Dust, Fire, & Baby Bears

The dusty road as we left camp.

Bob fishing the Morley River.

Forest Fire Damage.

Mama and Three Little Bears.

Tuesday, June 7

Bob fished and walked Ben while I sat in the little cafe at Johnson's Crossing to update the blog. I watched the travelers come and go and the owner interact with them. (I came to just love this lady!) It was so interesting. In between, when it was quiet, she told me of different kinds of people she had met ranging from kind of scary to just fascinating. I enjoyed her stories and could have stayed all day. I ended up buying a book from her on the history of Johnson's Crossing written by the previous owner. The writer is still alive and comes back to visit to make sure the cinnamon rolls are still up to snuff.

Bob got back and hadn't had any luck fishing, but we had cinnamon rolls and coffee for breakfast. Hands down, these rolls are the best of the trip.

We had to wait to get on the road as there was construction and they were letting people cross the bridge in groups. As we watched those coming across from the other direction, we wondered where several of them had been to be so caked in dirt. When our turn finally came to go, we found out, as we could not see at times through the cloud of dust driving through the construction that seemed to go on for miles. Bob dropped way back and tried to avoid the biggest clouds. We were so glad we hadn't spent the time and money in Whitehorse washing the truck and trailer.

The air finally cleared and it was a beautiful, sunny day. We stopped at a picnic area on the Morley River and I fixed lunch while Bob tried some fishing. There were moose droppings there, but we didn't see any moose.

Down the road, we saw split rail fence with a sign posted that said, "No shooting. Horses at large." That surprised us this far north, but we saw a few more horse ranches as we went. We saw their droppings along the highway and realized they could range freely. We saw some of them and they were beautifully healthy.

We saw a mama moose and her baby cross the road. She jumped the guard rail and so did her little one as she trotted off into the woods. The coordination of such young ones is incredible.

We stopped to take a picture of a mountain that was reflected in Swan Lake and we talked to some people there who were from Switzerland. They were also taking pictures and they pointed to the meadow next to the lake and there were two bull moose grazing. The moose swam across the lake to the meadow. Awesome!

We pulled out a few more places to fish and finally turned off at the Junction of Highway 37 south which is called the Cassiar Highway. The road was like a roller coaster with big steep hills rolling up and down with tight dips in between and no shoulder, just deep ditches on the side. We saw a black bear running, but couldn't stop as the road required Bob's full attention, and I reinforced that often.

The road had been closed for a few days before we got there because of a forest fire. They had just reopened and had the fire stopped except for a few puffs. Crews were everywhere cleaning up. The destruction was so sad in such beautiful country and the smell was kind of a chemical, acid smell. It wasn't like a nice campfire.

We finally drove out of it and saw a few more black bears and one moose.

What a gorgeous drive. We climbed and went right through the mountains on narrow winding roads with rivers and lakes on both sides.

Just before we stopped for the night, we saw a car pulled over and we slowed to look. There right at the side of the road, was a mama bear and her three fuzzy babies. They were so darling. We watched them for a long time and took a million pictures.

We finally left the bears and went down to the Waters Edge Campground which was a mile back down a gravel road to a lake in the pines. It had no electricity or water, but thanks to a generator at the office, did have a weak internet connection. The site was beautiful and so quiet. We heated dinner over a fire and sat out at the picnic table till late. It was a lovely, peaceful night.

Finally Fish

The fishing advisor and owner of Johnson's Crossing with the best cinnamon rolls!

The fishing site by the bridge.

Pulling in an Arctic Grayling.

A happy boy!

Monday, June 6

As we left Carmacks, we climbed into the rolling green hills. It was much prettier than the gravely, dusty mining areas.

