2nd July 1996 Seattle, Washington.
84 Miles.
We started off early again and stopped at the "SeaTac Mall" to get the new tent. Yep – we got it. We arrived downtown Seattle at around lunchtime and paid $7 for 1hr 10 min. parking near the Post Office. We were a little disappointed with our mail, but it was worth stopping off to check. It’s amazing how much getting mail becomes important when you are travelling – and not getting as much as expected tends to result in a little unhappiness. I suppose people don’t realise how much it means.
Seattle seemed pretty good at first sight. We checked into "Vincent’s Guest House", which is great. Our room was huge – with a kitchen (sort of a self-contained flat). Parking was not so hot, but I found a free parking space after a bit of a drive around. The area in the suburb of Capital Hill is pretty nice. Lots of pubs and places to eat.
4th July 1996
Two "Big" days passed, crammed with sightseeing, making friends and "doing" Seattle. Busy enough to cause a lapse in diary writing. We made loads of friends at the hostel – including Dr Chandra (and Indian Doctor), a weird Chinese/Canadian lad and an Australian couple (both Sydney Police) – Ingo and Julie.
With it being "Independence Day" we decided to do something and went to Union Lake to watch the fireworks and have a couple of beers. Lots of people and boats, and we managed to clamber round the harbour, onto a pier and onto someone’s boat to get a fantastic view. It really was a spectacular firework display and the amount of people out on the streets was amazing. We couldn’t get a bus or taxi back so we ended up walking which was miles and took until the early hours of the morning. At least we’d got a bus there! It really was a great night out. As Dr Chandra said "A once in a lifetime experience"!
5th July 1996 Vancouver, BC - CANADA
141 Miles.
I felt pretty tired this morning, but managed to get our act together and get away from the hostel fairly early. The Australian couple – Ingo and Julie – said goodbye (they are so nice), before heading out, and we had a brief chat with the argumentative Kiwi woman". Unfortunately we didn’t get to say goodbye to Dr Chandra or the strange Chinese/Canadian – Fred – before leaving.
We drove into town for a last check of mail and to set up a forward to Anchorage for any that arrives after we’d left. The drive to Vancouver was quick, except for a delay at the border. We got a room at Vincent's backpackers for C$25, which is very cheap, but to be honest, the hostel was one of the nosiest, dirtiest, piss-soaked places we’d ever stayed in! The area was run-down and dismal and the whole building was a wreck. Oh well! We couldn’t get a room in any other hostels or cheap hotels, and even the big places were full as there is was convention on. It was a shithole – but it was convenient and cheap! Shame – because Vancouver is a really nice city. It could be worse!
To console ourselves we went down the road to the "Punjab Indian Restaurant" and had an absolute huge feast. It was your bog-standard curry house and the food was excellent and a real treat seeing that we hadn’t had a proper curry for ages. We literally went the whole hog and ordered the banquet. The waiter (who used to live in London) was very nice but also very nosy and chatty. The damage was C$40 – excellent value.
Later we got back to the hostel and lay in bed unable to sleep. The room overlooked a busy main road, so it was a case of car-listening most of the night. Give me a nice open field and a tent any day of the week!
6th July 1996
Vancouver is such a nice place. We spent the day doing the city-sights and found it very interesting and easygoing. A very relaxed cosmopolitan feel to it. We bumped into Ingo and Julie as we were wandering the streets and arranged to meet them in the evening for a drink.
I got the car booked into "Midas" and they checked everything out. Basically, as expected, I needed new shock absorbers and brakes. Cost me around C$700, but it was expected and necessary.
So – Julie and Ingo - they met us at our hostel and seemed to think that is was OK! Then we realised why – they took us to where they were staying – the "Downtown" Hostel. When I said that the place we were staying at "could be worse", we were right. What a shithole. They paid C$35 per night for an even worse, even dodgier hostel. It’s right in the middle of the "bad" area, and even on the way up in the lift there was a drugs-deal going on. Good job they are tough Sydney coppers! Lots of prostitutes and drug addicts around.
To console ourselves we went to Gastown for food and beer. It’s a bit like the rocks in Sydney – the old bit of town. The pubs were lively and beer was good. We stayed in a pub which played live music until around midnight and then walked the dodgy streets back to the hostel. We agreed to give Ingo and Julie a lift east tomorrow– as they are heading that way, and it will be nice to have their company.
7th July 1996 Clearwater, BC.
253 Miles.
We picked up Julie and Ingo at around 10:00 and drove to Stanley Park in Vancouver for a walk and look around. Very nice. I got back to the car and found I had a parking ticket. It will make a nice souvenir! We had a quick tour of the city and then drove across to Kamloops, which was a scenic and fairly quiet route. There were lots of snow-capped mountains, and it was good fun having some passengers in the car.
On arrival we managed to track down Dibs relatives, whom we’d promised to visit. It was a bit of a shock for them I suppose (our visit was unannounced), but they were extremely friendly and hospitable. We stayed for dinner (all four of us) and chatted for a while. Dibs spoke to her Uncle on the phone and we arranged to meet up on the way back down from the North in a month or so.
We drove on and stopped at a cosy little campsite en-route to Jasper. We had a good laugh around the campfire and enjoyed our spacious new tent.
8th July 1996 Jasper, Alberta.
234 Miles.
We drove on to Jasper along beautiful mountain roads and stopped off for a picnic lunch at a great little place, full of Ground Squirrels. We spotted Elk and Black Bear from the road, and Ingo drove quite a bit of the way – which was nice.
The campsite in Jasper was OK, although a little bit rough and quite busy. A warden came around and warned us about a resident bear who had been causing some problems. He told us to be very careful about scraps of food and to cook and clean away from out tents.
The people camping next to us had their camping area "invaded" by a hungry bear last night after leaving out some potato peelings! We had read up a lot about "bear safety" so we were quite confident that we’d be OK.
