Northern Exposure, Talkeetna

We took another short trip up the highway to the little town of Talkeetna, Alaska that the 80's TV series "Northern Exposure" was supposedly the basis for. 

It's a little one street tourist town filled with shops and fooderies.  We got here on a Friday afternoon and there was a live concert so the town was quite active. 


We're staying in a campground along the river which has no hookups and is pretty neglected. We just pulled up along the river and disconnected the truck. 

The sites are not marked and just a jumble of picnic tables and fire pits with no reasonable organization.  We're set in an area full of wildflowers and a view of the river.  Not bad for chaos.

On the river

After a quick walk through the town, we took the truck to find hiking trails and get a pizza at a place a couple miles out of town.  After coffee this morning we will hike the trails around Tigger Lake which is not far from where we had pizza last night at the Flying Squirrel bakery.  Hope we run into Bullwinkle.

This sign just made me laugh out loud.

Martin Buser and the Iditarod

We moved 25 miles to a campground in Wasilla today to visit our favorite Iditarod musher and his family. Martin Buser, his wife Kathy and son Rohn live just outside Wasilla and give daily tours of their kennel. Martin has great personality and we got hooked on cheering for his team after watching a discovery channel special that followed the grueling 1049 mile Iditarod race one year. 

Martin has participated in 29 Iditarod races and is a 4x winner. And multiple times he was chosen to win the coveted Iditarod Humanitarian musher award.  This award is basically for the musher who takes the best care of his team.  His son Rohn has also been a participant in several Iditarod races and we'll certainly see him in the winners circle before long. We were lucky to be able to talk with Martin, Kathy and Rohn for awhile before the tour. This so far has been one of the big highlights our our Alaskan trip. 

Their dogs were super enthusiastic and friendly. When Martin was picking out a half dozen dogs to demonstrate them pulling a 4 wheeler with their harness, the entire kennel went crazy trying to get him to pick them. The dogs love nothing better than pulling the sled and competing in this event. We also got to hold the newborn puppies that were only 10 days old.

After touring the kennels we stopped at Iditarod headquarters, watched a movie, and learned even more about the history of this unique event. Although it probably won't ever happen, we would love to someday be live spectators shivering on the finish line of this outstanding event.

Eklutna camping

After packing up we headed for Anchorage on the way to our next stop. In Anchorage we had to stop and get the truck serviced at the GMC dealer in town. We dropped the 5'er next to a park behind the dealer. I also took the truck to a car wash and removed a few pounds of dirt.

Now we're in Eklutna campground which is heavily forested and in a very interesting valley with the largest lake in the Chugach range with many good hiking trails.

 It's down a 9 mile narrow road that has a renowned ice cream parlour close to the campground. As we rounded the bend and saw the the ice cream place, we noticed a Mama Moose and baby moose in their front yard. So that was our excuse to pull in and get some onion rings and ice cream (health food). Unfortunately the Moose departed when we pulled in so they must have finished their ice cream and were heading back into the woods. Too bad.

This is another beautiful campground which has no hookups which is the norm for this part of the country. State and national parks around here usually have no water or electric service which works fine for us. When we got here, we backed into a nice site and set everything up. About 20 minutes later we realized that this was a bad decision as the site next to us had 4 carloads of quite drunk and obnoxious young people. Very obnoxious so we decided to take down and move to the other side of the campground where we couldn't hear them. That's the nice thing about camping. If you don't like your neighbors you can move. We noticed other campers who did the same as us since there were plenty of campsites available here.

The weather is warming up some so we were able to enjoy sitting outside and reading as well as having a campfire at 9:00pm in the sunlight.

Mosquito’s were pretty friendly and numerous at times. We also took advantage of the hiking trails in the area and took in the scenery.

Alaskan traffic jam

Seaplane going down the road

Just before leaving Homer I went to fill up my truck with diesel before hitching up. And on the way I was stuck in the most unusual traffic jam. I was following a Seaplane on the road which just cleared the power lines and the left wing was going over the traffic on the other side of the road while creeping along very slowly.

Camping by a remote lake

They say the best things in life are free. And that goes for this beautiful (free) campsite by a beautiful lake we found in the Chugach National Forest. Boondocking at it's finest.

Portage Glacier in the distance (center)

This lake is about a half mile from Willowah campground and there are extensive hiking trails all around us which we've made good use of. Our site is a little more than a mile from a glacier (Portage Glacier) and the Portage Glacier visitor center. In 2008 when we were in Alaska (around the same time of year) the lake by Portage Glacier was filled with ice bergs and very cold. This year it was sunny and quite pleasant and the lake was clear of any ice.

