their first trip to Alaska so we've already shared a few tips about the local scene with them and as luck would have it found a sunny beach-front site here for them to call home. Now if we can just get a few eagles to land on the beach, a king salmon to leap in the creek, and that moose back in the meadow...

Cathryn writes a great blog about their travels, which is how we stumbled on to them. We love their sense of adventure and ability to roll along easily with the unexpected challenges that any travel presents. Check out Cathryn's blog here.

Bob White and Cathryn Rice, our new friends.

Leveling up the 21 foot Arctic Fox fifth wheel on the beach front.

King Salmon

2010-06-06T13:01:00.003-08:00

The king salmon spawning run here at Deep Creek has finally started - big time. I can stand on the banks of the creek on an in coming tide and watch the fish roil the water as they head inland and run the gauntlet of fisher-folk. The fishing has been good too. I watched a guy take 15 minutes to land a 25 pounder last night, he skillfully played the fish into shallow water and even without a net managed to land it.

All is not peaches and cream however - emergency fishing rules have been issued closing the Kenai River for a month and prohibiting the use of bait on the rivers further south, including here at Deep Creek. The closure of the Kenai River has brought a few extra folks our way. Official link here.

Historically the Kenai River sees about 3100 king salmon enter from Cook Inlet by now, the count this year was 739. Hence the emergency closure.

On the plus side, a pod of Orcas came by just off shore behind our trailer this morning looking for their portion of salmon too.

Deep Creek looking upstream.

Big.

Bigger.

Blowin' Up a Storm

2010-06-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

After a windless, sunny, 68 degree day yesterday we're having a onshore gale with driving rain, and 48 degrees temperatures. Some of the charter boats returning had a heck of a time getting recovered by the skidders in the surf. This boat got totally cross-ways on the trailer and only a heads-up decision by skidder driver to yank him up onto the beach anyway saved the day. The next wave would have rolled him over.

An E ticket ride fishing charter!

Ready or not the skidder is about to pull him 25 feet up the beach.

Fish Camp

2010-06-03T10:19:00.002-08:00

We've changed moods here at Deep Creek Beach. We've gone from a family fun outing destination to more of a live-in fish camp. We have two groups here now that launch out into Cook Inlet each day rain or shine in their Zodiac rubber inflatable boats. They come usually come back late in the evening and fillet their halibut and salmon right on tables set up at the high tide line. They are kind enough to load the scrapes into a small trailer and tow it with an ATV way down the beach and deposit it well below the high tide line. The eagles are appreciating the feast. Fishing has improved greatly, folks are trolling for king salmon out in the Inlet and catching some, and the size of halibut caught is increasing. Given the great tidal change and the rips and currents that generates you do have know what your about - the water is 40 degree, so there is no margin for error.

Of course we're benefiting from all this fishing action. We were given some king crab legs that were brought into camp - we had those last night. We're also adding to our freezer's cache of halibut piece by piece.

Arrrgh!

Big water, small boat. Click to enlarge.

Fish camp at 11 PM.

Work and Play

2010-05-30T10:59:00.005-08:00

Another 24 hours of festivities and we'll empty the campground. Folks have been having a great time, yesterday was the best day of clamming yet. Lots of campers made their 60 clam limit! King salmon? Not so much, I have yet to see the first one come out of Deep Creek.

If you look at the photo below carefully you can see my "little green cart". That is my mobile cleaning station. 'Nuff said about work.

Ah, play. People here see the antenna up by my camp site and envy me my TV reception. Actually that's my amateur radio antenna. It is big enough that I'm even able to bounce my signal off the moon (honest) to other hams around the world. I did just that with a station, ZL3NW, in New Zealand two weeks ago. It is kind of a state-of-the-art edgy thing that involves computer coding and decoding of the signals, careful tracking of the moon, and the best receiver design available. What we don't do for fun. If you care to know more click here. KB7Q over and out.

There are a few secrets to putting that antenna up.

