Early July in Alaska

Heading to Tok, Alaska
On June 30th we left Haines, Alaska and headed for Tok, Alaska. Now if you look at a map you’ll see that means we have to go back into British Columbia (BC) and Yukon Territory (YT), Canada to get back to Alaska. We headed back up the Haines Highway but the weather was much nicer than on the way down and the scenery was beautiful. At the border the Canadian border guard asked us the usual questions like “do you have any guns, tobacco, alcohol, etc.? Then she asked us if we had any food. Really in a motor home? Our reply was only what we plan to eat. An interesting question for sure.

Canadian Border Crossing

150 miles later we were in Haines Junction, YT and stopped at the Information Center and the Champagne & Aishihik First Nation Cultural Center. This is a really interesting place that tells a lot about the history and culture of the people. From there we drove to the Cottonwood RV Park in Destruction Bay, YT, a nice quiet RV park with a nice view of Kluane Lake. Like many RV parks in this part of the world the WiFi was very poor and we only had one 15 amp circuit for the entire RV which meant leftovers for dinner, reheated on the gas cook top. We were really roughing it. We did not need to worry about putting lights on since it’s light here about 19 to 20 hours a day.

Kluane Lake

The next morning we left Cottonwood RV Park on our way to Beaver Creek RV Park in Beaver Creek, YT. Destruction Bay got its name when a storm went through town and destroyed most buildings and materials. In reality it should have been named for what its roads do to cars, truck, and RVs. We drove 99 miles today on by far the worst roads we have seen on this trip outside of Ohio. (Just kidding Ohio) It took us 3 ½ hours to drive this road due to the horrible road conditions. We will not be returning this route!

After that drive we were happy to reach the Beaver Creek RV Park. It’s a nice park with full hookups, and nice level sites. Due to being so remote they have to supply their own electricity by way of a generator and as usual WiFi is, at best, poor and there is no cell phone service. Hopefully tomorrow when we get to Tok our Verizon phone and data service will work and we can connect to the world.

We'll spend July 4th in Tok
We made it to Tok around lunch time and it was a nicer ride than yesterday. It rained during the night and just about all morning until we got to the US border. The road from our RV park in Beaver Creek to the border was better than yesterday and once we crossed into Alaska the road was much better and it stopped raining.

Folks lined up on the right were washing their rigs.
 Driving in the rain makes everyone's RV look beige.

In Tok we had a full hookup with cable and our Verizon phones and internet worked beautifully. Nice to be connected again. Tok has become a busy little town because it is the 1st town of any size in Alaska and a good place to stop and restock supplies. Diesel fuel was about $.80 a gallon cheaper than in Canada and food, although still expensive, was much cheaper than in Canada.

From here we took a day trip to a very small town called Chicken which is about 65 miles north of Tok. When it was time to name this little town the first choice was Ptarmigan, a bird that looks a little like a chicken, but the town folks decided against using the name Ptarmigan because they were worried that folks would make fun of them if they couldn't say or spell Ptarmigan, so they decided to name the town Chicken. Since this is our anticipated route when we leave Alaska later this month we thought we should check it out. From Chicken to the Canadian border is another dirt/gravel road but there is no other way back unless we want to go back the way we came. Not a lot of road choices up this way!

When you're as far off the beaten path as this town is,
 you can use anything you want for road signs.

We were in Tok for July 4th and attended the July 4th parade and town picnic. It was a nice parade although very small and a wonderful town picnic followed at the local fairgrounds. They close the Alaskan Hwy, a federal highway, for this parade. Fortunately there is so little traffic and the parade so short it is not a problem. The town picnic was like something from our childhood. Grease poles, a small band playing patriotic music, crafts, fresh baked goods, and lots of games for the kids. We also got to meet a year old Bernese Mountain Dog that brought back memories of Hannah. A wonderful day.

The next day was spent cleaning the coach which was a mess. Amazing how much dust gets into the coach when you drive a dirt road! Fortunately for us we only had to clean our coach and make some minor repairs. The rig three sites down from us looked like it had a close encounter with a moose. Felt bad for these people, who were from Virginia, since the front of their coach was destroyed and it didn’t look drivable.

The big city of Fairbanks next
From Tok we had a pleasant drive to Fairbanks which is a fairly good size city with lots of things to see and do so we plan to spend most of the week here. Along the way we stopped at a sausage factory about 30 miles from Fairbanks that had lots of great homemade sausages. Along this route today we saw another moose and our 1st glimpse of the pipeline. As we approached Fairbanks, we also went through Eielson AFB. We arrived at our RV park around 1:00 and headed out to start replenishing our supplies. One of the main things we needed to do in Fairbanks was to replace our camera. Hard to believe Lalia wore out our camera huh? Fortunately Fairbanks has a Walmart and Fred Meyers so we had some choices for a new camera. We were surprised to see that prices at Fred Meyers were better than Walmart and that included for many food items. Another interesting thing was that the Walmart store actually has overnight parking spaces designated for RV’s. That’s something we’ve never seen at a Walmart. We did get a new camera at Fred Meyers and some other supplies.

