We got off to an early start. We were headed to Grand Prairie again to pick up our pups ashes. It took us several hours to get up there, and we pulled in around 2 pm to the Railtown Vet Office. They had him ready for us and we took a few moments to read the card that was inside the box. Oscar is in a cute little urn and he’s back up riding in our dash.
Since we were in a big town we have to stock up on a few things. Costco for fuel and DEF and a few other items; Sean got a haircut after three months; and Kathy found a great basket for the truck so we can contain items that have found their way to the center console. Cities are expensive.
A campground was suggested to us by the hair stylist, but it was $45 CAD at the KOA, so I got to searching the map and found an old oil drill pad that worked. Those things make noises, and are a bit creepy in the middle of the night. But it was free and stashed away from the noisy road for. Good nights sleep. We hoped to see the aurora at night but it was not active, which kind of sucked since we were pretty far north again. Oh well.
The route today was pretty uneventful. We got a late start after hanging with Rick and Sandi again this morning. We tried to get the truck washed in Burns Lake but the line at the car wash was too long so we continued down the road. We eventually stopped outside of Prince George and got lunch and gas and found a car wash to clean the road grime from Howie.
I have to add in here that the gas station-convenience store-Quiznos sandwich shop- car wash was an interesting place when it comes to convenience. Not only could you get lunch, liquor, gas, and a wash, but it was a full service gun, ammo, and knife shop as well. That’s a first for me in Canada.
Well we targeted a place called Heart Lake Provincial Park for camping but by the time we got there on a Friday night, there weren’t any spots left. So we searched a couple other places before we finally settled on a side road traversing an underground gas line. Unfortunately some of the trees along the road to the campsite were asettled on a side road traversing an underground gas line. Unfortunately, some of the trees along the road to the campsite were a bit low, and I knocked our starling off the roof. I was able to go back and find it, but it’s pretty cracked up. It still seems to work, but I’m gonna have to get it replaced because it definitely won’t keep out the moisture.
the night was quiet and uneventful. It was fun watching the dogs run around in the waist high grass. Poor Maggie, she can’t see anyway, but she still worked her way through it. We did find a bunch of ripe raspberries along the road, and spent about 30 minutes picking them before we left.
We are heading back northeast to pick up Oscar’s ashes in Grande Prairie. It’s about 750 miles from Stewart and with the roads at 90-100km/hr it makes for a long drive. We planned to split it up into two 300 mile days and one 150 mike day, so when we hit 250 we start looking for a place to stay. We found that in Burns Lake, BC. Burns Lake is a little gem in that the community campground is sponsored by the Rotary and the sites are free. They are dry sites next to a lake, but also just a block from a dump and water station. Kudos to the Rotary club.
We were met at the site by an older couple from outside of Edmonton, Alberta. They have traveled all over the USA and Canada and have seen all states except Delaware and Connecticut and all of the Canadian provinces. Two years ago they sold their 5th wheel and started to use their Lance 855S exclusively. He also has a Ram 3500. We talked with them for a couple hours before bed and then again for a violent if hours the next morning. They were a great addition to Burns lake. Rick was a truck driver until two years ago when he retired. He’s now 78. She was a teacher. He restored old trucks (the semi types) and tractors. They had just sold their home and acreage and were building a final home.
Rick and Sandra had one precious story about their grand kids. There was a 7000kg rock on his farm that had a bore home in it. He’d stuff $5 bills in it before the grand children arrived and they would always search the rock for money. He said he taught them to drive the tractors and the grandson would stop the tractor to check the rock, just in case. Well when he sold their property, he had the rock moved to his son’s house so the kids would still have the rock. And he put $20s in there and challenged his don to keep up the tradition. Great old couple.
