On the road again...

Hi all...the last two weeks have been a whirlwind of chilly nights and very long dirt roads, but we had a great time. After leaving Denali, we decided to head North toward the Arctic Circle. Our original goal had been to head all the way up the state to Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse (the site of the oil fields and the only driveable way to the Arctic Ocean), but with mixed reviews about the road, we were unsure about the long trek. The road is about 400 miles (much of which is dirt), and the brochures admonish you to carry two spare tires, water, flares, watch out for semis flying by, and be prepared to have a cracked windshield. Now while dirt roads are not exactly foreign to either of us, we were a little apprehensive about embarking on such a trek, so we decided to go partway (to the Arctic Circle) and turn around if it proved too difficult. Once we got partway up, however, we were encouraged by the rangers at the Arctic Interagency Center to head on up the road and be wowed by the scenery and animals. This, combined with our friend James telling us that the road is for true adventurers, was pretty much irresistible, so with one spare tire and visions of cracked windshields, we headed out. The drive included going over Alaska's highest pass, Atigun Pass, at 4,643 feet and also took us through the Brooks Range. Yeah...I was pretty excited about that. :) The views were phenomenal, and we even got to see the farthest Northern Spruce on the road as the terrain turned to vast treeless plains covered in ranging red tundra. The fall colors were amazing, and despite the chilly nights camping, we had a blast. The trip included seeing our first muskox, lots of caribou, and getting to touch the Arctic Ocean, so really, what more could you ask for? After reaching the ocean (which had to be accessed by a guided tour that is monitored by the oil company), we realized that it was all South from there. It was a pretty strange feeling after heading North for so long. But we were certainly not done with the Arctic region.
As we headed back south, we drove half of the road and then decided to stop and visit the only real town on the road, Wiseman. Wiseman is about 85 miles north of the Arctic Circle and is home to about 14 full-time residents. When we drove into town, someone suggested that we visit the chapel. We drove up to a very historic building with a chapel sign, and walked inside to find an adorable, quaint chapel that had a sign that beckoned you to stay and engage in prayer. We sat for awhile, and after some time a little elderly lady came up to the door to say hello. We began chatting and after a little while we were intrigued by this women and her ministry of the prayer chapel, so we decided to stay in the area. After a quick walk around the town, we came back to our car, and she invited us into her home for tea. We were able to stay the weekend, and woke up on our first anniversary in the little town of Wiseman, north of the Arctic Circle, and getting to attend church at a wonderful little prayer chapel surrounded by wonderful people! We could not have planned a better surprise if we had tried. What a blessing!

Sadly, we had to leave Wiseman and our new friends later that day and head back toward Fairbanks. The last major place on our list was Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, and we were running out of time to get down there. So, with about 28 hours of driving on the Dalton Highway behind us (and no flats or cracks), we headed for Wrangell-St. Elias, known for its glaciers and backcountry wilderness.
While we were excited to go, our spirits were slightly dampened when we learned that the way into the park was by a 66 mile dirt road that had been laid over a railroad track and was littered with railroad spikes. Let's just say that we drove slowly, scouring the road for anything that might land us on the side of the road. When we arrived, the weather was overcast, and the "campsite" was right near the glacier. When I say "campsite," insert "large gravel parking lot that they let you set a tent up in." Now there is something you should know about glaciers. They are God's form of air conditioning and unless it's hot, you don't want to camp next to one. All night a cool breeze blew through the tent airing out everything in its way. The view, however, was really phenomenal. We awoke the next morning, intent on heading into the town to see the glacier, only to find one of our tires quite low. Rodney filled it up (which I would have never known to do, but I have now been thoroughly educated in the way of tire sidewalls), and we headed out to find the only tire repair shop in town. The guy was putting a roof on somewhere across town, so we waited a few hours. Upon removing the tire, the culprit was determined to be "ye old drywall screw." Yeah...
Well, the next day we got to go into the town, and we were able to hike down to the glacier. It was amazing to walk around on it and get to see it all really up close. The trip was definitely worth it!