In the morning we decided to get some exercise and hike about 3 miles to Portage Glacier. The trails had a good amount of fresh bear scat and bear/moose tracks. There are very few people hiking these trails this time of year so we were vigilant with bear spray and making a little more noise than normal while hiking.

On the way back from the visitor center we decided to walk the road back instead of backtracking on the same trail we took. During the road walk, a car pulled up and a man warned us that just around the next bend was a large black bear. Fortunately there was a trail not far from us intersecting the road so we took that trail and gave that bear a wide berth. It was a trail we walked the previous evening so we knew where it went. A nice way to start the day.

Beach camping on the Homer Spit

We're camping right on the beach of the Homer Spit surrounded by snow covered mountains. The spit is a long sandy/rocky causeway reaching out into the Kachemak Bay (saltwater). 

After we set up camp we saw the strangest thing. A guy with a windrider trimaran (without the mast/sail) was using it with a kite surfing setup. It was quite windy and he seemed to be doing pretty good with the setup, but it looked like a physically demanding chore to maneuver it. When he beached it, I went out and talked with him and concluded he's partially crazy. He knew a lot about kite surfing but using the boat with the kite was fairly new to him. However on this trip he forgot his paddle and also told me if the kite goes into the water while sailing the boat, it's almost impossible to relaunch the kite unless he gets in the water and abandons the boat and then sail back to the boat and somehow sail into the seat which is not really a good idea in high seas if you want to keep all your bones intact. But he said he did it once even though it about killed him. 

When he pulled the boat in, the surf was slamming the rudder into the sand and I couldn't bear looking at it being abused like that so I mentioned something about his rudder getting beat up. He said “oh yeah … that rudder is bent and I'm going to have to get it fixed somewhere”.

The first day here was sunny and cool during the day but later on the rain began and it poured through the night. The next morning we decided to drive around the Homer area to explore because the rain looked like it wasn't going to let up. Homer has a big artist community so we found a good place to see some of the local art and then visited the Pratt Historical and Science museum which was fascinating. Many interesting exhibits with stories of homesteaders and stories of the sea and the storms they experienced over the years. We highly recommend this museum if you're going to be in Homer.

When we left the museum, the rain had stopped and it turned into a nice sunny day so we got our chairs out and sat on the sunny beach behind our 5'er. We got to know the family next to us from Anchorage and we built a campfire on the beach together even though it stays sunny until around 11pm. It felt a bit strange wearing sunglasses while sitting around a campfire. Yvonne and I were all bundled up with winter coats and it felt cold to us with the wind blowing. It was around 47 degrees. The Alaskans with us were barefoot and the teenagers only wore short sleeved shirts.  Utter insanity to us. However they were nice like minded people and we enjoyed talking with them around the fire. They told us to be thankful for the wind because mosquito season is upon us and they said the mosquitoes will completely engulf your body. The last time we were in Alaska they weren't bad and so far we've only seen a couple big lumbering slow mosquitoes. A lot easier to dodge than the fast sneaky Florida mosquitoes. We brought headnets and a lot of deet just in case.

Even though Homer is the Halibut fishing capital of the world, we decided to not go on a fishing charter and spend $500.00 to crank a heavy fish into the boat. Then we would have to pay to have the fish processed and shipped home since there's no way we could fit it into our tiny freezer. I'm not at all a fan of charter boat fishing so we instead bought a nice piece of Halibut and cooked it on the beach with a cold beer.

Next we'll head north and inland stopping along the way to get an oil change for the truck if we're lucky.

Russian River

Russian River

When leaving Seward, we packed up in the rain and while hitching up, the landing gear of the 5'er broke.   Time to face one of my biggest worries.  Landing gear and Slideout issues can really ruin your day.  Fortunately, I researched how to repair Landing gear issues and even bought some spare parts in case of this emergency which in this case happened to be shear pins. I was glad I had this part with me and fixed the problem quickly.

We are now camping along the Russian River at a State park that will become a complete madhouse in 2 weeks.  That's because this is the place to be when the Salmon start running.  It's one of the places where you see the shores of the river lined with fishermen competing with Brown bears for salmon.  This is where the term "combat fishing" came about although it's not between people and the bears, it's more between the people themselves vying for a good spot along the banks.   There are hundreds of rules for fishing during this period and many rangers around to strictly enforce them.

