TRAVELLING THE ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY

As I mentioned previously, we have a ferry to catch at  Whittier, & to get there we must drive through a one way rail/road tunnel built during WW2 (Just a narrow hole blasted out of the rock) We have checked online and it is open on every half hour, going into Whittier, so we are aiming for the 9.30am opening (if we miss it we will be cutting our ferry a bit fine – for some reason they want us to check in 2 hours before departure – crazy when we discover that the terminal only opens an hour before departure!) Anyway we make it to the tunnel in plenty of time, giving us a chance to take yet more photos of even more glaciers & have morning tea. Whittier is a one horse town, or should I say one building town – all the residents live in one huge high rise! There are a few more buildings – mainly tour operators, fishing charters & a scattering of tiny shops. But there are plenty of boats (business & pleasure) in the lovely marina. We are first onboard, so get our choice of seats right up the front, which is hardly necessary as the ferry is hardly full. The weather is great & so is the scenery….blah, blah, blah….

Three hours later we are in Cordova thanks to the great high speed ferry (John says it has 4 jet units, & that he could water ski behind it.) It is a very untouristy fishing town. There are no roads to Cordova, & the residents are more than happy to keep it that way. It was from Cordova that the railway was built to one of the richest copper mines in the USA – Kennecott Mines. (But more about that later). We visit the info office & book ourselves onto a trip to Million Dollar Bridge & Childs Glacier for Tuesday, then head off to explore one of the few roads & camp beside an inlet. We head off on a walk – but it is rather off putting to see a sign up warning that there is “A Bear in The Area!”

When we wake up it is raining & the tide has gone out so far we can hardly see the water. We wait for it to come in, but give up & head into town to explore the museum etc. We meet heaps of local friendly people, so spend a lot of the day chatting as not many tourists come here. We get tracked down by the local newspaper as they want to do a story on these crazy Australians then we are off  heading out to camp nearer our tour starting destination.

Yay, we wake to sunshine & another great trip. We are ferried across the raging Copper River in an airboat with 2 big V8 engines (where the road has been washed away) and then put into a van to be driven the last 10kms to The Million Dollar Bridge. The road was originally the railway. We spend the whole day exploring etc. The 2 glaciers- Childs & Miles are awesome- both are calving into the river. We end the day camped beside the river with lots of driftwood to burn. The next day is spent on a long hike & then yet another repair John for poor John. Yes I broke the camper door – what a klutz! It was very windy & when I opened the door the wind just yanked it out of my hands & as a result broke 2 hinges! Needless to say John was not impressed! Before we left John even went for his customary icey swim in the local lake (brrr)

We are due out on the 7.15am ferry, so simply overnight right on the wharf. No chance of missing it then, but although we are first in the queue we are last on the ferry – and what a squeeze! No front row seats today. Another 3 hours to Valdez & more magic scenery. Even a few whales. Valdez isn’t much bigger than Cordova, but is chock full of motorhomes. There must be 4 RV parks – and all of them look packed at $40 a night. First port of call - the Visitor Centre. From here out to yet another glacier (they are getting a bit ho hum!), but will be OK for free camping if we need it, then head along the waterfront to the Salmon Hatchery. There are lots of fishing trawlers out so we to stop to watch them pull in overflowing nets of salmon. Then as we are heading further along the coast we see a bear on the side of the road - & of course lots of cars stopped to take photos. John wants one of the bear & GR2. I don’t want to get out, so he does – but boy does he race back in when that o’l bear comes around to his side! The bear wanders off & we continue to the Hatchery. Here we watch for ages as the salmon have started “running,” It is feasting time. The eagles are swooping overhead & the Sea Otters are busy catching fish. Then I spy our bear prowling around the hatchery buildings & too our delight he comes down to the water to catch fish. And boy does he have a feast - lots of great photos. Eventually we head off. There is plenty of not free camping along the waterfront, so we decide to head back into town to camp on some vacant land where we can watch the boats coming in and out. Another eventful day.

Today is the 4^th of July & to all you ignorant Aussies that means Independence Day & lots of parties. First up is the Parade at noon, there is canoe jousting later on in the lagoon (yes lots of fun – lucky it is such a hot lovely day – very rare in this neck of the woods) & a free picnic at 5pm for everyone! And lots more besides. The local helicopter tour people have decided to offer heavily reduced flights over a nearby glacier – so we decide to give it a whirl! Amazing!

