The Kenai--or Skunked Peninsula

July 23, Thursday

Hopin' for fish. That is what we were doing in Hope. Reese wouldn't  give up as others all around were pulling in pinks, or chum salmon. Rich was trying to keep his cool as he 'messes with gear' and Ruby found friends and was doing her thing. The rain had not made an appearance yet. The radio got fixed (a fuse) and we all got some sleep despite the party going on around us. 

We headed out late afternoon after trying every lure and trick possible. Somehow Reese got skunked again. We headed down the Kenai, and until she fell asleep Ruby screamed her head off because we were leaving and she would never see her friends again. When we saw a grizzly in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge across the highway and Kenai river and stopped to view it (with many others) she woke crying she would never see her friends again. Some never forget. 

We camped off the highway at a beautiful lake without good fishing but many 'pellets' or beebees at the camp site. Reese and Ruby spent the evening picking up pellets and competing for different colors while we listened to the gulls tell each other to be quiet. All night long.  

We were blessed with beautiful weather in Homer, which was fortunate. Reese continues to be determined to catch fish and the amount of time he spent with a rod in his hand wouldn't have worked in any other weather. Multiple lures, discussions with any person who caught a fish, bobbers, bait, he tried it all. I am so proud and heartbroken all at the same time.  The wind howled and the sun blazed into the night and I hid in the van. It is beginning to feel like the trip is coming apart. Not as adamant about dinner times, what we eat, cleaning up. However the kids still have to 'earn' screen time with workbooks and reading. 

The weather was starting to move in with a streaky sky and no direct sun. We moved back up the peninsula to the lower Kenai River to try some more fishing. Without luck.  The river is wide, milky aqua and full of fish. Apparently sockeye eat krill and aren't interested in feeding. The best one can do is drag a hook along the bottom and snag a fish's mouth. Reese took it like a champ. We cooked hotdogs instead of fish over a coal fired fire. Rich and Reese found coal on Bishop's Beach in Homer and Rich was tickled to fire it up. I was told it didn't effect the flavor. 

We headed up the peninsula, referred to now as skunk peninsula due to our fishing luck--or lack of prowess, I am not sure. The ecology is surprising as one would expect a more coastal flavor of Sitka spruces and Devil's Club, however it is still very much a Boreal forest. The Boreal forest extends over most of Alaska. It is really fun to see the kids identifying plants we have learned about on various ranger led hikes, from Mt St Elias to Denali.  

Seward is more coastal, on Resurrection Bay. The town is surrounded by mountains and glaciers, and the Kenai Fjord National Park. We hiked up to Exit Glacier and went to Seavey's Iditarod champs

to hold a puppy and get pulled by a dozen dogs. Ruby and Reese loved it. It poured rain all evening as we sat looking out at the bay, camped at the city RV park. We watched sea otter and porpoises. The awning is godsend, creating extra room as I prepare a meager dinner of quesadillas and grapes. The "*uckits" have hit hard. The end of the camping portion of the trip, six and a half weeks of living in the van. Wine at lunch?  Sure!  (We typically eat one meal out, lately it has been a late lunch). Salami and cheese sticks for dinner?  Sure, but eat an apple with that. $2 shower?  Wait until we get to Anchorage.  It feels good not to care so much, and in some respects I wish it had hit earlier.  After visiting the Sea Life Center and having lunch we are headed back to Anchorage to rendez-vous with friends and family and head out on Prince William Sound for a week. Let's hope for good weather!

Heading out the Kenai

July 17, Friday

We headed out of Anchorage today in the late afternoon along with plenty of other folks judging by the lack of block and dry ice. This is our last road adventure before getting on the Babkin for a week in Prince William Sound. We rolled into town on the 14th and headed to Whittier to get on the boat for a brief but meaningful cruise. We were honored to be included at a memorial for the Von Wichman's late mother, at the foot of Tebenkof Glacier.  Chum salmon were returning after spawning providing endless entertainment for the boys and dogs. It was a beautiful ceremony attended by close friends and a bald eagle. The weather came in the next day and we headed back to Anchorage (who hears Michelle Shocked singing every time they read it?) where the weather is more mild. 

Whittier is a small Alaska town in Prince William Sound. It is about an hour from Anchorage.  The proximity of the two is as the crow flies, and was amended for vehicles by the U.S. Army during WWII. Whittier was originally a fuel depot, and to be able to get supplies to Anchorage the Army blasted a train tunnel through a mountain. People eventually settled in Whittier, inhabiting an old Army barracks, the harbor was used by fishermen.  The only way you could get your boat to Whittier was drive it through the sound from another coastal town or put it on the train. Tractor trailers, personal vehicles and individuals would use the train. It wasn't until 2000 that the tunnel was modified for vehicles. It is 2.5 miles, single lane and in the summer it opens at 5:30 and closes at 11:15pm. The direction alternates every half hour and the train still uses it as well. Pretty interesting situation. 

