Dawson, Whitehorse and the Yukon, heading home

After ferrying across the Yukon River to Dawson we hit the town in the middle of a big summer weekend. Music in the park, booths and lots of people. I heard music from down the block and added some harmony to a gal singing "Me and Bobby McGee" at the Robert Service Saloon. At the piano, "The kid who handled the music box" was, indeed, "hitting a jag-time tune" (he was very good!)

The road south to Whitehorse roughly follows the trail miners took to get to Dawson and the gold fields. Transport was by wagon in summer and horse drawn sledge by winter with road houses every twenty miles or so. The fare was $150 plus food and lodging; pretty darn pricey for those days! Later on, the stern wheel steamboats made the trail obsolete. Here's the Yukon down in Whitehorse, up on land as a museum.




We had not stayed in a B&B and were pleasantly surprised to find a moderately priced one in Whitehorse with sourdough waffles for breakfast.

Now off the Klondike Loop and joining the Alaska Highway, we turned south onto the Cassiar Highway, 450 miles of remote lakes and mountains.


Here's an obliging moose who interrupted his browse long enough to pose for us.



It was a long trip down the Cassiar. We saw several black bears foraging along the roadside.


After turning east on the Yellowhead (Tete Jaune) Highway we saw some great totem poles at First Nations cultural centers.


Today, we decided to hit the trail for home. After six weeks on the road we are missing Jackson, our friends and our bed. Should be home late tomorrow.

Fairbanks, Chicken and Top of the World Highway

So, where were we when I left off, oh yes, waxing eloquently on our Denali flight.

On the way north, we decided to go on a Nenana River float trip. It's a grey, silty river with class III and IV rapids rated not so much for their difficulty as for the very cold water. These dry suits kept us mostly dry, but did nothing to keep the cold out.




Fairbanks, the farthest north sizable city in the US. We were generously hosted by Bob and Wendy Arundale whom I knew from old college outing club days. Wendy attended Brown/Pembroke and Bob was Rensselaer Outing Club president the year before I took over the reins. It was good to catch up on the many years between visits.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks museum has great artwork and natural history displays. We have discovered the work of Sidney Laurence whose paintings remind me a bit of the Hudson River school, though not quite as flamboyant. The museum expansion off 1997 lends a modern, sweeping aspect to the campus on the ridge above town.




The UAF has a number of Musk Oxen in their experimental animal compound. I remember back in the 1950's, John Teal tried to raise them in Vermont with little success. He then came here to Alaska where it worked out better. The inner hair of Musk Ox is prized for its texture and warmth.




When in Fairbanks, you are only 180 miles or so from the Arctic Circle so, why not? Heading north on the Haul Road we followed the pipeline, a true wonder of the modern world. Its 48 inch tube carries much of the oil fueling this trip. I didn't realize that the crude coming out of the well is hot, some 180 degrees or so. The tube is insulated and rests on special stanchions with heat exchangers to vent heat to the air to preserve permafrost. It is zig-zagged and can slide sideways ten feet either way to avoid earthquake damage. The caribou have apparently become used to crossing underneath. Quite a piece of engineering.

A few miles south of the circle, the road crests a rocky outcropping called Finger Mountain. Haven't figured out yet which finger... The tundra vegetation is already showing fall colors.




After about six hours on the road, we arrived at 66 degrees 33 seconds north latitude, the Arctic Circle where on September 21 the sun goes in a circle around the horizon and then disappears for the next six months. Today, it was 60 degrees warm and gorgeous.




Chena Hot Springs has a unique thermal power plant which works on 185 degree water and generates 400 kilowatts. The water only drops ten or fifteen degrees and can still be used for winter heating, hot soaking pools and great vegetable growing; 6000 pounds of tomatoes per month!




What would an Alaska trip be without visiting a kennel. Summertime is lazy days for the pups.




We left Fairbanks and headed up the Taylor Highway. Lots of "drunken trees" line the roads. These are Black Spruce growing in moist muskeg areas. There is a thin layer of soil over the permafrost, so the roots can't get a good hold and the trees are victims of wind and gravity.




Yes, there is a Chicken, Alaska. Rural myth has it that the founders wanted to name it Ptarmigan but were afraid they wouldn't be able to spell it correctly so settled on Chicken!


Panning for gold is fun but hard on the knees. I learned a lot about what isn't gold, such as pyrites and such. No "flash in the pan" this time.



The Top of the World Highway is spectacular. Eighty miles of well packed gravel winding along the ridge top towards Dawson City on the Yukon River.




That's all for now...

