210,240

 

Today is day 146 of our journey.  We are still on our way home to Illinois, currently in Stewart British Columbia where there is an excellent Mexican restaurant housed in a Toaster Museum.    Go figure.  There are 2 owners, one who can cook and one who is obsessed with toasters

There is no toast on the menu, in case you were wondering

You’re probably also wondering about the title of this post.  That’s the number of minutes we have been together so far on this trip.  (60 minutes per hour x 24 hours per day x 146 days so far with probably 8 or so more until we get home.).  I’ll just say that’s a lot of minutes.  It’s been interesting to spend that much time with someone.  Why didn’t we go places on our own like we would at home?  There are several reasons but mostly just having one vehicle and walking or hiking alone means thinking about bears too much.  It’s just smarter to hike with someone.  

Fish creek boardwalk in Hyder. Alaska where you can sometimes see bears below.  It got partly washed out this year in July by a flood starting in Summitt Lake up by Salmon Glacier!  This year we didn’t see any bears there but we did see a great blue heron being chased by 2 eagles.  We did see a grizzly bear finally, ambling along the Alaska Highway outside of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory.  And just now as I was editing this post a black bear came into the campground !

Fortunely we are a great travel team.  Russ is the fix-it guy and driver.  I’m the planner and navigator.  I love maps.  I love figuring out how far we can get each day and where we might camp. Where we can and should get gas next   (Useful skill since there are few gas stations along most of these roads we are traveling.)

So for the next 11,520 minutes give or take we will keep working as a team to wrap up our fabulous summer adventure!!   We have some ideas for our next adventures in 2027 so stay tuned!!

Rafting and Berry Picking

 

One day last week we took a river rafting trip with Denali Raft Adventures.  It was beautiful, challenging, and more than a bit splashy.  Here’s where we almost lost Russ to a big wave:

Fortunately he managed to hang on and didn’t have to swim in the chilly glacial run-off waters of the Nenana River.

A day later we headed back to Anchorage to visit my friend Patty from college.  We had some great meals, walked around the zoo, and saw a show about the aurora borealis at the planetarium.

On the way home Saturday we picked blueberries under the watchful eye of Denali.

The colors on the tundra are turning gold and red.  It’s so different than any fall scenery I’m used to and so beautiful 

This is from the drive into Denali National Patk we did last night after a great dinner at Black Diamond Resort courtesy of our appreciative campground owners.  

Russ’s dinner the Seafood Boil.  Yum!!

Today I made blueberry preserves from our pickings and also there is new snow on the mountains.

Looks like we will be heading home to Illinois soon!

More Fish Stories

 

I finally got to wear my Frogg’s Toggs to fish in Clearwater Creek near Delta Junction.  I like the waders, fishing pole, and bear spray ensemble.   We didn’t catch a thing that day, though we both had a couple that “got away.”

So peaceful!

In my last two posts I mentioned that we were near the north and south ends of the Trans Alaska Pipeline   This week we camped near it again at Quartz Lake Campground   Here it is going underground:

And here it has its own suspension bridge over the Tanana River

 

Our campsite at Quartz Lake had a lot of good features.

 Close to the bathrooms, nice fire ring, not too many bugs and a nice flat spot for the tent

We rented a little boat to fish from at the lake, and I caught my first rainbow trout!  We turned that into dinner over the campfire.   Yummmm

I Love Valdez Alaska So Much

 I don’t know why but Valdez is my favorite place in Alaska for the last 2 years when I have visited it

1.  The views from Blueberry Lake State Recreation Atea campground:  

2.  This restaurant:

Fantastic salmon dip appetizer, cod and rockfish sandwiches, and amazing smoked salmon pizza. (That was for 3 meals not just one because I do not want to become a fat mermaid!)

3.  Fishing off Allison Point makes Russ happy.  And I saw seals!

4.  Did I mention seals?  Did you know they are closely related to dogs?

This is Bella the office dog and she probably already knew that:

66 degrees 33 minutes

 66 degrees and 33 minutes is the latitude of the Arctic circle.  We crossed it last week when we drove the amazing Dalton Highway   

  The Dalton is a rough road—mud, gravel, some asphalt and lots of potholes. It was formerly known as the North Slope Haul Road and until 1994 was only open to trucks supplying the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay

We started our trip with a 9 hour drive to Coldfoot Camp where we spent the night.  Dinner there featured a wonderful salad bar.  In the middle of nowhere.  In a state where it’s almost impossible to grow a vegetable.  But there it was.  I was sooooo happy!

Next we drove on through the Brooks Range (beeeyoootiful!) on to Deadhorse.  

That’s right!  The road follows the pipeline. There would be no road access if not for the oil fields and pipelines. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it

We saw arctic foxes, caribou, musk oxen , a lynx (running away), and snowy owls.  We got in the Arctic Ocean (to varying degrees. 

Yes I am the wimpy one here!  