The Big Holiday

2010-05-28T13:44:00.000-08:00

Memorial Day Weekend is Alaskan bust out time and campground host work time. This is the big weekend of the summer. After a long dark winter folks are ready to be outside and recreate, especially when the King Salmon season starts here late tonight on Deep Creek, and we have a series of extra low tides so folks can dig for those sweet-eating clams. We're packing folks in cheek to jowl, and their boats, and their generators, and their beer coolers,and their RV's, and their ... well you get the idea. Sunset is at 11 PM now, and we see an after-glow in the northern sky all night long, so people are out and about almost any time. We managed to get most folks parked in the right formation to squeeze as many onto the "beach front property" as possible. This year we're getting lots of support from our Park Rangers, State Troopers, and the local fire brigade. We've even been given niftry, neato new radios. So for the next 48 hours we just keep the toilet paper stocked, restrooms as clean as possible, dogs on tethers, and watch the pageant unfold. King Salmon fishing report next time.

Before memorial Day Weekend.

During.

During II.

A Perfect Day

2010-05-27T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was about perfect - no wind, 55 degrees, not a single cloud, just a deep blue sky, and all the folks packing in here at Deep Creek Beach for the Memorial Day Weekend were well behaved. As an added bonus the Ninilchik Senior Center featured a full-on turkey dinner for lunch for $10. Life is good!

Another extra low 'clam tide'.

The Ark

2010-05-25T15:32:00.002-08:00

Pat and Marcia rolled into here last night. They just came up the Alaska Highway from Michigan on their way to Kodiak Island to campground host out at Pasagshak Bay - which is literally at the end of the road. They'll be on Kodiak until September 15th and then they'll relocate somewhere on the Kenai Peninsula. So we're giving them the "chefs tour" of our spot, and promise to go visit them before we pull up stakes in August. Yes, they did bring the kitchen sink!

Marcia and Pat, just a 35 road miles and a nine hour ferry ride from their summer spot.

Wildlife

2010-05-24T17:26:00.002-08:00

The moose have moved down close to the Sterling Highway to get at the first green grass growing along the right of way. The moose density is as high as one per mile of highway now. The momma moose are about to drop their calves. We know all things in nature are interconnected so of course a brown bear has moved into our area looking for those new moose babies. The bear has been visiting the Senior Center and Post Office up on Kingsley Road, about a mile from here, quite a bit. No photos yet, but Joyce and I will go out looking after dinner.

I'll bet you're getting tired of my eagle pictures by now, we'll it's my blog so I'm pulling rank and putting another one up. Lots of eagles pairing up now and engaging in aerial acrobatics. Enjoy!

Fast Food Hot Spot

2010-05-23T11:01:00.001-08:00

I’ve found the best fast food in Ninilchik. Caroline, the “hot dog hat lady”, just opened a stand on the south side of the Testoro gas station a few days ago, and it’s a hit. For five bucks you can get a foot long dog smothered with sauerkraut, fried onions and all the other fixin’s, a bag of chips, and an iced soda-pop out of the cooler. The ‘dog’ was excellent.

There is talk of hot chili and halibut chowder being added as the season rolls on. If you’re coming down the Sterling Highway I highly recommend you gas up (pun intended) in Ninilchik

Mount Iiamna, another volcano neighbor

2010-05-22T14:10:00.001-08:00

Mount Iliamna, 10,016 feet

Ninilchik Village

2010-05-22T13:44:00.003-08:00

Here is another ditty about the local area. There are two Ninilchiks. There is the older Ninilchik Village about a 1/2 mile west of the Sterling Highway down Mission Avenue, and then there is the commerical strip or "New Ninilchik" out along the Highway itself. Today we'll see some pictures of Ninilchik Village and the Russian Orthodox church that sits behind and above on a bluff.

Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church

Campground Hosting

2010-05-20T12:45:00.001-08:00

So what is this campground hosting gig anyhow? Well Joyce and I are working for the State of Alaska, Division of Parks and Recreation this summer co-hosting the Deep Creek Recreation Site with our friends Rich and Lin. Our tasks are three fold: We clean outhouses and keep them stocked with the all important TP, pick up litter, and gently urge fee compliance for the boat launch, camp ground, and day use areas. In addition, we're here to answer questions, provide information about local resources and to accept all donations of halibut or salmon (vacuum packed please). Park Ranger Jacqui and the State Troopers cycle through mostly to see if we're still here, so we do have a "Plan B" if needed. If there is blood on the ground we can dial 911 with the best of 'em.

