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.

August 5th

Okay, sorry for the confusion everyone, we thought we were leaving Valdez yesterday, but our plans changed as we went along. We packed up the RV and prepared for dry camping where ever that would be along the way. We visited a couple of gift stores and watched a video of the 1964 earthquake and then decided to head out. There was one place we wanted to see on our way out of town which was the fish spawning ground set up by the fish & game department with live cameras and all! So we went by and watched a few 2 pound salmon in the river which was really interesting. Way too complicated to explain.
Then we went into the building and watched them under water for a few more minutes. The girl at the counter asked us if we had seen any bear? I told her, we have been so frustrated with being in the state now for 7 weeks and yet to see one grizzly. She said, “Oh, they are all over town. I saw one last night in my back yard! They are all across the bay feeding on salmon right now.” So we decided to take a little side trip across the bay to see if we could see one. What we found was amazing. There were salmon piled up for a mile along the shore. They were lining up (staging) to enter the rivers to spawn. The water literally looked like it was boiling due to the activity of so many fish on the surface of the water. But there were not only salmon in those waters…. I watched an otter and seal show for about an hour as Gary fished for what turned out to be pink salmon. The otters were more playful and social diving up and down, carrying fish with them and then flipping unto their backs to eat them. The seals operated as a group with more stealth. They worked together to surround and corral the fish into an area and then would dive and swim right through the huddled fish to feed on them. Absolutely amazing to watch. I also caught a glimpse of a couple of sea lions further out in the bay feeding on salmon. The gulls were a whole other sight to see. They thickly lined the shoreline and the rivers in order to feed on the dead fish and eggs. It was a feeding frenzy for all the wild life….. Except a bear!!!! Arrrgggg. There were signs everywhere cautioning us about the bears in the area. In one particular spot where the fish were all pooled up there were gates and yellow caution tape keeping us at a distance from the shoreline due to expecting bear to feed there. Nothin’!

Gary had a great day of fishing. Just when he thought his fishing days in Alaska were over, he decided, on a whim, to throw a fly into the thick of the fish and see if they would take it. Sure enough, within an hour he had 4 fish in the 5 to 6 pound range. He said they were the easiest fish to reel in he’s ever caught. One, in particular, really tickled him “pink!” He decided it would be his next wall mount (there goes more family pictures). It was a 24 inch, 6 pound male “humpie” with a kype caught with a fly rod in the ocean. For those interested it was a size 8 red comet (Gary tied of course). For those who don’t understand “fish-jargon” …. ignore the last 2 sentences.

It was a good day, to say the least, we ended up returning to the Valdez harbor area to stay one more night and we’ll leave today (I think) to head towards Glenallen and dry camp somewhere. Probably Kenny Lake... since Dan has us there anyway!

August 4th

We woke up to a veil of white clouds shrouding the mountains around us. I’m so glad we came into Valdez yesterday so we could actually see this beautiful port. It gives new meaning to the verse; “Faith is the evidence of what is NOT seen!” We were planning on kayaking in Prince Edward Sound but due to the weather forecast we will move on, back towards Tok. I was amused by the Alaskan weather report I read yesterday on line:

“Wet & Chilly July:
July 2010 ended as the 3rd coolest and the 5th wettest since 1942. The 2010 average temp was 51.6 degrees which means it missed being the coolest on record by only 5/10ths of a degree.”

It figures… our one and only trip to Alaska is one of the coldest on record! The cold would have been easier to deal with than the rain though. It really has robbed of us some beautiful scenery. Yesterday we noticed that the leaves are even beginning to change! I feel bad for the Alaskan’s that have not had much of a summer and are going into a very long, cold winter.

When we pulled into our campground last night the lady at the counter was telling us that there are 42 guys from Valdez that are currently in the Gulf of Mexico educating them on oil spill clean up. She said they were not being received real well either. I guess they are looked at as “know-it-alls”. Unfortunately, due to experience…. They do know it all! I thought that was interesting.

