Spell of the Wild

Chuck:

A really quiet night, considering we were dry camped about 100 feet from the “Alaska Highway”, almost zero traffic from 9 pm to 9 am; actually, not much any time.  As we are preparing to roll down the road for another day, Betty cranks the engine as I walk around to check the outside.  Hey, we have a flat tire.  The right, rear outside tire is totally FLAT.  When I announce this; Betty reminds me that we have no cell coverage and we are 85 miles from the nearest town, Tok.  Bren informs us that we may not be “in the middle of nowhere, but he can see it over by the base of some distant mountains”.  Thanks Bren.  They both decide the proper response is from the Geico gecko, “Somebody out there, please help me!”.  Where is nephew, Barry Johnson, when we need him.  Ok, we disconnect the Honda, Betty & I drive about 5 miles back to a gas station near the Canadian border.  Great, they have a phone.  We call AAA, they contact a garage in Tok. I give Willard the details of the tire, the damage and our exact location.  Result: about 2 pm, Willard arrives with a new tire, old air compressor and a bunch of tire tools.  I assist him as we work through the old time procedure: remove the wheel, force the tire off the wheel, force the new tire on the wheel, coax air into it hoping for a seal, remount the new assembly onto the RV.  This took a lot longer than it should have, maybe because of my help.  Great, 4:30 pm and we are now on the road.  We will spend the night in Tok and settle up with Willard in the morning. 

The Tok RV Village has full service hook-ups: water, 50 Amps, sewer and cable TV (much more than we have been accustomed to for the past few weeks).  As Betty registers, Bren and I disconnect the car from the RV and discover that the Honda has a dead battery.  We “jump it” from the RV.  Evidently, this morning while Betty and I drove to find a phone, I was trying to find an AM radio station and I left the radio on, in the “search” mode; for hours while it was being towed (the CRV must have the key in the ‘Acc.’ mode while towing and of course the car’s alternator is not recharging ).  Tonight, the RV park has a local band in the community building; Alaska Sweetgrass & Dave Stancliff: old guy on guitar, young guy on banjo, good looking young gal on fiddle.  Good tunes and lots of Tok facts: they claim to have the lowest temp in North America – minus 83 degrees, with a population of 1,434, they refuse to incorporate, “nobody likes their local government so why have one”.  Consequently, some houses have really weird colors, residents do as they please, but, they pay no municipal taxes and they have a sense of cohesiveness that they must work together.  Meanwhile, Bren is back at the RV freaking out with all the available TV channels and internet connection after a week of NOTHING!

Chuck:

It is a good day.  We started by having the Spanish omelet that Artes gave us last evening.  It was delicious, a tasty balance of great flavors.  Betty is getting the recipe.  As promised, we visited the Kluane Cultural Center which is managed by the Canada National Park Service in co-operation with First Nation representatives.  This new Center is amazing, very well done.  The 20 minute introduction film is not only informative but has spectacular photography.  Many of the Center’s exhibits are aimed at middle school level kids.  Lots of hands on stuff, like pelt samples of most of the mammals of the area, skulls, etc.  We loved it!

Just a few miles and a black bear crosses in front of us. The highway was not so great, mostly paved, but a gazillion frost heaves limit driving speed to about 35 mph.  Even at that speed, some nasty bumps and holes shake the rig and our teeth.  The scenery is grand; massive snow capped mountains, huge lakes, rocky stream beds that are oversized to accommodate snow-melt; the magnitude of it all renders us insignificant.  For over an hour we drove around the southwestern edge of Kluane Lake.  And now, after driving over 1200 miles on the Alaska Highway, we enter Alaska (no hassels, we have our passports and Mitzie’s health certificate, this time).  Immediately, the road is much improved (our Mile-Post guidebook says this only lasts for about 25 miles; must be a ‘not so subtle’ political thing.  We find a wide paved turn-out with two pieces of heavy equipment parked to the side, plenty of room for us.  We dry camp for the night.  There is almost no traffic.  Happy-hour back in the USA!

