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.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

Saturday,

Saturday, July 14, July 14

Today, we hiked from the Edith Cavell trailhead near Jasper.


On the way, we came across mama blackie with one cub who scooted into the bush when we drove up. Mama didn't seem to mind us at all.


Views of Angel Glacier keep changing perspective as the trail winds up along the moraine.


The bulk of the glacier is in a cirque above and not viewable; what is seen is two "wings" spread out from the central body which cascades down in a series of cracks and ice blocks. We heard some minor rockfall but nothing compared to the huge icefall we saw at Lake Louise.


The Edith Cavell Glacier ends in a tarn of meltwater.


Somehow, the name, Edith Cavell, rang a bell with me. She was a World War I nurse in Brussels. After it was overrun by the Germans, she was executed. So much for compassion. I guess all's fair in love and war.

After the hike, we headed west over Yellowhead Pass, named for Tete Jaune, a real blondie and one of the first fur traders in these parts. Mount Robson's spectacular south face greeted us. From pictures at the visitor's center, the north face is even more impressive.


We decided to press on to Prince George since the weather was good and we gained an hour moving into Pacific time. On Tuesday, we board the ferry at Prince Rupert.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

On the road north

After two days of hiking in Glacier, Mary and I hit the trail for the border. Maple leaf on the flag, kilometers and funny writing on signs...it's like 'nother country, eh?


Following the rampart of the Rockies ever northward over rolling hills; prosperous looking ranches and farms on our way up to Longview, home of Ian Tyson. Our mid afternoon snack break was here at Ian's "Navajo Mug " coffee shop ("Ay-yi-yi, Katy...whatever became of the Navajo Rug and you...".)


Here begins a great story...

You should know that Ian has long been my favorite singer/songwriter since his folkie days (Ian & Sylvia) through his later cowboy song career.

Mary and I sat down with coffee and brownies. In the door comes an older cowboy gent, a bit gimpy looking, straw hat and sunglasses.

"Could this be my favorite cowboy singer?", I asked the waitress as he headed upstairs. From her glazed "I don't think I'm authorized to answer that" look, I figured it was. I hustled out to the van for a copy of my latest CD ("Trails West"). Here he comes...I headed over and had a quick conversation, handed him the CD with cash for royalty for my cover of his song "Horsethief Moon".

"Business is business", sez Ian, stuffing the cash in his hip pocket. "I'll fire this CD up in the truck. Check out my new CD (Raven Singer; a reference to his new cowboy croak?), I won't be around forever, you know."

"Neither will we" I reply, "but the music will!"

Ian grabs his Cappucino to go and he's off to the city, Grand Marshall for the 100th running of the Calgary Stampede.

So, whadd'ya think, will he pick up my original tune, "The Drift"? One can always dream.

So endeth the tale...

The Kananaskis is another breathtaking sixty miles of mountains.


Rocky Mountain Bighorns are all along the road, coats still shaggy from the long winter. Pretty curious.


Here we are in Canmore, just down the road from Banff for a motel night with clean sheets, clean bodies and a great dinner. Our appetizer was a pizza with basil pesto, fresh figs, blue cheese, honey and some other cheese. Sounds funny but it was great! Main course was Halibut with eggplant, green beans and great spicing including yellow raisins. The Woodford Reserve washed it down well. Any wonder the restaurant is called Crazy Weed?

Tomorrow, up to Lake Louise for an afternoon hike. Perhaps a hotdog and beans nite!

Location:Canmore, Alberta

Thursday in Banff Park

This morning, we drove from Canmore up into the park and Lake Louise.
"the golden poppies are blooming' round the banks of Lake Louise..."
Seems like there is a song for everything.




Our hike today was up along the lake to the tea house overlooking the Plain of Six Glaciers.


True mountaineers don't let a little snow stop them.


Mary with "The Mitre" in the background


All of a sudden. There was this roar...no jets overhead. We looked out across the cirque and caught this tremendous avalanche from near the top of Mount Lefroy.


It started near the top and ran over the cliff dropping 1500 feet or so to the valley below...spectacular. We were in the right place at the right time.

The tea house was built by Swiss guides in the twenties and serves tea, soups, sandwiches and apple pie. Mary is very happy.



Back down the trail to the Lake Louise Chateau,


our campsite and dinner.

We're off!




On Sunday, crack 'o ten thirty, we rolled out of Jackson and headed north. Anything we don't have with us, we either don't need or can find along the way. Hot day up through Montana...94 degrees north of Helena. The Pony fire in the Tobacco Root mountains must be under control; didn't see much of a smoke plume.
Off the interstate and onto state highway up to Augusta and Choteau. Sign to Valier, setting for Ivan Doig's books. Great rolling hills with the Chinese Wall of the Rockies coming up..watch those 35 mph turns!




After Browning, the road gets even twister, up and down over foothills as you approach Glacier Park. We got into our campsite around nine and bedded down for our first night.
Monday
Our first day on the trail led us up towards Otokomi Lake. We didn't make it all the way. I guess we spent too much time getting ready for the trip and not enough time getting in a shape! We did around seven miles round trip. Beargrass everywhere! There are whole meadows of it interspersed with lupine, paintbrush and the like.




Speaking of bears, Mary caught a short glimpse of a small black bear ahead of us on the trail. As soon as he saw us, he scooted as fast as he could...good bear!
Nice cascades with melt water from the high places.




In the evening, we drove up .Logan Pass to catch last light on the peaks.




Tuesday, we drove to the Many Glacier area and hiked up the Swiftcurrent trail. Much nicer than yesterday; a more gradual climb past three lakes with falls between and open vistas. Redrock may be one of the prettiest falls I have ever seen. It is only eighty feet or so but goes over many ledges of angled red rock. Flowers abound on either side, nourished by the spray. We sat in the shadow of our natural swamp cooler where the temperature was ten degrees or so lower.








Four miles up, we rounded a corner and could see the full sweep of the cirque.




At this point, the switchbacks start and we declined. Half way back, we ran into these critters on the trail.








Being tired and lazy, we opted for dinner at Many Glacier Hotel. Very good food at decent price, good service and a world class view...what more could you want?
And so, to bed.

Almost ready

We're getting ready to hit the road on Sunday. Here is our travel rig.





Got to have all the 'tronics.





The kitchen's in the back.





A comfortable bed's a necessity





Next few days; getting all our ducks (or goslings)in a row...





Stay tuned...

Location:Jackson, WY