We slept in and had a nice morning at the Ripley Creek Inn. I found a bakery across the street and purchased some muffins and pastries for breakfast. They were good but not similar to European types. The pups got their morning walk and then we headed over to Hyder Alaska to drive to the Salmon glacier. We stopped by Fish Creek Viewing area to check to see if any bears were feasting, but the rangers suggested coming back after 5pm. So we made the drive to Salmon glacier.
we met a nice couple up there from Texas in a truck camper setup and we compared adventures. We’d seen them and they’d seen us at various points across Alaska. They had been traveling since early May and were staying a few days at each place. They had traveled both the Dalton and the Dempster this year and everything on the truck survived.
We continued up the road as I had heard there was a mine we could drive into. It turns out that it was blocked off, but you could definitely fit Howie in there. We drove to a big mining operation and decided to turn around since the road ended on the other side of the valley anyway. When we stopped for lunch we noticed a helicopter hauling something to a point across the valley. We used the binoculars and found three sites on the rock face below one of the glaciers where some new mining was taking place. These are huge platforms mounted to the rock face. We watched the helicopter for over an hour bring supplies and take baskets from those sites. Mining is different than 100 years ago when mining started here, but miners are still a hearty bunch.
We worked our way down the mountain and stopped at Fish Creek Viewing and the rangers said to go have dinner and try in a couple of hours. We drove to the end on the Hyder boat launch and Kathy made Albondigas and we watched the seals fish in the harbor. I took a cool picture of an old pier and looking back up the 90 mile Portland Fjords.
We finished and cleaned up around 7 and when we got to Fish Creek Viewing area the rangers said a mom and her cub were fishing. He was gracious to let us in without paying with a promise we’d hit them up on the way out. It was great to finally see some bears fishing and chomping on salmon.
it was growing dark and on the way out we met up with a nice guy and his wife who have been in the road in their 5th wheel for 4 years. They move every 1-3 weeks and work while on the road. We learned a lot from them and how to save costs, visit places, etc. We have not been doing tours because we have the pups and our budget doesn’t allow for it. They save on gas by parking for a while and then take tours occasionally. This Friday they were taking a fishing boat out and would get crabs, salmon, and halibut. The charter is $1200 but is split between fishermen, so it was costing them $400 each as another was joining them. They live to fish and have spent the summer in Homer, the Russian River, Valdez, etc filling their freezer. He said he had over 700 lbs they were taking back with them. Apparently personal use and labeled fish are ok to transport across borders. They told us stories about issues with cases of wine and the Canadians when they did not declare it. It was confiscated and to get it back they had to pay the import tax. It’s easier to just declare.
We got back to the hotel about 10 pm after a pretty amazing day. Here are some more pictures of the day.
We continued along the Cassier Highway for a second day and stopped for the night in Stewart, BC. This town was a place I wanted to spend a couple of days with Kathy just exploring. There is a great little place called the Ripley Creek Inn that I had seen when I was here in 2019 and wanted to treat us to a couple of nights there.
It is a cute little inn consisting of the 8-12 buildings on a city block interconnected with boardwalks, treed canopies, gardens, and a collection of interesting items from the past 125 years including old sewing machines, mining equipment, old transistor radios, and even a couple of tugboats. Such a cute place.
We looked around and relaxed in their yards before hiking on a local trail of boardwalks over the tidal marsh. We spotted more pink salmon in the creeks and watched a quiet harbor. Interestingly we found out the town of Stewart was named after a couple of American brothers that settled the area while the neighboring town across the border of Hyder, AK was named after a Canadian Engineer.
We finished our walk and took the pups to the camper. We had a nice dinner at a local pizza place. The pizza was interesting in that the meats of pepperoni I and salami were sandwich meats rather than what we were used to. It was good, just different and almost like a panini instead. We returned for some showers and a nice time in the Inn.
We turned south into CA 37, the Cassier Highway, to drive down the middle of British Columbia. The highway is less traveled than the AK highway, but is much more beautiful in my opinion. The lakes and valleys through the towering Rockies are beautiful at every turn. I stopped for fuel every couple of hours to keep the tank full and take a little break.