Jasper is a great village, nestled in the Rockies at the northern end of the Glacier Highway. Most people were there for walking and mountain biking.
We had a BBQ for dinner, which was delicious and we warmed ourselves by the campfire, as it was quite cool.
9th July 1996
We did a walk to "Five Lakes" after a fairly late start and a wander around Jasper village. The walk was good and I incorporated some fishing - without any luck. We saw another Black Bear quite close, and the weather stayed quite good until the end of our walk, when the rain started. Afterwards we sat in a smashing little pub for a few hours and then ate at "Smittys" – a bit like a "Dennys". The food was tasty and filling.
In the evening we drove all the way up to the Mt Edith Clavell glacier. It was a long, steep road and we got up to around 3000M. We were all pretty short of breath and it was cold and almost dark (11:00 pm!) when we got there, but we managed to see the spectacular glacier and had a decent walk around before driving back. We saw a huge porcupine but no bears!
10th July 1996 Grand Prairie, Alberta.
249 Miles.
We parted company with Julie and Ingo at around midday (they headed south to Lake Louise) and drove over the Rockies into the prairies. We arrived at Grand Prairie at around 6:00 pm. and set-up at the Saskwat island Campsite. It’s a really nice grassy spot and at C$13 per night was good value. We’ve got a lovely grassy site and have already had a chat with the local ranger, who was very welcoming. Lots of mozzies though (as usual).
Grand Prarie is an ordinary sort of town, but just outside at this campsite it’s really nice, and it makes a change to be in flat countryside! The tent is OK but is proving to be a bit more difficult to set-up than we expected. There are lots of interesting birds and animals around, including Woodpeckers and some mischievous Chipmunks.
We cooked up some Spaghetti Bolognese, which was delicious, and slept very well.
11th July 1996 Fort Nelson, British Columbia.
325 Miles.
Got onto the Alcan (Alaskan Highway) today and had a good run of over 300 miles. We saw two bears.
I managed to buy my fly fishing rod at last for C$20 (less than 10 quid) in a sale at K-Mart. I also bought some tackle and we stocked up on other supplies.
The campsite in Fort Nelson (a small town) is pretty shabby and overrun by RV’s, but it’s OK. The Forest campsite would have been a good option but it was deserted, as they have been having bear problems!
Spent the evening on camp chatting and fending off mosquitos.
12th July 1996 Ranchero, Yukon.
366 Miles.
A long, dusty and quite drive up the Highway. Passed through some beautiful wilderness. There were quite a lot of roadworks going on – seemingly endless gravel tracks which generated so much dust you couldn’t see more than a few meters. Summer is the time of year for repairing this road – the only sealed road all the way to Alaska. We spotted some people cycling (in the middle of nowhere) and even walking. All in the cause of "doing" the Alcan.
We stopped at the spectacular and very blue Muncho Lakes, which were well worth a look around, and then headed back over the Rockies, well on our way to Alaska. We pulled into at a few lookouts and "nice looking" spots along the way.
We got the tent up at the site but it’s still proving a bit awkward. The poles, which feed through runners, don’t seem to fit properly.
We ate dinner at around 9:30 pm. and it was still very light. The further north we are getting the lighter it becomes, and it seems like the sun hardly sets.
13th July 1996 Whitehorse, Yukon.
211 Miles.
We drove on along the Alcan and reached Whitehorse around lunchtime. It’s the capital of Yukon and quite a big town. We treated ourselves at "Taco Time" and then spent the afternoon in town stocking up on supplies. I got the rest of my fly-fishing gear.
The campsite in town, which seemed OK, was full and although the warden said she would squeeze us in somewhere, we decided to go to another campsite out of town called Takhini Hot Springs. The reason town is so busy is due to a Rodeo and a softball competition being on.
Takhini Hot Springs campsite was, basically, shit. Lots of dust due to high winds. Litter everywhere and lots of Rv’s. Not really anything designed for tents. We spent hours trying to get the tent right (it seemed to be getting worse), but eventually got it erected. We popped out to grab some food and returned to find it had blown away into the trees! We managed to recover it and the damage was minimal. All in all it was a pretty grim day.
398 Miles.
We packed up our tent and went to a camp shop in town, where a very helpful bloke put our tent up and went through everything. He was very helpful but he decided in the end that nothing was wrong, other than the design!
We were originally planning on going to the rodeo, but the bad weather put us off so we drove on…. and on….
We crossed immigration into Alaska with no problems. As we crossed the lonely windswept, rain-battered border post I felt a sense of achievement. I don’t know why – anyone could drive to Alaska, and it wasn’t like I’d walked or cycled like some people were. It was, I suppose, the fact that we’d got to Alaska and the car was still in one piece!
Just after the border we saw a grizzly bear in the road. It was snaffling around the information centre – which was closed. As we approached it pegged it up a steep hill so we only got a brief close-up and a couple of photos. It was a great experience as no one else was about and the whole place was so quiet. As the bear go to the top it just looked at us – as if to say "Yeah – what do you want"!
We arrived in Tok quite late, but time doesn’t really mean a thing during the Alaskan summer, as it never gets dark. Dusk starts around 1:00 in the morning and it’s light again by 3:00! It’s weird in a way, but meant we could drive easily at any time and do anything that required light at any time.
Tok is an old-fashioned feeling place and quite a breath of fresh air after busy Whitehorse. It’s a very quiet place. We stayed at the "Golden Bear" campsite, which was pretty much empty and $10 per night, with the best hot showers I’d experienced for ages. Sheer luxury!
15th July 1996
Decided to stay in Tok for a day to relax and read up on what we want to do in Alaska. It was good to have a break from driving after so many days on the road. The weather was overcast and a bit chilly but not too bad. We ventured to a really rustic place to eat, visited the sled-dog pound and the local
Museum/visitors centre, before relaxing at the campsite. The sun even came out in the afternoon.
