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Jul 10, 2012
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Posted By: Cliff & Mary Pettie
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Tags: none
July 12 - Richmond to 100 Mile
Hse -430 KM ~ 5:1/2 hours
Day 2 July 13 - 100 Mile to
Prince George - -315 km ~ 3 3/4 hrs--traffic thru the canyon was light and the
same on Hwy 97 to PG....
Day 3 July 14 - Prince George
to Telkwa, 360 km ~ 4 1/2 hr, was cool driving thru Burns Lake area - been 40
years since I drove that road
July 15.& 16.LAKELSE LAKE ~ it's
all coming back . Had Gerry Hummel come out for a visit, we went into
town, drove around some old haunts - hey after 40 years some things don't
change that much....
July 17 & 18 - Stewart
drove 3 hrs, 240 km to Bear River RV park, visited Salmon Glacier - road was
just logging and mining, pretty rough in spots..had delicious halibut and
chips in Hyder Ak,
July 19 ~ Dease Lake~ 5hr 20
min drive --- 400k to Dease Lk- camped right on the lake, beautiful part of BC,
just great views and the sunset (at 11 PM)
July 20 ~ Watson Lake
- very nice scenery thru northern BC to the Yukon..met up with Pete's
sister Marion and husband Lindsay, - best part of Watson Lake was the signpost
forest
July 21 ` Teslin Yukon- 270 k
in 3hr 20min lots of Rv and motorbikes travelling visited the Teslin museum -
28 degrees and now at 10:30 pm it is still broad daylight.`
July 22 - 180 K to Whitehorse,
2 1/4 hrs, stopped for world famous cinnamon buns at Johnson's
Landing and just after that we came upon a big black bear having a dump right
in the middle of the road....saw a few others off the side. Explored a little
bit of Whitehorse , went by the ball park for the World Championship final but
it was very packed so we came back to the RV park for happy hour
July 23 - relaxing AM, then
went into Whitehorse for a bit of sight-seeing with Pete, Tina, Lindsay &
Marion~ good lunch at a ribs and salmon place. Some gas and groceries.
July 24 ..drove to Destruction
Bay misty and drizzle, the road was pretty bumpy with lots of construction.4
1/2 hrs to go 240 Km
July 25 .. Left destruction bay
as weather was not great, we travelled 260 km and took just over 5 hrs, the
road was full of frost heaves, bumps gravel etc... now in Tok Alaska, first
thing I did was wash the truck and trailer
one day ahead of schedule.. May go to
Valdez tomorrow, having a great time, weather looks good for the next week
July 26- 260 km took over 5
hrs, still some rough roads but great views, probably took 50 pictures of
glaciers, we are in Valdez Ak , from our campsite you can see 18 glaciers, they
call this little Switzerland, the mountains are fantastic.
July 28 - into Anchorage 167 mi
in 3.5 hrs --, it is a big city compared to what we have seen so far, there is
an Air show nearby and we almost have a front seat -- neat. Hit up Costco
to restock the pantry and liquor cabinet...
July 29- Anchorage downtown
area has lots of history and tourist shops, we rode our bikes to the festival
and market, then watched fisherman haul in 'silvers' (salmon)
--from Ship Creek, spawning has just begun and there were a lot of fish in the
creek. We had a good view of the Air Show in the afternoon, then Marion
cooked a delicious salmon for dinner...
July 30 - left Anchorage in
misty rain, 252 miles ~ 4 hrs 45 min to Danali National Park - we arrived at
our reserved RV park and promptly demanded our $$ back, the place was a piece
of crap, weeds, uneven gravel, broken tables and putrid showers.....we came
down the road to the Danali RV and Motel, a 1000% better..Marion and Lindsay
caught up to us (did I mention they are travelling by motor bike) we had dinner
and now going to catch up on the Olympics...Looking forward to Danali Nat'l
Park and Mt McKinley - hope we can see it as they say only 30% of the
people do , due to poor visibility...
July 31 ~ We drove the 15 miles
that they allow you to go into the park.. if you want to go further (total 90
miles) you have to take one of their trips (longest is 10 hours return) - we
did see a Caribou and glimpses of the mountain, the clouds were around the
bottom and some at the peak - it would be majestic if you could see the whole
thing.
Aug 1st - Went into the park
and visited the information center, took a bus to the sled dog kennel, then
wandered around the shops etc....there is no actual town of Danali, just some
stores, cruise ship hotels, and various other accommodations .
Aug 2nd - From Healey to
Fairbanks we drove 112 mi, 2 1/4 hrs -- Rivers Edge park is quite nice, we went
out on a riverboat cruise, visited an Algonquin village, very interesting. back
at camp for happy hour, dinner and an early night.