Salmon

Salmon fishing is big in Alaska during July and August .  Folks dip net, fly fish, or use a spinning rod to catch them. Russ caught one this week in Resurrection Creek using a spinning rod.   He released it with the help of this local resident

Her mom told me she catches them with her bare hands sometimes because she’s too small to handle a dip net!   I do believe her spirit animal is a bear.

Locals have so much salmon they just want to give it away.   It’s like growing zucchini back in Illinois!

Hope (where we stayed while Russ fished) is a beautiful little town on the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet   From our campsite we watched the tide roll out revealing extensive mud flats, and listened to the waves lapping as it rolled back in.

We had a sweet little site for our tent at Porcupine Creek Forest Service Campground where we had our own bear proof box for food, and a nice fire pit with a view.

On our way home we got a nice surprise visit from our favorite mountain!

Homer, Sweet Homer.

 

The Salty Dawg, an iconic bar on the Homer Spit

Last week we headed to Homer,AK on the Kenai Peninsula    We had a day with no rain on Wednesday so we walked on the Spit   The spit is a long narrow strip of land full of tourists, fishing charters, gift shops, and RVs   I did enjoy a Chuli Stout at the Salty Dawg, and great fresh halibut fish ‘n chips while there   Homer is the halibut fishing capital of the entire universe

Here’s a view of the beauty of this area and of the spit, taken a little outside of town   The mountains and the bay together are truly stunning.

We camped at Anchor River State Recreation Area about 15 miles north of Homer.  It was peaceful and Russ fished a bit in the Anchor River.  But alas we had pasta for dinner instead of fresh fish again

Wednesday the cold rain drove us north again.  We stopped in Kenai where we saw dozens of people in the water at the mouth of the Kenai River dip-netting for salmon.  We also went to Whittier where we had to drive through a 2 1/2 mile tunnel on train tracks to arrive.

  We ate some yummy reindeer chili too.  No worries it wasn’t any of Santa’s reindeer.  Reindeer are just domesticated and well tended caribou.  The meat is healthier than beef and farmed sustainably 

Afterward we headed to Anchorage where we had dinner with a friend of mine from PT school that I hadn’t seen in probably 25 years.  It was so much fun catching up that we are headed to spend more time with her this week

 

The Yukon River

 

Last week we drove A Lot across the Denali Highway then up the Tok cutoff, along the Taylor Highway to Chicken Alaska and on to Eagle Alaska on the Yukon River.  Tent camping we got rained on a lot. It was ok since rain means fewer wildfires. But after a few days of being wet we opted to seek indoor options.  We found the Falcon Inn B&B in Eagle—a true gift!  Comfy bed, great shower, views of the river, and a good breakfast provided by Marlys House who has lived in the quaint town of Eagle since she was 23 and out of respect I’ll just say it’s been “a few years”. 

There are 2 buildings that belong to the B&B  we stayed at the one by the grassy airstrip and got to see this:

In the winter this is the best way to get to Eagle  otherwise you’re on a snow machine for a gazillion beautiful miles   Also that would be okay cause the views are amazing 

On the way up and back we had lunch in Chicken Alaska   There are only 2 places to eat there so we covered all the bases  In June there is a big music festival there called Chickenstock.  Double Puns!   Here is a possible stage, held up with old rusty trucks   Gotta love it!

This week we are headed south to Homer or wherever the winds blow us!

If I Ran The Zoo

 This is me pretending to be Large and In Charge while the owners are away for the day.  I’ve got keys to all the doors AND the toilet paper holders.   I’ve got the office phone.   I’ve got a Walkie-Talkie that I can call Russ on to make him do the jobs I don’t want to do…just kidding. We have things split up fairly well already.  

On a typical day we start work at 9, open the office, check the showers and restrooms to see if they need attention (usually yes). Here is our “exhausting” commute..  we walk from our trailer to the office!

We see who has checked in after hours and update the magic board you see behind me in the photo

We help folks dump their waste water tanks, check folks in and out of the park, take phone calls, make reservations, sell snacks and souvenirs in the office.  

We clean the Cabin and the Yurt, launder the bedding, sell firewood, pick up the trash,  and chat with guests.  We clean the bathrooms, showers and office.  

If I ran the zoo then the only thing I would change is I’d get rid of the paper shower mats that get gross after they get wet and require frequent changing.  But I do NOT really run the zoo.  I might qualify to be in charge of the nuthouse, though!

Changes

Here is the view driving toward Cantwell on May 8th

And here it is July 1st

Other things have changed as well:  more wildflowers!  We hiked part of the Triple Lakes trail in Denali National Park today   We also hiked it in late May when only a couple types of wildflowers were blooming but today there were so many   I counted at least 10 different kinds growing along the trail

In May the lakes had different kinds of ducks displaying mating behaviors   Today there were new little ducklings!

Willow ptarmigan have turned from white to brown as have snowshoe hares   

Besides observing the changes here we have driven over Hatcher Pass once it opened last week.  

And we camped at South Rolly Lake campground and at Eklutna Lake.  We hiked to Thunderbird Falls and walked around the Eagle River nature center near Anchorage 

Things are changing but they are always beautiful