ALASKA - WEEK 4 – June 9 to June 15, 2016

June 9, 2016 – Thursday

Left this morning for Valdez via the Glenn Highway 1 then connected to Richardson 4. Passed a place called Chickaloon …The whole town (cabins and general store)—for sale.  At one point it had a population of 244. Who knows, maybe they still live there and only the businesses are for sale. The community was established around 1916 as the terminus of an Alaska Railroad spur but now is more likely to be a stop for river rafters.

Drove past a braided river (I will post photos later but these types of rivers are glacier run offs and the water finds its own path). These rivers might remind some of a river with little water because there is so much land between these run offs. They are actually pretty fascinating. I was told by an older gentleman earlier in the trip that the run off braids do not necessarily occur in the same place each year.

The drive to Valdez was the most beautiful, so far, with all its glaciers and mountains in full display. Thankfully, a day without clouds, fog, or rain but plenty of sunshine! Some of the glaciers: Matanuska, Worthington, and 27 Mile plus the Wrangell Mountains.

About seven miles from Glennallen I spotted a sign for a Liquor Store and, according to the Milepost book, there were also topiaries made out of willow and birch. I stopped out of curiosity just because it sounded interesting. The place is owned by an old woman who, it appears, does not get a lot of company (sound familiar to anyone?). Her shelves were pretty bare and she knew nothing about topiaries but she did love to talk!  She did say, however, that the guy who trims her bushes hadn’t been in for awhile but she had several acres and I was welcome to walk around. I chose to leave but did wish her a happy day.

Just before reaching Valdez, I came upon a set of waterfalls – first was Bridal Veil Falls and it really did look like a bridal veil. Most impressive!  A short drive down the road was Horsetail Falls. Yes, it looked like a horsetail.

Stayed at an RV place within walking distance of town. There was a Safeway a few doors down and I decided to get some wine—forgot it was Alaska and no alcohol, including beer and wine, is sold outside a liquor store. WOW, right next door to Safeway was a fully stocked liquor store! I say WOW because as I get ready to pay, the clerk asked me for my ID (too funny) AND my Safeway card. It seems that Safeway gets around the liquor laws by buying its own liquor store AND if one uses the card, actually saves some money.  Now, I rarely shop at Safeway anymore and cannot remember what phone number is associated with it so, the clerk asks the guy standing next to me in line if he had a card. Yes, he did and it saved me $5.00. Thank you anonymous man for your assistance.

June 10, 2016 - Friday

Still in Valdez but today, the wind is horrendous and aside from doing a couple loads of laundry, I did not venture out. The wind was so awful that it blew out the pilot light on the water heater. Um, the smell of propane anyone? And then, the rain came. I decided just to call this a ‘chill out day’ and stare at the mountains and the boats in the harbor. No sightseeing in this weather! I will say, though, that this RV place rates among the top in service, cleanliness, and of course, friendliness. For future reference, the name of the place is Eagles Rest RV.

June 11, 2016 – Saturday

Still rainy but left to begin the adventure to Skagway that will take at least two days. Took a drive down by the docks in Valdez and did manage to get a couple photos of the mountains not obstructed by fog. Stopped at Huddleston Falls—one I missed on the way down. Took a short video because it sounded so relaxing.

I noted that on both the Seward and Valdez trips that one way was sunny and bright and the other way rainy and foggy.  Seward had the torrential rains driving in and beautiful weather driving out. It was the opposite with Valdez. It was beautiful coming in--all those glaciers were not visible going out. Stopped at the Worthington Glacier Recreation Center on the way out because some of the fog had lifted and I was able to get a very close-up picture with the blue tinge of the glacier visible. The mountains just north of the Worthington Glacier are sites for extreme winter sports—think helicopters.

Stayed in Tok again but at a different RV park-The Sourdough. It was raining so hard that I just wanted to get off the road!

