2004 Trip Notes:
Departed Black River Falls late Friday afternoon, the 28th. Our oldest daughter, Stephanie, accompanied me, hitching a ride back to Anchorage after a visit. Because I couldn't leave BRF until I signed some refinancing papers, and Steph had to be in Anchorage by the 3rd for a family function, we only had about 6 days for the trip. We made the usual trek up the I-94 and across Montana on 200. After all these trips I finally damaged a headlight; hitting a sea gull along a deserted stretch of 200! This put us a bit behind schedule as I tried four auto parts places in Great Falls before finding clear tape to patch the light. Went through the border with no problems. Missed the bypass at Calgary and had to drive through the city to pick up Hyw 1. City was celebrating the Flames win in game 3. Drove all night through the Rockies. Steph drove for about 1/3 of trip, which was a treat for me since Karen seldom drives in Canada. Arrived at Prince George Sunday morning and went to work. From Prince Prince George to Watson Lake I had to stop at all the RV parks because I don't come back that way. From Chetwynd we took the Hudson's Hope Loop to Charlie Lake. This is a scenic drive along the Peace River valley, with a chance to visit the dams. Dawson Creek is just 54 miles from Charlie Lake, and can be visited as a side trip. I chatted with the people at the big Alberta Visitor Center with the dinosaur north of Sweetgrass. The admit they only tell people the routes from Jasper that keep people in Alberta as long as possible, i.e. Hwy 40 or via Edmonton. They route people away from the most scenic route, via Prince George and the Hart Highway. Stopped at 24 businesses on the 30th.
From Charlie Lake we were able to get all the way to Muncho Lake on the 31st, stopping at 21 places. Stayed over at Strawberry Flats and saw Muncho customers early in morning, then on to Liard Hotsprings. The weather finally cleared for a while; we had rain or showers all the way from Wisconsin and I didn't take off my jacket until Anchorage. Found Sportsman Inn at Pink Mt. opened under a new name: Sasquatch Crossing. Managed by the people who are now running 5th Wheel in Ft. Nelson as Mag & Mel. The BC campsite at Prophet River that was turned over to free user maintained status a few years ago is now $15/night and a host is on duty. I imagine someone got it as a concession.
Once we got to Watson Lake I was able to bypass most places because we cover this ground on the way home. Started in again by Kluane Lake and saw everyone up to Northway. Then we headed straight for Anchorage. Stopped for four hours to rest and got into town at 7 to change for grandaughter's middle school graduation at 9:30.
Except for a few areas where new stones had been applied, we didn't run into any construction until west of Whitehorse, where there is a rerouting project and pilot cars. There is construction around Kluane Lake, so far not too troublesome as most work is off the existing route. As they move the work further east there will be more of a mess as the road hugs the lake shore with little room for widening. The road from Destruction Bay to the Border, as well as to Tok and down the cutoff, had pretty severe frost heaves in places and 45 mph was a prudent speed. The earthquake damage on the cutoff has been paved. Next construction area was on the Glenn Highway around the Matanuska Glacier area. This is a continuation of a project that has been moving east to west along the mountainous part of the Glenn. It will be great when it's done, but for now expect delays and pilot cars.
Gas in Anchorage is around $2.03/gal, but we have seen it as low as $1.98 (on Jewell lake Rd., off west Dimond), so shop around. In Canada we paid $0.949/liter at Charlie Lake, $0.959 at Watson Lake, and $1.049 at Whitehorse. Gas at Border City (AK) was $2.319; Tok about the same. Paid $2.12 in Soldotna on the 17th.
PRICE CHANGES: Alaska State Parks have raised their rates about $5.00 across the board to $10-15 a night. There has also been an increase in parking fees, and some new fees at trailheads and other day-use areas. Many State Parks are being turned over to private parties to run as concessions. New Fast Ferry: According to a press release this morning (6-7) the new fast ferry catamaran MV Fairweather started the Skagway-Haines-Juneau run today. This ship will cut the time to Juneau in half. Follow the AMHS links from our Marine Highway page for more details.
I plan to cover the RV/campgrounds along the Glenn to Grand View, and Parks Hwy to Trapper Creek this week. Karen arrives on Saturday so next week we'll spend a few days on the Kenai. Heading for home we'll go to Valdez, north to Paxson with side trips up the cutoff and through the Isable Pass and back, then across the Denali Highway and north to Fairbanks on the Parks. Then we'll do some exploring to the north before heading out via Delta, Tok, and the Top of the World-Klondike Loop back to Whitehorse. From WH we plan to do our Skagway-Haines-Haines Junction-Whitehorse loop before heading east to Watson Lake and south on the Cassiar. So far we have seen little traffic and fears of a slow season may be true, but it is early, and I think the group that is put off by the high gas prices is balanced by those who fear it could be even higher in the future.
6-18: On Tuesday we took the Phillips 26-glacier cruise. The weather
was terrible (typical) but we saw the glaciers, a small humpie, some
otters and seals. Enjoyed the meal. We had put off this cruise long
ago because it was too pricey ($89). Now it's up to $139, but I got
smart and played my military discount card, dropping the price to $89
again. We took the train from Anchorage to Whittier to avoid the
tunnel wait. That cost $59 each, and there are no discounts because
(they say) they give out coupons at the base. If you're military
retired maybe you can get some deals at Special Services. The train
leaves at 10 and stops for wildlife viewing. Cruise leaves at 1 and
returns at 5:30. You have about an hour to explore beautiful downtown
Whittier before boarding. Get back at 9:30. One other expense: $10
for parking in Anchorage. The train doesn't have their own lot, but
we're told they plan to build a parking garage with two levels.