Funny, Alaskan people seem to have so much energy and are up to things all day and night. It’s like they never sleep. I spoke to someone about it and they told me that this was what they did in the summer, and then they hibernated in the winter. Makes sense I suppose!
16th July 1996 Valdez, Alaska.
239 Miles.
Today was absolutely great! The weather was lovely so we packed up and drove down towards Valdez. We stopped off at the Gulkana River for a spot of fishing. It was a nice spot with only a few people around. I walked up stream a bit where it was quieter and had my first go at fly fishing since buying my own gear. The Red Salmon were running and I could see them in the river, but as the Salmon weren’t feeding, it’s a case of annoying them and "forcing" them into attacking your fly/lure. The weather and scenery were beautiful and after about four hours of different techniques and some near misses I caught my first salmon. A beautiful female Red Salmon, somewhere between 6 and 8 pounds in weight. It was a good challenge and the fish took some landing. I was so chuffed when I eventually got it to the bank. Whilst fishing I saw a few King Salmon (which had started running earlier) and even spotted one bloke catch one. What a whopper!
We drove onto Valdez along a quiet road, surrounded by Forest, mountains and glaciers. One – the Worthington glacier was almost reaching the main road. We saw lots of wildlife on the way and saw a huge Moose in the middle of a pond, with it’s head under water, eating. We were also treated to the sight of three bear – Mum and two cubs crossing the road. I spotted them near the road, so did a U-turn in time to watch them cross over – Mum guiding the little ones across when it was safe. Very exciting and we were too absorbed to think about taking a photo. We were so chuffed about it we drove on the wrong side of the road without realising for about five minutes! Good job there was no other traffic about.
We arrived in Valdez sometime in the evening and set-up camp at the town site. It’s small but quite nice, and Valdez is a great spot. A beautiful harbour surrounded by mountains.
We cleaned the salmon up, fired up the BBQ and got a few celebratory drinks. The fish was cooked slowly and tasted gorgeous and I felt quite spent after a good feast and a few beers. We sat out until late (still light) looking over the harbour, with the huge oil terminal lit up in the distance. Enough fish left for a few days I reckon!
17th July 1996
Spent the day in and around Valdez. We stocked up on supplies and money before a late breakfast in a restaurant – eggs (a real treat!). We drove around to Alison Point to do some Pink Salmon fishing, as the fish are in the harbour, feeding before running up the rivers to mate and spawn. Loads of people were there with their RV’s. Hundreds of them, most of them fishing and stocking their freezers up! It was so easy to catch a fish, it was almost boring, and to be honest I lost interest very quickly. All you had to do was lob a lure in and you caught one almost immediately. It was an interesting spectacle though – thousands of salmon on a feeding frenzy.
We caught four – Dibs her first salmon – before packing up. We just kept one, which we filleted up for later. We saw lots of people were taking so many fish it was almost cruel.
We later went down to the harbour and saw the fishing boats returning with their catch of Halibut - huge flatfish.
In the evening we ate most of the remaining salmon (with pasta) and befriended an English lad called Nigel, who we may give a lift tomorrow.
18th July 1996 Tolsena, Alaska
220 Miles.
An early start, driving up to Chitina, a quiet village, stopping on the way at some scenic spots. We sampled a few miles of the McCarthy Road but it way extremely rough and I felt that the car wouldn’t take to 60 miles or so to Kennicot Mine. Shame – it’s a place I would have liked to visit. We turned back and visited the ranger (who advised us to either get a helicopter or a bus the next day). We found out the shuttle bus was $70 each return – extortionate. Whilst there, we wandered around the quiet village and heard some wolves crying out in the woods. Quite eerie.
We decided to knock the idea on the head and go elsewhere. The only reasonable place to camp was just a dust-trap miles from town. Nigel decided to stay. I reckon we made the right decision, although I kind of regretted it.
We drove along the Glenn Highway and stopped for the night at Tolsena. The campsite was OK but mozzie ridden. We had BBQ chicken on a fire we made, and did a spot of fly-fishing in the creek. I caught two grayling. It was a beautiful evening.
19th July 1996 Granite Creek, Alaska.
131 Miles.
We set off around 10 o'clock and stopped to walk a six mile walk to Belanger Pass, overlooking the Chugach Mountains. The view was good, and although we could have walked further and higher the track was pretty rough and very badly marked. The clouds started to settle in, so we headed back down for a late lunch.
Following this we went to Matanuska Glacier, a National Park, which cost $13 to enter. We walked up onto the glacier, which was huge, and walked around for quite some time. Fantastic. The clouds came in some more, and now they were big and black so we retreated when the rain started to get bad. We wanted to camp at Moose Creek, but the campsite was closed, so we motored on to Granite Creek. Quite good and clean with very friendly people. The rain came and went and we took a walk along the river. We didn’t fish for too long, and didn’t catch anything, but we saw some King Salmon – huge, weak and near death I suspect after their spawning run.
The whole area was beautiful, picture-postcard stuff and it would have been easy to pitch up and stay there for a week or two, just relaxing, fishing and walking.
20th July 1996 Eagle River, Alaska.
96 Miles.
We packed up late and visited Palmer Musk-Ox farm. $7 each but good to take a look at the strange beasts Very interesting. A sort of little furry bison/buffalo type character. They live in the wild – in remote parts of Alaska and Siberia.
We ate at "Subway" (even fast food chains pop up in Alaska). Dibs came out with a famous quote of "How long is a foot long?" when asking the waitress about Subways "foot long" sandwiches! I couldn’t stop laughing.
