2.5 Million Miles

That’s how many driving miles Roy has under his belt (adding professional and personal). I am so thankful for this. The second day on the Dempster started with a little drizzle not to much dust that’s a good thing. I am looking forward to the drive back so I can see the sites that were in the clouds/fog on the way up.

We started off so we could miss the snow forecasted for Eagle Plains, our neighbors in the campsite we are at they got stuck at the ‘Welcome to the Northwest Territories’ sign for two nights due to weather. We were probably the last car through before they closed the road due to weather. I am jumping ahead but here are two videos taken during day two.

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That was the sign I will have a clearer picture of when we travel back on Saturday.

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This driving into one of the cloud banks. I was very quiet during this part of the drive I was also thankful that Roy is a retired truck driver. I have to admit it was spooky because there were a few spots where you could not see if there was a road.

Back to the beginning of day two; we encounter a bridge built by the Department of National Defense as a training exercise. BTW it’s still in great condition . We continue up the road and cross the artic circle. Quick stop to check trailer and take a picture, before the mosquitoes carried me away (rain does not deter them). It was something I thought I would never get to cross. I got to cross it three times in one day. (flat tire). This is another reason I am so glad Roy loves to drive.

It cleared a tad and we came over a hill to the sight of white, thought it might have been snow. It was actually a field of cotton weed. Roy said it looks like q-tips on steroids’. Will get pictures. Shortly after the field of q-tips we hit a rock and experienced a Dempster Highway adventure our flat tire. That will get the coverage it deserves in it’s own blog. Fast forward 3 hours back up and running. We hit the clouds and had some slickery going then our first experience on a ferry on a cable. They pull you across it takes about 5 minutes.

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Our second ferry took a little longer and we ended up having to have boards put under so we didn’t bottom out, of course this was after they bent a rear stabilizer (oh well).

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The rest of the trip up the Dempster was pretty uneventful, did see a few loons. The best thing about day two, was watching Roy clean off some of the hard earned mud of the day. We only did the door, the hitch, the water heater vent, and the refrigerator vent. All in all good safe travels with an experienced driver. I am looking forward to the trip back to Eagle Plains, and Dawson City.

The Road Less Traveled

That is what they say the Dempster is. Located outside of Dawson City on Yukon Hwy 2 is Hwy 5 which turns into NWT 8 (NorthWest Territories) better known as the Dempster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dempster_Highway . We started on Sunday 6/23/19 at 10:43am. Side note the car and trailer are amazingly clean, which changed soon after. It took us a little less then an hour to reach the Tombstone Interpretive Center this is where we noticed are first change in the landscape. Roy was looking at the landscape and described broken rock face hills to the right that quickly changes to a smooth black polished look. I also got my first look at snow. Tundra frozen or not always look so lush. Driving along it was interesting how the trees turned to shrubs with an occasional tree.

As far as animals on or near the road they were few a bunny, marmot, and a crazy duck trying to cross the road. In some of the lakes we saw loons, and gulls. No real big animals, about 4 million little ones with wings and fangs. Oh wait, those were mosquitoes. 😅.

The funny thing about the mosquitoes is you think people are exaggerating there is no way they are that many. My thought was I can handle these guys, because the state bird of Wisconsin is the mosquito. So a word to the wise I am not exaggerating when I say wear chainmail. The other thing we noticed is they seem to be immune to all the usual repellents. I guess the caribou migration ended about two weeks ago. Maybe on the trip back to Dawson we might catch something.

Even if the animals are scarce the vistas make up for some of it. Speaking of vistas the view from Ogilvie-Peel viewpoint you can see for 120 miles on a clear day which we had. Other interesting things we saw this first day were our first pingo, an airstrip that we drove on (Ok it is the road that can be used by airplanes.), white flowers so dense it looks like snow on the ground, and of course snow. The one thing we did not see alot of on the road were cars.

The drive was extremely dusty because of the dry roads. Dust can be brushed or blown off except to keep the dust down you have trucks go through and spread water on the road. When you add water to dust you get guess what mud. So the trailer looked like it had been through a rain storm (BTW it did go through one on the 24th, more later.) Upon our arrival at Eagle Plains, Erica checked us in answered all my questions before I could ask them I think she must get the same questions over and over so she covers it all before she’s asked. Check out my blog about Mayberry RFD oh I meant Eagle Plains.