“…there’s a land where the mountains are nameless and the rivers all run God knows where.”                From ‘The Spell of the Yukon’    by Robert Service

Chuck:

After two days in Caribou RV Park, we are back on our way north.  Ten miles later we are parked in front of “Kanoe People Outfitters” in Whitehorse.  We have arranged for Bruce from “Glass Magnum” to meet us there to repair some cracks in the windshields of both the RV and the CRV; three long cracks, one short one and several “dings” that could develop into cracks.  Meanwhile, I step into Kanoe People to renew my acquaintance with Scott the owner.  Scott helped my canoe  partner, Bill Quayle,  & I get started down the Yukon River, ten years ago.  It was good to chat with him again.  Ok, visiting done, glass repaired, we are on the road by mid-afternoon.  About 7pm we start looking for a likely place to dry camp.  As we are entering the little town of Haines Junction, we see a large new parking lot by a large new building, a cultural center.  The staff was closing as I asked if we could stay overnight in their lot.  Kim said they would make an exception for us, if we promised to visit the Cultural Center the next morning.  Great!

Later in the parking lot we met Artes & Jorge, an energetic young Spanish couple.  They are on a Canadian “Work Visa” for a year and have the summer off to travel.  They are car camping out of a Subaru Outback (I think) and Artes had just cooked their supper.  We invited them to join us after-dinner for wine or beer.  Great folks, they are loving the great outdoors of the North.  Hiking, climbing, skiing, exploring; and all on a very tight budget.  We swapped lotsa stories. Our conversations about the economic conditions in Europe, especially Spain were most informative.  Bren is a senior at Florida Gulf Coast University majoring in economics and got really involved discussing conditions in Europe.  Very brief recap:  Due to current economy and lack of employment opportunities, young college educated professionals are leaving their home countries (esp. Spain, Italy & Greece) and going to countries that need their skills and that will legally accept them: South American countries are most promising, Canada and US are desirable but their poor job market for young grads and the red tape of their immigration procedures makes them very difficult for permanent relocation.  As they departed for the evening, Artes gave us a Spanish omelet that she had made.

Chuck:

We are staying over another day in the Whitehorse area.  Today we drove the CRV to Skagway, Alaska.  It was a little over one hundred miles, went through the little town of Carcross, Yukon (named because it is a traditional caribou crossing).  While in Carcross we tried to locate friends of Jack & Gerry Horner: Dustin Davis at Cabin Fever Adventures.  No luck, a lady at the local Post Office thought they had moved to Whitehorse, split-up, and that he had been mauled by a bear and lost his left eye, however, we are not sure we have the right outfitter (if his ex’s name is Vanessa, he is in trouble).

When enroute, we had to cross from Canada into Alaska.  Oops, we forgot our passports and the ‘vet info’ for our little k-9 friend, Mitzie.  After a bit of a hassle, they allowed us to re-enter our homeland.  Skagway was a zoo.  It is a small town that has worked closely with the US Park Service to recreate the boomtown of the 1897 – 1904 gold-rush.  To add to the pandemonium , it is a very popular cruise ship stopping point.  Holland America’s USS Statendam had just docked here a few hours before we drove into town, just long enough for every passenger to be roaming the streets, bars and brothels.  We sampled the Alaskan Pale Ale and other goodies in a “questionable house” called The Red Onion; the old time music was good too. Side Note: at the stroke of 12 o’clock the shady lady on the stairs announced that they had a “Special”, Nooners were $20 for 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, in the better part of town, Betty did a lot of window shopping with Mitzie, she only entered pet friendly establishments. 

After a few hours we were driving out of Skagway and Betty asked if any of us had our little camera.  Oh no; mega-search of car, clothing, etc, nothing found.  Ok, Bren & I let Betty out to re-trace her path through town while we found a shady parking place and strip-searched the car.  I have a sinking feeling that we may have been victims of “light fingers” yet again (I have had 2 cameras stolen in years past).  Bren and I found nothing; we drove around until we located Betty with a big “I found the camera” smile on her face.  It had slid out of her purse into the weeds when she set the purse down in a back alley.  This raises some other questions, but she did find it.  Now back on the road, at Canadian customs the agent did his bit to ensure that we never forget our passports again, ever (Note: until, 9 – 11 a drivers license was all that was needed to cross between US and Canada).  While we were gassing up in Carcross, a man asked me if he could get a ride to Whitehorse.  I told him I had my family along and did not take strangers.  He convinced me he was not strange, but the principle of Carcross School (150 students, K-9).  After, discussing it with the B’s, we had a new pax and gained a lot of local knowledge on the 30 mile drive back to his car and our campsite.