We left there, and headed down to Valdez (home of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil spill). Having driven the pipeline all the way to the top, I wanted to complete the entire length of it. In Valdez, we were treated to more glaciers, wonderful waterfalls, and a sea lion. The scenery there was unbelievable with mountains towering above you as you head toward the ocean. Really beautiful!
Now we're back in Anchorage. We're hoping to get a glacier cruise in before they end for the season, but we'll see....

Done Did Denali

Hi All...We are in Fairbanks and just wanted to write a quick update. We spent much of the last week in Denali National Park where we saw awesome animals, did some amazing hiking, met some interesting people, and wore almost all of our clothes to keep warm. The 6 hour bus ride (the only way to get into the park) took us 85 miles into the park where we camped at Wonder Lake. This campground is the closest that you can get to Mt. McKinley unless you are on the mountain. They say that only 30% of people who come to visit even get to see the whole mountain, and we were incredibly blessed. Despite our very cold and rainy bus ride in, we had two fantastic days of viewing the mountain. There is nothing quite like waking up, sticking your head out of the tent, and seeing a 20,000 foot mountain right in front of you (28 miles away). We were also able to do some great off-trail hiking. Denali is famous for not having many trails in the park, so you are able to just ride the bus and say, "I'd like to get off here please," and they let you just tromp around on the tundra. It is a funny feeling though, because these are the same buses that carry people into the park for the day to do wildlife viewing, so one minute you are scanning for bears and the next you are hopping out to climb every mountains. Surreal, but really wonderful. We were also very fortunate to hit the peak fall season here. Fortunate in that the colors were unbelievable. The camping was also quite an adventure. Because of the nature of the area, all the food is kept in a building surrounded by picnic tables and most people cook and eat there. This leads to getting to know the people around you much more than normal camping, and we had a great time getting to talk to lots of other visitors. Poor Rodney...some nights I think he had cooked, cleaned up, gotten ready for bed, and returned to the cook area only to find me still talking or helping out a new friend with a Scrabble game. This trip also had some great wild life viewing. We saw several bears and moose, birds, a fox, and a coyote. One bear even walked down the road in front of our bus for a few miles. The whole trip was really amazing, and I would have to say that it was a definitely highlight! Although I was at first a bit trepidatious about heading out into the famed Denali, once I was there I spent the entire time being completely captivated by the expansive scenery and fantastic beauty. (Ok, not the entire time...some of that was spent shivering to sleep in the chilly wilderness evenings, but mostly). :) The mountains there are friendly...they seem to just be sitting there waiting for you to climb them, and the joy of heading out across them with no trail is a sort of freedom and adventure that everyone should get to live. Needless to say, we had a great time.
And now we are here in Fairbanks enjoying great food and trying to stay dry. Apparently we have hit a bit of a wet season here in Alaska, but we are heading north yet again and hope to see sunny skies. Tomorrow we head out for the Brooks Range and then back here to Fairbanks. Our heading North is almost done, and I'm not sure what to think...hmmm...until then...it's north for now.

There and Back Again

Hello All…We’ve had a great last week just chillin’ here in Talkeetna, Alaska. We’ve had some rather rainy days which provided ample time for us to work on the big box of books that we brought along, listen to some Car Talk podcasts, and hang out in town at the local roadhouse where we have renewed our love of homemade pies and baked goods. I am finally starting to feel kind of at home here. The town is fairly small, and I am starting to run into people that I know around town. I love the local thing, and we are really enjoying getting to chat with people a little more.
This past week we took a day and drove up to Fairbanks where we got an oil change, checked out the campus, had arguably the best lasagna ever, and got to see the area. It was lovely with rolling hills and a river in the beautiful plain. On the drive we saw 7 moose, and I was pretty thrilled with Rodney’s photographic endeavors out the car window.
On the sunny days we have had a great time out hiking. With his berry book in tow, Rodney’s been identifying the local berries, and we’ve gotten to eat a lot of blueberries. I was nervous, but the locals haul them out of the woods in bags and encourage you with reckless abandon. They’re really good.
After almost everyone we encounter asking if we’d tried fishing yet, we finally caved and I got my very first fishing license ever. Even though we have little rods and didn’t really have any of the attendant gear, we bought some way too heavy line, a fillet knife, and hit the shores. We decided to go where there were lots of people, and while the fishing there wasn’t so wonderful, we preferred that company to the company of grizzlies. We spent several chilly hours casting, and Rodney pulled in a really pretty rainbow trout that we couldn’t keep. Although we didn’t catch anything else, we got to see a lot of salmon that had already spawned float back downstream to die and there were lots of other fish swimming right near the shore. Quite the sight. At least now I can always say that I have fished in Alaska.
We are heading down the road tomorrow for a scenic drive on the Denali Highway, a dirt road that heads to a small town called Paxson. Next week, we are going to get to go into Denali and camp for four days. Until then I think we are going to really enjoy our last several days here in Talkeetna reading, hiking, and dining on the scrumptious cinnamon rolls here at the Roadhouse café.