Eagle

 

We timed it right and on Thursday when arrived, we were the only people in the entire campground of 190 sites.  Made for some nice walks in solitude along the paths and walkways along the river.  It was quite relaxing sitting along the banks listening to the water flowing over the rocks in the river.   We never did see any bears but several times we saw Eagles flying along the river looking for fish. 

The weather has been kind of off lately but at least we had one nice day where we got a couple long walks in and were able to leave the windows open for a bit.  Our last night, heavy rain returned which was good considering the massive fires not too far from here.  It was quite cold and while filling our fresh water tanks we could see a lot of fresh snow on the trees a couple thousand feet up the mountains from us. 

Every campsite has these lockers

Orcas and Humpbacks

Seward

We're wrapping up our stay in Seward and getting ready to pull out.  Yesterday we went on a 6 hour boat ride out to Kenai Fjiords national park.  It was a moist chilly kind of day but a good day to go on this tour.  We saw a lot of sealife, most notably humpback whales and several pods of Orca killer whales.  There was a park ranger on board who told us a lot about the marine life we encountered.

Hiking trail

We also saw seals, sea lions, dall porpoises, otters and puffins as well as a glacier.   It was pretty cold in some areas.

Before leaving today we're hiking on one of the remote trails in Seward.  Last time in Alaska we hiked without any bear spray but this time we decided to get a couple cans of it in Anchorage as the Grizzly bears are plentiful around here. 

It's tempting to spend a few more days in this town.  Our next destination will probably be Coopers Landing area or Homer.  The rain we've received seems to be helping with the out of control fire near Soldotna which isn't too far from Coopers Landing.

Cat not impressed with the view

Great view from the 5'er

Seward

We spent a couple days in Anchorage taking care of many little details and repairs.  Our furnace is once again working as well as the rest of our gas appliances.   The LP regulator in our 5'er went bad and was causing a lot of weird problems with the propane.  No fun when the furnace quits in the night when the temps are in the low 30's.   Did some grocery shopping, went to the Alaska Zoo and cleaned the grime and mud off the 5'er and truck.   Even though after washing they both were quickly covered in a thin layer of ash from the large out of control fire in the Kenai south of Soldotna.  The sky is quite overcast because of the fire.

Cooking fresh Halibut for dinner.

Now we are in Seward Alaska camped on Resurrection bay.  The rear of our RV is made up of a bunch of windows which allows us to sit back there taking in the comings and goings on the bay.   Last night Yvonne made some Hot Otters (Hot chocolate, Baileys Irish creme, Kaluah and Peppermint Schnapps) while we watched seals and otters in the bay.  Plus there was plenty of boat traffic.  This is without a doubt our favorite place in Alaska.  It's a laid back small town with a lot of history.  The big earthquake in 1964 completely destroyed this town.  After the earthquake a giant Tsunami came in and wiped almost everything out.  It was a terrible disaster.  So they moved the town a little more inland when they rebuilt and use the waterfront now for RV's to park.  Sure hope we don't feel any large scale earthquakes this week.

It's relaxing to park the rig and disconnect for a few days without having to worry about making miles.  This morning we woke up to rain which is good news for the Kenai peninsula and the people dealing with that out of control fire.  Good day to get a good book and sit  by the window reading  ... with a couple "hot otters" of course. 

In Alaska

We are finally in Alaska !

The trip today was one of beauty and one of difficult driving conditions. This stretch goes along Destruction Bay which is absolutely breathtaking. The snow capped mountains are massive. And to top it off, we experienced snow showers a few times today.

From Haines Junction until you reach the Alaska border, the roads are pretty rough and loaded with frost heaves. You really have to keep your eyes on the road and go slow to keep from destroying your RV or vehicle. Besides that, there were stretches of rutted gravel roads thrown in to keep your eyes occupied.

But by the end of the day the driving paid off as we drove into the United States customs lane. And then as you drive into Alaska, the road smooths out (temporarily) and is once again beautiful. No more having to go **km per hour. No more signs displaying **km to the Possum Lodge. Back to miles and mph. But the biggest event to celebrate is that diesel prices are considerably lower in the United States. No more $200.00 fill-ups.