After lunch we stocked up at a supermarket and drove towards Anchorage trying to find somewhere to camp. It took ages and we were getting a bit pissed off, but ended up at Eagle River. It was OK, but a bit of a rip off at $15 with no facilities. Nice spot though, although very busy. We were lucky to find a space. We booked into the Anchorage YHA for three days in two days time, so we’ll camp again tomorrow night before heading into the city. As we approached Anchorage the roads became better and bigger and the villages started to get closer together.
We had a Mexican meal – cooked by our own fair hands at camp. Some Germans (I think) arrived and tried to pitch their tent in between everyone else’s. It was too cramped but they didn’t care, although the ranger soon put stop to it. This place was a long way off the desolate campsites of places such at Tok.
21st July 1996 Anchorage, Alaska.
26 Miles.
Packed up late again (can’t get out of bed lately) and headed into the sprawl of Anchorage. A big, typical, American city – could be anywhere in the US. We found REI (the people we bought our tent off) and showed them our tent and explained the bother we’d had with it. They were very helpful and didn’t hesitate to repay our money. We even got back 8% sales tax we’d paid in Washington – Alaska is tax-free! We ended up looking at and erecting loads of tents, and in the end opted to upgrade to a better standard, paying around $60 more. The tent was far superior to the old "new" tent we’d been struggling with. Dibs also bought a warm coat and some trousers at an outlet shop, which had a "monster" sale on. Stuff is so cheap in the States.
We set-up camp on the outskirts of town at the "Centennial Park Campsite". Not bad for $13 with free hot showers, but near to the highway and not very well maintained. We had our first hot shower for three days, before eating. We felt much better.
22nd July 1996
We arrived in Anchorage, parked up, checked into the YHA (which to be honest was very shabby), and then hit the town. It’s really nice and we spent the day downtown sorting things out which needed to be sorted. Films were developed, we booked a Wilderness cabin for a couple of nights at Crescent Lake (not our first choice, but all the best cabins are booked out a long time in advance or are only accessible by plane). It only cost $50 for two nights and is a half-day walk from the nearest road. Should be a good wilderness experience.
I ate a reindeer sausage cob for lunch then moved the car to a better parking spot. The YHA expects people to do chores – even though they charge far too much for rooms. My opinion is that it’s run by idiots. To make things worse they have a curfew – basically you get kicked out of your room at 10:00 and can’t return until 4! If it wasn’t for the fact that we needed to dry a few things out and get a break from camping, we’d give it a miss. Bloody rubbish. We called the curfew "playtime", because it was like been back at school, and being forced into the playground rain or shine. I wondered how people would cope when the weather was really bad, or if they were ill.
23rd July 1996
We had to move rooms at the YHA for some reason, but the new room was much better. We finished off what we needed to do in the city and I even bought some "Bear Spray". The bloke in the shop wanted to sell me a gun, but I decided the high-powered pepper spray would be adequate! We talked for some time about gun law and violence in England!
Did lots of cosy stuff, ate like Kings and pretty much "did" Anchorage.
24th July 1996 Bear Creek, Alaska.
111 Miles.
We moved out of the YHA today – a day early. They wanted us to move rooms again, purely because some couple had "booked" the mattress we were sleeping on! I couldn’t believe it. The couple (German I think) were older, non-YHA members. I reckon they’d thrown the prick who ran the place some money. Enough was enough. We got our money back and Dibs laid in to them. What a shithole. We hadn’t come to Alaska to waste time in Anchorage anyway. I envisaged writing long letters to the Headquarters to the YHA. The big reason for our disappointment was the fact that this was likely to be our only non-camp accommodation for sometime, plus the fact we’d booked in advance, and we were YHA members. Oh well.
We did some laundry and then hit the road, stopping at Bird Creek near to the outskirts of Anchorage, and did some fishing. The Silver Salmon were running, and although there were quite a few people there it was possible to get a spot. I caught an 8-10 pound beauty, which a young lad helped me to land. What a whopper! Shortly afterwards car loads of people appeared and it turned into "combat fishing". It was time to go. Lots of angry fisherman, tangling each other up and generally getting on each others nerves. I’ve never seen anything like it.
Arrived at Bear Creek later in the afternoon. It’s a basic, quiet camping spot in a beautiful setting. I ventured away from camp, down to the river to clean the Salmon. As I was cleaning it I saw a huge bear paw print nearby.
The rain started to come down heavy, so we sat in the car whilst barbecuing the salmon under a tree. It turned out to be really nice, although a squirrel tried to take his share whilst we weren’t looking. The camp is the sort we like – very quiet, very rustic with no problems lighting fires, and a hand-operated pump to get water.
We got a real soaking at night – the rain didn’t stop, but our tent held up well and proved to be a good investment. It’s got a bit more room and is much better than the "old" new tent.
25th July 1996
The rain came down really hard last night, but the tent served us well and the area of the woods we’d chosen to camp in, drained OK. Good job, as some of the camp was very flooded.
We got up early and drove to the train station and took the train to Whittier. The train line cuts through the mountains to the town of Whittier, which is cut off from everywhere else by land and is only accessible by the train (which runs a couple of times a day) and by boat. It cost us $16 return.
The town is a shambles – a bit of a junkyard, and was built as a secret port during the 2nd world war, and is now just a hopping on/off point for ferries and cruise ships around Alaska. I found it to be quite an interesting place.
Other than a huge hotel-like building, which must have housed the troops, it was pretty quiet. Most of the people on the train jumped into a waiting ferry, but we walked the "Portage Pass Trail", which we had read details about in a book.
The trail headed steeply up into the Wilderness, over some hills and down to a mountain lake, which took around one and a half hours. We then scrambled down a steep river, down into a fantastic valley, to Portage Lake, right to the end of Portage Glacier itself. We were the only people there, and although the weather came down a bit, it resulted in quite an eerie, mysterious scenario. The huge glistening blue-white glacier in from of us, surrounded by mountains, with the ice-cold lake full of icebergs.
