Tuesday August 8, Day 21

Starting trip meter: 6184
Starting time: 9:45 AM Alaska Time
Starting Location: Swan’s Rest RV Park on Mosquito Lake, 27 Miles north of Haines on the Haines Hwy (Proprietor Jan Merriman)

Over our morning cup of coffee, we reviewed our maps and planned our next few days and the routes that we would take. As always, our plans are subject to change if the moment dictates it. Had hot oatmeal for breakfast overlooking the lake. Barney spotted an eagle with the binoculars which was hovering over a mother Swan and her young ones, (we forget what a young swan is called). He handed the glasses to me as another eagle flew out from the trees and over the lake. What a sight! These are the thrilling moments that we would have missed if we were staying in a motel in a city, and every day brings us something more special.

Shortly after we left camp, we were stopped on the road for construction, and the sign bearer came up to the van and asked if we would like to see some salmon spawning, which of course we jumped out to see. We were stopped right over a rushing creek. Below us were three large King Salmon, and on the other side were several others. Another bonus in our book!

Arrived in downtown Haines Junction just in time for lunch from the General Store. Chester’s Fried Chicken, and was it ever DELICIOUS! Bought a couple of other items and passed on several others, like a 12 pack of Coke for $9.49 CA, or $6.93 USA, plus GST, plus deposit. Talked about Francis and Jeanette Beaty, and wished that they knew how many times that we have thought about them on this trip and appreciated all of their good advice.

We have seen so much snow in the mountains today, every day there is some on the peaks, but we are encountering more and more. Off to the west were several mountains totally covered with snow. They were in the St. Elias Mountain range and were 15,000′ up to Mt. Logan which is 19,520 feet high. Is this really August? Is it still hot in Jacksonville? Sometimes it feels like we are on a different planet. We are now within the 500-600 mile range from Fairbanks.

Drove through some pretty rugged construction areas, and as luck would have it ran into a major rain storm, with hail at the same time. By the time we were out of it, the van looked like it had gone through a beige paint job. We had to rinse some of it off before we could even get out of the van at the RV park. Barney went around and wiped off all of the door handles so we could open them. We look like we really fit in with the “locals”. Cheeseburgers on the grill tonight, yum!

Carl, as you requested here are your fjord and iceberg pictures! Hope you enjoy them.

Today’s weather: It rained lightly during the night and got down to around 40° F. Still spritzing as we left camp this morning. By mid-afternoon, it had rained on and off most of the day and remained very cool as we get closer to the Alaskan border.

Miles driven today: 316

Wednesday August 9, Day 22

Starting trip meter: 6500
Starting time: 11:00 AM PDT
Starting Location: Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory, Canada

Valdez was a spur of the moment decision, and a fortunate one. An incredibly scenic road that took us through massive glacier mountains and deep into canyons with rushing waters and numerous waterfalls. The down side was that there were many long waits in construction lines. We had hoped to take a car ferry from Valdez to Whittier which would have saved us almost 500 miles, however, as luck would have it, there were no car spaces available until after August 15, so we will have to retrace our route to get to Anchorage and beyond.

On the way into town one of the overlooks along the way was a view and explanation of the Alyeskan Pipeline, how it was built and how it works today. Surprisingly, the pipeline itself is only 48 inches in diameter, however, it is capable of pumping 1.6 million barrels of crude oil a day. It does nothing to help the price at the gas stations which proudly displayed $1.909 for regular unleaded.

Valdez is a picturesque town situated on a fjord and our campsite was within walking distance of the water, marinas, and docks. There were no oil tankers in at the time that we were there but we could see many of the storage tanks in the distance.

Today’s weather: Mid 30s last night. Partly cloudy as we leave Beaver Creek. Nice all day but we had a few sprinkles. When we arrived in Valdez, it was very warm and pleasant.

Miles driven today: 380

 

Thursday August 10, Day 23

Starting trip meter: 6880
Starting time: 8:30 AM ADT
Starting Location: Valdez, Alaska

On our way out of Valdez we noticed a sign referring us to a spawning stream. We could hardly believe the numbers of salmon fighting their way up the creek. There were literally hundreds of them, and some that had already died in the process. It was fascinating to watch them in action.

Arrived in Anchorage mid afternoon, found a room, did laundry and caught up on our Internet activities. Any sightseeing we do will be tomorrow. We are tired and need a day to just do nothing.