So the kids wore themselves out playing before before we hit the road again. We are ready for fishing and rainy weather, new lures and new boots. It is freeing to set out in our little home, despite the radio that doesn't work for some reason. We will spend the night in Hope, across Turnagain Arm and eighty miles from Anchorage. 

Caribou and Grizzlies and Moose, Oh My!

July 14, Tuesday

We turned south after visiting the Museum of the North on the Fairbanks University of Alaska campus. It brought to light how much we haven't seen. Heading out of Fairbanks Rich and I both felt as if we had turned the corner, the final stretch of the trip. We still have a while to go and lots of adventures ahead, but we have reached our farthest point in the trip. 

Denali has proven to be a wildlife extravaganza.  We took the green bus to Eielson Visitor Station for four hours and 86 miles before turning around.  Denali is interesting in that private vehicles are not allowed to drive past the first fifteen miles of the park. There is a great shuttle system within the fifteen miles and tours past the fifteen miles. Bike paths are plentiful around the entrance facilities. During our green bus tour our first day we saw in varying degrees of closeness at least twenty arctic ground squirrels, fourteen caribou, eleven moose, five grizzlies and a dall sheep. Don't worry, I have an expert record keeper keeping track of every animal. The kids kept busy on the way up with their Junior Ranger workbooks. They are Junior Rangers seven times over now, including the Canada National Parks. On the way back it has been a bit more rambunctious.  

On our return trip we got off the bus at Highway Pass to hike in the tundra. In Denali they encourage people to hike off trail, as there are few maintained trails. As we arranged our gear on the side of the road another bus pulled up coming from the opposite direction.  The driver informed us there was a grizzly up the draw around the corner from us. Naturally it put us on high alert, verging on evacuation.  Except the bus had left. We headed away from the alleged ursine at a brisk clip, bear bells ringing. Tension was high waiting for another bus to flag down, and Reese attempting to catch grasshoppers added another element. We escaped unscathed needless to say, and rode down to Tolkat River to mess around instead.  We also got a glimpse of Mt Denali's shoulder the clouds which defies the odds. 

We were blessed with warm weather and blue skies for our second day in Denali as well.  A guided three mile hike took us to the dog kennels, where the park keeps it sledding team. Denali still uses dog sleds in the winter for transportation of supplies and people as well as for patrol. When the five dog sled pulled up for the demonstration Ruby exclaimed 'that's what I want to be when I grow up!'  She loved the dogs and the puppies and stated we were getting a dog the second day we get back. Our stay was timed perfectly, as it has been raining all morning. We are headed south toward Anchorage, grateful to be in the car for a change (at least I am). We are all ready for showers (I am ready for everyone to have a shower), clean clothes and regroup to head down the spit to Homer.  Reese is ready for pizza. Rich said for the first time the other night that maybe this trip is too long. I don't wish I were anywhere else, but sometimes I wish I wasn't living out of a cooler in a van. I love the adventure and experience but it has been so long I feel my connection to my friends and family have faded. It is difficult to carve out alone time in traveling microcosm. It is also all I seem to need, or all I can cope with. Rich and I struggle with patience with the kids, the struggle between being friends or enemies. In terms of personal or spiritual growth it puts me right in the fire. It makes me question the wisdom of having children at a late age. Would I have been more patient and less controlling when I was younger?  Probably. It seems all of it would be easier. That's okay. We will all survive and be richer for our experiences. I just keeping hoping this old dog can learn new tricks!

We Almost See the North Pole!

July 9  Thursday. 

The stench is gone, thanks to eating the broccoli out of the cooler. And drying out the carpet, I am sure.  The power of broccoli is not to be under estimated!  We have reached our furthest point on the Dalton, 163 miles from Prudhoe Bay. It doesn't feel complete without seeing the Arctic Ocean. That being said, you can't go to the Arctic Ocean without clearance and a guided tour. I guess you might be able to see Russia from there (our never-ending joke).  

The drive has been beautiful, the road better than we expected. The transatlantic pipeline has been our constant friend, snaking it's way from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez 800 miles in total. It is sometimes above ground, sometimes below ground depending on permafrost. It can be straight or serpentine, allowing for expansion and contraction. Fireweed often flanks the pipeline as there is a road along it. It makes it more palatable and sometimes downright pretty. 