Around 5 we passed a car with a couple of ladies from Michigan that were looking under their car. We decided to stop to see if they needed help. They stated something was making a noise under their front end and noted they had had the brakes redone recently. I asked if they needed help and they agreed. When they moved the car I could hear the issue in the front and said it was likely the anti rattle pin and I could see it catching on the rim. We jacked up their car and I pulled the wheel off to find the clip had come loose and was bent and broken. I told them they could still drive it to a town that could get a part. The closest was Prince George, about 700 miles to the south. She took some pictures for her records and we put everything back together and sent them on their way.
We stopped for the night in Jade City at a free RV camp next to a Jade store. It turned out this area mines about 95% of the worlds Jade. They had tons (literally) of the stone in and around the place. You can get Jade slabs or earrings. Pretty stuff but also expensive.
I did not take and photos today, just a nice drive.
We camped at Wolf Creek Campground just SE of Whitehorse last night. It’s a Yukon Regional Park official campsite. Every time I camp in a Canadian campground I am impressed. They are far superior to most all campgrounds I have experienced in the US National Parks, BLM, or FS. Tonight $18 CAD (which is about $12 US).
It’s funny because they are not much different except they seem to have more amenities for a lower cost. The camps are easily paid for with cash or with an app. Most have reserved sites and some first come first serve, so there is almost always a site for spontaneous travelers. Some sites have RV dumps and water available as well for free. And they are generally better set up and maintained.
AND there are wood sheds with wood available FOR FREE. US parks often don’t allow wood gathering and require you to purchase it from the camp host, bring it in from home (as long as its not too far so as to no bring in pests), or purchase it from the local store for a $7-10 cost per bundle, on top of the $20-24 campsite fee. A weekend at a US campsite will cost you $50-75 in fees and $50-100 in firewood if you burn nights and morning fires. Plan for a week and that could reach $400. Ridiculous. Everything in the US is behind a paywall, which I could understand for private campgrounds, but these are resources owned and operated by the Gov for the people.
In Canada it’s all included for $18 CAD.
And it’s not free market, IMO, it’s mismanagement of our government resources. What can we do to change this?
We stayed two nights in the ghost town campground of Dyea. This place was home to 5000-7000 folks during the gold rush years of 1897-1898. Along with Skagway, it was the land gateway to the Klondike. Skagway made it due to its deep harbor and the new railroad and roadway connection. Dyea died out and turned to farmland for a while. They tried to build a pier, but with it being over a mile long and still not into deep water, that has also fallen to ruin.
The campground is nice though. Quiet and remote. We did some reading in the nice weather, took a long hike through the trails of the town and gave the dogs some exercise. Kathy and I took an afternoon stroll to the salmon stream and walked in its waters and chased and caught some of the salmon. We had a pretty good couple of days there.
We packed up on Sunday and headed back to Skagway to get a shower at the recreation center. For $10 a day you can get access to the facilities and the showers. It was nice to get cleaned up. We also stopped by the grocery store for some tortillas, creamer, and sodas and then had brunch at a place on the pier that was suggested by the rec center attendant. Kathy had some king crab legs and I enjoyed some fish and chips while chatting with some locals and tourists.
We drove back up the canyon through Whites Pass and crossed back into Canada without the inspection from customs. We may be back in Alaska one more time, but this was the last big visit. It is lived and will be missed.
I was able to contact the old friend we missed in Whitehorse and we met up at Miles Canyon there for a hike. It was a beautiful day and we hiked 3 miles to another ghost town from the early days along the Yukon River.
It was already 7:30 when we set out to gas up, and were able to visit the RV dump and water station as well. We found an awesome campground at Wolf creek right out of town and enjoyed the Canadian Regional park for the night.