We have had so many people look at GR2 today (we really should have been in the parade!) & we keep saying we should charge them for photos. So John makes a bag for tips & sticks it on the outside beside the map…..Guess what! Score $5 & a DVD from the band that is playing. Our new Kiwi friends, Graham & Sue, & ourselves nearly kill ourselves laughing. The grand finale is fireworks at 10pm, but of course it is still not dark. Very interesting watching fireworks in daylight!!

We overnight at the site of the old town (destroyed by an earthquake in 1964) because our last spot was where the fireworks were let off. After days of glorious sunshine we wake to drizzle… pity as we have another scenic drive today. Finally we head off up through the mountains. We head on through a rocky gorge, passing right beside a glacier, & then pull over at Worthington Glacier. It is only a short walk, but we can only see the glacier’s toe. As we head over the pass the weather clears & we head on to Chitina. Not much there except 2 restored buildings & a few scruffy homes. Time now to turn off our tarseal onto the dirt road to McCarthy/Kennicott. As we cross over the Copper River we see lots of fish wheels running & local’s dipnetting for salmon. This road has been made over the old railway & there are constant reminders of it. Especially the wooden trestle Gilahina Bridge.

By the time we reach McCarthy it is getting late, so we walk across the footbridge to the old township to explore. There is no vehicular bridge (for us tourists anyway. There is a locked bridge for the locals) to McCarthy & Kennecott. To get to Kennecott you either walk 10km or catch a shuttle van.  Anyway we explored the old McCarthy – the museum, a few old cottages, and assorted messy areas. Then back across the bridge to camp. An early start the next day as we have a mine tour booked. This proves to be pretty awesome as we get to see inside the mill & quite a few other buildings the general public can’t get into (mainly because they are ready to collapse & care must be taken). Then we explore the remainder of the site. It is a dull drizzly day & we opt for a delicious lunch in the lodge before we walk to the glacier. The weather gets worse, so we give the glacier a miss & head back to GR2 for the drive back out again.

Hopefully the weather will stay fine so we can finally drive the Denali Highway & then continue north to Prudhoe Bay.

HUGE GLACIERS & HUGE HALIBUT- PHOTOS

Anchorage - such a busy town

Our lovely camp spot near Moose Pass - Upper Trail Lake

Finally we got one!!

Exit Glacier

Seward Port/Marina

These inspired John to go fishing!!

Our cruise! Lots of wildlife

One of the very cute Sea Otters

Floating seals

Calving glaciers

Chasing porpoises

A Puffin - we did see them on our trip - but not this close

Making friends

Russian River

Russian Churches

Russian fishing villages

Symbol of the USA - Golden Eagle

Just another work day for John

Homer

Homer

Camp spot beside Lake Kelly on our way to Whittier

Homer Spit from the lookout

Johns big Halibut

HUGE GLACIERS & HUGE HALIBUT

We leave the workshop by 6pm Friday. Due to so much daylight we can still get a few miles covered today. We head south past North Pole & Delta Junction before stopping by 9pm. The next morning we wake to rain. That means there is no point driving the picturesque Denali Highway, so we continue south to Glennallen, then turn & head west towards Palmer & eventually Anchorage. It is another gorgeous drive, especially the gorge passing Glacier Manatuska. Nearly at Anchorage we stop at Reflections Lake where we see a young family. The father has the baby on his back & to our amazement a shoulder strap holding a row of bullets & a hand gun! To date the USA seems to have more guns than anywhere else we have travelled.

We are hoping there will be Equinox festivities in Anchorage, but apart from a band playing not much is happening. So we try to find a Walmart near the centre. It has closed, so instead we settle right beside an RV dealership (on a little dead end road surrounded by RV’s). The next day we pop into church for the Sunday service before visiting the weekend craft markets in town. Here we bump into our motorbike friend, Johan & his wife Ann.