About 30 miles from the border we found a nice remote National Forest Service campground that was FREE. It's a good campground with no facilities which is fine with us since we are self contained and have solar power. Our site is on a lake. Besides the camp host couple, we're the only campers here. There was an educational interpretive nature walk that showed how drastically global warming was changing their ecology and adversely affecting the area.

our campsite

Friday we drove to Glenallen on the absolute worst roads yet (Tok cutoff).  Bumpy gravel and many frost heaves.  Rattled loose the rest of the parts from our RV so we'll stop in Anchorage to buy some parts and repair all the things that have been loosening up and breaking on these roads.  The furnace went out last night and it was 30 degrees so we need to fix that problem asap. But the roads should be better from here on out. I'm getting real good at fixing things on this rig.  So tonight was another double Mojito night !

Canadian graffiti and Pine Lake Yukon camping

Watson Lake camping was in the city campground which was nothing more than a muddy parking lot with full hookups.  Every couple days we need to dump our tanks and refill fresh water so we alternate between wilderness camping and private campgrounds.  The city campground was packed and I think most people RV'ing to Alaska prefer full hookups with cable, internet and all that.  We've been on the road almost an entire month and have not turned the TV on other than to watch a couple movies we brought with us.

Upon leaving Watson Lake we discovered the sign post forest wasn't the town's only unique attraction.  For the next 40 miles, along the road was a mecca of graffiti from locals and travelers.  The graffiti consisted of rocks lined up to form letters and symbols upon the hills that ran parallel to the road. 

It was a beautiful drive today and we made some miles.  Some of the road  had frost heaves which buckles the road with wavy dips in the road.  You need to watch out for frost heaves or you'll end up airborne.  Most of them are well marked with signs.  A few rough spots on the road but all in all not bad.

New wildlife encountered was a herd of beautiful wild horses along the road.  We pulled over to watch the herd.  You could almost sense the hierarchy among them.  What we thought was the leader was a wise looking sprited horse who looked in charge.  We got some video but no pictures.  When we departed, the horses took off after us and ran along the road a ways before stopping.  Maybe they felt they were running us off or just maybe they wanted to go to Alaska with us.

Other new wildlife we saw was the first Grizzly bear a few miles from where we are now camped in the provincial park Pine Lake Yukon.  This campground has everything we love about camping.  The pine forest is thick and beautiful.  Great camping sites all spread out, a lake, and all the free firewood you want.  So we built a campfire to stay warm in the 37 degree weather around here which is pretty chilly for our thin Florida blood.

Watching us by the Campfire

Provincial parks have no water or electric but they are only $12 per night.  Such a bargain.  This time of year it appears about 75% of the parks are still closed.  Most will be opening in the next couple weeks.

We're not far from Haines Junction and getting very close to Alaska.

Tatanka in the Yukon

Last night it got quite cold.  We built a campfire on the lake which was nice until a cold windy rainy weather front blew in.  I believe it got down into the mid 30's. Unfortunately during the night our furnace stopped due to an empty propane tank.  It was so chilly that even our cat ended up in bed between us and under the covers.  

After breakfast we hitched up and headed toward Liard Hot Springs which was about an hour from our campsite.  We spent the morning swimming in the hot mineral springs.  It was wonderful and very refreshing.  Everyone who travels the Alaskan Highway should stop here. 

Today we made it into the Yukon and the Bison were everywhere within a 75 mile stretch of road.  There were many individual herds.  Our favorite was a herd with a couple large Bison and a frisky baby who kept bouncing and running around in circles.  It was a joy to watch this baby Bison just loving life.  At one point while running around mom it purposely bumped her with his head and she took off after him.  Not all that different than us in some respects.

So many bear that we just zoom by them and wave. 

Tonight we're staying in Watson Lake which is the site of the famous sign forest.  Anyone traveling the highway is encouraged to put up a sign here.  To date there are 77,000 signs in this forest.  There's also a good visitor center connected to the forest with a museum about the construction of the Alaskan Highway.   The one thing we really wanted to do here was to go into the Northern lights museum but they closed it today to give the workers a 5 day weekend.

Muncho Lake

Very little driving today and spent a relaxing day on Muncho Lake. The lake was frozen but not typical ice. The ice was made up of 4” long ice crystals. When the ice moves or breaks it makes a very unique sound like a crystal wind chime.

Gas and everything else is expensive in British Columbia. We stopped at a small roadside store for a fresh baked Cinnamon bun and got a laugh at the sign on their gas pump. Gas and Diesel is crazy expensive. While eating our Cinnamon buns the Aussies showed up and we sat at a couple tables and talked. They kept us laughing.

In addition to Bear we saw Stone sheep, Beaver and a couple Caribou. And a Moose.