The glacier is retreating, and we saw huge chunks of ice carving off into the lake. Sometimes the noise was so loud it was like thunder. It was an awesome sight, and the whole walk was very enjoyable.
On the way back we even spotted a Ptarmigan, a native bird and the "bird of Alaska". Apparently it’s quite rare to see them in the wild – it was a bit like a Grouse.
At the end of the walk we returned to Whittier and holed up in the café drinking tea and coffee and reading magazines, then caught the train back at 6:15 pm.
We returned to camp and cleared things up as there was lots of mud, ate some more salmon (with pasta). Pumping the water at the campsite with the old fashioned pump provided much amusement, although the water was so cold that the person washing up had ice cold hands.
Spent the evening doing a bit of wildlife watching, and then got to bed early after a full day.
26th July 1996 Seward, Alaska.
98 Miles.
We drove down the Kenai Peninsular past many bays and more mountains, arriving in Seward at around midday. The weather had turned around and it was extremely bright and sunny. The town itself is quaint by Alaskan standards, and Resurrection Bay is very scenic.
We looked at the campsite in town, but decided that it was too full. We camped a couple of miles outside of town in a basic designated camp area, which was pretty nice.
The car had been misfiring and occasionally backfiring, so we did some investigation and found an ignition lead was loose and slightly worn. Replacing this solved the problem, and at the same time we invested $38 in some tools, an oil filter and some new spark plugs. The car was running well.
We took a shower at the town laundry, which was brilliant and only $3.50 including towels and soap. Seems like a lot of launderettes have shower facilities, which is very useful as campsites don’t usually have them. Afterwards we had a wander around the town and then cooked up some "Dinty Moore Low Fat Turkey Stew" with mashed potato and carrots, on the sea front. It was pretty windy but a beautiful spot to dine. We got back to camp around 9:00 and fell asleep, fully clothed with the tent open. We were both extremely knackered for some reason. We woke up around midnight (still light) but couldn’t even muster the energy to change or close the tent up! I think all the "Summer Fever in Alaska" and our long hike yesterday had caught up a bit!
27th July 1996
41 Miles.
We spent the morning sealing the interior of the tent. The seams are pretty good, but we wanted to make sure things continued to stay dry. We then went into town to stock up on supplies and then drove out of town and did a walk to "Grayling Lake and Meridian Lake". The walking was really good, through thick forest on a nice sunny afternoon. We fished for a while and caught a few little Grayling. No "big" wildlife to be seen, but lots of bear footprints and droppings. We bumped into a couple of dodgy looking blokes whilst walking. They were working in Alaska at the salmon-canning factory, and turned out to be quite nice.
Dibs took a shower down at the Harbour Masters Office and I wandered the docks watching the fishing boats return full of huge Halibut. Some real monsters as usual.
It’s still very light at nights but I’ve noticed that the days are slowly getting shorter. Last night I woke up briefly at around 3:00 and it was pretty dark, which compared to our night at Tok, two and a half weeks ago, is a big difference.
28th July 1996 Crescent Creek, Alaska.
50 Miles.
Drove along to Crescent Creek, which is a nice quiet spot in the woods, well off the highway. We found a really good camp spot and spent the afternoon fishing in Quartz Creek and Crescent Creek. I caught a small trout and saw lots of bright red salmon on their way up the river to spawn.
We cleared out or car boot and re-organised it and sorted out our gear for the walk up to our cabin at Crescent Lake tomorrow.
Although the camping spot was really nice, flies plagued it.
29th July 1996 Crescent Lake Cabin, Alaska.
After an early breakfast we packed up, parked the car in a quiet spot at the end of the road, and walked just under three hours to the cabin. Navigation was easy, but the weather wasn’t too good and it was wet and windy for most of the way.
The cabin was excellent, better than I had thought. A traditional log cabin, right next to the lake. Complete with a rowing boat, fire – and that was about it (no water or electricity). Fantastic!
I had trouble cutting logs as the axe and saw in the cabin were blunt, but I eventually got some wood together and dried it out. I was blistered and tired as it took ages, but we got enough wood to keep us going for a while, and the fire was soon roaring away.
There were a few signs of bear activity around the area, but we didn’t see any big wildlife. It was very cosy in the cabin in the evening, and due to the inclement weather, we stayed indoors after cooking up some food. We had plenty of supplies, but would we have enough?!
30th July 1996
Slept very well – woke up at 2:00 a.m. to check the sky and it was pitch black! The nights really are drawing in. The weather in the morning was much improved, but the cloud was still quite low and it was chilly. No wind at all though, so the lake was beautiful and still.
We had breakfast then took the boat out onto the lake. It was a pretty good, solid boat and we spent about four hours on the lake. It was very peaceful, except for the odd fish jumping. After a good tour around part of the lake (it’s pretty huge), Dibs took the oars and I did some fishing. We caught three Grayling, all around 9-10 inches long, keeping the biggest for food. The Grayling took the dry fly easily and it was great fishing. We spotted a majestic Bald Eagle and rowed quite close to it before it flew off. It was huge, and its telltale cry was haunting. What a great morning.
We returned to the cabin and fried up the fresh fish, which were delicious. After chopping a bit more wood we took a walk. We saw a couple of fisherman who had made the trek, hunting for "monster Grayling", who we chatted to for a while. It was so peaceful we felt we could have stayed longer.
In the afternoon we did some more walks, and made our way around the lake for some of the way, although the vegetation was pretty wild. The bright Fireweed was everywhere. We relaxed in the evening and ate most of our remaining supplies, falling asleep early in front of the roaring fire.
31st July 1996 Soldotna, Alaska.
