Into the Wild('s of Alaska)

 July 31^st – Exploring Dawson

Today started at midnight, like most days do, except we were not relaxing in the van or asleep instead we had just finished the 11pm happy hour and the midnight show at Diamond Tooth Gerties.

 A short walk back to the ferry and we were ready to hit the hay, ready for our next day in Dawson City.  So, when we awoke today it was a bit rainy so we had a slow start to the morning.  We headed up to Midnight Dome to get an aerial view of Dawson City and then wandered around downtown and posted our last blog post. The day wasn’t full of anything fun or exciting, but the evening is when Dawson City comes alive.  We started our evening at the Downtown Hotel, the home of the Sour Toe Cocktail. We had actually tried to have our sour toe cocktails last night but “toe time” was completely booked up, so we knew what we would have to do tonight.  We had dinner at the hotel and at 7:30 we were able to get our names on the sign-up sheet.  We selected our alcohol, the traditional Yukon Jack whisky, and we waited until our names were called. With the guidance from the captain “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch this gnarly toe” we both became members of the Sour Toe Cocktail club and received our official paperwork.  If you are hoping to become a member, make sure you arrive for sign-up around 7:30 so you don’t miss out!

After our inaugural shots, we headed back to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s for some gambling (Paul left a bit ahead, Kendra did not) and for the 10 pm show.  The 10 pm show is more of a can-can style show and we were even able to get pictures with the dancers after! Of course, Paul was first in line and was thrilled to get a photo.  After the show we headed back to our campsite along the Yukon River where we had a campfire (with the free firewood provided by Yukon Parks) and enjoyed the dusky sky.

 

August 1- It’s a long weekend?!?

Since we didn’t realize it was a long weekend until we got off the Dempster, we weren’t sure how busy everything would be.  We visited the Sternwheeler Graveyard where Rupert decided he was too hot and laid down in a mud puddle.  This is surprising for those of you who know Rupert because he HATES getting his paws wet, he jumps over rain puddles to avoid wet paws, so to lay in a puddle shows that it was a warm day out. 

Next, we headed towards Alaska along the Top of the World Highway.  Kendra was going to do all the driving and therefore do all the talking at the border since Paul is usually driving at border crossings.  Nothing eventful happened, and it was a pretty easy crossing.  At this border crossing, there was a stop light, then a stop sign a bit ahead once you got the green light, and then one more stop sign before leaving the screening area. Since Kendra did not do the last border crossing properly, she was prepared to stop at the light plus all stop signs.  Instead, the light never turned green and the border guard waved her ahead to the final stop sign, so maybe the Canadian Border is doing things wrong…just saying.

The Top of the World Highway on the Yukon/Canadian side had some amazing views but was significantly less paved than we had anticipated.  After crossing into Alaska, the road quality deteriorated and the views disappeared.  We stopped in Chicken Alaska, a must-see according to some tourist books but alas it was merely a tourist trap so we continued down the road to Tok (pronounced Toke) for the night.  The campground we stayed in had some friendly Californian van lifers and free showers!!

It’s amazing the things you take for granted, like access to your own bed and a shower whenever you please, but we had an amazing night's sleep after a good (unlimited time) shower.

 

August 2^nd – “Hello this is the North Pole Vet calling”

We woke up and headed to tourist information.  Tok was known as the first major center in Alaska and was supposed to have a good visitors information area.  Well after going I’m not sure they knew much about their state.  Their knowledge was limited to about 30 miles around Tok and if you wanted a pamphlet or information for other area of Alaska, well that would be $1 or so each.  Crazy!  So instead, we took some pictures of information on our phones and drove to Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaskan Highway.

The beginning of the Alaskan Highway is indicated by a monument in Dawson Creek, one we had been to before, it was neat to be able to see its complementary monument here.  You could also get a certificate celebrating your accomplishment of driving the entire Alaskan highway, for $3 a certificate.  While we do love ourselves an official certificate, we passed on this one.