Well, we will be dry camping tonight so will most likely not have internet connection. Talk to ya’ in a few days! Dan, we may get out of here without running out of the alphabet!

August 3rd

Today’s devotion:
“Around me when I look, His handiwork I see;
The world is like a picture book to teach His love to me.”

I didn’t know then that we were headed into God’s most picturesque scenes. We started out driving high within the mountains above the tree line. We were driving at about 3,000 feet high and could see the valley below us with a river that ran like a ribbon through it. Every turn brought a new scene that took our breath away. There were hair pin curves and high ledges. I couldn’t take enough pictures to try and capture the beauty. At one point we rounded a corner and we both said, “Wow” at the same time. The valley below us was full of a snow white glacier. It was unexpected and dramatic against the green and brown mountains. Today has been almost a cloudless sky so we could see for miles and the sun made the white snow glisten.

We continued on and found the horizon to be lined with snow capped peaks as if they were soldiers all standing at attention protecting the valley below. There were puffy clouds that hung in the foreground that looked like God had hand painted them into the scene. The valley was full of scrub pines and perfect territory for caribou or grizzly. There were caribou caution signs all over the place but we, once again, did not see even one live animal.

As the road neared Valdez we entered into a more rugged mountain range that eventually lead to what seemed to be the Australian Alps. We took a short walk up a path that overlooked Thompson pass (2,6870ft) and I was barely able to contain myself from throwing open my arms, and begin singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music!!” LOL! Gary is very relieved I didn‘t. There were multiple waterfalls that were flowing full force. Bridal veil, Horse tail Falls, etc. This must be what heaven looks like… but grander.

We arrived in Valdez around 5:00 pm and are staying at Bear Paw Camper Park.

August 2nd

Inception; The beginning of something. But do you remember the beginning of a dream? HA! Yes, before we left Anchorage we treated ourselves to a great movie and some popcorn. It felt SO weird to be sitting in a movie theatre after being on the road for 2 months. Especially that movie. When it ended I looked at Gary and asked, “so, are you going to walk out onto the streets of Manchester and find out that Alaska was all a dream? or will we still be in Alaska and need to wake up?” FYI: We are still dreaming in Alaska!

We continued on the Glenn Highway out of Anchorage towards Palmer. This is new territory and oh! Is it pretty. Not as dramatic as we’ve seen on the Kenai Peninsula, but the winding roads and wooded terrain reminds me of Virginia. It’s a lot more remote though. We have electric only for hookups tonight which is all we really need.

Dan asked that I share a conversation that I had with Gary from the RV park in Soldotna. This guy is such a car salesman type and he’s lived in that town for over 50 years so knows a lot about the area. When we looked at that property on the bluffs, that I told you about a few weeks ago, I asked Gary what he thought of it. After explaining a lot about living in the town which I didn’t really need to know, he said, “You have to do your bluff research before you buy bluff property”. “Bluff research“, I asked? Well, the wind, rain, snow, spring melt off and rough seas eat away at the bluff….. So after 20 years or so, you may not have as much property as you started with. The erosion factor is serious! Wow! I had never thought of that. I informed him there were other houses on this road that sat on the same bluff so wouldn’t that indicate safety? He explained that houses get picked up off their foundations all the time and have to be moved back away from the bluff. Good piece of information to know. We won’t be buying any bluffs property any time soon.

July 31st & August 1st

WOW! It’s August first. I can’t believe we’ve been on the road for a full 2 months. It doesn’t feel that way. Yesterday we left Whittier and made our way back to Anchorage and back into the same campground we were in 4 weeks ago. I never thought we would spend 4 weeks on the Kenai Peninsula. But we’ve seen a lot and enjoyed our stay in that area. It was strange to drive back into Anchorage and see familiar roads and buildings. What will it feel like when we pull into Weare?

So today, for the first time on the road, we were able to go to church! Our friend Matt met us this morning and we attended the 12:00 service. It was refreshing to be praising the Lord in prayer & worship with other believers. Thank you Pastor Paul for recommending Anchorage City Church. BTW, Pastor Rick sends his love to you. Christen, in the bulletin I read that the Alaska International House of Prayer is now established and meeting in this church! You may want to consider a move!

