I Don't Share With A Bear! (Day 41)



The campground we stayed at last night was near a small town called Destruction Bay. When I say small, I mean small…55 people live there.  The town was created during the building of the Alaskan Highway.  It was included in many relay stations that were every 100 miles for truckers to rest and repair their trucks.  It got its name from a storm that went through there and destroyed buildings and materials.  The name of the lake there is Kluane…same lake we stopped at and I showed you a picture earlier; but then it was covered with ice.  The water is crystal clear and freezing cold!

Amazed at how everything has turned so green since we were through here just weeks ago.



They say this is the most photographed sculpture on the Alaskan Highway.  It is located near the intersection of the Alaskan Highway and the Haines Highway in the town of Haines Junction, Alaska.  This is where we continue to follow the Alaskan Highway south and it’s all newroad from here on until we reach Jasper

(which we visited 30 years ago).

After the railroad was completed in the early 1900’s from Skagway... with the Yukon River, Whitehorse became the center of transportation.  River travel was the only means of getting there until the Alaskan Highway was built in 1942.  Due to its accessibility,
it became the capital of the Yukon Territory.

          Rock graffiti?  I love it!  It beats spray painting!

Time to look for a campground and guess what we see again?  The only thing…it’s a Black bear tonight,

not a Grizzly!

                      Think he’ll smell my hot dogs cooking? 

                           Well….I’m NOT SHARING!

         Our 3 most important cans to have at a
          campsite in the middle of June.

        Nothing like the smell of a campfire at night and…
     the smell of the spruce trees in the morning. Ahhhhh.

The North Pole (Day40)

Day 40

Went through the North Pole ......

should have stopped and gave Santa my list! 

We're as far North as we will be going...

time to head south. 

We're about 3,500 miles from home! 

Back to Canada...the Yukon Territory, the Alaskan Highway (as we call it the "Bucking Bronco!)  We had to take the same road back until we got back to Haines Junction because it was the only road to take.  Being on the opposite side of the road, going the opposite direction...makes it seem like new scenery.  It's surprising how much you can miss the first time.

 The weather in the mountains can change from minute to minute.  We could see the rain falling in the direction we were going.  Shortly after...we were in the sun again.  We were told by someone in Alaska to never cancel your plans because the mountains have a weather of their own and it's constantly changing.

Deer on the side of the highway in Wisconsin is scary...but Moose?  

T

The turquoise color of the glacial ice is amazing.

  Can you imagine seeing this Grizzly about a half mile from where you're going to camp?  We couldn't believe we saw this huge bear just chomping away on the grasses near the highway.  Sure made me happy that I wasn't sleeping in a tent.  At the campground,  they warn tenters not to camp at certain times of the summer when the berries are ripening because it may be too dangerous.

The view at our campground, hard to get tired of something like that!  Met some very nice people from British Columbia and shared stories of each other's travels.   It's surprising how alike people are...
                even though we live in different countries. 
                       After 440 miles behind us ...
                            it was an early night to bed.
(This internet connection is sooo slow...will bring you up to date on days 41-43 at a later time) 


 



Great Day in Denali (Day 38-39)

Day 38

The day has finally come....we're "in"  Denali Park! 

 Checked out the Visitor Center, set up our campsite, and hit some of the gifts shops in Glitter Gulch nearby.

Hope we see the "REAL" animals tomorrow.

Oh no...not round abouts in Alaska too!  We could end up in Canada or Siberia if we take the wrong "about!"

Got ready for our 8 hour bus trip into the wilderness....packed, went for a long walk to tire us out, had two Alaskan beers and went to bed by 8 o'clock!  We had to get up at 4:30 A.M. and meet the bus at 5:30.  Do animals really get up that early?  They better be up or someone will be yelling out the bus window!

Day 39 

Waiting, waiting, and waiting and it "RAINS!"  The driver said that the animals move about more when it rains, which was surprising.  Our driver was a very interesting guy and has been a guide and driver for this 8-hours wilderness tour for 20 years.  He knew everything about Denali Park and where the animals are usually found along the way.  I was thankful for his experience because some the passes had roads that would have made me turn around.  I have to admit...
                          I did closed my eyes a few times. 

Oh...did I mention....it "SNOWED too!"