Don’t Let the SUN Go Down on ME

I had to do it. The sun did go down on 6/21/19 the summer solstice for about an hour. I went up to experience it on Midnight Dome https://dawsoncity.ca/attraction/midnight-dome/ in Dawson City. It was amazing here is a picture of me taken at 10:04 pm. I have my sun glasses on my shirt because I am facing away from the sun, had to put them on when I turned around. The views seemed to be even more breath taking then on a regular day. Maybe it was all of the people also at the dome, or that it was the longest day of the year.

I caught the shuttle bus up to the dome, because I enjoy being a social butterfly. (Who me?) We are waiting for the shuttle and I start talking I was asked were we were headed I say Tuktoyaktuk NWT. Sharon spoke up and said I would love it. The 24 hour daylight and the culture in Tuk is amazing. The roads are good if you use common sense. So I get on the bus and there’s room on the seat for me next to a couple and of course I ask if I can sit next to them because I don’t bite. You know where that went. 🙂

Once at the top of the dome the views are spectacular of course. You can even see TOW (top of the world highway) this is the road that takes you to Alaska. and is about 30 miles from the dome on a clear evening. The road is on the right of the picture. Here is a better picture that I took on a different day. Then I think my best photo of the night was of the up and down rainbow at about 10:42pm You have to look hard . It was a great night and I was getting tired and the crowd was getting rowdy. I was waiting for the shuttle for awhile and watched a truck camper block the way up to the pick up area so I knew it would be a walk to catch it. I want to give a shout out to the three people I hopped in their car for a ride down the hill. Tonight felt like a safe night to do that. it was in the air. So thank you Sunshine, Patrick, and I want to say Mary the driver?(I am bad with names).

Well we are off to the artic ocean so in about a week look for our continuing adventures.

I See Dead People

No one I know. Like most of our adventures we do it then go get information on what we just saw. That’s what happened with the Dawson City Cemeteries we saw. One of the more interesting cemetery was the Police Cemetery still maintained by the RCMP today. There are 18 graves dating from 1896 to 1936, constables and sgts. NW MP and RNW MP North West Mounted Police and the Royal North West Mounted Police before they became the RCMP. Just interesting.

On this road there are 10 cemeteries a few are still active today. Near the police cemetery is the Fraternal Order of Eagles Cemetery there 13 graves but only three with names you can make out. The tombstones are made of wood.

There is also a large monument behind the graves honor men who died in WWI. The other thing that was extremely interesting was seeing trees growing up the grave stones.

Well worth stopping by the visitors center and taking the complete walking tour. https://dawsoncity.ca/plan-your-trip/visitors-centre-info/

No Mayo

or ketchup or mustard. Leaving the Takhini Hot Springs campground https://yukoncampground.com after a night with a little rain and some mosquitoes we have a short jaunt up the Klondike to Pelly Crossing. I’ve blogged about the campground before but in short it’s secluded in the trees, reminds me of camping in nortern Wisconsin. The only thing is they have to truck in water so it is best to be self-contained, there is also a hostel if you don’t have a camper.

Back to the journey at hand. Filled up at Pelly Crossing got there early in the day so what was the decision, head on down the road. People who have traveled the Klondike now the campground is free but with no services. So scheduled stop scratched (this is all part of SOP camping) I am up for this. I do know first year not doing a stop I would have stressed, so I am getting better.

We then approached the junction of the Klondike (HWY 2) and the Silver Trail (HWY 11), no real place to camp. On to Mayo and a stop at the Bedrock RV park it was only 30 miles. Upon arrival at Mayo we find that the RV park with those three spaces and get the answer to why they did not answer the phone. Closed for season to renovate. Did I mention it was still raining on and off.

Well we decided to check out a Yukon Territorial Park down the road, because we still wanted to head to Keno, the next day. No go on the park to many mosquitoes, so we then decide to drive through Mayo and check out the town. Long story short we decided did not want to drop the trailer and head to Keno the next morning for a day trip.

If you are keeping track we just changed 3 nights of plans so what to do. Back to the Klondike and about 15 miles from the junction we decided to stop at Moose Creek Yukon Territorial Park for the night. Good choice, but, it is getting close to dinner got lucky and pulled into Moose Creek Lodge right before they closed.