56 Miles.
We set off early after clearing the cabin up. As we approached "civilisation" we bumped into a few hikers and cyclists. One old lady was walking along saying "Hey Bear" every five seconds or so! Something I’ll never forget. We didn’t see any bears. The morning was beautiful – totally clear. It took a little over two and a half-hours to reach the car, which was OK and as we’d left it.
We drove along to Soldotna and set-up camp at Centennial Park campground, which was quite nice and not too busy. We headed to the laundry and had showers - $4.20 for the best shower in ages. I was so dirty, but after a good scrub and a shave I felt like a new man! We also did loads of washing – virtually everything we have. We ate heaps of junk at Taco Bell and then shopped at Safeways, where we stocked up on supplies.
The temperature cooled, but it was still very pleasant. Dibs crashed out early in the evening and I sat out for a while – it was very pleasant and a clear sky.
On the way to Soldotna we passed the famous Kenai and Russian rivers, but declined to fish as they were totally packed. Every fishing space was full to the brim and it was real combat fishing. Very different from our quiet boating expedition on Crescent Lake the day before.
Our two days in the cabin had been well worthwhile, although it would have been good to have the funds and the advantage of pre-booking a floatplane into a real wilderness location for a week. We did the best we could with the timescale and budget, but next time I’ll be defiantly doing it "big time" (And at $300 rtn on a floatplane each we’ll need to save some pennies!).
88 Miles.
We drove to Homer and camped at the "Seaside Farm Hostel/Campground". It was pretty basic, about five miles out of town, but in a fantastic spot. The crowd consisted mainly of international backpackers.
Homer is pretty good. It’s built on a spit of land, feeling a bit like a sort of "end of the world" place, but with the odd American touch such as fast food and 100’s of RV’s parked along the beach!
As the afternoon cleared up we got some great views across the water to the distant snow-capped mountains and volcanoes.
We met two English lads – Peter and Martin and drove into town with them for some Fish ‘n’ chips and a quick beer, before heading back to camp. We sat around the campsite till late, chatting with other guests. We got a real good fire going and had a great time.
It was good to chat with Peter and Martin and catch up on all the news, but after all my question, I’m sure they will be glad to see the back of me!
2nd Aug 1996
Spent the morning around the farm and then headed into Homer. Pete and Martin fancied some fishing, so after buying some cheap tackle, we went to the "fishing hole". It’s a place where the government spawn fish, so they return to spawn themselves – only to find that they can’t! It’s a bit tight I suppose, but a good place to learn fishing. No luck for the lads, but I saw a couple of big ‘uns landed. I did a spot of fishing myself and hooked a whopper – which I lost when the line snapped. Oh well!
I the evening we all had a BBQ around the campfire with the crowd and even a few beers. It was very enjoyable, but it got pretty cold. Stayed up late again. Heard some interesting stories from an American bloke who had spent a few years in Alaska with the army, staying in out-of-the-way places.
3rd August 1996 Ninilchick, Alaska.
79 Miles.
We left Homer around 11:00 a.m. and drove along quiet roads to Ninilchick. It’s a small village by the sea with a Russian Church and some quaint little buildings. We found a great camping spot, high up on a hill, with a great view.
The weather was brilliant, so we took advantage and sealed the rest of the tent, and then went walking/fishing. I caught a couple of reasonably sized Dolly Varden, on the fly, on a nice fast flowing river – top fishing! I let the fish go and we ate egg and beans on toast at the camp.
In the evening we walked through the village and along the beach for a spot of beachcombing. There were some fantastic views across the sea to the huge volcanoes, which make up the Ring of Fire. It would have been great to got and explore, but the only way to get over there was by plane. It made me realise just how much of Alaska is inaccessible and uninhabited.
We chatted to an American couple on camp and took some great sunset photographs.
4th August 1996 Talkeetna, Alaska.
277 Miles.
A long day driving. We headed back up towards and through Anchorage and into the interior of Alaska. The roads, with it being a Sunday, were quite busy around Anchorage. The weather was nice and we stopped at a few spots to see if we could spot some Orcas/ Seals – although we saw nothing.
We got to Talkeetna quite late. It very quaint and "rustic" and the campsite, out of town, was dead and we had the place to ourselves. It chucked it down with rain in the evening.
5th August 1996 Denali NP, Alaska.
178 Miles.
Drove into town and found a parking space (full of day tourists) and had an argument with some old git in an RV. I think he though I’d nicked his space. Although it pissed it down all last night we stayed reasonably dry. The campsite was pretty un-scenic and dull.
We set the tent out to dry off in the morning sun and did some laundry before exploring the village.
Our Alaska trip was coming to and end, but I was already planning what I’d like to do when we visited again!
We drove onto Denali NP later in the day and arrived in the early evening. It was very busy and the entire campsite was full. We booked the first bus trip we could get into the park - in two days time. No cars are allowed into the park, so everyone must go on a bus, and no one is allowed in on foot unless booked in advance – and it was all booked out for ages!). Well organised, but we should have pre-planned a bit more. The shuttle bus was $20 each.
The nearest campsite we could find (no camping anywhere other than campsites!) was the KOA site, 11 miles out of town. It was busy, the weather was shit, and we were depressed. We headed to the nearby "Totem Poll" café where we had a feast to cheer us up.
6th August 1996
75 Miles.
Not much to do today as it was very wet and miserable. We walked around the bit of the park we were allowed to, and saw quite a bit of wildlife. We looked at the exhibitions and talked to some rangers, and then headed back to the Totem Poll café for more delicious food.
The rain stopped in the afternoon and the mosquitoes came back out! It was dark at around 12:30 a.m., and we had our first rain-free night for some time.
7th August 1996
All of the bad weather and depression over the last couple of days were soon forgotten as we had an absolutely excellent day out in Denali.