A 63 pound king was taken from Ship Creek in downtown Anchorage, a week after the derby closed. The official weigh-in was 59 pounds. Still, a monster from waters that typically produce 40-50 pounders. News reports are that there is a very strong run of reds on the Kenai/Russian Rivers. Expect crowds.
Spent Wednesday on the Kenai. Very cold, rainy and windy on the Seward side, but just cold and cloudy to the east. Construction area around Bird Creek along Turnagain Arm. Warmed up in Anchorage in time for the wekend. Tomorrow we're off to Valdez, Fairbanks, and home.
6-21 Got to Fairbanks Saturday in time to watch brother and family participate with thousands of others in the Fun Run. On the way we encountered heavy construction with a long pilot car section on the Glenn Highway near Matanuska Glacier. Our drive to Valdez was magnificent with clear skies and the best views ever of the Wrangell Volcanos. Crossed the Denali Highway. Again, we found the gravel to be in pretty good shape from Paxson to the Susitna Crossing, but rougher with holes and washboard west to Cantwell. Butch, at Gracious House, says the guy who grades the east section is pretty agressive about getting out and smoothing the road, which we appreaciate. The west 15 miles or so of the Denali Highway offers one of the best panoramic views of the Alaska Range and Mt. McKinley. This trip is the first time we actually saw the mountain from there! Every other year it was clouded in! Saturday was very clear but very hot, and Sunday well into the 90s. As we continued north from Denali towards Fairbanks we noticed increasing haze. There's a fire out there somewhere. Leaving Fairbanks this morning for home via Dawson City and the Cassiar/Yellowhead, hoping to be in Minneapolis by the 28 to pick up daughter and kids from airport.
Left Fairbanks on the 21st planning to get as far as Dawson late at
night to stop at Gertie's and take in the last show. On the Taylor
Highway we got to the mile 49 check point and were told a pilot car
would be back in ten minutes to take us through the fire, which was
burning on both sides of the road. Ten minutes turned into almost
eight hours, and we celebrated soltice in the middle of the highway
with an impromptu picnic that broke up early when some uninvited
flying guests arrived. At 12:30 a.m. there was a knock on the van
window and we were back on the way. Even though it was the brightest
night of the year, the sky was black from the smoke. Pockets of fire
burned in the ditches, and in the distance a spruce top exploded in
flame now and then. We didn't stop at Chicken. but drove straight to
the border to wait for it to open.
In Dawson, rumors were that Chicken had burned to the ground. We kept hearing this all the way back. I called my brother in Fairbanks and daughter in Anchorage and neither had seen anything in the papers about the fire. The radio said that about 100 RVers were later stranded in Chicken as fire swept across the road on both sides. This fire is still active, so anything could happen. Go to www.nifc.gov/fireinfo/nfn.html for fire updates, and also check the Whitehorse Star web site. When searching for other info be sure it's current; some stories date back to 1998! If the nifc link doesn't work, try typing the address in manually, omitting the letters after the slash, then click on Wildland Fire Update.
From Dawson we headed towards Whitehorse. Stopped at Braeburn's to pick up a monster cinnamon bun. Talked with Steve. Business really slow because everyone hears about the fires when in Whitehorse and stay on the Alaska Highway rather than risk being stranded. I'm sure he'll see business pick up later in the season. At Whitehorse we noticed Trail of '98 RV Park is closed, a victim of WalMart, which can be seen down the hill from the park. We have never seen a WalMart so packed with RVs. We have been told that RV parking policy is set by the local manager. However, the big new WalMart in Fairbanks, finally opened after years of negotiations, is posted "Absolutely No Overnight Parking." And the Prince George WalMart no longer allows parking thanks to a new city ordinance. In Whitehorse it would make sense if they at least limited the amount of space where RVs were allowed.
From Whitehorse we made our Skagway-Haines-Haines Junction-Whitehorse loop. The MV Taku is filling in for the LeConte, which went aground in a reef earlier in the season. Spent a lot of time in both Haines and Skagway talking to people about local politics and ecomomy. Won't dwell on that here. Leaving Haines our van stalled and wouldn't restart. Happened to be right across from the NAPA-Goodyear Big Foot garage, which became our home for two days as we had a fuel pump shipped in from Anchorage via Juneau, plus a tie rod. This is not bad luck, folks. Think of all the places this could have happened and didn't. Right across from a garage! How lucky is that. Anyway, that put us two more days behind schedule. Back in Whitehorse we stayed over as the Alaska Highway had been closed for 6 hours at Swift River. Although called the Swift River fire, the burn had not been closer than 15 miles from the town. It did burn behind and up the west side of Swan Lake and through Russell Cumming's pasture. His horses were OK, and fire fighters were pulling out when we stopped, but I see in the Whitehorse paper that the fire is still active.
Found the Cassiar to be in pretty good shape except for construction areas south of Iskut. There was also construction on the Alaska Highway east of Haines Junction. Rest of trip home was uneventful. We were told of fires along the Yellowhead, but saw no smoke plumes, just lots of haze. We were surprised to find that gas along the Yellowhead was only a few cents cheaper than on the Alaska Highway. But by Lethbridge is was down to about $.77/l, and we were told the price had dropped 11 cents in a day. Still high in the states though. Lowest was $1.70 in Minnesota, but here in Wisconsin, thanks to our state tax, $1.89. I don't think the high gas prices were the biggest factor in keeping people home this year, but an important one of many. On the bright side, exchange rate has been shifting to favor American touists in Canada again. It's still early in the season, but we thought things were pretty slow up north, and if the fires continue it will only get worse. This is the third slow year in a row for tourism, and we're afraid we may find some more places closed next year.