I got a call from a guy I met the last time I was in Alaska and he lives in Whitehorse. We had planned on heading to Haines, then catch the ferry to Juneau/Gustavus/skagway for a few days. After looking at the ferry routes, considering the pups on this, and the extra costs, wedecided to reroute a to visit and catch up instead. We got to Whitehorse and tried to meet up. We waited at the local Canadian Tyre parking lot, I walked 3+ miles through the old town, visited a farmers market, and saw some sites. Unfortunately for some reason the meet up did not work out, so we got a sub at Quiznos, drove out of town and found camp just above the Yukon River outside of town and settled down for the night.
One of the things I love about Alaska and Northern Canada is the boreal forests. They have small to medium trees and an always beautiful carpet of moss, lichens, bushes, etc on the forest floor. Wher I grew up in Arizona, the forests are ponderosa pines, some scrub oak, and maybe junipers trees, but the forest floor is generally covered in pine needles or scarce grasses. They don’t have the diversity of life I see here. It is absolutely due to the difference in moisture, and I really enjoy that here. Well, we camped in the boreal forest and it’s so beautiful.
Ok, still not hearing a single response from the guy from the past, we headed towards Skagway. Along the way we stopped at a historic site called Conrad along a glacial valley and lake. Conrad was an old mining village in the early 1900s. A couple of the cabins were being restored, but most had been moved and repurposed to the nearby town of Carnack. I was excited to hike the trails as there were reports of a black bear in the area, but Kathy was not too keen on it.
The drive through this area I believe is more beautiful than the one found to Valdez along the Richardson Highway. In this area there are mirror surfaced lakes, pools, glacial rivers and streams, along a glacier cut mountain top valley. This is berry season and tons of folks are out with their buckets scouring the roadside.
We crossed into the USA and were inspected by US customs who wanted to go through our fridge. We had purchased everything in Fairbanks so the contraband Canadian eggs, meats, or dog food was not present. The last US entry did not seem to care. It may be because we can catch a boat to the lower 48 here, but it seemed odd. Anyway, we continued down the beautiful valley into Skagway.
The valley is famous for the White trail (and the Kilkoot trail in the adjacent valley) during the Klondike Gold rush. In two years over 100,000 people from all over the world traveled through here to get to Dawson City to stake claims. Most turned around once they got there and went home due to finding nothing or not even being able to dig on a claim. These people from 125 years ago were much harder than people from today. I can’t imagine anyone trekking this far in this day and age.
We arrived in Skagway and walked the pups then browsed around town with the cruise ship tourists. They get up to 4 ships a day here and it is crowded. We had a nice dinner at the Red Onion Saloon and Brothel and then headed over tho the Dyea area to camp. I balked at the one lane bridge at the first pass because it showed a 11’5” limit and we are about that. But after testing, it was this at the sides, so we drove right through. We found a campsite and set up quickly. I set out on a hike to the ocean and found lots of salmon, dead and alive, along the stream. It was a warmer evening than recent places.
We drove the 30 miles back up to Fairbanks to pick up Sean’s Rx and then had a nice lunch at a local burger place. We turned Howie south again and drove until about 6 pm on AK Highway 1. There were some beautiful rest stops along the way and we took a few pictures.
We found a nice little campground along the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and met a nice couple from Michigan and another from Oklahoma. We didn’t see any big game, but there was a pair of Trumpeter Swans swimming around the lake.
There are lots of road repairs along the highway and several times we waited for pilot cars. I didn’t call it construction because the highway department up here is constantly dealing with road issues related to the seasonal weather. Freezing and melting of the land is not easy on the roads.
We crossed back into Canada on the 20th and continued South. We started to see Fall colors down here as many trees are turning yellow and the shrubs in the forests are orange and red. We found a nice wild beach campsite along Kluane Lake near the Congdon Creek Regional Park in the Yukon. We collected some wood, had a nice fire, and then retreated inside as the rain started. It rained all night. Tomorrow we cross back into the USA and arrive in Haines.