We had been wrestling with where to go from Delta Junction, we had two choices, South to Highway 8 (the Denali Highway) or head North to Fairbanks.  Due to cloudy weather and a highly rated hot springs outside of Fairbanks Kendra made the executive decision to go North.

The community just south of Fairbanks is the North Pole, a bit of a tourist city with, you guessed it a giant Santa Claus with “Santa’s House” and Reindeer Academy (aka stables).  We entered the “house”, took some pictures and bought a Christmas ornament.  On the way towards the Hot Springs, we came across a Vet. 

As some of you may know Rupert takes special food due to a health issue he has, a food that in Canada you can only buy from a Vet office.  Well, we learned in the United States you need a prescription to buy special dog food from the vet (which just like in Canada can only be purchased from a vet) so after explaining the situation the vet said that they could phone our vet back home and get a prescription then they would sell it to us, we thought why not and crossed our fingers that it would work.

5 minutes before closing our Local vet received a phone call with call display stating it was from The North Pole Vet.  Probably out of curiosity they picked up the phone just to hear “Hello this is the North Pole Vent calling, we have a patient of yours here.  This thought of what must have been going through our vet’s mind and wondering if this is a joke call still puts a smile on my face.  Long story short Rupert can still eat his proper food (we will need to get an official prescription from our vet to make sure we are covered for future purchases).

We drove to the Hot Springs and spent the evening relaxing in the hot pools.  It was definitely a highlight!

 August 3^rd – Into the Wild

We have very little to say about Fairbanks.  We had hoped to find a café to relax in and found none.  We looked for things to do and most tours started at a cost above $200 USD/person and had you leaving Fairbanks.  We walked around their cool area “downtown” and checked out Pioneer Park, both of which were a disappointment.  

The only thing we really enjoyed was going to the University of Alaska Fairbanks where the real bus from the book Into the Wild is currently being restored by the Engineering Department. It was moved a short time ago as its location was 20 miles down a hiking path where people with little to no wilderness experience would try to go to causing many people to require rescue or have their body recovered.

We left Fairbanks and thankfully came across a really cool bar that caused Paul to burst into laughter.  He turned the van around and Kendra and Paul spent a couple hours chatting to the bartender, having a pint and looking at the gift shop of Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn.

Just before Denali National Park, home to the tallest mountain in North America, we came to Healy where Kendra read that the exact replica of the bus used in the movie Into the Wild was stored and available to anyone to take pictures at.  Well, who can turn down beers and pictures of such a famous bus?

 

August 4^th – The mixed bag of Denali

Most people we had spoken to told us to skip Denali National Park.  Due to a landslide, you can no longer get close to Mt Denali.  For most people not willing to spend hundreds of dollars to fly and get specialized tours you can only go to Mile 12, Savage River, which for those who have not gone to Denali before is nothing.  Thankfully it was a beautiful clear day so we were lucky to actually see Mt Denali from 80 miles away.  We were told that this is the first day in weeks that Denali was visible so we were pretty excited. 

We did a few hikes but they were nothing to write home about, again we were told the jaw-dropping hikes were beyond the landslide.

We ended our time in Denali by seeing a sled dog demonstration that ended in a puppy race.  The demonstration was fine, the puppy race was as cute as you imagine it to be.

 

August 5^th – South on the Park Highway

The Park Highway is the main highway that travels from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  It is a busy route with countless tour buses most of which are owned by cruise ship companies, specifically Princess and Holland America.  These cruise ships even have their own hotels only for cruise ship passengers.  There is also a rail line from two ports south of Anchorage that travel through Anchorage all the way to Fairbanks with stops in all the key spots.  Because of this, there are some incredible communities we were told to check out, one being Talkeetna, so after doing some laundry (and having a shower) we headed there.  It was an interesting tourist “city” with live music and market and religious students asking us questions about what we believe happens when we die.   Unfortunately, torrential downpours caused us to leave Telkeetna for a movie night in the van as we listened to the rain.

 

August 6^th – Okay, we are getting excited now!

We drove into Wasilla into the headquarters for the Iditarod and learned about its past.  We also saw two very creepy taxidermized dogs.  NEAT! 

