Our ferry trip from Whittier to Valdez was uneventful . . . it saved us about 350 miles of driving, but because of the rain and fog we didn't really see any scenery. The ferry got into Valdez at 8:30 pm, at which time we drove around and looked at the RV parks (we've learned from experience not to make reservations ahead of time at unknown parks based on advertising and ratings--they can be deceiving!) They were all flooded, and after watching a camper digging a trench around his RV to drain some of the rainwater, we opted for a hotel night! It was pretty pricey for the quality, but at least it was dry, and we didn't have to set up camp in the pouring rain!
We had heard about how beautiful Homer, Seward, Whittier, and Valdez are, but pretty much all we saw was rain, clouds, and fog! I hadn't realized that coastal Alaska is in a temperate rainforest (guess I didn't do my homework well enough). . . when I asked an attendant at the ferry in Whittier if it always rained that much, he said, "Well, this is a rainforest, so yes, we get lots of rain!" We found out that Valdez averages 200 inches of rain per year and 360 inches of snow!!! A lady we met showed us some pictures of houses in Valdez in the summer and the same houses in the winter--almost completely buried in snow! Rain in the rest of Alaska is unusually high this year, though; apparently this is a record-breaking July for rainfall amounts in some parts of Alaska. In the Tok area average rainfall for the entire year is about 8 inches, and they got over 6 inches in July alone! Everywhere we go (except the coast), Alaskans apologize for the rain and insist that it's usually beautiful in the summer! Today was beautiful, though, and we've had several sunny or partly sunny days since our trip to the coastal areas. It's still better than the heat and humidity I keep hearing about in Indiana!
Our drive from Valdez to Tok on Thursday, August 5 took us on some roads we hadn't yet traveled and through some more scenic landscapes, including the Worthington Glacier, Bridal Veil Falls, and some more mountainous areas (pictures later). The sun even peeked through several times and blessed us with some patches of brilliant blue skies! When we got back to Tok we opened all the camper windows, turned on the fans, stripped the bed, and took all the bedding and towels to the laundry room and threw them in the dryers. They weren't dirty, just damp, so we did our best to try to dry out everything.
Our biggest problem with the camper has been moisture . . . we've never been able to determine if we have a leak (we know of at least one for sure) or condensation, but probably some of both. We know condensation is a problem, especially with all the rain, so we dry it out as often as weather and schedules permit and keep the temperature inside as low as possible on cold nights (usually about 62). But after getting everything dry Thursday, the rain started again about midnight and continued all night and into the morning. We decided we didn't really have any deadlines, so we just stayed in bed and listened to the rain!
When it finally stopped we packed up and left for Chicken, Alaska, northeast of Tok. Our plan was to investigate Chicken, then drive on to the "Top of the World" Highway that goes into Dawson City, Canada. However, when we got to Chicken we discovered that the Taylor Highway that joins the Top of the World Highway was washed out north of Chicken, so there was no access to the Top of the World Hwy. and no entry into Canada. The rain the night before had washed out the highway for the third time in five weeks, and it was closed at 10 am that morning--just before we left headed for Chicken. Two miles of the road washed out, and we were told it would be weeks before it would open again. So after a little time in Chicken, we headed back to Tok . . . it doesn't take long to see Chicken, but it is an entertaining little town. The funniest tidbit I learned was that it's named Chicken because when the town was established back in Gold Rush days by gold miners, they wanted to name it Ptarmigan (now the Alaska state bird, which was plentiful and kept their stew pots full). However, none of the miners could figure out how to spell Ptarmigan, so they just decided to name it Chicken instead! Apparently the town has a pretty entertaining website, but I haven't looked at it yet.
Since we couldn't leave Alaska via the route we planned, our only choice is to leave Alaska by the same route we came in (yes, there are only two roads entering and leaving Alaska from Canada). But we decided that before leaving we might as well stay a little longer and see more of Alaska that we'd missed. We'd driven on all the major highways in Alaska (there really aren't that many!) except one 81 mile stretch of the Richardson Hwy. between Delta Junction and Paxson. In order to hit that, though, we'd have to go over some territory we'd already seen and drive a total of almost 400 miles! So Saturday morning, August 7, we set out for the Richardson Hwy., knowing we most likely wouldn't drive the entire route in one day but with no definite plan of how far we'd get or where we'd stay. It turned out to be a beautiful day--the kind we'd been waiting for!