From there we went to see Ol’ Jack Kimm! We returned his gun and knife and sat and talked with him for at least an hour. He was as entertaining this time as the first time around. We brought Bruno with us and he was gracious enough to sign our silly bear. He said his signature can also be found on a fur coat that he gave to President Ford, Harry Truman, and a Russian President that was jealous of President Ford’s coat. We bought ourselves a Christmas present before we left… a caribou rug. We picked one out of the pile of about 20 or so and when we made our choice, Jack got on his knees with us and began telling us the story of this particular animal! He says, now this male had a lot of licking…. See here around the neck. That’s why the hairs are fewer here, because many ladies trying to get his attention. He was probably one of the more important males of his group and he would be doing important things like looking for a watering hole. If he did not find water he would have many angry deer behind him, so he looks and looks. All the while, the females are licking his neck saying, pay attention to me!! That is why the hair is thinner here around the neck. The pelt suddenly came to life and will mean more to us when we see it on the floor in front of our fire place. We will forever remember Jack Kimm. But he assured us, “He’s a nobody, just a country pumpkin”.

We had dinner with Matt at the Sourdough Mining Company before having to say a final goodbye. We had an incredible meal of BBQ chicken & ribs, and pulled pork. The restaurant is a replica of an actual mine from the area. The interior was all heavy wood walls and floor, there were actual mining tools hanging from the walls and stones that were brought in from the mine. It was a great atmosphere, great food, good company, and all of it enjoyed over a great Alaskan White brew in chilled mugs.

Bruno enjoyed his outing around Anchorage today. He got his picture with some of the locals, even some that looked a lot like him.

Pictures: (1) Jack Kimm and a wolf hide that he had shot. (2) Jack, Bruno & us (3) Bruno and the trolley driver (4) Bruno ordering reindeer sausage (5) Bruno & a new found friend.

July 30th

Waking up to flowing waterfalls and raging rivers is a beautiful thing! Whittier is such a small little place but offers so much to the soul. Gary & I got up and prepared for our day on the MS Emerald Sea for a 5 ½ hour Glacier Tour around Prince William Sound. We boarded the boat and were seated at a table with John & Debbie from Gulf Port’ Mississippi. He is a police officer who worked during Katrina’s disaster and she is a home health nurse. They were pleasant to spend our day with. The cruise started with a buffet lunch of roast beef, Alaskan salmon, rice, salad, and sour dough bread all enjoyed while we took in the beauty of the bay. There was Ranger Don who was from the forest service who’s job it was to inform us of all that we were seeing. He told us about the town of Whittier, interesting facts about the weather here in PWS, and informed us of the marine life we would come across. His favorite subject though were the glaciers. He has spent his life studying glaciers and was more than excited to share all he knew about them. He apologized for his North Carolina drawl when he got started, he said he was sorry if we couldn’t understand him, but it’s the only language he knew…. Southern. Luckily’ I was able to interpret all that he said due to my dad being a true blue southerner.

The day was filled with beautiful sights of waterfalls falling into the sea, large groups of sea otters gathered together…. they call that “a raft of otters”, and seals lazily relaxing on icebergs. The glaciers were fascinating though! We were able to get within a 100 feet of them and they towered 1,700 feet above us. As a group of us stood on the bow of the boat in complete silence we could hear the moaning and creaking of the glacier. It was the most beautiful blue I’ve ever seen that marbled through the white mass of ice. The bright blue spots are called “blue lens’”. All of a sudden we heard a sharp C-R-A-C-K!! as if a tree were falling over to our left and as we turned we could see chunks of ice falling into the sea. I was stunned! I didn’t know it made such a sound when it was separating from the glacier. We heard more pieces falling that sounded more like a crack of lightning and then rolls of thunder. It was amazing. We moved on from the Blackstone Glacier to the Beloit Glacier where the inlet was so full of ice that you could hear it bump against the bow of the ship. The weather was a typical Alaskan dreary, cloudy, grey day. But as we approached the glacier there was drizzle which turned to snow along with a cold breeze that came off the ice that made it feel like it was in the 30’s. The breeze is actually caused by a pressure and temperature difference called a katabatic (sp?) pressure difference…there is a high pressure on top of the glacier and a low pressure on the bottom. Thus a sloping breeze from top to bottom…the wind going across the ice also lowers the temperature as much as 15 degrees. I’m sure dad could expound on this.

