Category Archives: Alaska 2019

Delayed in Alaska

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When we headed to Homer there was a wildfire burning on the Kenai Peninsula and we came through some of the smoke on the way. But after a week, we had very minimal smoke on the way to our next stop, Seward.

We stayed there for 4 nights at the KOA. I know there are spots downtown, near the water, but they were only $20 or so cheaper but only electric and water. Plus you had some more ‘permanent campers there. Right by our spot was an eagle that made a nest in the only tree at the KOA:

We scheduled a boat trip to visit Kenai Fjords NP and some wildlife on the way. Naturally the day we went out was rainy and with rough seas. This meant Roxie got seasick in the 6′ swells. She didn’t have a very good time. She was able to be alert enough to see some of the wildlife and glaciers:

We took a day trip from there to Whittier. We were able to go through the tunnel shortly after the train came through:

Unlike Skagway, Whittier only had 1 cruise ship but it dominated the skyline:

Whittier was built by the US military as a base and they built the tunnel for trains. Here is one of the buildings they left behind. They decided not to tear down this one due to costs since it was built to withstand earthquakes and is filled with asbestos:

Leaving Seward, we headed back to Palmer. We had a medical issue to take care of. One of the primary reasons to head to Austin this year was to get a Spinal Cord Stimulator (SCS) for Roxie. This will block her nerve pain electronically. However, shortly after we left Austin she had a problem charging it. Her SCS has a rechargeable battery that connects inductively through her skin. She take a flat paddle and lines it up parallel to her internal battery. The problem is that she has to really jam her hand into her side at an odd angle to get any type of charge to the battery and it takes a very long time.

She has been struggling with this for almost 2 months. We got in contact with the representative of the device’s manufacturer (Abbott) and scheduled a time to meet with her in Anchorage. We were able to also meet with an MD that does the SCS procedure. They discovered that her battery had shifted location and was no longer in a vertical orientation but was in such a way that she could not get the paddle parallel with any consistency. Hence the difficulty.

We started the procedure to get the battery replaced with a non-rechargeable one. We needed to get insurance approval but we had some time. We had reservations for Denali NP and then on to Fairbanks.

We headed on to Denali. We stayed at a very nice spot at Riley Creek campground. We had booked a bus tour (the Kantishna Experience) which was 11 hours long for the round trip. It was a cloudy day with a bit of rain. We were only able to see small bits of the mountain for moments at a time. We did see a fair amount of animals: Caribou, Dall sheep, black bears, moose and various other small ones.

On another day at Denali NP, we went to see the sled dogs. Denali still uses sled dogs in the winter for NPS transportation as the majority of the park is a wilderness area. Here is Roxie and I with new friends:

On the 1964 trip, I remember visiting a bunch of sled dogs and all the barking. I was able to find a picture of my encounter back then:

In the background of this picture you can see a name on a doghouse. The name is Niski. On the walls of the building on the grounds, they have all the doghouse names. They take them off when they find a home for a retired sled dog and normally give the new family the sign. However they do put up replicas in the building.

I took this photo to the rangers there and asked them about it. According to their records, there was a Niski that was in a litter from 1961. This would have made the age correct. Looking for the sign:

My memory was pretty accurate. It was a lot of fun to track this down. I asked my sister about all of this and all she remembered is that she wanted to take a dog home back in 1964.

Next was Fairbanks for a week. We should know about the SCS status soon and we had our anniversary coming up (39 years).

I also remember, vaguely, from 1964 that we rode a paddlewheel boat. I remember looking down from the top deck and seeing a salmon wheel. In keeping with the re-creation of 1964, we also took a paddlewheel trip.

Roxie was a bit fearful that she might get seasick, I assured her she would not. She didn’t. The tour is a very enjoyable journey. They have a demo of a floatplane taking off and landing. They show a sled dog team take a lap around a track. They also take you to a remake of a Chena Indian village where local native americans show you the life and techniques of times ago. Here are some fox pelts:

I talked to the trip narrator and let him know about the 1964 trip. I wondered what paddlewheel was used then. He told me this one:

Still floating.