Bluegrass, Boats, and Big, Big Ungulates

We are having a great time getting out and exploring the areas around Talkeetna. This past weekend was the Talkeetna Bluegrass Festival, which is apparently a well known camping and music and substance weekend. We managed to wander over there on Sunday afternoon after most of the crowds had abandoned their tent sites, and we got to see the calmer side of the festival. Everyone was very friendly, and I found a Winnebago that I really like. Hmmm…maybe for the next time we make this trek.
About 45 minutes north of where we are staying is Denali State Park. It is right at the edge of the national park and offers some great views of the mountains around Denali (and Denali itself if there were no clouds). We headed up there and found the perfect place to try out our newly acquired boat. After a quick chat with the information center, we learned that this lake is actually fed by a stream that has a salmon run, so we were eager to get in the water and check it out. The boat was much easier to set up than we anticipated, and we were quickly in the water paddling along. It is amazing. I just love being out on the water and getting to see everything from in the middle of it all. The boat is a trooper and carried the two of us with no problems whatsoever. Off we paddled to the opposite shore where there was a sandbar and the aforementioned salmon. The girl had also mentioned that there were loads of bear scat in the ankle deep water because this is where the bears come and they have even been seen teaching their young how to fish here.
Well, even when we were quite a ways away, we saw lots of waves in the water, and when we got closer, there were coho salmon all around us. They are the brightest red you can imagine and have dark green heads. They swim toward each other and then seem to fight underwater and cause a great disturbance before they all swim in different directions only to repeat the scenario over and over. We paddled up onto the sandbar and just sat and watched them for a good long while (ever alert for hungry bears given that there was indeed scat on the sandbar). It was such an amazing sight! They are huge fish and are so powerful when they swim and the colors are just striking. Definitely worth the trip!
On the way home our nature experience continued when we came upon a great big moose on the side of the road. I did a quick turn around, and we were able to watch him for quite a while until a semi came down the road and he went charging away.
Good day overall!

August in Alaska

We've arrived! After only 6 weeks, almost 7,000 miles, and lots of conversations, we have arrived in Alaska. The last week here has been a whirlwind tour of beautiful scenery and attempting to sleep somewhere other than our tent. We were fortunate enough to get a campsite in a campground right near Anchorage, where we based out of to search for a place to stay. We spent one day driving north to Talkeetna in search of a cabin or some sort of lodging. A lot of things are not listed on the internet, so you actually have to drive to where you want to stay and check out the boards at the post offices and grocery stores and search diligently for "for rent" signs on the side of the road. Our drive to Talkeetna gave us a few leads, and the next day we headed down to the Kenai peninsula to search for other options. (btw...the Kenai peninsula is beatiful, but one should never attempt to drive a large part if it in one day.) Many, many miles and many phone calls later, we finally!
decided on a little cabin outside of Talkeetna. We felt incredibly blessed because when we drove up, the cabin was just becoming available in two days right when we needed it. (We had to be out of the campsite in Anchorage after four days, and we really didn't want to find another place.) The cabin was exactly our budget and available the exact day we needed it!
So far it has been delightful. We have really enjoyed getting to stay in one place and have lots of time to read and write and just recoup. We've also had a nice time checking out the amazing river that is right outside of Talkeetna. We were also treated to a fantastic view of Denali from the drive into Talkeetna. We happened to hit a day with almost no clouds and you could see the entire mountain. Amazing! From 65 air miles away, the mountain is absolutely enormous and beautiful. We're really looking forward to getting to go hiking up there later on this trip.
We're also really excited about our latest acquisition. After much deliberation and several trips to the Anchorage REI, we finally took the plunge and purchased a boat. It is a lovely bright orange inflatable kayak. In BC we passed so much water that we couldn't get on because we had no flotation devices except for our air mattress, so now I am really looking forward to getting to explore some of the local water. Should be interesting. :)
We hope you all are doing well and enjoying August...