As we returned to port we were served coffee and dessert as Ranger Don pointed out different birds and eagles that were perched in the trees as we went by. As we approached another boat outside our window he said, “if anyone knows anything about the Deadliest Catch, there’s the Northwestern! I had to get a picture of it for you Dan… I don’t know which ship is your favorite but if it’s the Northwestern, here’s a picture. Of course the crew wasn’t on it and they were not followed by the filming boat so he explained to us that the boat is used for other types of fishing on the off season. We walked over to where it was docked after returning to Whittier and talked to the guy on the boat. He said they were set up to catch Cod right now, but they also bring in salmon.

All-in-all it was a very relaxing and interesting day. Last night a huge cruise ship pulled into port. It looks so big compared to this small bay. The lights on it were so bright that the whole town got lit up last night in the rain, around 10 pm! Cool to see.

Pictures: (1) The Northwestern in the Bering Sea (2) The Northwestern stock photo, loaded with crab traps (3) The Northwestern from Deadliest Catch (4) Northwestern in Whittier Harbor (5) a glacier 'blue lens' (6) harbor seals & icebergs (7) a "raft" of otters (8&9) Blackstone Glacier

The real July 29th post

We packed up and continued our trek north towards Whittier today. What a beautiful drive! Have I said that before? It is just indescribable when you drive through these towering mountains on all sides. You don’t want to miss anything so at every turn you scan the mountains for their snow capped beauty, take in the swirling clouds that change constantly and watch the road for animals. My visual senses are on overload!

We traveled about 70 miles to Whittier where we were greeted by a bluish lake dotted with blue and white ice flows floating in it. A very blue Portage Glacier was visible in the mountain above. It was gorgeous. We walked a half mile along a river that was just waiting to be filled with spawning sockeye salmon. The water is like looking through glass it is so clear.

Before entering Whittier there is a one lane tunnel, the longest highway tunnel in North America, running 2 & ½ miles under Begich Peak. The tunnel also serves the railroad. When cars drive into the tunnel they are actually driving on top of the railroad tracks. The traffic is computer regulated every half hour. At the top of the hour traffic is allowed to leave Whittier for 15 minutes. At the ½ hour traffic is allowed to enter Whittier for 15 minutes…. Unless the train is running in either direction, then you could be delayed! Very interesting set up.

Once on the other side of the tunnel, we entered an enchanting little fishing village in a bowl of mountains. It reminded me of scenes from The Lord of the Rings (I'm not sure which one Dan!). The air is filled with cool, clean, salty, fishy air along with the sound of pounding water from waterfalls and rushing rivers. The train that runs every few hours will blow it’s whistle and the lingering sound echoes through the inlet. The village is only about a ½ mile square! Gary & I walked around, visited a few shops and took some pictures of the harbor. It only took us about an hour to get through it all!

We are dry camping tonight (that means we use our own electricity & water we have on board. There are no hook ups to either of these. And it's now ewwww, its fun!) nestled up against some mountains with 2 gorgeous waterfalls behind us and a river flowing beside us and did I mention it is overlooking the bay also. I think I have found a new home. Just kidding Mom!

Pictures: (1) View behind our campsite (2) Whittier tunnel entrance (3) These are the lanes they park you in and then a green light indicates it's your turn to go (4) Inside the tunnel (5) Portage Lake with ice flow (6&7) Portage Glacier (8&9) Seward Highway drive