Near Delta Junction we stopped for gas at a little "trading post"/gas station, and of course Ernie struck up a conversation with the owner, who also had a "museum" in the back rooms with dozens of stuffed game animals that had been "bagged" by his parents, he and his wife, and his sons, including a huge buffalo! On the wall he had an aerial photo of some fields and explained that in the 80s the government had set up a program to promote agriculture in the area. It didn't work out as planned but there are still several big farms that grow hay and others that raise yak, caribou, and other animals. They left a quarter mile barrier of trees along the road, so it's hard to tell the farms are there without some "inside" knowledge. Naturally ole farmer boy Ernie had to check it out, so we drove down some farm roads that I'm sure very few tourists ever see! We also drove down some gravel roads (actually more like rock roads--much bigger stones than gravel!) on the other side of the highway--looking for a buffalo herd that was supposedly in the area. We never did spot any buffalo, though. After all our meandering, we stopped at Fielding Lake State Recreation Area, which had free camping. It was in the mountains above the tree line, on a lake, beautiful and peaceful.
Sunday, August 8, we made it to Paxson, which completed our loop of major Alaskan highways. But to get back to Tok we still had a ways to go on some highways we'd seen before. This time the weather was better, so we got to see the scenery that had been previously shrouded my mist. We decided to drive just a little further south on the Richardson Highway to check out the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center, which Milepost advised is "not to be missed." That turned out to be one of the best decisions of our trip because it led us to our favorite place in all of Alaska!
Wrangell-St. Elias is not well known, especially outside of Alaska, but it's the largest national park in the country, encompassing a total of almost 23 million acres--larger than Switzerland with taller peaks than Switzerland! It contains the largest concentration of glaciers on the continent and several of the highest peaks. The visitor center is beautiful and informative--we viewed a fantastic movie about the park, listened to a talk by a park ranger, browsed through the exhibit hall, and walked on one of several hiking trails. We were very impressed! I guess it's not very well-known because it's not highly developed--very little of the park is accessible to regular tourist-type vehicle traffic. It does have many hiking trails and millions of acres of wilderness. Only two roads go into the park, and one of those isn't recommended except for four-wheel drive vehicles after the first 20 miles since it's necessary to drive through three streams. Since we have four-wheel drive and Ernie's always up for a challenge, we decided to venture onto Nabesna Road, the 42-mile road I just described. It's off the Tok Cutoff Road, which we would take back to Tok anyway, so it was right on our way!
Nabesna Road took us 42 miles into Wrangell-St. Elias and into some of the most stunningly beautiful countryside we'd seen yet! The first part of the road is paved, but the farther in it goes, the worse the road gets. It's an old mining road that leads to an abandoned gold mine (privately owned). But the scenery is worth the bumpy road! We drove until it was too dark to see, then stopped to camp alongside a lake. We woke the next morning to ducks on the lake and a bald eagle in a tree just in back of the truck! We drove a ways, then stopped for breakfast (granola bar and banana) along a creek. After eating we just sat there absorbing the tranquility and beauty of our surroundings. What a way to start the day!
We continued on our way, having no trouble crossing the three streams, only one of which had water. A little before noon we made it to the "end of the road," where we had read was private property. When we turned around, Ernie noticed a sign outside on one of the buildings that said, "Coffee," so being in great need of a cup of coffee, he stopped to inquire. Gennie, the proprietress of Devil's Mountain Lodge, had some coffee brewing, so while we waited we sat on their deck admiring the gorgeous scenery and playing with their adorable black lab puppy and older dachshund. The stop to just get coffee turned into a four hour visit, including lunch! I'm not sure I'd do justice in describing all the different services they provide, so I'll just say visit their website: http://www.devilsmountainlodge.com/index.htm
After some debate (mostly on my part), we had decided to go flightseeing with Kirk, an experienced bush pilot, but the weather didn't cooperate--even though it was sunny and gorgeous, it was very windy, so Kirk didn't think it would be a very good first experience for us in a small plane. Disappointing, after working up my courage to agree to it! But maybe another time . . .
For those of you who someday make a trip to Alaska: don't miss Wrangell-St. Elias, and if at all possible, make the drive down Nabesna Road! For our hiking friends--I can't think of a better place for hiking, and if you need a guide, the folks at Devil's Mountain are great! I'm anxious to post the pictures to share some of the beauty in a very small way, even though pictures just can't capture the feeling of Alaska!
Monday evening we made it back to Tok for our last days in Alaska. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday doing laundry, paying bills, catching up on email and phone calls, getting the oil in the truck changed, checking highway reports, and planning. Thursday morning we'll head out to Canada--I guess we've avoided leaving Alaska long enough :( We'll take the Alaska Highway to the Haines Highway back into Alaska to Haines, take the ferry to Skagway, and drive back up to Whitehorse before heading east on the Alaska Highway for the last leg of our journey (might take us a while to get through Canada, though!) Pictures to follow as soon as possible!
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