Rainy & smoky day
Tuesday was a little rainy and very smoky from the nearby forest fires. We did not see the actual fires but the smoke was very strong. I estimated that at times the visibility was less than one mile. We went to see the pipeline and hoped to see the Dredge 8 Gold Mine attraction however it was so busy we needed a reservation. We decided to go to the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge and Historic Site. Very nice area but again we had trouble seeing much due to the smoke. From there we went to the Fountainhead Antique Automobile Museum and this stop made the whole trip to Fairbanks worthwhile. One of the best auto museums we’ve ever been to. There are 91 antique autos at this museum that all run and are completely refurbished except one. An amazing place.

A very friendly city
The next day we went to the local farmer’s market and then walked around downtown Fairbanks. The smoke was still around but not as bad as yesterday. At the Heart of Gold City Park we struck up a conversation with a very nice gentleman, a retired teacher who loved to talk about Fairbanks and Alaska. He told us about attractions he thought we should not miss. He was a really nice man who we talked to for about a half hour. We followed his suggestions and were not disappointed.

On Thursday the smoke was much better. We went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Pioneer Park. Both of these attractions were highlighted by the Visitor Center and were OK but nothing special although the building at the university was an interesting shape. The rest of the day was dedicated to relaxing.

Fairbanks-Heart of Gold city park

University of Alaska-Museum of the North

Pioneer Park -free admission

These buildings are original to Fairbanks and were moved to Pioneer Park.

One of the best days of our trip
Friday was the best day of the week weather wise; sunny with temperatures in the mid 70’s and no sign of smoke. We took a boat ride on the stern wheeler Discovery III, strongly suggested by our teacher friend. The ride lasted about three hours and was most enjoyable. We learned more about the Athabascan culture through a guided tour of an Athabascan village, met Iditarod Champion Susan Butcher’s daughter and her sled dogs, and saw a bush pilot take off land on the Chena River then give a talk on his experiences.
In the afternoon we finished replenishing our supplies at Fred Meyers and interestingly enough ran into our teacher friend. It was great to be able to thank him for his suggestions which made Fairbanks really special for us, then we headed back to the RV to get ready to leave the next morning.

The original Discovery stern wheeler is about 1/4 the size of this great tour vessel.

The pilot was fitted with a microphone so he could narrate his experiences
from the plane and his comments were heard on the Discovery III speakers.

Susan Butcher's daughter Tekla gave a demonstration of the
training they use when there is no snow.

 Chena Village was built so that natives and visitors alike could learn about the skills needed to survive in Alaska. The Binkleys were instrumental in the explanation of the local Athabascan culture

An Athabascan girl gives a demonstration of filleting and drying salmon
at Chena Village

Denali, a mystical place
Saturday we headed to an RV park about 5 miles north of Denali. We settled in around noon then headed out to get our Denali bus tour tickets for Monday. We listened to a ranger talk on the “River Monsters of Denali.” and after the talk we drove the 15 miles into the Park to a point where cars must stop. On Monday we'll ride the rest of the road. We hope to see some grizzlies, I was lucky enough to view one crossing a gravel bar as we sat behind a tour bus with the best view. Ray couldn't get a glimpse so we'll hope for Monday.

Right now Ray is out learning the finer techniques of fly fishing. I'm watching the Red Sox take a 3-2 lead over the Yankees. Technology is amazing.

On Monday we spent 11 hours on an all day bus tour of Denali NP. It was a spectacular day, clear, perfect weather. Our bus driver/tour guide Peter was a wonderful source of extra details that I'm sure are unique to each guide. We left the parking lot at 6:15 and returned at 5:35, an unforgettable experience.

We met this gal on the way to Denali at 5:00 AM.

Denali straight ahead.

The road winds toward Denali (Mt. McKinley) partially clouded over.

The caribou don't seem to be bothered by the bus.

Moose-a long way away from the road

Nina Weisman, niece of Barbara and Fred Berman met us at Eielson Visitor's Center.
This is her second summer as a ranger in Denali. 

The drop off is extremely steep and the road is narrow. We heard of one woman who had to leave her bus and catch the next returning bus because she could not handle the road conditions.

Polychrome Pass can't be captured in a photograph

Denali is spectacular