These moose are out front of the restaurant we ate at. I’m thinking these might be the only ones we see. (slim on animals) We did see 2 black bears on the road to Mayo.

Bedding down for the night we were able to get the last pull through in the park. The $12 Canadian a night is good for no services. As a side note I recommend checking out government campgrounds. Here’s a link to the Yukon site http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/camping-parks this is how we plan on camping our way up the Dempster. You can also get free fire wood if there is not a burn ban.

The next morning we get up and make the 100 mile journey into Dawson City with the hope of checking in early. Got lucky and have had a great time exploring with the extra days. So SOP traveling is not that bad. I do wish there would have been meat in the Mayo sandwich.

Oh No Not Another

Ferry. Yes it was this one wasn’t so bad, about an hour from Haines, AK to Skagway, AK. The night before we hooked up before it got dark, in the rain. We decided to hang in the ferry terminal parking lot. There was a geocache we were trying to find, no luck on that.

We have been dealing with rain on and off this whole trip. (mostly when setting up or tearing down). It’s all good it isn’t snow. The ferry we traveled on was MV Tazlina http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/fleet/tazlina.shtml almost brand new. It was put into service in May. The cool thing about this ship is it is one of two to have been built in Ketchikan, AK. Although the design was to be a drive on drive off ferry the docks were never refurbished to make this possible. I have to state here that I’m glad Roy was a truck driver.

The reason is with our trailer in tow we could not drive onto the boat because of our turning radius. So the alternative is for me to close my eyes and listen to the ferry worker lead Roy down the ramp backing up. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, I opened my eyes a few times. I have to say I was quite impressed, one try no stopping.

Onboard the boat we were able to go up front and face forward so I could see where we were headed. Roy slept I watched. On the trip over it was interesting to see the waterfalls up close that you could see from the shore in Haines. I did not get pictures. I did get a picture of the cruise ships docked in Skagway though.

I am just amazed at the size of the cruise ships that are on the water. I am so ok with the way we travel.

Arriving at the dock and in the car I had to get out and do something, so I cross between our car and a camper who pulled in to face us. I am all prepared for Roy to beep the horn when I cross in front he doesn’t so I left my guard down. (what was I thinking). So coming back what does he do yup he did. I immediately showed he was #1. The people in the camper got a great laugh I did too. The next hurdle is climbing out of the boat in Skagway, at least we drove out felt like a climb up on a rollercoaster, where you can’t see what’s on the way down. So from here we headed to Takhini Hot Springs everything right on schedule. Famous last words.

For A Good Time …..Visit Haines

Haines was a place where Roy almost wore ketchup, oh wait it was me. Sitting at the Lighthouse restaurant we order a whole order of halibut fish n chips to split. (yes, when you’ve been together for along time you split. I mean food.) The waitress brings the ketchup sits it down Roy asks where’s the ketchup. Me I pick it up and say right here. What I was going to do though was pick it up and squeeze the bottle so it went on him. Thank God I looked down just in time to stop myself. Why? The bottom was pointed at him and the top with the open end of the sqeeze bottle at me. I know you are smiling at the thought. I was too, all Roy said was he would have ROFLAO then possibly take me home inside the car not on the roof rack 😉. One of the few times I’m glad I looked.

Getting back to what else Haines was a place for good food if you get away from the beating path near the cruise ship port. (Yes, Haines even gets cruise ships. The large ship of 2000 plus docks on Wednesday then 3 times a week they get smaller ships with less then 500 onboard.) Raevyn’s Cafe they are only open Wednesday thru Sunday 5pm-9pm. They are in one of the buildings built for the movie ‘White Fang’. Their speciality is southwest cooking with large portions. If you are into fish-n-chips as I mentioned the ‘Lighthouse’ has them, also the ‘Bamboo Room’ features them. Although I would head to there for strawberry rhubarb pie.

If you like to photograph landscapes, eagles and bears Haines was a good place. The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, also check out Chilkat Lake and river. I went with Cindy from Rainbow Glacier Adventures http://tourhaines.com

We were able to get a glimpse of ok a couple of pictures of ‘Speedy’ the resident bear and her 3 cubs.