Right now we're seeing six to ten campers a night,and at least 30 bald eagles on our evening litter/exercise walk-about, but with the arrival of Memorial Day weekend the joke is that Ninilchik will become the third largest city in Alaska as folks flock in from Anchorage for the king salmon opener on Deep Creek and several "clam tides". We will pack well over 100 RV's into this place! It is quite the show.

So what do we get in addition to living for free on site and being our own "Deep Creek Beach Power and Light"? We have use of the ranger station's shower and laundry facility twice a week and we get a stipend of $425 a month. On the way to and from our duty station we get free stays in most of the other Alaskan State Parks. We also received some natty State of Alaska hoodies, tee-shirts, and a ball cap i.e. our uniforms. The big pay off of course is that we get to spend three months on the Kenai Peninsula.

Interested? You can apply October 1st for the following season online here. There are a variety of locations from Kodiak Island to interior Alaska available, the details of what is expected and what is supplied does vary by site.

Rich, Litter Control Specialist I.

Neighbors To The South

2010-05-18T17:44:00.001-08:00

Just to the south of us on the same beach is the boat launching concession. Modified logging skidders are used to launch halibut and salmon charter craft and private boats up to 32 feet. Cost is $55 round trip. When the tide is up and the wind is blowing it is quite a show. We call it "Channel 5" as we only get four TV channels here. Click here for a video clip of the skidder crew in action that I took from the cliffs above the beach.

While I was up on the cliff an immature bald eagle kept cruising by to see what I was up to. On his third pass I was ready for him! It was a gloriously sunny day here.

Immature bald eagle.

Meet The Neighbors

2010-05-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

Mount Redoubt, 10,200 feet, showed up from under the clouds tonight right at sunset across Cook Inlet from us. This volcano erupted last spring so we'll see if we get any surprises this season. I think we're about 50 miles away. You can see it makes its own weather. We have three other volcanoes visible from here on a good day: Mount Spurr way up to the north to the west of Anchorage, Mount Illiamna with its seven sub-peak right across from us, and Mount Augustine down past Homer sitting on its own little island. We have the trailer set up so we can watch the light change on Mount Redoubt from our "living room".

Fly Like An Eagle

2010-05-16T04:52:00.000-08:00

We have plenty of bald eagles here. I decided to try and get a decent picture of one last evening after dinner. This is only the second shot I took. I probably should quit while I'm ahead. Enjoy

.Click on the photo to get an 800 pixel version.

Minus Tide

2010-05-15T12:44:00.000-08:00

We have a -3.4 tide here at Deep Creek this morning and the sun is out. Not many folks showing up to try their shovels at clamming. Tides here can have over a 24 foot variance so you do have to pay attention. Getting caught out on the flats when Cook Inlet decides to re-load isn't fun.

Well dress clammers ready to go.

You're looking across 30 miles of Cook Inlet.

Joyce at the mouth of Deep Creek, that's a lump of coal she's standing by.

Ninilchik - Engines stop

2010-05-14T15:22:00.002-08:00

We're here after a quick drive down from Soldotna. Janet and Les dropped off at Clam Gulch at their campground hosting venue and Lin, Rich, Joyce and I continued on to Deep Creek Beach at Ninilchik our summer hosting spot. This is the same location we hosted in 2006. It was 41 degrees and blowing a gale from the north when we arrived - typical early season weather. We did see three bald eagles catching the lift off the cliffs to the south and took that as a good sign.

We spent the early afternoon laying in propane, getting a library card, joining the Ninilchik Health & Wellness Club, checking out the General Store, and ordering a pizza from the Friday night fun raiser the high school runs. We broke out the Wave 6 catalytic heater and are all fat and sassy watching the tide roll back in. Time to get the trailer set up and organized, it feel into a bit of a jumble the last few days on the road.

Some local prices:
Gasoline $3.72
Diesel $3.84

Propane $4/gallon

We be Clammin' dancing moose tee-shirt at the General Store - priceless

A good afternoon for a nap.

Winter storm debris.