We parked in one of the provincial parks in British Columbia for lunch.  It was such a neat little park.  There are lots of parks, rest areas and turnouts along the roads and it makes it great for driving.

This is the same little park.  There are overnight sites that you can stay in.

Mile Post 0 on the Alaska Highway.  Chuck has ridden his bike this far and now we leave here to drive to Alaska and he will bike the Dalton Highway (Fairbanks to Deadhorse) and then south out of Fairbanks back to Dawson Creek, B.C.

One of the many beautiful views along the Alaska Highway.  There are patches of gravel in some spots but most of the road is asphalt.

Lots of RVs heading north.  When there are animals along the road it isn’t unusual for many vehicles to be stopped taking pictures.  This was when we came up on some buffalo.  The buffalo were on the sides and walking in the road.  There were several calves.  Neat.

Chuck:

 Another driving only day.   While in Watson Lake we visit a unique spot; the “Sign Forest”.  Signs indicating the distance to a hometown are attached to tall poles by the thousands, also city limit signs, and a variety of personalized signs of all types.  This “forest” grew from a sign that a GI working on the AlCan Highway in 1942 posted pointing to his hometown with the mileage. Then other GIs wanted their hometown recognized.  Today we found signs from Estero, FL, several U of F Gator and South Bend, IN signs. 

Back on the current Alaska Highway enroute to Whitehorse.  Beautiful mountain and lake views, sparse traffic, lots of “pull-off” areas for viewing, resting, eating, checking vehicles, etc.  Oddly, after the critter sighting bonanza we had yesterday, none today.  We refueled in Teslin, a small community on Lake Teslin, which feeds the Teslin River.  The Lane’s in the Happy Hoofer Chapter of FTA have canoed the Teslin down to the Yukon River and they have told me it is absolutely beautiful.  Refueling the RV is a bitter-sweet experience; as we drive through rugged, remote, mountain wilderness and watch the fuel gauge move toward the “red zone”, it is good to arrive at an oasis to tank-up, but, at the pump watching the dollar signs fly by, our budget moves into the “red”.

The Caribou RV Park is very nice, friendly folks, lots of trees, wi-fi available.  Unlike the Downtown RV park in Watson Lake which tried to park as many RVs as possible into a bare gravel lot.  We will stay here two nights so that tomorrow we can leave the RV here and drive the CRV a hundred miles or so to Skagway, Alaska for the day.

Chuck:

A great critter day:  Tons of Stone Sheep in groups of 10 – 30; maybe 50 buffalo (American Bison) some in herds & some loners; nine black bears, all individual sightings.  All this was seen from a vehicle.  We slowed and sometimes stopped to get photos.  Also, the scenery was great; the Peace River, Liard River and dozens of others. Snow is still on the sides of many peaks; we are passing through the Rocky Mountains.  We stop for the “World’s Best Hot Cinnamon Buns”, it is a lonesome campsite and roadside café in a deep remote valley.  I pitched a tent here 10 years ago and Herb still has a full white beard, quick wit and lotsa info for travelers.  Back on the road, we hear a rock “ping” on the windshield which now has a small crack and it is growing.  We will be spending the night in the Downtown RV Campground in Watson Lake, Yukon.

Chuck:

Last night we were dry camped in the Dawson Creek Wal-Mart parking lot.  So this morning we resupplied and probably more than paid for our “camp site”.  I biked two miles to the official start of the Alaska Highway, Mile Post 0.  We snapped some photos, loaded my bike in the CRV and started driving north on the Alaskan Highway  to Fort Nelson.  We will bike the Alaska Highway (1,523 miles) as we come south after biking from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay.  Amazing how fast the miles go by when driving, also those hills are not really all that bad.  Today was a good “critter day”:  one dead moose, probably road-kill, much later a half-grown calf grazing, then a small black bear and later a fox.  After driving 287 miles, we entered Fort Nelson and immediately saw a large gravel parking area near an unused building – home for the night.   Stir-fry, garlic toast, some white wine (and beer); a very pleasant day.