Aug 3rd - did the sights of
Fairbanks, downtown, we have managed to see most of the area,
Fairbanks seems to have a bit more to offer than Anchorage. Weather was
not so great - it is cooler now and scattered showers, hopefully be
better as we start our southern trek. Did get the oil changed in the truck
today and a badly needed air filter.
Aug 4 - Left Fairbanks for Tok,
which was our 1st stop on the way to Alaska, 208 miles in 4 hrs - we popped
into North Pole Ak , just outside Fairbanks, cool place -all the light
standards and poles were done in candy cane stripes, the Christmas store even
had a Santa
The road was very straight and no
sign of wildlife. Very uneventful day... set up at Tok RV and walked the dogs
with Pete & Tina...
Aug 5 - Tok to Cottonwood RV in
Destruction Bay,on Klune Lake in the Yukon. 388 KM (back to metric) in 5 hours.
This place is beautiful - Crossing the border back to Canada was easy,
told them of the extra beer and liquor on board -and the girl told us to have a
nice day. From the Canadian side to Destruction Bay the road was under
construction, need to wash the truck and trailer again. Frost heaves, bumps and
gravel were not a lot of fun to navigate. Arrived at Cottonwood RV, the sun was
out, we had happy hour, played mini golf, and built a fire for roasted corn on
the cob and smores.,, sat around til 10:30 PM - still broad daylight outside
Aug 6- On to Whitehorse, 270 km
in 3 1/2 hrs.. we detoured to
Takhini Hot Springs, just 30 kilometres north
of Whitehorse, about a 25-minute drive from downtown. Very relaxing in the
pools, then set up at the Hi Country RV Park, went into town for supplies, back
at camp we had appies, a fire and smores...
Aug 7 - we changed our
itinerary again, instead of staying 2 days in WH and doing a day trip to
Carcross, we headed 52 km south to Carcross, -- on the way down
there is desert sand dunes (Canada`s most northern Desrt) stayed and looked around
for a few hours, then booted it for Watson's Landing. 480km in 5 hr 20 min. In
Carcross we had the best Salmon Chowder and a huge cinnamon bun for
lunch. The place is very interesting, lots of history. We made the
decision to head for Watson Lake and pick up a day on our travels. Once in
Watson's Lake we set up and in our RV park are many old Army vehicles that are
doing a convoy for the 70 anniversary of the Alaska Hwy, we think we
had a rough ride !!! After a great Bbq we quickly packed
everything up as right now we are in the middle of a truly northern Thunder
& Lighting storm that will probably roll out as fast as it came in.
The army guys played Taps and we knew it was time for bed.
Aug 8 - we left Watson Lake soon after all the Army convoy did
As we are a day ahead we do not know
where we are staying next, but we have decided to head for Dawson Creek - to
see the Milepost 0 sign -what's the use of doing the Alaska Hwy and not seeing
the beginning. On our journey today we saw Buffalo on the road , but no
bears, also stopped in Laird Hot Springs for a dip - we ended up in Toad River-
cool campsites backing onto the lake / 325 km in 4 hrs...the lake has a huge
beaver dam with a lot of energetic beavers.
Aug 9 - on the road with a plan
to get further ahead, we thought we would be around Fort Nelson, but as it was
only lunch time when we arrived, we kept on going. Ok after not finding any
suitable campsites we are in Fort St John, todays trip was 543 km in 6 hrs 45
min. The Rotary Park here at Charlie Lake is very nice, as I said earlier on to
Mile Zero tomorrow.
Aug 10 - left Ft St John with
no plans, except to find a cool place for stopping to camp. We did manage
to stop in Dawson Creek for pictures and lunch.
375 km and 4 hr 50 min we stopped at
Whispering Pines campsites - it was empty when we drove in and almost didn't
stay 'cause the place looked a little shabby, but we decided to set up and once
a few more RV's arrived it wasn't too bad - although the facilities did not
meet our expectations.
Aug 11- We took off
heading south - at Bear Lake Provincial Park we stopped to use the RV
dump, we said bye and Thanks to Pete and Tina for a great Alaskan adventure
with them. We drove to Sheradan Lake 495 km / 5 hrs 50 min. We had not been to
Sheradan for over 25 years. Sheradan Lake Resort is very nice, lots of
fisherman and nearly all of them had at least 5 lb trout. Our RV neighbors had
a campfire which we joined and had a fun evening.
Aug 12 - We are in Vernon for a
few days visiting friends and staying for a 90th birthday party before going
home.