(nothing to turn around for :-)

With the rain and the gravel roads...the windows would get so dirty that everytime we stopped they would have to clean them off. 

 Glad we had a front-row seat.

At the end of our tour, before we turned around... the Grand Finale was to see Mount McKinley.  The driver pointed out where it would be if we could see it. :-)  Glad we went up in that small plane and saw it last week.  We turned around for the 4 hour trek back and this time we were on the side without any guard rails! 

Despite the rain and the family of five with little Patrick who whined and his mom announed to the whole bus to please refrain from eating peanuts because little Patrick had a peanut allergy...."IT WAS A GREAT TRIP!"   At the beginning of the trip the driver told us that he had 2 goals...

1. To get us all back safely and

 2.  For all of us to see the 4 big animals of the park. 

So....we made it back safely (or you wouldn't be reading this blog) and we saw the 4 big animals of the park and the wolf. 

What a great day in Denali!

Denali Can Bring Both Happiness and Sadness (Day 37)

No need to use the GPS to find your way to Denali Park...there's only one road to get there. We just read that another mountain climber died, the 5th this season.  The climbing season only goes from late April to early July.  Later, the snow gets too soft and crevasses become very dangerous.  The man that passed away the other day reached the summit of Mount McKinley; went to sleep and stopped breathing.  They attempted to revive him.  He was only 52 and I'm sure he was elated he made it to the top. It's sad but...I guess it was his time and he was in a place he must have loved. They say  about 1,200 people attempt to reach the summit each  year; but only 52% of them make it to the top.  I can't imagine what it must feel like standing on top of the tallest mountain in North America.

Now that's a lodge with a view!

River rafting looked fun.  I'm assuming that black thing on the left is where they pull the rafts out of the water; but I'm wondering about the people in the rafts?  We'll save rafting for another time. :-) 

I would like to see one of those rafts go down this river.  However...in one of the ponds by the road,  we did see a moose walking through the water...

like you see on a National Geographic program.

Our campsite is in Healy, outside the park.  Tomorrow we go in and will be there until Thursday.  No wi-fi for awhile.  Looking forward to seeing lots of wildlife on our 6-8 hours bus ride up the mountain.  We have been told that people have reported seeing a mother grizzly bear and her cub.  Hope we are lucky enough and I have a lot of exciting things to tell. 

A Day of Oddities (Day 36)

Went for a drink at this restaurant next to our campground.  We were told to sit anywhere by the waitress and never saw her again.  After sitting there for 15 minutes and looking at the prices of drinks, we decided we could have a beer in our motor home for a lot cheaper...we left.  Next morning we decided to go to the same restaurant to have breakfast.  Not busy and we got waited on within minutes.  But then we waited and waited and waited... Bill read the whole newspaper, I read all the  things posted on the walls and still no breakfast.  About 30 minutes later the waitress came and apologized for the delay because their cook never showed up for work.  She said he partied too hard last night and they had to call another cook to come in to make our breakfast.  Crazy........

she didn't know that the cook was missing when she took our order? 

Have to put this event in my list of "Oddities." :-)

     

Check out the angle of the sun in Talkeetna, Alaska at 10:30 last night when I was suppose to go to bed! 

(This also has been added to my list of "Oddities!") 

An igloo "FOR SALE?"  Another "Oddity?"

     We went for a walk to the river by our new campsite in Cantwell.  Bill pointed out this little plant breaking it's way through the asphalt.  Now that's "Odd!" or... is it just "determination?"  If "so...I'm "determined" not to have any more "Oddities" today! 

"Oddities" happen...but it is completely odd how... rocks, water, greenery, and sky can be arranged in an order that is so beautiful! 



Denali National Park from the Friendly Skies (Day 35)

Our pilot John taking Bill and I on a tour of  the western end of Denali Park. What we saw today leaves me speechless!  Flying above the clouds and seeing the three highest peaks:  Mt. McKinley, Mt. Foraker, and Mt. Hunter, almost gave a majestic feeling along with such peacefulness.  I think the pilot understood the silence in the plane because he knows how overwhelmed people are of Denali's beauty.  I couldn't snap pictures fast enough to catch all the memories I wanted to take home with me and, of course,  put on my blog.  Here are a few that will stay in my head long after we leave

 Denali Park in Alaska.