Chuck:

A good day; pleasant morning with only a weak headwind.  Miles slip by easily.  After about 10 miles, I hear two people in a pasture on my left trying to call their two dogs back.  One dog, a big fast mover, leaped over a low fence, then across a drainage ditch and was on an intercept course for ME!  I was cruising at 13 mph, but quickly kicked in the reserves.  The barking dog shot in front of an oncoming 18 wheeler which was braking and sounding the air horn.  This monster was now only inches from my right foot and I was now at 23 mph.  I knew he could not sustain this speed, but I definitely would.  When he slowed, I looked back and saw the second dog hundreds of feet behind his speedy friend, the two people were at the edge of the road still calling.  Wow, that broke the monotony. 

Later Betty called to say they were in a very nice roadside park waiting for me to join them for lunch.  It was a beautiful park filled with aspen.  While there, Betty talked with a park ranger who told her that I would get wet if I left now.  We waited a couple hours, and missed the passing showers.  Back on the road, just entered British Columbia Province.  The B-Team has just called to say they are parking for the night on the outskirts of Dawson Creek in a Wal-Mart parking lot.  When I arrived I saw we were one of several RVers spending the night there.

This nearly completes this portion of our trip.  The plan was to bike from Montana to Dawson Creek which is the start of the Alaska Highway (aka AlCan Highway) then drive to Fairbanks, Alaska and bike the Haul Road to Prudhoe Bay.  The hope is that the ice there will have thawed and we could complete that part before the mosquitoes were out in force.  After the Prudhoe part is done we will bike the Alaska Highway part that we are skipping over for now.  So tomorrow we will pack up and drive “North to Alaska”.

People often ask what the support crew does all day while the biker is out doing his thing.  Well, we do a lot of reading, but we also have chores.  Brendan and I have evolved into a pattern of sharing duties.  Our day goes something like this (and every day is different).  Chuck gets up about 6am and fixes coffee and takes Mitzie out.  I get up shortly after, take my shower, get dressed and have coffee.  Then the focus is on getting Chuck ready for his ride – ie: filling water bottles, deciding how far he’s going to ride and if there will be a place for us to pull off for a lunch break for him or will he need to take a lunch.  Then he’s out the door about the time Brendan gets up.  Brendan takes his shower, gets dressed and then he and I start to unhook and close up the RV.  I often post the website or work on pictures while he showers. He does most of the work outside and I do most of the work inside, although we both help with both areas if we are done with ours.  Once we’re ready to roll we pull out of the camp, hook up the car and we’re off.  Brendan is doing most of the driving right now.  He doesn’t mind and he’s a much better driver than I.  I do the navigating and a fair share of back-seat driving, but he puts up with it.  (Once he takes off in July for the O’Brien family reunion the driving will fall to me.)  If we’re lucky enough to be able to pull off for a lunch break – we do, and we read until Chuck pedals in (usually about an hour or so).  We all have lunch, Chuck rests, Brendan and I read, and then we are all off again for the next stop which is where we will spend the evening.  Sometimes we have a campground in mind, sometimes we look for a wide spot in which we think we can spend the night.  Either way – we pull in, call Chuck with our location; hook up the utilities and put the slides out if it’s a campground – or just bide our time if it’s a parking place.  If we’re dry camping (the term for parking without hook-ups) we rarely put slides out until late in the evening and then usually only on the side away from traffic.  It’s optimum if we can park where we have trees or grass on one side.  In the afternoon we complete other chores such as laundry, shopping, etc.  After Chuck pedals in, showers and we all have Happy Hour and dinner, we read and then off to bed to get ready for another day.  I cook dinner unless we go out; Brendan and Chuck either do the dishes or help with them.  I think Brendan has completed about four books (we bought more a few days ago), I’ve completed three and am on my fourth. 

Today would have been my mom’s 95^th birthday.  We all miss her.