Alaskan Adventures

After leaving Dawson City, we headed for Alaska. We travelled up three different fjords to three different areas in Alaska. The first was Haines, Alaska. That was where we saw our first grizzly bear. There was a creek where the bears would come to fish for salmon; however, there was a salmon derby on and lots of fishermen. Unfortunately, there were no bears in the creek, but we saw one in the lake around the corner. We watched it fish for a bit, then it made its way along the road to the river where the fishermen were! We were happy we were in the truck. The Eagle Plains were incredible to see. We saw dozens of Bald Eagles fishing and perching along the river. It was so different to see so many eagles in the same area. It was pouring down rain, which was pretty typical weather in this area. It had been raining for 8 days and was calling for rain for the next two weeks. 

The landscape was quite different along the routes to Alaska too. You could tell it was more like a rainforest the closer we got to Alaska. The trees were much greener and had not yet started to turn into their fall colours. We were a little late visiting these northern communities. Many of the stores and restaurants had closed for the season, or it was their last day. We were recommended to have halibut and chips at the Bamboo Room, an old-style diner. Unfortunately, it was closed for maintenance, and there weren’t really any other restaurants open in town, so we headed back towards Whitehorse and ate at 33 Mile Diner. It was an old log cabin, and Mark was eager to try the homemade pie.

We also travelled to Skagway, Alaska. It was a port town where all of the cruise ships visited. You could tell this was a busier town catering to cruisers. We checked out the Red Onion Saloon and poked around in the tourist shops. We visited the train station and saw the White Pass train. We had dinner at the brewery, and it too was the only restaurant in town open. The cruise ships pulled out at 8:00 pm, and all of the shopkeepers closed up quickly as soon as the travellers started to make their way back to the ships. They see around 12,000 people a day, and cruise ships arrive every day. We tried fry bread, which was kind of like an elephant ear.

On the way to Skagway, we stopped in Carcross and saw the smallest desert. A lot of the cruisers will take buses inland to Canada to visit Carcross. We met a couple from London, ON, running the local bakery and had a nice chat with them. They were returning home shortly. Many of the people in these northern towns and villages make a living in the north for the summer season, then travel or return home during the harsher winters. The couple running the bakery said that they are so busy they need to take a few months off to recuperate for the next season (sounds like teachers). 

The last place in Alaska we visited was Hayden, Tongass National Park, north of Stewart, B.C. This was another spot popular for seeing both Grizzly and Black bears. There was a very long, closed-in boardwalk along the river where you could observe the bear safely. Again, we were just a week or two late, but enjoyed seeing the Bald eagles again. We did see two bears walking along the road, but it would have been neat to see them in the river fishing. The river edge was littered with fish bones and skin left over from the feasting bear, and we saw a few salmon nearing the end of their lives. Stewart had a few little shops open, and we had dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. It was their last day open, and they were flying back home to Mexico until May. 

We have camped at some beautiful campsites in the Yukon, and both Mark and I were so impressed with how beautiful the Yukon is. It is not somewhere I had thought about visiting much prior, but we would highly recommend it. The campsites run on the honour system and are gorgeous! For $20.00, you get beautiful views, firepits and the firewood is supplied; you just have to chop it. Unfortunately, someone swiped our pin to keep the trailer attached to the truck, but as you probably expected, Mark had a spare! I seriously think he must have a spare wife stored away too. He is ready for anything!! 

Last night, we decided to boondock as we were arriving in Smithers late in the evening. In the middle of the night, we were woken to a store alarm going off. We were next to two other boondockers, all of us awake in the wee hours of the morning, expecting the police to pull up. We didn’t know whether we should get out of there or just wait things out. We stuck it out, and the alarm went off, only to start up again as soon as we had started to doze off. We didn’t see anyone get arrested, so it must have been a false alarm.  

We are now making our way south. Mark has been able to catch a few of the sports games along the way in sports bars, which has allowed me to do some writing, as the internet has been very scarce. We have been able to communicate via our Zoleo satellite to let everyone know that we haven’t been eaten by a bear. Our fridge is still working on propane, and as it turns out, we haven’t had electricity at our campsites, so we haven’t been missing the elusive part that we needed to repair it. We are in Burn’s Lake at the moment. We stopped at a farmer’s market further north and met a lovely couple selling lightweight wooden TV-like tables. We picked one up for the trailer, and it turned out she was an Olympic cross-country skier. It was neat to see the sign honouring her on the way into town. Well, I am sure the football game is almost over, which means wheels up for me! 

Mark watching the sports, and me blogging. Such a flattering photo of us both!