We stopped at the Braburn Lodge as they advertised world famous cinnamon buns. While Bob washed the windshield, I let Ben out for a little break before we went in to get a bun. Four dogs every bit as big as Ben and pretty mangy looking, appeared out of no where and rushed at us. We all held our breaths and Ben stood his ground. Lots of sniffing went on and a gruff, heavy, greasy, hairy guy came out and yelled at his dogs. Three wandered away and one made friends and wanted to play. Ben stayed calm and friendly through it all. We tried to talk to the man, and ask about his dogs, but he was very unfriendly. We bought one roll to split as it was huge. We wished we hadn't bought any as the guy was such a jerk. The roll was good, but so big and we questioned the cleanliness of the place and ended up being grossed out the more we thought about it, and threw most of it away. Yuck!

We got into Whitehorse and had phone service for the first time in a long time. Ahh civilization! We went to a laundromat and washed dust and dog hair off everything. We went downtown and parked at the visitor center and walked to a great Chinese Restaurant for an early dinner.

South of Whitehorse, we were back in the mountains and pretty country. Just as we came around the curve for the Johnson Crossing Campground, we saw a black bear at the side of the road. Yea!

The camp site was perfect with lots of room and a view of the river. We went over to the office to ask some questions. We chatted with the owner and ate some freshly made Bannock. It is a Celtic bread brought over by the Irish and Scottish explorers that was then adopted by the First Nation People. It is an easy fry bread to make on the trail. Ours had apple in it and was yummy.

We found out the Arctic Grayling were running and that you could stand under the bridge over the Teslin River which was a short walk from our camp, and fish. We walked down and to Bob's delight, he caught one right off. He kept fishing while Ben and I walked back to camp, keeping a watchful eye for bear.

I met two sweet older ladies from Ionia, Michigan who were traveling in a truck camper. We had a nice long chat and swapped stories. They are pretty brave.

Bob came back and hadn't caught any more fish. He filleted his fish and we tucked in for the night as dark clouds and rumbling thunder moved in.

Gravel and Old Mines

One of the streets in Dawson City.

Fabulous Seafood Chowder.

Ruined Land.

Bob fishing. Look closely. His head is slightly visable in the brush.

Wildflowers along the highway. So often, we have had the road to ourselves. Ben is not in danger.

Sunday, June 5
We packed up in the rain and waded through the puddles. Bob got a Yukon fishing license and we stopped at Cheechakos Bake Shop for breakfast sandwiches and cinnamon buns. I must say my jeans are getting a little tight. I have to, well eventually, stop trying all of these cinnamon rolls. I seem to be on a mission to find the best and so far, next to Grandma Fish, Johnson's Crossing holds the honor. We had those on the way up and hope to stay there this time on the way down.

We drove around Dawson Creek a little more and were impressed with what an authentic, old west town it was with loads of history, old hotels, dusty roads and a board walk. I felt like I should walk around with cowboy boots on as the sound on the board walk would have been perfect.

The mountains were fogged in as we drove out of town. We drove through some ugly mining areas with piles of gravel and ruined ground. Then the road was flat with thick green brush on both sides with a some pine covered hills on our right. Eventually, we saw more groves of pretty birch trees.

We stopped in Stewart Crossing for information and decided not to take the side trip up to Mayo with the silver mine.

We did find a nice river, and pulled off for Bob to try some fishing. The sun had come out and it was a nice setting, but no good little swirling pools for fish.

The road was pretty with pine and birch trees along the narrow two lane highway. As we headed south, there were increasingly colorful wildflowers that looked like they had been planted along the road. It was very beautiful, but so far, we like the way we came up through Haines Junction and the Kluane National Park area better...pot holes, frost heaves, and all.

We stopped in the settlement of Carmacks at the Hotel Carmack and RV Park right on the Yukon River. We had a salad dinner at their little restaurant and it was fresh and good, even though the owner was staining paneling. The smell was strong and he apologized, but explained that he had to work when he could as the snow would fly again in two months.
Carmacks was kind of a sad little community. All of these little scrub settlements have a Social Services office in a prominent location at the center of town.

We did meet some nice campers and shared travel information and advice. We were happy to plan to leave early in the morning.

Chicken & Dawson City

A fox happily trotting with it's dinner.

The settlement of Chicken.

A very steep and scary road.


The barren top of the mountains with the border & customs buildings.