Up in the air!

Awesome...a word trivialized and greatly overused in our society. I have, however, discovered its true meaning, "capable of causing awe", as in jaw dropping wonderment at nature's power in sculpting this planet of ours.

Upon leaving Anchorage under full overcast conditions, we headed up the Parks Highway on our way to Fairbanks. As we drove, cracks of blue began to open in the sky toward the north. As it continued to clear, we began to hope that Denali might show through the clouds. I stepped on the gas, and we set our sights on the air strip at Talkeetna. We arrived a little before noon and booked a five o'clock flight to the mountain. This had been number one on Mary's Alaska bucket list and here we were signed up on a clear day, which is very unusual.



The ten seat Twin Otter from K2 Aviation lifted off and headed northwest over braided rivers and tundra. Soon, the mountains and glaciers came into view; incredible rivers of snow and ice grinding down rock from the high peaks and slowly delivering it to the flatlands below.


As we climbed skyward, the last wisps of cloud disappeared, giving us crystal clear views below.


After weaving his way through peaks and cirques, our pilot landed us right on the Kahiltna Glacier. This is base camp for the southern Denali climbing routes at around 11,000 feet. That doesn't sound too high, but there is still another 10,000 to go to the summit!

As a great admirer of folk singer Bill Staines, I thought of his song, "Redbird's Wing" and mentioned it to our pilot. To my surprise, he knew it and had, in fact, flown Bill on the Denali flight where he got his inspiration for the song. His name is Doug Geeting, a legendary thirty year plus pilot and folksinger in his own right. We had a great music chat up there on the glacier before turning around and roaring down glacier to cruise among cirques and crowd in close to snow capped rock walls. I knew we were I good hands on Redbird's wing.









Back on the ground, Doug and I exchanged CDs and a handshake, capping the trip of a lifetime.


A final clear view of Denali from the road, one that native Alaskans say is all too infrequent.


And so, north to Fairbanks...

Anchorage and beyond

Here's a long overdue post from Alaska.

Mary and I have been super busy taking in the sights and sounds of Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.

We arrived over a week ago at the home of Dick Jablonowski and Susan Rogers (Susie Two), both old friends from college days when we were all outing club members from various schools. I hasten to explain that "outing" had a different connotation than its frequent present day usage. In those ancient times, we went on various outings including, but not limited to, hiking, rock climbing, caving, square dancing, song feasting... There were two Susie Rogers at Vasser, both redheads with big smiles and warm hearts, hence "Susie Two".

Anchorage is a real city of 250,000 with great museums, dining and lighted cross country ski trails to augment the winter five or six hours of daylight. Dick and Susie's house is way up on the hillside with breathtaking views on a clear day of Denali plus several volcanoes. It seems that we carry our clear weather blessing with us wherever we go. Hiking trails into the Chugach Park start a half mile or so above the house and provide great views across the Cook Inlet. Our first foray was down the north side of Turnagain Arm and around to a hike on the south side.



Captain Cook, explored this ocean arm which turned out to be shallow, requiring careful navigation and frequent turns! The Arm has tides second in height only to Fundy. High tide can be as much as 33 feet. On some occasions, the "tidal bore" runs up the arm, a wave cresting two or three feet as the tide comes in over mud flats. Apparently, some brave souls attempt to surf the bore with varying results.

Our next trip down the Kenai was to Whittier. During WWII, Whittier served as a strategic deep water port vital to the war effort as a Japanese attack on Alaska was feared. Actually, two Aleutian Islands were occupied and eventually taken back with fierce fighting and loss of life. Getting to Whittier involves driving through a two and one half mile railroad tunnel! The tunnel was built in one year and rails laid up to Anchorage in record time. It iis obviously closed to cars when scheduled trains are let through, then one way car traffic is allowed with direction changes every half our or so. At the end of our visit, there were about two hundred vehicles lined up heading north.



We boarded a glacier viewing boat trip at the Whittier dock and, sure enough, the clouds lifted as we headed out toward Prince William Sound and down to Blackstone Glacier. More Harbor Seal and Sea Otter sightings but no significant glacier calving this time.



Back in town, we took in the Whale Fat Follies, a creation of local musician Mr. White keys. It is similar to our Kiwanis Follies in Jackson with lots of digs at local foibles and figures. Sure enough, Sarah Palin and Barak Obama made appearances. Locals were asked how many were hosting "house guests from Hell". Fortunately, our hosts didn't raise their hands. We finally decided that it was time to hit the road and headed up to Palmer to visit another outing clubber, Charlie Bockes Sartor. She led us on a great hike up on top of Hatcher Pass above timberline with 360 degree mountain views, mountain tarns and tundra flowers. It was good to get some exercise. After a great dinner and native blueberry/strawberry pancakes for breakfast, we lit out on our own heading north to Fairbanks.