The weather cleared of clouds and smoke. The country is vast, the Brooks Range full of 7,000ft peaks covered in tundra. Tree line here is 2,500ft compared to Colorado's 12,000ft. Average rainfall in the arctic a mere five inches. We walked up a hillock of tundra just past Atigun Pass (4800 ft, highest in Alaska) marveling how deep we sank in the spongy ground. The tundra is comprised of many different plants, including low scrubby bushes, tiny wild flowers, mosses (including caribou moss which we saw in southeast Alaska and BC) lichen and mushrooms. Unfortunately there has been a dearth of wildlife.  Despite stopping several times with binoculars we have yet to see dall sheep much less caribou, wolf or grizzlies. We had the impression there was wildlife everywhere.  The problem could be twofold. It has been warmer than usual, so the animals may be staying higher. The second is we have yet to make an alpine start. 

July 10, Friday

Our drive out has been uneventful, camping at a primitive site next to Fish Creek. Rich caught four small grayling on a fly rod, Reese and I caught bushes and rocks. The mosquitoes are as bad as everyone says. We employ an arsenal and still get bit.

Our Alaskan Tribe

July 4th Saturday

We cannot be accused of not being spontaneous!  We drove 85 miles one way out of our way to cast for pinks, or humpies. Valdez was brief, because at 11pm after getting skunked we turned around and headed back the way we came. We were standing out at the Valdez Arm, sunglasses on until 10:30pm watching people pull in fish while we broke reels and rods. Reese never lost his drive, however, and we had to tear him away. We were fishing shoulder to shoulder, combat fishing as it is called, watching sea lions and gulls, bald eagles soaring overhead. 

We turned around and headed back the way we came to go to Anchorage.  As the sun was setting about 12:30am we noticed we don't have headlights. We hadn't been driving with the light so low yet!  We pulled over to wayside and poured the kids into their sleeping bags above us and slept for a few hours as many others do as they travel the state.

We changed plans to drive straight up north to catch fiireworks with friends in Anchorage. The kids still remember being in Yellowstone last year without a show. It will give us time to regroup, shower and launder and do a few 'fixits'. Today is the first day I feel a bit like Mad Max. 

July 7, Tuesday

The van has been dusted off and vacuumed, clothes cleaned, a few fixits accomplished but not the headlights. At least it doesn't get dark here. We are back on the road headed for the Gates of the Arctic after a wonderful visit with Rich's Alaska family. 

The Von Wichman tribe expands and contracts depending on the time of year, the visitors present and whether the boats are in or out. It seems whomever stumbles into the Von Wichman world becomes some degree of family. Rich found them in 1981 and has been a member of their tribe since. I definitely felt welcomed and included from the moment Kjersty told me not to worry about the floor 'the dogs will take care of it'. The kids quickly gelled into a mob spending most of their time on the trampoline. There were no fireworks for the 4th due to fire restrictions but the kids were so happy about having other kids around they forgot and never mentioned it. We were happy for the breathing room from each other as well, after four weeks on the road.  After only three days I felt I too was a member of the Von Wichman tribe. My heart is full after spending time together and I look forward to spending more time together later this month. 

We spent time hiking in Arctic Valley outside of Anchorage where the kids found hundreds of spent machine gun shells they had to carry down the mountain. We watched the World Cup (yahoo!) and stayed out of the van. Part of the extended family included Stevie who helped Rich tighten things up in preparation for our Arctic adventure. The Dalton Highway involves hundreds of miles of dirt road. We still don't know why the headlights don't work, but we'll be back to figure it out. Every evening was a community meal involving at least nine people, home cooked meals and plenty of wine and beer. The last night Brad changed out with his sister Alex. The two of them own two boats that they charter for tourism and science, among other purposes. We were lucky to see both of them during our brief stay as summer is busy on Prince William Sound. 

Now we're headed north on the Parks highway, past Denali to Fairbanks. It took me over an hour to feel like a road warrior again. The skies have cleared enough to see Denali park but the clouds are low over the mountains. 

Out of the Wilderness

July 2, Thursday. 

Chitina, AK, at the edge of the Wrangell St Alias. We are having lunch in a restored, false front hotel on our way into the Wrangell St Elias. From here we travel on 50 miles of dirt road and cross a foot bridge to get to the town of McCarthy (pop 51) and Kennecott, an old copper mining operation. 