The highlight of the evening was our dinner at Club Paris. Barney had eaten there in the early 90s, and had always wanted to go back, and I fully appreciate his desire now. It was a packed upscale restaurant downtown on 5th Ave. We had Steamer Clams for an appetizer, and I actually tried them and enjoyed them. Barney loved them! We had steak, prime rib, and all the trimmings and we were in heaven! Check out our happy and stuffed faces!

Today’s weather: In the low 40s during the night. Forecast for upper 60s in Anchorage today.
Miles driven today: 300

Friday August 11, Day 24

Starting trip meter: 7180
Starting time: 11:00 AM ADT
Starting Location: Anchorage, AK

We did a little shopping and bought gas before leaving Anchorage. We found prices to be not much more than Jacksonville. Gas was $1.549 and prices at the Wal-Mart were very comparable to ours. We found the aluminized polyester sheets (survival blankets) to use when at our cabin east of Fairbanks that has no power for the electric blanket, an air filter for the van, and a few other things.

The old van just keeps chugging along. It just turned 150,000 miles. Keep it up baby, we have a long way to go.

We are now going south on the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm, a beautiful drive along this 70 mile long eastern extension of Cook’s Inlet which was created eons ago by glaciers.

Stopped at Beluga Point, but due to the low tide at the time did not see any signs of the Beluga whales although the signs said that they were plentiful at this time of the year. They are small white whales. There were numerous caution signs warning us to not walk out onto the mud flats since they can be like quicksand, and you might not be rescued before the tide comes in. No problem here folks, we heeded the warning.

Made several stops on the way to Seward, including an old gold mine, and the Portage Glacier Valley. There was an interesting display inside of the visitor center at Portage Glacier explaining the different glaciers that you could see from that point, and specifically one that Barney had seen in the early 90s, had receded tremendously since his last visit. He had recalled large icebergs floating all through Portage Lake, however, the only icebergs today were at the far end of the lake and nearer to the glacier itself. The display graphically showed the predicted recession into 2020 AD, and it was amazing to see how rapidly the glacier is disappearing. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the icebergs.

In 1964 the second largest earthquake in the world, dropped this area 6-11 feet, and wiped out, by flood, the town of Portage. You can see some remnants of the town, and forests which were killed by the invasion of salt water.

Once in Seward, we had a difficult time finding a suitable campsite. There were hundreds, maybe thousands of RVs parked everywhere in town and elbow to elbow on public areas along the water. We were lucky enough to talk a woman into finding us a spot, even though her initial response was that they were also full. Lucky us…….. we had come to Seward on the first day of the “Seward Silver Salmon Derby.”

Today’s weather: Overcast in the AM, sunny in the PM. 68°/45°
Miles driven today: 228

Saturday August 12, Day 25

Starting trip meter: 7390
Starting time: 10:30 AM
Starting Location: Seward, Alaska, US of A

Walked through the main street of Seward before we left town and viewed the harbor one more time. Spent a few minutes talking with a nice couple from Long Island who were in port during their cruise. Decided to forego driving to Homer since we were eager to get back to Anchorage and spend more time in that city.

Climbed to the top of one of the large outcroppings of rocks overlooking Beluga Point in hopes of observing a bore tide and Beluga whales. Bore tides sometimes reach 6 feet in height in the Arm and they have been known to sweep away huge moose. At the top of the outcropping, we met a young couple who were waiting to see the same things. Mark and Laura Langenbach from Durham, N.C. We exchanged a few of each other’s experiences, watched the meager incoming tide (about a 2 inch bore tide) and resumed our trip to Anchorage.

We found a great campground that was within walking distance of downtown Anchorage. It was named the Ship Creek Landings RV Park. Our site with power hook-up only cost $19 which included hot showers and, best of all, a phone line to access the Internet. We were allowed half an hour and we were required to have a local number to sign on. That was no problem with our AOL and AltaVista accounts so we were able to get our e-mail and update our AK2K web site. Another good point was that they had, available for sale, our “AK2K” license plate. The only problem we had with the campground was the 4 AM freight train that passes about 100 feet from our site. Yawn yawn.

We took Pam Mitchell’s advice and went to Humpy’s for dinner. It was halibut for Barney and salmon for me. Thank you Pam, both of our dinners were wonderful, and the beers were great! We walked a few blocks in the area and took pictures of the beautiful beds of flowers that are planted everywhere. We will hate to leave Anchorage in the morning, it is a nice town.

Today’s weather: Beautiful morning about 45°F bright and sunny. High 78° in Anchorage.
Miles driven today: 154

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