Soldotna

2010-05-13T13:51:00.001-08:00

The wind was pretty rowdy coming south out of Los-Anchorage along the Turnagain Arm, but it died off as we turned inland. We're in Soldotna under overcast skies for the day. Time for last minute shopping and topping the tanks before we roll the 40 miles down to Ninilchik tomorrow. Gasoline was $3.37 in Anchorage, and $3.71 here.

We've already made our pilgrimage to the Fred Meyer store and got our official Fred Meyer supersave card. It is the place for food shopping on the whole Kenai Peninsula. Prices seem to run about the same as back home in Bozeman, and the selection was great - they even had Boar's Head sandwich meats and cheeses. Buy more then $100 worth of stuff and you get 10 cents a gallon off fuel. How they do that?

Fred will even let you boondock in his parking lot and throws in a dump station to boot.

We've had a special request from Dave Hall. He is starting to doubt that his parents are really on this trip with us because pictures of them have been so scarce. Here you go Dave, proof positive that mom and dad are spending the family fortune on coffee, pie, and diesel fuel.

Gastronomic Adventures

2010-05-12T20:16:00.001-08:00

The day started well with an eagle perched right above the RV's for an hour or so. This was our last full day of driving, we went from east of Tok to Eagle River via the Tok Cutoff (Glenn Highway). As campground hosts in transit we're staying at the Eagle River State Recreation Area for free tonight. We're just 12 miles north of Anchorage.

The Glenn Highway also had some rough spots and frost heaves, but we still made good time down to Glenallen and then across to Eagle Creek.

Today we made two stops at restaurants we've heard about. Breakfast was at "Fast Eddy's" in Tok. It was excellent, and the portions were huge. I recommend the Musher's Omelet if your cardiologist will allow it. I almost finish it! Serious good food here, and great service.

Later in the day we stopped at the Eureka Lodge just past Eureka Summit for soup and pie. Both were winners and the views to the south were stunning. We took a slab of blueberry pie away with us for later tonight.

Morning visitor

Breakfast at Fast Eddy's - Tok

Les and Janet tackle the blueberry pie at Eureka Lodge.

Today's scenic shot in black and white. Click to expand.

Red Flag Day

2010-05-12T08:44:00.004-08:00

We headed out from Whitehorse at 8 AM this morning under overcast skies and cool temperatures and almost made Tok, Alaska. We stopped 40 miles shy when we found a lovely, flat, paved, and free MP1269 rest area. Everybody was ready to stop because the road from Burwash Landing, Yukon west to Beaver Creek, Yukon was one long obstacle course of rough breaks and frost heaves. At times 15 mph wasn't too slow. Many of the bad spots are marked with small red flags, but many are not. We all did a great job of just taking it slowly. Rich, the leader of the day, did a great job on the CB radio giving us a heads-up on the nasties coming up. Building roads on top of permafrost must still be more art then science.

We didn't even come close to missing the right turn at Haines Junction, the turn is extremely well marked. We fueled up there and again at Beaver Creek.

Kluane Lake was still mostly frozen and we couldn't find any mountain sheep on the hill sides there, but we saw a moose along the way and several pairs of nesting swans for our wildlife fix.

Customs was another straight forward process - no, I'm not bringing $10,000 in (I wish) and yes, I promise that I'll only stay for the summer. Rich and Lin's trailer cleared the 13 foot roof with at least 2" to spare! There were a few miles of road construction right at the border, but the way soon returned to clear sailing. The long day ended with the sun, 60 degree temperatures, and chicken and noodles on the table.

There is talk about breakfast in the morning at Fast Eddys in Tok. Sign me up.

The right and correct turn.

So what's your hurry pilgrim?

Shy moose.

Night camp on the Chisana River.

Three To Tow To Tok Today

2010-05-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

Sunrise today in Whitehorse: 5:27 AM
Sunset this evening: 10:28 PM
Five minutes of sunshine more a day now. Check it out here.

We're on the road today, but our French correspondent Lisa VandenBos sent us a foto from an RV show in Paris to ponder. Too cute!

Whitehorse Rest Day

2010-05-10T16:01:00.001-08:00

Today was time for naps, tuning a new CB radio antenna, a walk around downtown Whitehorse, and time to clean up and organize for another border crossing. Tomorrow we're going to try for Tok, Alaska.

