August 6th

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson


As the scenery passed by my window and we traveled our last 160 miles to Tok, where our Alaskan adventure began; I have been running snap shots through my mind of people, places and wildlife we have seen. I feel so privileged to have been able to experience this state from as far north as the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of Homer. From the western foothills of Mt. McKinley to the eastern gateway town of Tok. Oh what a ride it has been. There’s so much more on this trip that still awaits us. We will cross into Canada and then back into Alaska further south. Our 53 day journey through the heart of this amazing state has come to an end. Because of its remote location and the probability of ever returning is pretty slim, I am not ready to leave. So, heeding the words of R. W. Emerson, I will carry it with me, in my mind and heart, and never forget the majestic mountains, gorgeous glaciers, raging rivers and intriguing inlets of ocean water. I won’t forget the moose, caribou, eagles, wolves, dahl sheep, otters, sea lions & seals. I’ll forever recall the countless fish that were reeled in, that still leaves my elbow in pain, and the mouth watering halibut fingers we’ve eaten. It has been a trip of a life time, fulfilling all it promised…. Well…. Except for BEAR!! Where’s the bear??? I am convinced!!! There are no bear in Alaska. (other than the black bear that we caught a glimpse of when he came out of the woods, grabbed a big salmon out of the waters in Valdez and disappeared again) I also have not seen a summer! The temperature was 46 degrees when we woke up this morning!

We dry camped last night in a remote side parking lot coming out of Chitina. Not far from Kenny Lake Dan! There was a large gravel pull off on the side of the road in some trees so we made camp right there. There was a fantastic view overlooking (1,200 ft. above ) the Copper River Valley below with the Wrangell Mountain & St. Elias National Park in the back ground. The mountain directly across from us was Wrangell Crater which is an active volcano. When Gary parked I pointed out that he had backed us into a bunch of raspberry bushes! We both thought of bear, but what a great way to see them! This morning we picked 3-4 cups of raspberries and had them for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent driving through the valley below the Wrangell Mountain Range to Tok where we packed up our gun and sent it on its way. Of course NOW we will probably see bear! LOL! But we are left with bear spray for protection. We are camped at the Sourdough Campground in Tok.