I really enjoyed seeing the dandelions in her mouth. We were just heading down the road and she stepped out. Once we got to Chilkat Lake we had an opportunity to see a raven attack a bald eagle.

All in all Haines is a great place. If you get the time do visit.

The People You Meet

Haines was an interesting place, I met a few characters like the boy named Leon. I stopped in “The Magpie Gallery” http://www.facebook.com/hainesmagpie in Haines because I was having souvenir shop withdrawals. Side note I’ve only bought 3 t-shirts and 1 jacket this trip. (ok we haven’t been anywhere with real stores) Back to the journey. I walk in the store and this boy, Leon, is coloring behind the counter and trying to get mom’s attention, so I engage him. Next thing I know he’s right in front of me with a bell asking me if I want to buy it. So we banter back and forth about what kind of bell it is. I came to the conclusion with him it was a bear bell. We thought it might be better then saying hey bear. Just then an older lady came by,and swiped the purchase out from under me.

I think she knew I was going to be a hard sell. Making a long story short she bought the bell for a dollar and Leon is on his way to saving to buy a candy store.

Also on that same shopping trip Roy took me to the local microbrewery that acording to him makes the best root beer ever. I will give him credit they do. This brewery “The Haines Brewing Company” http://www.hainesbrewing.com was another reason to come back to Haines. Last time we were here I went on a float trip Roy went to the brewery, so when I was done he took me there for the best root beer ever, they were sold out. We walk in make sure they had some tasted it and really enjoyed. I bring this up because the owner was the spitting image of our friend Sky. Plus if you ever get to Haines it’s a good stop.

Speaking of stopping in Haines we stayed at the Hitch-Up RV Park http://www.hitchuprv.com the new owners George and Laura from New Jersey are keeping up the good reputation of the park and adding their own flair. In fact one day George spent most of the afternoon hanging up three flags an American, Canadian, and an Alaska state flag. I was impressed. I was also impressed with Laura I wanted to do another float trip down the river and I went to the office to book it. They use the same company I had issues with before but we tried again. The day we booked it she got verbal confirmation from not one but two different people. Well you guessed it another miscommunication on the company so it was a no-go. I was impressed with the effort she put into trying to make it work. She also stepped right up and gave a refund.

The trip not happening gave my the opportunity to get a private photo tour, so it all worked out. I think anywhere I’ve journeyed and will journey interesting people cross my path.

I’ve Been Here Before

even if you have go again. You will be surprised at what you find. This happened to me when I almost passed by the American Bald Eagle Foundation http://www.baldeagles.org .

Here is the back story. Two years ago we stopped in Haines Alaska for a small town America 4th of July, so where do you go, the place where they have Bald Eagles. It was ok but not something to write home about. There was a large cage with two eagles that you could walk in front of and a bird in the bird room, a small gift shop, then the museum with information and history of the area. You can see why stopping in again not high on list.

Pulling in the driveway we see what looks like construction going on behind the wall, I’m thinking this might be looking up. Walking in I see it’s up to $15 to tour I’ll be honest I almost changed my mind, glad I didn’t. Upon going round the corner I try to find the screech owl no luck. Then it’s into the room with the large cage and Arden is setting up on a perch looking regal. I am able to step through the door that I could not go through last time. Check out the video on my video page. They have laid out wooden boardwalks with info signs in front of the cages. Here is Vega peering at you from above.

Bella is a Bald Eagle who is also outside and is joined by Warrior a red tail hawk

I step further down the boardwalk and am introduced to a very squawking peregrine falcon Ole. I find out Sidney is preparing to change out equipment on him, and get a weight. I guess it turned out he’s a tad heavy. Before the introduction to Sidney, I was talking to another worker about how being able to come out and see more of the birds make the admission price worth it. I also touched on my first experience and how this boardwalk system is amazing. Touching on people who have mobility problems gravel can be difficult. He then pointed me in Sidney’s direction and said most of these improvements were from her.

I asked if it was possible to share this with people who read my blog, she was thrilled to be able to share her love for these birds. It really does show with everyone at the foundation. So we sat down and talked while she was in the process of making new anklets, which when he is worked there is a ‘safety leash’ for lack of a better word attached to the anklets. If Haines Alaska is anywhere in your future this is a place you have to visit.

I learned a valuable lesson if you’ve been somewhere before and you have the opportunity to visit again DO IT!