Oh yes, we did the Tim Horton doughnut thing. Horton's is the Dunkin' Doughnuts of Canada with more even sugar - great coffee though.

Here are a few pictures from the afternoon's saunter around Whitehorse under very sunny skies and pushing 60 degrees.

Totem

Totem Detail

Joyce's new buddy.

Bozeman use to get this cold too!

We'll be able to hear Rich and Lin on the CB now.

Internetting and other techno-bits

2010-05-10T06:52:00.002-08:00

Is that even a verb? We're finding lots of Wi-Fi hot spots along the way. Most campgrounds have a connection and our Verizon Mi-Fi card works in most towns. We are paying a surcharge of so much per Kb to use it in Canada, but Alaska is reputed to be on Verizon's extended network. So posting to the blog, online banking, and email has been a daily occurrence.

We've been using our 'plastic' to pay for camping and fuel, much easier then carrying a wad of cash. In fact, we're still working off the $200 in Canadian funds we carried across the border. By using the debit card we let the bank figure out the exchange rate and all that.

I had a question about the camera I'm using. It is an Olympus SP-570UZ, nothing special, but it has a great zoom lens, it is slow to write a picture and be ready for the next shot so wildlife photography is not its strength. I use Picasa 3 to crop and size the the pictures. It's free from our buddies at Google.

When we're boondocking we use a 300 watt full sine wave inverter to re-charge the laptops and the camera batteries.

Oh yeah, of course we have an iPod rigged to play thru the FM radio for the long stretches between stations. I highly recommend listening to the CBC when you can get it. Not your usual Rush Limbaugh bile to be sure!

So armed with all the techno trinkets and baubles of 2010 we roll on. How far it all has come since 1943 on the 'Alcan Highway'

Allen's Lookout ---> Whitehorse, Yukon

2010-05-09T17:59:00.001-08:00

The rules of excess civilization are creeping into the Yukon, even though only 30,000 people live here. All the rest areas we looked at were signed "NO Camping" and most of the Provincial campground were still closed, so we pressed on to Whitehorse and dipped into The Caribou RV Park 16 miles east of town. We've got the place to ourselves and they even have a restaurant for breakfast right on the property. The Swiss owner serenaded us with his accordion. Good stuff.

Other then a few rigs carrying supplies up and down the highway we literally had the road to ourselves and the bears. The road is in superb shape and the rough patches are clearly marked. When the signs say slow down, they mean slow down ... now! It took only the first winter-broken spot to teach us that lesson.

Here are a few snaps from the day's journey past the Sign Forest in Watson Lake, across the bridge at Teslin, and up and over the Rockies again.

We couldn't help ourselves!

The Sign Forest at Watson Lake, see anything unique?

Our lunch stop. Can you find the sea gull? Seriously!

The bridge at Teslin, Yukon. The metal decking made us all 'squishy' going across.

Fort Nelson, B.C. ---> Allen's Lookout

2010-05-09T09:54:00.000-08:00

Another great travel day across a stunning part of the Alaska Highway. We left Fort Nelson under sunny skies and chugged up from the lowest point on the Alaska Highway (1,000 feet MSL) through rolling farm land back into the mountains. We stopped to take in the views from Steamboat Mountain Summit (3,500 feet MSL), and then crossed the highest point on the highway at Summit Pass (4,250 feet MSL). From that point on it was a day of animals around almost every curve. No lions and tigers, but we did see both black and grizzly bears, caribou, buffalo, Stone Sheep, and a moose.

We were judicious about fuel stops, a good thing as several of the road houses along the way were either out of business or hadn't opened yet. We fueled up at Toad River and noted that the Northern Rockies Lodge was also open. Gasoline was $1.359 a liter at Toad River. I’ll let you do the conversion, I’m afraid to!

We stopped at Liard Hot Springs, and while we didn't take a dip we did walk in and check it out. We were sure tempted to run back and grab our bathing suits after we saw the springs - clean, hot, and not crowded.

