2003 Trip Notes:
I
left home earliest ever this year; 19 May. Drove solo all the way to
Anchorage, where Karen flew in and joined me for trip home late June.
We arrived back in Black River Falls on 27 July. I took the usual
route west: I-94, Hwy 200 across Montana, I-15 north from Great
Falls. I had planned to take the Crowsnest Route again, but van
repairs in Lethbridge cost me a couple days and about $1500CN.
Trouble started with a blown frost plug, ended up with a new radiator
and water pump. The old pump had lasted so long that all the curl
wore off the vanes, so it wasn't pushing much water around, causing
the other problems. (Our van has 190,000 miles on it.)
Weather this year was much better than last, and so was business. The
new notebook proved effective in selling advertising, and most of our
retailers were sold out of maps. By the time I got to Muncho Lake I
had to call my printer to get a quick 500 more BC maps printed.
Interesting to see Muncho Lake 2/3 frozen.
2003 was the year of the bear. I saw a half dozen black bears between Jasper and Prince George, plus the black log that always fools me. It doesn't take long to figure out that black bears don't stick around to have their pictures taken. One exception was one feeding on a road kill moose. Grizzlies, on the other hand, usually seem to hang around, licking rocks or chasing salmon. The one at left below was along the shoulder just east of Kluane Lake. At right is a calling card left overnight at a campground south of Tok. Note the closeness to my van.
In other bear news, a sow with quadruplets was causing quite a stir at Hyder when we stopped by mid July. It had been in and out of the creek since 7 July. The owner of Bear River RV gave us a photo on a floppy that we will post on the Stewart/Hyder page. I was miffed to read a posting on a forum by a guy who bragged that he was within 10 feet of a bear and was happy he had his spray with him just in case. Personally, I wouldn't shed a tear if his spray misfired. How cruel do you have to be to tease a bear knowing that if it gets tired of the game you can always torture it with a burst of pepper between the eyes? At the end of the Cassiar Highway, Cassiar RV has extended trails across their property to the fish counting station, and they think that that stream will soon rival Hyder as a bear-rich environment.
I went straight up the Alaska Highway this year rather than taking the Klondike Loop. Didn't notice the construction, but heard a lot of whining from other travelers later. Get over it! It's the north. From Tok I went south on the Cutoff and checked out the earthquake damage at Slana Slough, then north from Gakona towards Delta. The plan was to go on to my brother's at Fairbanks, but first I wanted to check out the Denali Highway. A google newsgroup post said that there was split pavement because of the earthquake, but I found no damage. Assumed that the poster didn't know the difference between the Denali and Richardson.
Stopped at Tangle Lakes and had planned to turn back towards Delta, but the sky grew dark and there was thunder, so I decided to wait and see what developed. What developed was a sleet storm driven by high winds that rocked my van most of the night. In the morning all the dirt surfaces were bare but vegetation was covered with ice. Drove west to the pass, where I took the two photos below, then continued on to Cantwell. Found the highway to be in very good condition to Clearwater Creek, then the usual pot holes and washboard. Had a pleasant visit with the people at Gracious House and got all the scoop on last year's road problems.
There were lots of new owners at the RV parks thais year, and lots more for sale. 2002 was a bad year for RV business, and 2003 even worse. Most in Alaska said they were down 15% from last year. In Canada some said -45%! But there were a few doing quite well. Hard times tend to weed out those who don't keep their parks up. Those who were doing well ( outside of the usual destination areas) were helped more by repeat customers.
Lots of complaints about the cruise lines this year. They run their busses over the roads to stop at their resorts, their restaurants (cooking food carried in their bus, not bought locally), and attractions that give them a kickback. All of the gift shops in Skagway are now owned by the cruise lines. The White Pass RR gives the biggest kickback of any attraction in the world (we're told). Skagway gets up to eight cruise ships a day. Haines was getting four a week, and most there thought that was too many. Then a cruise ship had a fire and a beth became open at Skagway, so cruise lines changed schedules and now Haines gets one a week. And they used to get a lot of the smaller ecotour-adventure type cruises, but they stopped coming because of the cruise ships. Buy all your made in China junk in Skagway, then go to Haines for the good stuff, and spend some time takling with the artists. In winter all but about 300 leave Skagway. In Haines almost all live there year round. The Haines people were told that for $1000 each the cruise lines would promote their businesses on the ship.
The other hot topic was YT and BC governments getting tough on roadside signs again. It's like they want business to fail so everything is wild and pristine. The YT government has already closed most of mines and forestry, so now they're after small business. Northern Beaver Post wanted to start a little gold panning operation for tourists, on the creek. Owners are seasoned miners. It costs $350 to submit the 57 page application!
Went home through the Jasper and Banff Parks, but after Great Falls we went south on 89 to pick up I-90 and head for Cheyenne and Sydney to visit relatives. Highway 89 is a good route, with the northern third running through a cool canyon in Lewis and Clark National Forest. Lots of NF campgrounds. The rest, to the south, is high prairie. Very hot this year - 102 when we went through. We saved about $150 this year by not buying ice. Squirreled away individual packets of mayo, mustard, ketchup, etc. all winter for the trip. Found out that our water bottles stay cold sitting in front of AC vent. Used margarine, which doesn't need refrigeration-except in Montana in July!
There was a fire burning in the Big Horn Range, but the fires around Glacier hadn't started yet. Now we hear that BC is having terrible fires around Kamloops. One benefit of going up so early was the lack of smoke-caused haze in the western Yukon. Because we have been going up the Klondike Loop and back in July on the Alaska Highway, all of our recent photos from Kluane Lake to Tok were hazy. Took lots of pictures this year to make up for the bad years. There were fires near Tok, Delta, and Livengood, but all after I had been through. It was raining when we left Fairbanks, 14 July, and it sounds like it hasn't let up.
Picked up a few new windshield dingers this trip. Guess we'll have to replace it soon. The hits didn't come on the gravel roads, where one would expect. Instead, on the Klondike Highway driving from Dawson to Whitehorse. Lots of loose gravel due to repaving, and everyone driving too fast. Easy to avoid if it's a short pavement break. but with the repaving there's nowhere to hide.
A month after returning home we were visited book-map customers from Louisiana who stopped by on their way to Pennsylvania and then home. Sat on the porch for a few hours and talked abou their trip. They had put me on their E-mail list so I got all their trip news as they traveled. This was a great opportunity for us to find out what the tourists do. We have to spend so much time visiting campgrounds that there's little left for pure fun.
A final reflection on the weather. As I mentioned at the top, I left home early this year; mid May. Many of our customers are planning to leave even earlier. Having seen all of the Alaska Highway in spring green, I don't think I will travel that early again, even if I have the chance. Those two weeks make a big difference.