Then it is time to head on towards Seward. Our route takes us along the Turnagain Arm towards the mountains. Here would have to be the most traffic we have seen anywhere since leaving Seattle. The weather is great & everyone is out enjoying it. Eventually we find a great spot right beside Upper Trail Lake near the tiny town of Moose Pass. I could go on again about the scenery, but it must get a bit tedious – just look at the photos instead.

On our way into Seward we stop at Bear Lake to watch salmon racing upstream & jumping up a weir (very hard to catch on a photo) & then walk to Exit Glacier along with lots of other tourists – it is a tad dirty & unexciting. Then Seward – a pretty port town, with motorhome camping all along the waterfront. We book a glacier/wildlife boat trip on the Kenai Fjords for tomorrow on a small boat – 25 people. Fingers crossed for fine weather as today is gray & cold.

Perfect weather! A magic 8 hour cruise stopping every time we spot Whales, Sea Otters, Orcas….. We finally cruise towards the highlight - Northwest Glacier. The ice is cascading into the ocean & large chunks are calving. Hundreds of seals are sitting on icebergs. Magic. We sit and watch before heading back to Seward. We even get a porpoise escort – about 10 of them riding our bow waves. For dinner we head to a restaurant to meet Johan & Ann. A perfect day.

The following morning is gray. We have one final stop before we leave town – the Alaska Sealife Centre to take a closer look at Puffins, seals etc. Then it is on through the Kenai Peninsula, passing the “combat fishing” area of Russian River. (So named because the fisherman are in such close proximity to each other that their lines frequently get tangled). By the time we reach the coast north of the petroleum based town of Kenai it is so cloudy we can’t see any mountains. We pull over for the night at Captain Cook State Recreation Park. It is raining in the morning – such is life in Alaska. The saying here is if you don’t like the weather wait 15 minutes.

We head along the coast to Homer stopping to look at the Russian fishing village of Ninilchik. & the Russian Orthodox Church with its onion spires. (Like being back in Russia – even the weather!  Mind you this country did once belong to Russia, but they sold it to America for $7.2 million (about 2cents per acre) in 1867). Another quick stop at Anchor Point to inspect all the Bald Eagles sitting there waiting for an easy meal. Eventually we wind downhill to the spit at Homer. We can camp right beside the fishing hole for a mere $15. Fishing is serious business in Alaska. There are rows of anglers fishing this small pond catching good sized Salmon.

 

The first thing we do is book a fishing trip for John. Then John wants to check the radiator because we have developed a leak. The long & short of it is that he takes the whole radiator out & plans to hitch into town tomorrow, as it is Friday, to get it fixed. Fortunately we can change the fishing trip until Saturday. The end result is no one in town can help, so John buys Bars Leak & fixes it himself. In the evening we meet Laura for dinner. We met her in Cuba.

Saturday John heads off at 5.30am on his fishing trip. The day is magnificent. I go back to bed & generally laze around all day (apart from a few chores) & John has a fun time getting his 2 huge Halibut (the max he can have). Crazy system – one has to be over 29” and one under. In all he caught 15 (13 lucky ones went back) the hardest was to catch one under 29”- what a fisherman’s problem. Our freezer is now full of frozen fish – much to Johns delight. Finally it is time to leave town. All the mountains are clear, so we take the scenic route & finally end up camped beside a pretty lake. The next day is an early start as we are due at the ferry terminal in Whittier by 9.30am. The start of our Alaskan Marine Highway adventures.

 

 

 

CHANGE OF PLANS - BIG & SMALL

Yes I know we frequently change plans, but this trip has been preplanned with 4 bookings: 3 ferries & camping in Denali, so we would prefer no changes.

The next morning we head to the Canol Road. No signs & the police we have spoken to don’t know if it is open or closed. So after stopping to look at the old rusty trucks at the start of the drive we head off. 10km up the road there is a sign “Road Closed”, but the barrier is not closed & a vehicle has already come through. After having lunch & seeing no other vehicles we decide to change our plans. The maps are out. Yes we will go to Skagway instead, No looking back, we are off. As we near the coast the weather clouds over & starts to get downright chilly. At the mountainous pass it chills down even more, with lots of snowy patches on desolate high country .It is stark & beautiful. We even meet our first Grizzly Bear- I am definitely not getting out of GR2 to take photos - he looks big & cranky.  It is misty as we descend into Skagway USA – an incredibly touristy little town with a population of about 900, but up to 8000 when the cruise ships come in  – it is a totally renovated mining town. There are 2 massive cruise ships in, and we (I don’t mean us, I mean GR2) become the centre of attention. GR2 gets more photos taken of her than the main street. We know there is free camping at the Nat Pak, so we decide to stay in town for dinner, and then head out to the Dyea Camping Area.