After the past few days, Kendra had noticed and been making comments that the rear passenger tire had been looking a little low.  Paul had been checking it and filling it up with air every couple of days but today it had lost 10 psi in just a few hours.  Paul was now very motivated to get it repaired, especially since it was Saturday (and everywhere was closed on Sunday) and we were in the major city of Anchorage. 

Thankfully it was a cheap and quick fix to repair the tire, so $30 and 30 minutes later we were back on the road exploring downtown Anchorage, then watching a fishing derby, and ending our time having a beer and seeing the largest chocolate waterfall PROBABLY in the world (according to the plaque near the display).

Our time in Alaska thus far has been disappointing.  In our opinion, Alaska has the same environment and views as Northern BC and the Yukon but it was more expensive with more tourists.  As we left Anchorage heading south down the Seward highway our spirits were lifted.  The highway south of Anchorage is drop-dead beautiful and it made us very excited for checking out port cities on the Kenai Peninsula.

August 7^th – Prettier in Whittier

We decided to drive to Whittier, a city known for over 90% (1400 people) of the population living in the same building.  It is also a cruise ship port and terminus location of the Alaska Railroad.  This city is also known for its Glaciers.  We entered the city (through a 2.3-mile one-lane tunnel that alternates between vehicle traffic, and rail traffic both travelling north and south occupying the same space).   Of course, everything is controlled by lights and people (to take your money for the toll).

Our first stop was the trailhead for Portage Pass which is a 6 km roundtrip hike up to the Portage Pass down to Portage Lake with constant views of the Portage Glacier.  It was a beautiful day and the views were worth every step. This was one of the most recent hikes Rupert was able to do with us.  National Parks in the USA do not allow pets on most trails.

After the hike, we headed towards the commercial area of Whittier and watched cruise ship passengers line up and take photos.  We entered a few shops and were told that the Salmon run was currently on and that if we wanted to see salmon and bears that there is a good spot up a dirt road.  After hearing this we jumped in the van, once were arrived at the spot saw 4 black bears snagging fish right from the creek.  It was so cool. (Paul saw 4 bears, Kendra only saw 2).

After watching the last bear waddle into the woods, we decided to go out for dinner to a place known for good seafood (it was okay) and spend the rest of the evening watching a storm roll in, then listening to the rain hitting the van.

 

August 8^th – Barefoot on a Glacier

After such an excellent day yesterday, we decided to spend the morning in a coffee shop people-watching and having a cup of coffee.  There was only a small coffee shop in town and due to cruise ship passengers, the coffee shop was packed so although we were able to get a spot to sit down it was hard to feel comfortable.

After looking at the weather and seeing that it was supposed to rain all week, we left Whittier with the hope of doing one more glacier hike before heading further south, we chose the easy Byron Glacier hike a 3 km round trip “hike” on a flat accessible trail.  Because of the easy hike, Paul decided to wear sandals which was not a wise decision once we got to the glacier and learned that the trail can continue onto it.  His sandals had no grip at all, but he knew his bare feet would have better grip so braving frostbite and with little extra thought he removed his sandals and hiked up the glacier.

Lucky for Paul there were no negative repressions for his foolishness. *He learned from Kendra’s mistake last year when she wore sandals on a glacier, tripped, fell and tore a hole in her pants and scraped her knee, so no sandals appears to be the better option if you are ever in a similar predicament.

We drove to Seward, Alaska to be met with more rain, there were actually weather advisories for the next couple of days for extreme rain that could result in rivers bursting their banks so we grabbed a pint, downloaded some movies and found a quiet place in the woods to watch some movies and sleep.

 

August 9^th – The Exit

The most famous hike in the area is to the Exit Glacier so after waking up and seeing that it wasn’t actively raining, we jumped in the van and did the hikes to the viewpoint of the Glacier.  It was nice but as mentioned before Whittier is Prettier. 

As we headed back to the parking lot the skies opened up and the rain started to come; however, today was the first day that due to rain and consistent internet connection in a local coffee shop we had the time to upload this blog post before we plan our exit out of Seward towards Palmer and then to Valdez.