You are my Sunshine

Well, we are in the Yukon. It is 10pm, the sun is still shining, and it does not look like it has plans to set anytime soon. We are staying in an RV park that is owned by Swiss people, and right now outside the laundromat, the accordions are going strong and have been for the last several hours. There are Swiss people all around us, and I have even had a little bit of a chance to practice some of my oh-so-rusty German. We decided to stay because when we drove in there was the most beautiful sight...a little hut with a kitchen sink for washing dishes. I don't know if I've ever been so happy to wash dishes in running water. Magical. :)
We have been camping for over two weeks now, and we take showers at least once a week whether we need to or not. :) We decided that when we felt the need to limit our forays into places like gas stations, we probably needed to find showers. Not always an easy task, but we did find a rather rustic bathhouse where I learned that Crocs are not really good at killing a spider, but running water will wash them down the drain with enough help.
After several wonderful days of driving the Cassiar, we have arrived in Whitehorse. Our time driving through northern BC included seeing glaciers, my first grizzly, a serious black bear, canoeing, and more attempts to vanquish mosquitoes. While our campsites on lakes were truly lovely, their tendency to be mosquito infested has added an interesting challenge to our travels. There are days that we feel like we are in some version of the Amazing Race as we attempt to find water that is not under a boil order, set up a tent without getting eaten alive, reload the puzzle that is known as our car--again, and head off down the road.
We have certainly seen a little more nature since heading out on the Cassiar. We had a cute young grizzly walking around our campground only about 50 feet from our tent. I was so excited until we headed to bed, and I realized that our tent was certainly the closest to where he had been walking. Makes you think...
We also saw a really awesome black bear on the side of the road. He was certainly not yo' mamma's teddy bear, and he got a little perturbed when I turned the car toward him to follow him down the road. (I know Mom, I would not follow him on foot.)
After only five weeks on the road, we finally made it into a canoe. We had been wanting to do a canoeing trip, but given that we have never been in one together before, we figured that we should try a few hours and "test the waters." Haha. We had a great time, even given that the canoe dude's advice to go left because there is a 1 in 8 chance that the wind will come up from the other direction did not really pan out. Against the wind is harder. And yes JP, I paddled. It was really amazing though, being out in the middle of an enormous lake that we couldn't even see all of, and we were the only ones there. Pretty cool. Hopefully we'll get back out on the water now that we know we can canoe together.
Well, we are leaving Whitehorse tomorrow and heading on to Alaska. Whitehorse is a delightful town that we have had a wonderful time sweating to death in. Honestly, who would think you head into the Yukon for 90 degrees. Hmmm... Well, at least we are leaving with clean dishes, clean laundry, and drinking water. Off to the next challenge.

Burns and Smithers, Smithers and Burns

For those of you not overly pop-culturally inclined, please forgive this post and it's seemingly nonsensical information. For those of you who are, we are in the town of Smithers, located about 45 minutes from Burns Lake. Gotta love it.
We are really enjoying Smithers. The mountains are beautiful, and we have had a great time investigating the ski resort here, twin waterfalls near the glacier right outside of town, and the wonderful little downtown area. Tomorrow we are heading up to Prince Rupert, where we are really looking forward to figuring out kayaking. We have high hopes of purchasing an inflatable kayak, but we will see. We are also trying to figure out fishing up here, but it is rather complicated. We sure miss our serious angling friends/family right now (you know who you are). Apparently there are wonderful fish to be caught, but between buying alien (yes that's us) licenses, finding fishing streams, exploring the world of bait potential, etc...we shall see. If we do catch something, however, you will certainly hear about it.
Well..that's about all from here.
Just one more thing...we found him (see pic). Al Gore should be very relieved. :)