We got up at 4:30 a.m. and it was light but cold – around 3 degrees, but it was beautiful, sunny and clear. We gave a lad on the camp, called Doug, a lift to the park, and within five minutes of driving we saw a mother Moose with two calves – right by the roadside. One of the advantages of getting up really early. They didn’t seem too bothered by the car, and although the youngsters ran into the bushes, the mother stayed out for us to photograph her.
We boarded the shuttle bus at 6:00 a.m. (an old American school bus), and our round trip into the park to Elison took around eight and half-hours. Magnificent mountain scenery and we saw loads of wildlife. We saw a grizzly bear with two cubs crossing a river. It was quite funny watching them cross – the cubs getting almost washed away, but they all made it OK. We saw plenty of Caribou and Moose and other Grizzly Bears wandering around the open tundra.
When we reached Elison – "The Mountain was Out"! (Mt McKinley that is). We got an uninterrupted view of the entire snow capped mountain, which was excellent. It’s huge – this highest from top to bottom in the world (i.e. – no mountains/hills/valleys between us and it!). I didn’t realize how lucky we were to get such a good view until we visited the visitor centre and found that the mountain is "out" only for a few days a month. This alone made the trip worthwhile.
On return we saw a bear eating a dead Caribou/Moose when a pure white Wolf came on the scene. We watched for five minutes or so as the bear and wolf chased each other around the kill, whilst a big Raven sat and watched! Awesome. Apparently the "kill" had been bought down by a pack of Wolves yesterday and the Grizzly had thought he’d have some of it. No doubt the rest of the Wolves would return later to clear him off.
All in all the trip was excellent, the driver informative. and the other people on the bus very friendly.
We got back to camp and hit the Totem Café (again). Apart from some bad service from a very rude, arrogant Irish bitch, we got some more good food, although no "Key Lime Pie" today (our favourite).
One question I had – why do most Americans think we are Australian? Some bloke on the bus today wouldn’t let it lie – he insisted I had an Australian accent!
8th August 1996 Tok, Alaska.
300 Miles.
Back in Tok – where we started in Alaska almost a month ago. We drove onto the large town of Fairbanks, which was pretty drab. We looked around for most of the morning/early afternoon and then decided to head on. We saw some moose on the way, and despite the constant drizzle, the drive was very pleasant and quiet.
We looked at Moon Lake campsite but it was packed full, so we moved on and returned to Tok to the place we’d stayed before – The Golden Bear. It was pretty full – a contrast to the half emptiness of a few weeks ago. I think we’d timed our trip to Alaska right, as it was getting busier now the schools were on holiday.
We had some entertainment in the evening provided by the campers "next door" to us – part of a tour group. An argument broke out between some Israelis. Lots of screaming, threats and crying between four girls. It all ended peacefully and we slept like logs.
9th August 1996 Kathleen Lake, Yukon
283 Miles.
Back in Canada. The day was a real scorcher. We ran the gauntlet back across the Alcan through what seemed like endless roadworks. Very rough in parts and much worse than on the way up. We had to wait for quite a while at times for a "pilot car" to take us through the construction. Quite weird having all the construction going on in the middle of the wilderness. We had mulled with the idea of taking the unsealed route to Chicken and Dawson City, which would probably have been no worse! Next time….
I fitted two new ignition leads to the car and added some oil (a leak has appeared), but the car was running pretty well.
We arrived at Kathleen Lake campsite at around 8:00 pm and found it very pleasant and fairly quiet. We ate some pasta and had a walk to a lake afterwards. This area – Kluane – is very nice and if we wanted it would have been easy to hang around for a while. I’d have liked to, but we had promised to be back in Kamloops to meet up with Dibs Uncle by the 17th, so we needed to get a move on.
10th August 1996 Skagway, Alaska.
208 Miles.
Back in Alaska. We left the camp at around 11:00 and drove back to Whitehorse. A beautiful drive in perfect sunny conditions. We stocked up on supplies, changed the oil and filter on the car ($38) and then drove down into Skagway. The drive took us along the Klondike Highway, which was probably, the most spectacular drive we’d done. The clear weather only made it better – a wonderful drive up and over some fantastic mountains.
We had quite a delay at the Canada/US border. They "checked" us out, which is understandable being an English couple, driving a Nevada car, etc, etc. Anyway, they were reasonably nice to us and probably just bored! All checked out (they seemed to know so much about us) we carried on down into Skagway. Funny thing was we’d only be staying a day or two and then heading back into Canada. Skagway is a terminal for the ferries and boats to the U.S. though – so I suppose immigration have to be careful.
Skagway is a great little town, seeped in history and very well preserved. The best little Alaskan town we’d seen by far. We strolled around and then watched a half hour film at the info centre all about the Klondike Gold Rush. It all happened so quickly (the Gold Rush that is). The film told the story really well and we both found the entire history and information on the gold rush very interesting. We spent hours in the museum and info centre and then strolled down to the dock to watch the ferry arrive. Lots of people heading in and out. It was a lovely afternoon.
The campsite, however, was pretty crappy, but for $8 we can’t complain!
11th August 1996 Coal River, B.C
378 Miles.
Woke up to pissing rain and low cloud, so we packed up our soggy tent and moved on. We did quite a bit of mileage and the weather improved as we headed into Yukon, which we cut through and back into British Columbia. We arrived at Coal River late on – a small settlement on the highway in the middle of nowhere. We set up tent on a piece of grassy land next to the roadhouse, ate a sandwich and then hit the sack.
12th August 1996 Prophet River, BC
267 Miles.
Woke up to glorious weather and dried the tent out. We decided the next couple of days would be big driving days, so we set off reasonably early, heading back down the Alcan.
We covered a lot of mileage, hardly stopping, driving through more big roadworks and endless forest and mountains. Really wild!
Prophet River is in a National Park and we paid $7 to enter and camp. It’s really nice and very quiet.
We strolled around the forest in the afternoon and evening – which was beautiful in sunny, warm weather.