Saturday, June 4

We met Bob & Becky for coffee and sourdough pancakes. Bob also had reindeer sausage that he thought was pretty spicy. Anyway, breakfast was delicious and conversation was great. Bob & Becky had a lot of advice for us on camping. They promised to email us sites and names of guidebooks for free or inexpensive camping. They invited us to Texas (not far from my cousins, Bill & Cyndy) and we invited them to Michigan and Canada. There is a fairly good chance we'll see them this fall in Canada. We finally hugged good bye and packed up for the trip to Chicken and Dawson City.

About 12 miles out of Tok, we picked up Highway 5 to Chicken. The road was narrow, but paved and it wound and climbed into green, mosscovered mountains. We saw a porcupine right away and a little later, a fox trotting down the road carrying something that looked like a skunk or snowshoe rabbit.

We saw very few cars and we stopped often enjoying the view, the air and the quiet sounds.

At a rest area, we met four older guys on motorcycles traveling in the opposite direction. Their sense of humor made us laugh as we compared things we had each seen along the way. They advised us to travel slowly and enjoy the moment. Isn't that just life!

We came over a large hill and as the road turned to dusty gravel, we saw the small mining settlement of Chicken below. Old mines were scattered around with some small shops. There was a lot of Gold Rush history there. We did a quick stop (toot & wave) and got t-shirts and soup and cookies to go.

After Chicken, the gravel road got steep and winding with no shoulders and huge drop offs. I held my breath and closed my eyes often. There was NO room for error and I felt it my duty to remind Bob of that often!

We kept climbing until we were way above the tree line. You could see forever. It is properly named The Top of the World Highway. We drove through miles of the barren top of the mountains to the Canadian border. The border consisted of a checkpoint with an office and a few cabins. It was cold and sprinkling rain and they had a small campfire going. We stopped and enjoyed chatting with them for a while as no one else was around. What a remote job. They told us it was an hour more to get to Dawson City. We had not seen any wildlife and they said there wasn't much at this time of year. In July, Canada's largest caribou herd migrates across and that brings bears.

We were ready to stop as we came over the mountain and saw Dawson City below. The road ends at the Yukon River and you drive right up on to a ferry that is free and takes you across to Front Street in Dawson city.

Front Street was the only paved road in the authentic frontier town of Dawson City. We felt like we'd stepped back in time.

We stayed in an RV Park a few streets over, right in town. We were packed in like sardines and we had trouble getting in and out of the door, but the convenience was nice.

We walked to town and had fabulous seafood chowder at Klondike Kate's. We met the sweetest two older ladies who had been born there in town and had traveled back to reminisce. They were appalled that Front Street had been paved. Their daughters had come along to laugh and hear the stories.

After dinner, we walked to the casino, Diamond Tooth Gertie's. I threw away $10 and Bob won $10, so we pretty much broke even, thanks to his "Fish Kid" luck! We stayed for half of the show and wandered back to squeeze into our trailer for the night.


The ferry ride into Dawson City.

Back to Tok

Our camp site from our dinette window.


Wild flowers beside the road.

A mama moose and her twins in the brush.

Danny Lee and Sue Jean singing Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.

Singing "On the Road Again" with Danny Lee and new friends, Becky & Bob.

Friday, June 3

We took our time in the morning enjoying the river. Bob fixed our breakfast over the fire and we took a long walk. I think this is Ben's favorite place.

A word about showers - Many of the showers in these campgrounds are pay for use. You push in a quarter and the water starts and you'd better have more ready when you're all sudzed up and it quits. Most cost $.50 to $1.00, but one was $3.00. We have used our own little shower quite a bit and have a good system now worked out.

We stayed as late as we could and got on the road headed back to Tok and the Sourdough Campground.

The wildflowers along the road were just coming into bloom and so beautiful with yellow, blue and purple. It is supposed to be just gorgeous in a couple of weeks.

