Just Another Day in Paradise

 

After boondocking two nights we took a side trip to Stewart British Columbia.  That short drive had the most amazing scenery of our trip.  I don’t have any pictures that can do it justice.  I’ll just say it overwhelmed the part of my brain where beautiful images are stored and a little leaked out of my eyes

Here we are in a private campground surrounded by mountains.  Our Boondocking friends are here too.  And we have run into our bicycling friends again too while we were driving to Salmon Glacier

Salmon Glacier is the largest glacier accessible by road in North America!

But I’ve gotten ahead of myself!!   To get to Salmon Glacier you must first cross the border back into Alaska!

In Hyder, Alaska you can buy gifts and fudge at the Boundary Gallery, eat excellent fish and chips if you are willing to wait an hour for your food to be prepared (worth the wait!), walk along a boardwalk over Fish Creek to see the salmon swimming upstream (and if you are lucky see a bear in the stream from a safe spot.)

So I got to visit Alaska again after all!  But at the end of the day we headed back to our fabulous Bear River campground in Stewart BC. 

In Stewart you can walk on a boardwalk in an estuary, eat the best Mexican food ever (right??) and try to get the owner to give you a tour of his private Toaster Museum. (We didn’t find him to ask…yet)

Are there any more surprises in store for Got Bliss?  Stay tuned to this station to find out for certain 

Oh wait!!  There IS more.  The Boondocking and bicycling club got together for one last meal tonight!   

Down in the Boondocks

We left Alaska and spent 2 nights enjoying the Yukon’s provincial parks.  Both Congden Creek and Teslin Lake parks were beautiful, well maintained, and they offered free firewood.  (You just have to split it yourself or get someone to do it for you!)

We had campfires both nights after being unable have them in Alaska due to the burn ban.  

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We then headed south into Beautiful British Columbia along the Cassiar Highway.  The scenery there is stunning to say the least.

  

Our first night on the Cassiar we could not get a camping site at the park where we had hoped to stay.  First time all trip we had that issue. Fortunately we pulled off into a turnout at the side of the road where we were introduced to Boondocking by a lovely couple from Colorado.  Boondocking is fun—you pull over on gravel turnout on the side of the road and spend the night    But first happy hour and snacks. Our new friends have a huge RV home on wheels.  We have a bed on wheels so yours truly was peeing in the bushes while our friends were showered and coiffed and creating fabulous snack trays.  But then we had so much fun we met up down the road to do it again the next night.  This time we were joined by a young couple from Switzerland who are biking from Anchorage to Mexico and camping along the way.  We

had a great time together!

To be continued…with a little twist at the end!!

Do I REALLY Have to Leave Alaska??

 Tomorrow we begin our return trip.  I am feeling sad about that.  It’s been amazing on ALL the levels.   

Our last full day in Alaska we hiked a 2.6 mile hike up and back down to the Tok River Outlook at Eagle Trail State Recreation Area 

View from the top!

Me happy I made it!!

Me sad we’re leaving tomorrow.  We have other great places to visit on our way home but I do love Alaska even more after this trip here 

But First, The Flowers! (Then beer and birds!)

 I’ve been seeing more wildflowers that I haven’t seen before.  Some I have been able to identify:

This, according to the Field Guide to Alaskan Wildflowers, is Single Delight or Shy Maiden.  

This I recognize as wild geranium

Here’s one I still haven’t been able to ID:

And here are some more for your viewing pleasure!

I normally don’t like beer but I found a couple brewed here that I’m fond of.  In particular I really like this one.  Poor bunny

And finally new birds for me:  boreal chickadee and golden-crowned sparrow 

Among the Clouds

After leaving the very fun campground we stayed in near Denali (shoutout to Joe and Tammy and crew at Cantwell RV park for free hot showers and a great cookout on the 4th of July!!) we drove on to see the Matanuska Glacier 

Next stop was Blueberry Lake State Recreation Área about 25 miles east of Valdez. I can’t begin to describe the rugged beauty of this area!   Here are a few pictures

This was the view from our campsite!

We drove into Valdez today in search of a laundromat,(Check) a car wash, (Check) cell service, (Check) and what we hope will be a good fresh fish lunch!

Bridalveil and Horsetail Falls outside of Valdez are stunning!

Seems like our laundry is about done and so we are off in search of lunch!!

Denali

We sat in the last row of the bus😬.  Was it bumpy ?  Was it dusty and smoky from fires?  Was it totally worth it?   YES!

We saw Big horn sheep and caribou from afar. We saw willow ptarmigan.   We freaking saw Denali!!  Such a rarity 

I’ve been here twice 1996 and 2025 and seen it both times.  So lucky!!🍀 

Hiked on our way out at Savage River.  

Me momentarily understanding how danged lucky I am!!

New birds for me today: willow ptarmigan and spruce and grouse

Where There’s Smoke…

 

Alaska summer wildfires are a thing.  They are everywhere. We drove  through a fair amount of smoke yesterday going south on the Parks Highway from Fairbanks toward Denali.  Signs warned of the need for delays and pilot cars to go south of Anderson where our next campground is located

Upon arrival we were extremely disappointed in the campground (can you say “false advertising “?)  This is part of the adventure though—the disappointment of non-working showers, dirty bathrooms, no picnic table in the campsite   We decided Enough Adventure of that kind and resolved to move on today

During the night we got emergency notifications for evacuations near that area   

Yes that’s from 2:43 a.m.!

This morning we stopped and talked to one of the firefighters staying in Anderson who told us the road north back to Fairbanks was closed but the road south was open.  There is a section where the firefighters are actively working and the road is open one lane only so we had to wait and follow a pilot car about 15 miles. 

Today we drove to Cantwell which is just south of Denali National Park where we have Real Working Showers  and amazing views nearby

Its the simple pleasures!!