As I write, we are waiting for a flight to McKinley which lands on a glacier! Four hours ago, the mountain was totally clear but now, the clouds seems to be coming in. Maybe our weather luck is fading...more later.

Back on the road and Denali

Monday, July 23

Leaving the ferry and Haines, we set out on the road again. We follow the Chilkat River to the east of a beautiful mountain range, heading for the border crossing into the Yukon Territory.


More glaciers and peaks thank you could believe possible. Now in the Yukon, the country flattens out with big lakes and the Saint Elias Range to the west.
Here is a nice small grizz, maybe two years? Right along the road, he is scarfing up as many plant mouthfuls as he can.


Driving back into Alaska, we stopped at a campground in Tok. They had a small pavilion set up for music. Not being shy, I asked the twenty something year old guitar player if I could sit in. To my surprise, he played lots of 70's and 80's rock; Steve Miller Band and the like. I had a great time playing stuff I remember but had never played. Cousin Curtis plays a mean guitar and has a great line of patter. He launched into a bit about when he and I were on tour in the 70's; remember he is all of 24. We had lots of fun.

Tuesday, July 24

Driving from Tok to Denali via the Denali Highway, 110 miles of gravel.

Again, miles and miles of spectacular mountain scenery.


Slow going, but really out away from civilization except for a few small resorts. Great berry pie at McClaren River Lodge!

Lots of ponds.


The vegetation grows sparse, Black Spruce and fireweed dominate.


Tomorrow, into the park. If we're lucky, we will catch our first glimpse of Denali, "The Great One." They say that only one day out of three or four is clear enough for a view.

Wednesday and Thursday, July 25 & 26

We drove in to our reserved campsite at Teklanika, 29 miles in. It is the farthest campground that you are allowed to drive to. Around noon, we caught the green bus to Eilson visitor center. The grey overcast began to break up as we rode. Every so often, the driver would point out a distant cloud bank behind which, we were assured, lay the mountain.Finally, out of the clouds it came, thousands of feet above, cloaked in white.


At 20,320 feet, it towers above everything else, the highest peak in North America. Since the surrounding valleys are between two to three thousand feet, the climb is long and arduous as well as dangerous. Over the years around two hundred climbers have died attempting the ascent.

Wildlife? We have seen grizzlies


This one was digging into a ground squirrel tunnel.

This is my best grizz picture.


Caribou...


The males have huge racks and they are greatly bothered by mosquitos. We saw on cow running, looking really haggard.

Here is a great sequence of a red fox going after a ground squirrel, catching and then caching it in the roadside gravel! Guess he already had his lunch.











Pretty amazing.

Today, Thursday, dawned bright and clear and the mountain came out in all it's glory.


Our good fortune continues.

Alaska Marine Highway

Thursday, July 19

After an unscheduled repair stop in Ketchikan, we are under way three hours late. That's OK because it was during early morning hours. we now have more daylight hours to watch the mountains and look for whales. We saw a few spouts and a fin or two but no breaches. The mountains go on forever!



Through the Wrangell Narrows, the passage gets tighter, maybe down to 100 yards wide;a few small houses on either side with boat docks and solar panels.


Our next stop is Petersburg, a pretty good sized town with lots of fishing boats.



After Petersburg, the passage opens up again and the mountains get even bigger.




We arrived late in Juneau and spent the night at the Alaska Hotel downtown, a funky old hotel with a loud band downstairs. They quit around one a.m. And we got some some sleep.

Friday, July 13

Wednesday, July 18

Yesterday, we boarded the S.S. Matanuska in Prince Rupert, heading up the inland waterway to Juneau and Haines, Alaska.



Our little Odyssey van is parked below on the car deck dwarfed by monster RVs and semi trailers going north to those communities accessible only by water and air. With only tens of miles of roads in Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, etc., most of the vehicles are older trucks or rugged Jeeps.



Our stateroom is small but comfortable with bunk beds and an airline type private bath with attached shower. The cafeteria's not bad. No whale sittings yet. The weather is typically overcast and occasionally snowfields peek out from ridges just below the clouds.



While we were sleeping, engineers repaired some sort of essential pump so we will be delayed arrival at Juneau by four hours. This does give us more day time to marvel at the profusion of islands, headlands and distant mountains on our way north.

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