We boondocked for the evening at Allen's Lookout, a huge gravel pull-out above the Liard River, just shy of the Yukon border. A four star boondocking site to be sure – it was hard to decide if the view up or down the river was the best!

On to the Yukon at Watson Lake, and then the bridge at Teslin.

Dawson Creek, B.C. ---> Fort Nelson, B.C.

2010-05-07T19:11:00.002-08:00

A sunny run north and getting warmer too. We hit 55 degrees this afternoon. Here are a few pictures from the day's drive. The Internet is poor here so this will be short.

Are you wondering about the price of gasoline? $1.209/liter (Canadian dollars) X 3.79 (convert to US gallons) X .95 (exchange rate today) = $4.36 a gallon. Joyce has volunteered to go back to work!

Lunch stop was at the Old Suicide Hill. "Prepare to meet your maker". Click to enlarge.

Essence of the Alaska Highway - click on the picture for an expanded view.

I set up the ham radio gear here at the Blue Bell Motel and RV.

Williams Lake, B.C. ---> Dawson Creek, B.C.

2010-05-06T21:24:00.003-08:00

A long day of 400 miles, but smooth sailing - this will stand as the longest drive of the whole trip I'm sure. A good road up to Prince George, and then easy, no traffic driving north of there on the Hart Highway. It felt like we finally had hit the north country as we rolled along miles of spruce, fir, and aspen. We saw six black bears, a deer and some elk along the way. Mostly sunny too except for Pine Pass where we had snow squalls and found Azouzetta Lake still ice covered. Throughout the whole day we kept nipping in and out of spring depending on our elevation.

While Joyce made dinner I broke out the ham radio gear and have been bouncing signals off random meteor trails back to Oregon and Washington. Here are a few photos from the day.

Lunch Stop at Bear Lake.

Compare this picture of Azouzetta Lake to page 112 in the Mile Post. I guess we're early!

The iconic "Mile Zero" picture for good luck.

Challenges Big and Small

2010-05-05T20:00:00.003-08:00

Today was a day for being flexible. We left Summerland, B.C. right at our usual 8:30 AM start time. We were going to take Route 97c around Kelowna, Vernon, and Kamloops, but there was fog, sleet, and ice up on the passes so we stayed on plain old 97 instead which added about 50 miles and gave us a tour of each town's downtown section. Better safe then sorry.

Just past Kamloops Rich blew a trailer tire - yes, another Chinese "May-pop" bit the dust. So we turned his pit stop into a lunch stop. We finally hit Cache Creek on the Cariboo Trail and pointed it north again under clearing skies and an excellent version of Route 97.

All this toil did not go un-rewarded. We decided that our intended stop at Hixon, B.C. was 100 miles too far, so we pulled into the Signal Point Gaming (casino) at Williams Lake. Free overnight parking for our rigs and very, very good food - in fact the restaurant was superb. It was two for one steak and prawns night!

Tomorrow we'll reach for Dawson Creek, B.C. and the actual start of the Alaska Highway. It's 400 miles from here so we'll see what happens.

North! Spokane, WA ---> Summerland, B.C.

2010-05-04T05:41:00.005-08:00

Just wind with a small 'w' this morning and some sun. Rich and Lin, and Les and Janet will join us this morning and we'll head north into Canada. Where is that @#$% passport anyhow?

Today's object of interest is taller then the Great Pyramid at Giza, produces prodigious amounts of electricity, and was mentioned in Bob Dylan's song "Idiot Wind". Give up? Click here.

Roll on Columbia, roll on.

Grand Coulee Dam

Lunch stop

The border crossing was a three minute affair once we established that in fact ALL my weapons were still back in Bozeman. Must be the Montana plates on the truck. We on the shores of Lake Okanagan tonight at a Provincial Park just north of Summerland, B.C. We did about 250 miles today.

Missoula, MT ---> Spokane, WA

2010-05-03T14:19:00.002-08:00

Blustery is the understated word for the day. We heard the high winds forecast last night so we got going early and over Lookout Pass and half way across Idaho before we hit the front. Bar the door Nellie! We had 40 mph gusts for the last hour into Spokane. We just slowed down and took it easy knowing that we could bail out down an exit ramp if it got too 'interesting'. Thankfully it was a quartering headwind and not a cross wind.