We hadn't seen any wildlife, when we spotted a mama moose and twins posed on a point of land out in a lake. We found a place to turn around and went back to watch and get pictures, but she had moved them into the woods. We watched till they disappeared and then Bob moved forward in case we could see them on the other side of the point. As we moved slowly past, we saw her in the water swimming with the twins following close behind. She looked huge. It was so cool, but happened so fast and we didn't get pictures. sometimes it's better to just watch.

We got to our campground and set up in a new sight right near Danny Lee the singer. We decided to go to town and get dinner and do laundry. We we got there, we realized there wasn't much of a town and there was only one restaurant which was Fast Eddies. It was very nice and kind of the community meeting place. They had a good salad bar and we got the specials. It was a lot of food and not all that good for the expensive price. Next time we'll split a meal or make our own.

The laundromat was closed, so we just went back to camp in time for the Pancake Toss. You get a free breakfast if you can stand behind the line and throw a pancake into the bucket. We each got two throws and were close, but no win.

Danny Lee and Sue Jean sung again and we sat with our new friends, the retired campground workers, Bob and Becky. We really enjoy their company and laughed a lot. There were a few other couples there too and everyone seemed to have fun even though it was cold and rainy. We were under a pavilion roof with winter coats on. We met a young couple from Switzerland traveling in a small van, motor home that they rented in Vancouver. It was fun to hear their impressions and to watch them search for words to explain things. The whole night was just a delight and how appropriate that we spent both our first and last nights in Alaska in such a cozy campground. And, yes, I did get up again with Bob and Becky (and more joined in later) to help Danny Lee close with "On the Road Again."

Toot & Wave

Seward Main Street

Scenery Along the Road to Anchorage

A Moose Right by the Road

Kerrie & Levon

Butch & Kyle

Thursday, June 2

We planned to meet Butch, Kyle, Kerrie, & Levon for lunch in Anchorage and there were also so many other things we wanted to cram into this day. We decided to use our friend, Ron's method, and we'd "toot and wave" our way through our list.

We told the ticket person at the impressive Sea Life Center in Seward that we had 45 minutes to try to see it all. She gave us advice on hitting the highlights and discounted our tickets. We flew through the fabulous exhibits and live viewings and saw so much and had a great time. We even took a few minutes to chat with some of the workers and watch a research team that had just returned with some wild seal pups. They observe and study them and then return them home. It is all very carefully done with no human interaction. We took a ton of pictures.

We speed walked to the truck, jumped in and drove off to hike into the Exit Glacier. It was a beautiful drive back into the trail head and we just nicely got on the trail and a ranger stopped us as Ben was not allowed in the park. We decided to drive out and take pictures from the road. We had seen other glaciers and we didn't want to leave Ben again.

It was a beautiful drive back to Anchorage with mountains, the bay and mud flats. We got a great picture of a moose that was grazing right beside the road.

We met Butch and family in the Sears Parking lot as it was easier to park our rig. Then we rode with them to the Moose's Tooth restaurant. We had a delicious pizza that was half halibut and half gourmet mushroom. Anchorage sure has some different, wonderful restaurants and Kerrie knows her stuff with recommendations.

Levon is a darling two year old who delighted in smiling, raising his eyebrow, and running. He kept Kerrie pretty busy and Kyle laughing. We had some nice conversation and finally had to say goodbye. It was quick, but fun. Butch promised to try to bring Kyle for a visit to Michigan next summer and that made me feel better.

We drove circles once we got back in our truck as so many streets are one way and you can see where you want to be, but you can't get there. We finally got fuel and found our way out and headed north. It was a little tense with me trying to read the map and Bob trying to watch traffic, but after about ten miles, we decided to stay friends. We saw several moose and pushed it driving until we made it back near Glenallen to one of our favorite campgrounds - Tolsona Wilderness Campground, which is a mile off the road back in the woods. We got an even prettier sight right on the river. The owner was so friendly and there were only 6 other campers there spaced several sights apart. We just relaxed in the peaceful sounds of the wind in the pines and swirl of the river. Ahhhhh!

Cruising the Fiords - Part 2

A Humpback Whale

A pod of Orca Whales

Rock Formations

The Glacier Calving

Two of the Many Waterfalls