We wake to rain. So we head back over the pass & border back into Canada, out of the rain, and on towards Carcross. Here we stop for bread & end up having delicious soup & cinnamon rolls. Yum! So much for losing weight! The rhubarb scones are pretty good too. Finally we head on to the Klondike Highway (by now we have learnt an incredible amount of info about the gold rush). Pass the very gorgeous Emerald Lake & Miles Canyon on our way to Whitehorse. Here we stop to explore the SS Klondike (free tour), an amazing old steam ship, and the engrossing McBride Museum (also free). Even I find the museum fascinating! Finally leave at closing time. Camp Wal-mart is full of RV’s, but we decide to head on as the weather is so perfect. Finally stopping at Twin Lakes.

Today we detour past Frenchman’s Lake– another magic campspot – but not for us today. We have more miles to cover. Three stops worth mentioning today. Five Finger Rapids, with a brisk walk to the river, a local cultural museum at Minto with a very helpful Athabascan girl, and another Grizzly Bear.

 Finally reach Dawson City with its quaint new replica, old restored, semi restored & derelict buildings. It is a gorgeous hot afternoon so we explore town while eating ice creams. Some of the local girls are even out in their bikinis!! Bump into old Swiss friends we met on the road in Peru years ago. They are at a camp ground – so we arrange to meet them there later. First we head out to Dredge No 4 (25km out of town) to look around. A quick visit, as we are heading to the show at Diamond Tooth Gerties – a real traditional music hall show with lots of cancan dancing. Heaps of fun. Finally to the National Park Camp beside the Yukon River. To get there we need to use the free ferry. After a very late dinner we sit around our camp fire chatting to our friends until the wee hours (very easy to do as it just doesn’t get dark all night)

The next morning we return to town to check out the lookout. This means using the ferry twice. The second time is a much longer wait as there are 3 fifth wheelers & they are enormous. Then on to the “Top of the World Highway,” and into Alaska. This is a very desolate stretch of dirt road following a ridge high up in the mountains. At the border into USA the only concern they have is our firewood – so we off load our collection & head on. The previous group of motorhomes have a whole Ute load to empty out! Finally we reach the gold mining area of Chicken. It is a tiny place with a few shops & heaps of RV parks. There is another huge dredge here & lots of chicken stuff (surprise, surprise!) It is getting late, but we decide to push on to Tok where we fill up with diesel, (cheaper than Canada) water & some fresh food in readiness for our 3 night stay in Denali Nat Park. Then find a quiet spot beside the Tok River for the night.

Today is Wednesday. The plan is to follow the Glen Highway south until we meet the Richardson Highway, then head north until we meet the gravel Denali Highway to drive the scenic route through to the National Park, where we are booked tomorrow night. We are nearly there, the weather is perfect & the scenery just keeps getting better when……We overheat. Unfortunately John has to tilt the cab to top up the water, which means unbolting before tilting. It takes a lot of water. We head onto the Denali Highway. The light comes on again. Again tilt & refill. We make the decision to head to Delta Junction rather than the Nat Pk. Back on the main road we stop every 6km to top up the water. We have a long way to go. The scenery is gorgeous – Summit Lake is still frozen over & the Polychrome Hills look awesome. Fortunately some vehicles stop – they will ring us a tow truck when they get into ph range. We stop for the night in an obvious spot & go to bed at 11pm, only to be woken by the tow truck rolling in at midnight. GR2 is hitched up & towed all the way to Fairbanks. We arrive at 3.30am getting the chance to watch the sun slide down & then rise up again shortly afterwards. At no stage did it get dark.  We also get to see quite a few moose (we had been told it was easier to see them at night)

Later that morning we head off to a truck repair yard. It sure won’t be fixed before the weekend, & parts will have to come up from the States. John heads off to get a rental car & I get onto Skype to try to find some accommodation at the Park. We decide to go the full hog and book an all inclusive place right inside the park at Kantishna for 3 nights. So Friday morning we head off. As warned, it is a longish drive with lots of roadworks, and we just make it in time for the bus. Private cars are not allowed inside the park. Our bus isn’t very full so we can move around to take photos. And there are lots of photo opportunities. Dall sheep up on the ridges, caribou grazing, a grizzly wandering on the road & holding up 4 buses, and best of all a mother bear & her 2 clubs with a kill. Great stuff.