We're rockin' and rollin' in the RV parking lot at the Northern Quest Casino out at Airway Heights with gusts to 53 mph now.The tumble weeds are flying by the window. I think we'll just keep the slides in tonight.

Our Home away from Home

2010-05-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

We sat still in Missoula today and organized the trailer a bit more this morning, then spent the afternoon with our good friends John and Helena hiking around Pattee Canyon looking for ticks and bears. None found.

Tomorrow we'll get after it and rendezvous with Rich and Lin, and Les and Janet our Alaska travel companions over in Spokane, WA.

So what kind of RV are we hauling around anyhow? We have a 2007 Arctic Fox 27-5L fifth wheel trailer. Over the past several years we've managed to add a several improvements that greatly enhance boondocking. Did I mention the three months we'll be campground hosting for the State of Alaska at Deep Creek Beach we'll be off-grid? Yap, not the KOA life-style for sure. We have 260 watts of solar panels charging the two house batteries, a Honda 2 kw generator, an Olympus Wave 6 catalytic heater, thermal pane windows, and great tank capacities. Thankfully the dump-it/fill-it station will be just two miles from us, but we can go a good long time between visits.

We just threw away the orginal Chinese tires after blowing one on the way north from Mexico early this spring and having a second start to throw its tread the very next day. I replaced them with some BF Goodrich Commerical T/A light truck tires 235/85/16E. We also replaced the suspension hanger bolts with "wet" ones so we can grease those pins on a regular basis.

We love that the trailer is big enough to live in comfortably, yet small enough to get into the more rustic Forest Service spots.

We pull the trailer with our seven year old, but paid for Chevy 2500HD pick up. We don't have a diesel so we just rev it up and go!

Bozeman, MT ----> Missoula, MT

2010-05-01T20:21:00.001-08:00

Today we eased into travel mode with a 200 mile day. We rolled out of Bozeman and made it all of 40 miles to the Wheat Montana Deli in Three Forks for a soup stop. This is a great pit stop, plenty of parking for big rigs, gas and diesel available, great sandwiches made on their own fresh breads and rolls, and located right at the bottom of the MM 274 ramp on I-90.

We must be loaded to the gills, we crested Homestake Pass going 43 mph rev'ing 4700 rpm in first gear. At 6,350 feet above sea level this is easily the highest and steepest pass on the whole trip.

It was a blustery ride with a strong headwind over to Missoula, but we got all set up at Jim and Mary's RV Park between squalls and went off to visit friends. This a great small RV park tucked into the pines just a mile north of I-90 on Rte. 93.

Time to call it good for the day.

Light the fires, kick the tires.

2010-04-30T08:10:00.001-08:00

Enough fondling that copy of "Milepost"! It's time to start across two time zones and 2,900 miles to Ninilchik, Alaska. As you can see our Montana spring has taken a bit of a hit. The forecast for our departure tomorrow is for clear roads and warming temperatures. We're only going 225 miles west over to Missoula to see friends the first day out, but we have the Cardwell Hill and Homestake Pass to cross on I-90.

Speaking of the "Milepost" I found another neat Alaska travel resource - Bell's Travel Guides - they are free, but you have to cough up the postage to get them to your door. Good stuff, kind of like the "Milepost" on a strict diet.

We'll sleep in the trailer tonight and then off we go in the morning.

Getting Geared Up

2010-04-29T13:37:00.000-08:00

We're getting ready to roll north to Alaska for the summer. This will be our fourth trip, this year we'll be campground hosting on the Kenai Peninsula. We're to report for duty May 15th, so we'll shove off May 1st and take our time heading up. We'll leave our house in Bozeman, Montana and head over to Spokane, Washington to pick up our travel buddies Rich and Lin and then our merry mini-caravan will trundle north to the tune of 300 miles a day.

We are getting geared up! Our 27 foot Arctic Fox fifth wheel trailer has new shoes, as does the truck, and we bought and installed a catalytic heater. Joyce has been busy packing the larder, by the looks of it you'd guess all we eat is spaghetti!

It's snowing hard here in Bozeman right now, so we'll see if we can get the rig off the lawn come Saturday morning!