13th August 1996 Tudyah Lake, BC
320 Miles.
Another long day on the road, backtracking down the Alcan and then forking off on a more direct route down towards Prince George (the first "big" town since Whitehorse). Another perfect day.
Dibs said, "I feel like we’ll see some bears soon" and two minutes later we stopped and saw a Black Bear and two cubs right next to the roadside. Spooky! We stopped and watched (at a distance) and took some photographs.
The car was running OK but was losing oil, so we had to keep topping it up. A couple of the engine seals have gone, but it would be so expensive to fix, involving removing the transmission. Better off just buying cheap oil and keep topping her up all the time.
Arrived at Tudyah Lake in the late afternoon, which was quiet, well off the road and a big park. Hardly anyone there and so much space.
In the evening, whilst walking, we befriended a nice group staying in the camp. A Canadian Man with a Scottish Wife and her father plus various kids, all on holiday from Prince George. They were all very friendly and we sat around their roaring campfire chatting until late. It was a very clear evening, and the Canadian bloke was a keen astronomer. We sat in the field with a telescope rigged up and some stargazing binoculars, while he gave us a tour of the night sky. Very interesting, and we even saw a meteor storm. It got very cold, very quickly and by midnight we had to retreat back to the campfire before hitting our tent for some sleep.
14th August 1996 Prince George, BC
100 Miles.
We said goodbye to our new friends and drove into Prince George, which is reasonably pleasant. We did lots of "necessary" stuff – haircuts, shopping, and film developing. We even found a shop selling British Sweets and Biscuits. Walnut Whips all round….! The hairdressers/barbers was weird – even had porn mags for the customers to read!
We checked into a motel, the Spruceland Inn, which was OK and the best value we could find. It was nice to be in a motel in a way, with a comfy bed, after 3 weeks of solid camping. It cost us C$64. Good value compared to the really high prices in Alaska (for anything other than camping).
Spent the rest of the day glued to the TV, channel surfing through the cable channels.
The town is quite big, nothing special, but quite a regional centre. Very friendly.
15th August 1996
Did some laundry, washed and vacuumed the car and then holed up in our room for the rest of the day. We used the hotel Pool, Sauna and Spa and then relaxed watching TV. Different!
16th August 1996 Williams Lake, BC
147 Miles.
We drove to Williams Lake and checked into a cheap and cheerful motel for C$51. We really appreciated the luxury of a couple of night indoors. Privacy with space, TV and a bed. Camping was superb, but the body needs some comfort now and then.
One of the tyres got a puncture and it pissed it down with rain while I tried to change it. I got soaked!
We spent the day indoors after a brief tour around the town (another functional centre).
163 Miles.
Got up early and headed into town. Found a garage and got the punctured tyre repaired for $15. Drove through heavy rain to Kamloops, arriving at around 1:30 pm.
The family were very hospitable and friendly and made us feel very welcome. Unfortunately Dibs brother, Uncle and family "couldn’t make it"! She spoke to them on the phone and got quite upset. Some of her family are real bastards at times. She told them what she thought of them. I was pretty pissed off myself – we’d changed our schedule to come and meet them – and they couldn’t even drive a few hundred kilometres to make the meeting. Very inconsiderate, but deep down I knew something like that would happen. I have no trust in them.
Dale, (Dibs 2nd cousin?!) really looked after us. He obviously knew what kind of effort we’d gone to, and what an effort Dibs family hadn’t gone to. We soon felt better and cheered up, and went for a tour around Kamloops. It’s a nice town. Dale even gave me two new wheels (with good tyres) to replace the worn ones I had. What a star. They are snow tyres (with studs), so a bit noisy, but who cares!?
The old ones were very dodgy!
Afterwards Dale even let me drive his 1969 collectors Oldsmobile around the block. A real beauty.
We were fed loads and stayed the night in the spare room.
18th August 1996 Lake Louise, BC
262 Miles.
Slept well. After breakfast Dale took us downtown and we visited the local Gudwara (Sikh Temple). There was a service going on, which was very interesting and we even got fed! There’s quite a large Sikh community in Kamloops.
We said our goodbyes at around 3:30 pm. and drove on towards Lake Louise. Rolling Hills followed by steeper mountains.
The journey started off well, and we planned to stop at a town called "Golden", but we sped on past it, missing the turning. BIG MISTAKE! It got dark very quickly, the road got quiet and winding and then it started to piss it down with rain. It got very hairy and difficult to see the road, and the fact that there were plenty of idiot speeding drivers around and the odd goat wandering the road didn’t help. It was scary at times.
We got to Lake Louise very late to find the campsite shut (a great big gate locking everything/everyone in or out!), and accommodation closed, full or very expensive - $200 per night. We phoned the hostel to have a recorded message tell us it had closed at 10:30 (it was 10:45 – we’d just missed them!).
In the end we had little choice but to park up in the car park and sleep in the car. Dibs in the back seat and me on the front. I suppose it would have to happen at least once!
19th August 1996 Banff, Alberta.
50 Miles.
We managed to sleep OK. Dibs was perfect for the back seat, but I was pretty cramped up front. I had expected us to wake up really early, but we didn’t "rise" until 9:00! We headed to a café and treated ourselves to a big breakfast.
Following breakfast we went to the Lake and walked around it and back. It’s a beautiful spot – picture postcard stuff. Also very busy. We had a glance around "Chateaux Lake Louise", which is very posh and made some phonecalls home. Although the weather was cloudy it was dry.
We drove onto Banff, which is bigger than expected and very busy and expensive. A sort of all-year-round tourist trap I reckon. We set-up camp out of town in a packed campsite, and then wandered around the town, looking at shops and museums, eating junk food, etc. We had a nice walk in the evening then headed back to camp for a fire and some stargazing. Everywhere was so busy.