The next 2 days are spent going on long hikes, bike riding (John), gold panning (Lynda- I even have a speck to bring home), a great talk about the Iditarod (the 1049 mile sled dog race in March from Anchorage to Nome) including seeing the dogs in action  & chatting to new friends. Our last day starts very early so that we will be out of the park by 1pm. Another great ride with glimpses of Mt Denali & more wildlife. We farewell our new friends & head back to GR2 to camp at the workshop. Hope it won’t be for too much longer.

Sadly not much seems to have happened while we were gone. John decides to check online himself. The next day GR2 is inside the workshop being pulled apart. Bonus for me – I have full range Wifi so can Skype, do some MYOB work & change our ferry bookings (It doesn’t look as if we will make them, so better to change them now). Eventually we are pushed back outside & lose our Wifi.

The next day some parts are located & will be air freighted from Seattle. It is raining so we head to the Museum of the North for the day. Actually it is pretty awesome, with so much info our heads are stuffed full. My favorite exhibit is the loo, & then the exquisite embroidered/beaded outfits.

The parts didn’t arrive so we have another day up our sleeve. It is still wet, so we head to North Pole to visit Santaland. We spend much more time in the shop than usual & even chat with Santa. Then a long drive to Chena Hot Springs for lunch & a long soak in an outdoor rock pool. Parts of it are extremely hot. Back to GR2, but instead of sitting in all evening we head to Pioneer Park to explore the old paddle steamer, old buildings relocated from town & go to the hilarious musical comedy at The Palace Theatre- the show pokes fun at Fairbanks & why the heck people live here! Excellent. Can't wait to get out of here.

Friday – finally our parts arrive & GR2 is towed back inside the workshop – fingers crossed. It would be lovely to get out of here before the weekend!
Stop press news: It is 5pm & she is finally going! The sun is shining. All is good in the world.

CHANGE OF PLANS - PHOTOS

Old cars at the start of the Canol Rd- we didn't get too much further as it was still closed.

Heading towards Skagway - an old mining shaft

GR2 on the main street at Skagway

The old train at Skagway - look at that front mechanism so clear snow off the tracks!

Only 2 ships in harbour today - sometimes there are up to 4

The little town of  Caracross

The gorgeous Emerald Lake

Miles Canyon

The SS Klondike at Whitehorse.

Another Grizzly - he is very interested in us

Although now he looks a little cranky

The SS Keno in Dawson City.

Streets of Dawson City

Dredge No 4 just out of Dawson City - she is massive.

The lovely showgirls at Diamond Tooth Gerties in Dawson City.

The ferry to get out of Dawson City

Views of Dawson City from the outlook

Us on Top of the World

Some buildings in Dawson

Driving the "Top of the World" Highway

Another dredge at Chicken

The chicken at Chicken!!

The still frozen Lake Summit

The Polychrome Hills - we stopped here to top up with water yet again

A curious little ground squirrel

Midnight

Here we go to Fairbanks - after midnight & still not dark

One of the many gorgeous cars at the Wedgewood Motor Museum

Heading into Denali we saw this Bear & 2 cubs devouring a caribou

They are really having a good feed

Our first moose in Denali Park

From one of our walks in the park - rather glad we met no moose or bears up close!

One of those huge moose

Our new group of friends - in front of Mt Denali

Our last glimpse of Mt Denali - it didn't show up until our last day

Wouldn't want to meet this guy in the wild! The fantastic University Museum in Fairbanks

A feature here in Fairbanks - the outdoor loo (actually quite commonplace as all underground plumbing freezes!!

A visit to see Santa at Santaland in North Pole

Another steamship at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks

The hilarious show at The Palace Theatre, Pioneer Park, Fairbanks