June 12, 2016 – Sunday

The rain stopped overnight so I planned to get to Haines Junction today; the roads were so bad, I stopped about 65 miles away at a Yukon Government Campsite called Congdon Creek that sits on the Kluane Lake. It is a really nice place and not too many bugs. It was also pretty well full when I arrived. It was kind of funny that the couple who were camping next to me in Valdez showed up at this same campground. They were headed to Haines and then the ferry to Juneau.

Alaska Highway 2 was under construction and was in pretty bad shape. A lot of rough roads but then it all got worse in a hurry. Waited for a pilot car to take me about six miles then it was another 30 or so of washboard, headache-inducing roughness. Had to drive about 20 mph through all of it, making a very long and stressful day.

Yukon does a great job with their campsites but their roads are an entirely different story!

The highlight of the day was the mama brown bear with her two cubs munching away on the side of the road about 30 miles from where I called it a day.  What a site! Now, if that drive had not been so slow, I would not have seen those bears!

Tomorrow will at least make it to Whitehorse but may hold up another day in order to get to Skagway on a good-weather day.

June 13, 2016 – Monday

Began heading to Skagway but the weather service said there would be rain so stopped in Carcross.

Kluane Lake, a very large lake, looked low in water the further south I drove…at the end of the lake, there was probably 30 feet of dry land where the lake used to be. This is the first lake I’ve seen where the water was so visibly low.

Stopped by Emerald Lake, or as the Yukoners call it, Rainbow Lake. This lake is shades of green and purple and is breathtaking.  According to the interpretive boards, the rainbow-like colors result from blue-green light waves reflecting off the white sediment of the lake bottom. This white sediment, called marl, consists of fragments of decomposed shell mixed with clay; it is usually found in shallow, freshwater lakes that have low oxygen levels during the summer months.

Right before I got to Carcross, there was Carcross Desert which is an unusual desert area of sand dunes and is the world’s smallest desert; an International Biophysical Programme site for ecological studies. This desert is composed of sandy lake-bottom material left behind by a large glacial lake. Strong winds off Lake Bennett make it difficult for vegetation to take hold here and yet it has an enormous variety of plants, including kinni-kinnick, a low trailing evergreen with small leathery leaves that are used for brewing tea. It really does seem out of place among the other places before and after it on the road…sand dunes in between tall green trees.

Carcross is an abbreviation for Caribou Crossing and is home to the Carcross Tagish First Nation. They had some amazing totem poles painted on the buildings as well as some that had been carved by a local resident.

June 14, 2016 – Tuesday

Decided to stay in Carcross again today because the weather in Skagway was reported to be rainy. There are many places to see along the way to Skagway and I didn’t want another rainy driving day. I spent the day reading and listening to the rain while looking out at Nares Lake and watching the young kids ride their ATVs back and forth from the store to home (I’m guessing).

June 15, 2016 – Wednesday

On my way to Skagway. Made a few photo stops along the way and then another passport stop—leaving Canada and entering Alaska. I have had my passport since 2010 and apparently I never signed it? No one, up to this point said a thing; today, the customs guy said, “Mam, you haven’t signed your passport. Please do so when I give it back to you.” Seriously, how did I go this long with no one questioning it?

The road was so steep going down, my brakes were smelling and all I could think about was coming back up. And, I am sure this was nothing compared to what those gold-miners trekked years ago IN THE SNOW!

After I found out the first campground was full, I was directed to another down by the docks. As I drove my way around the mobs of tourists—most of whom were taking photos of themselves with their selfie sticks all in and out of the road—I found the other campground and found a place not far from the hustle and bustle. Once settled, I decided to face the throngs of people (there were four ships in town this day) and made my way into town.

I saw a couple of walking tours led by “ladies of the night” (must have been the Brothel Tour), too many jewelry stores to count, lines out the door to every eating/drinking establishment, and several souvenir shops. It was difficult to take any photos in town and it was the hottest day (over 80) since I have been gone, so I strolled down both sides of the main street and headed back to camp where I finished the book I had been reading in the comfort of air-conditioning.