July 3rd Friday

It was brief but memorable.  McCarthy reminded me of Terlingua, TX, and a bit of Stanley, ID in the winter. Hard scrabble folks making hay while the sun is shining, and shine it did. The wall of mosquitoes we hit two nights ago somehow moved camp somewhere else (an Alaskan had told us the mosquitoes we were experiencing were 'pikers' or amateurs compared to McCarthy mosquitoes). With the exception of the predominance of ATVs the whole scene made me want to move. Or revisit my youth. We had a drink at the Golden Saloon the evening we got in which involved crossing a footbridge and riding bikes a half mile to McCarthy.  McCarthy is only a few buildings but people flock there in the summer to support tourism. River rafting, mountain and glacial guiding, air and land shuttles, the merc, the saloon, the hotel. I imagine all these kids having the time of their lives.  Living in tents down by the river, the backs of their trucks, not knowing or caring where they will go when the snow starts to fly. It is a beautiful time of life. 

We explored Kennecott today which sits above the Kennicott glacier (yes it is spelled differently thanks to some yahoo a long time ago).  It is the weird looking moonscape, in the background.  In 1911 when the mine started the glacier looked down on town. I power hiked until becoming bear wary and joining Rich and the kids for a tour of the town and copper mill. As I have stated, the folks back then were cut from a different cloth than we are today. The manual labor and hard work continues to impress me. The Wrangell St Elias is definitely somewhere I would like to revisit with a backpack and at least a week to explore. Mt Blackburn, in the background is the sixth highest mountain in the states. We were lucky to see it as it usually wears a cloud around it's shoulders. 

But this time we are headed out, and judging by the traffic coming in, none too soon. Looks like McCarthy and Kennecott will be packed. No fireworks up here though, much too dry.

We are headed to Valdez to see if the kids can catch some 'pinks' the smallest of the salmon family. Wish us luck!

Catching Up

June 28. Sunday

We enter the U.S. at the top of White Pass in the rain--typical Alaska per Rich. To get here we passed through an eerie moonscape of rock and lakes and stunted trees, where the average snowfall is 24 ft. As we changed back to miles crossing the border we noticed the protective arm of our home country guiding us with guard rails and snow markers. Runaway truck ramps also appeared below serrated snow dotted ridges as we dropped in elevation. 

We arrived in Skagway amid partly sunny skies and strolled among cruise ship tourists around the National Historic Park. The town has been maintained as a 1898 Gold Rush town with certain buildings restored by the National Park. The Klondike Gold Rush is fascinating and the grit those folks had is something we do not know in our present time. After the NPS walking tour, the 'Days of '98' musical revue and the Steam Engine 73 we are experts on Skagway history!  

The train was much more enjoyable than I imagined. We spent four hours aboard the last narrow gauge steam engine built in the U.S. The cars were wooden and seemed mostly original.   As we climbed up through the clouds to White Pass, we looked for wildlife among blooming fireweed and goatsbeard. It was difficult to imagine the 35,000 men who blasted and built the railroad climbing 3000 feet in 110 miles taking only two years to complete it. We take such things for granted. 

We ended our tourist time by taking the ferry from Skagway to Haines. It takes about an hour, and was a telling sign of what we had to look forward to taking five days to ferry from Whittier to Bellingham.  There is a bar, thank goodness, and Ruby has discovered the back deck as a performance area, complete with wind machine. Notice Rich's face after a half hour aboard. He was in shock. 'Download hundreds of movies to the iPads. Get over your sticker shock.  This is for me!'  I think the kids will be fine. And we will survive as well. There are lots of nooks and crannies to hide in. Did I mention the bar?

June 30, Tuesday

Buffeted by winds as we head north out of Haines headed back to the Al-Can. Back into the land of no cell service, which I am more grateful for than I imagined. Not so grateful to be climbing between the front and back seats again. From being present to not being completely present I feel it, and feel like I am missing out on something. Why does it take less effort to be not present and why don't I just stay present when given the opportunity. Something to think about. 

Out of Haines, headed north we passed the largest protected land mass in the world. It is comprised of Glacier Bay National Park, the Wrangell-St Elias National Park, the Kluane National Park (Canada) and the Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park. It was the remotest road we have yet driven. 

July 1 Wednesday

We camped near Kluane Lake, the largest lake in the Yukon and spent our last loonies and toonies on our last night in Canada. It was clear, we got to camp early for a change, and roasted hotdogs and s'mores before playing a couple of rounds of Farkle. The time snuck away and before we knew it we were going to bed at 11pm. We did a bit of planning for the first time as we plan to put on serious miles in the next week. We will head south east a bit to visit the Wrangell St Elias and then up to the artic circle. Sounds daunting to me but I know our intrepid driver can do it. 

Crazy time zone and light!  

We did a bit of planning for the first time as we plan to put on serious miles in the next week. We will head south east a bit to visit the Wrangell St Elias and then up to the artic circle. Sounds daunting to me but I know our intrepid driver can do it.