Before we left Fairbanks we still did not know that status of the SCS replacement but decided to head back to the Anchorage area in anticipation of good news. He stopped for 2 nights in Talkeetna and rode the Hurricane Turn train.

We also saw some salmon heading up the river to spawn

We got back to Palmer (for the 3rd time) and found out Roxie got the go ahead for the procedure. Alas, we can’t get the procedure scheduled for 2 weeks after we got here, which means being here for 3 weeks total. But this is part of life on the road. You have to become a local at times.

However, we can see this from our campsite:

Next entry hopefully talks about being on the road again (Go Willie!).

Doh!

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We are in Homer AK for a week.

The last post had us about to get to milepost 0, we did (on June 14):

Milepost 0

We didn’t stop there as the nights continually were getting longer. We made it to the Walmart parking lot in Ft. St. John, BC:

Our next major destination was Liard River Hot Springs. We stopped in Ft. Nelson on the way. I remember bits of the Liard Hot Springs from the 1964 trip. The mosquitos bothered everyone else but didn’t bother me at all. Maybe that is why my dad called me ‘stinky’? I forgot to take a pic of the hot springs but I got one of our site. (PS. This time the mosquitos DID bother me):

We left Liard a day early and gifted our site to the next camper that occupied it. We had a long day ahead. Normally the stops were nicely spaced, 200 miles or so. This stretch was not so. It was beautiful, with lots of wildlife but also very sparse:

On the way we stopped at the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, YT to leave a ‘sign’ of our own. Let’s know if you ever see it in the future:

We made it to our camp after almost 300 miles. And the rig was so dirty! We also heard a whooshing noise under the trailer when I hooked up shore water. Our winterizing valve was hit by some rocks and it got knocked open. I closed it and all was good, for now.

The dirtiness of the rig reminded me of some pictures of the dirty rig from 1964:

The next sustained stop was Whitehorse YT. Whitehorse is a very decent sized town where you can stock up before you trek into Alaska. We visited the canyon nearby and the paddle boat:

From Whitehorse, we took a day trip down to Skagway without the trailer. Skagway is in Alaska but I don’t feel it was officially Alaska yet. Even though we had to deal with those surly Canadian border patrols when we came back.

Back at Whitehorse, I had a minor repair to do. From the rock roads I noticed that the propane line on the A-frame was no longer gray. The rocks had chipped off the paint to let the copper color show through. I covered them up with pipe insulation:

Next stop was Alaska but a bit too far for one day. We stopped overnight at a nice Provincial Park that was thick with mosquitos:

Then, on June 24, …

We spent two nights in Tok, the furthest north camping we have done, got our guns, and then headed south to Glennallen. We took a day trip from Glennallen to go to Valdez. At least there were no Canadian borders to cross. A glacier on the road to/from Valdez:

Our next stop was Palmer for multiple nights. We were timing it to get to the 4th of July get together on time. While in Palmer, the valve that got knocked with the rocks was now leaking. It probably was happening earlier but this was the first I noticed. I removed the valve and went to an RV repair shop. He told me that it was simple and if I could get the trailer there by 4pm, he can fix it:

Not a problem it was there by 3pm. He crawled under the trailer and 30 minutes later it was fixed. He put a new, tougher valve on it. $30 for all that. Wow!

We made it to our 4th of July celebration and met a lot of new people. One guy told me he lived in a small little town called Mountain Gate in California. I told him that I went to Central Valley High School. He said he did too! He was 5 years after me but it shows how truly small the world has become. Me (’78) and Mike Adams (’83):

After the 4th, we decided to try to avoid the heat and fires in the Anchorage area and we ended up in Homer.

Now you are updated, we have the next 3 weeks planned and after the first week of August we are heading back to the lower 48. We will keep you posted!