Our best days in Alaska!!

 Aug 10^th – 24 hours of Sun (our best day in Alaska…so far)!!

Our time in Alaska was marked with rain, without fail it would rain at least once a day, if not for most of the day.  We have been very strategic with our time, setting alarms to wake up before the rain, eating only when it is raining, driving only when its raining, etc.; however today was going to be 100% sunny and nice so we decided to only go to Girdwood a ski resort community south of Anchorage.  The area was known for beautiful hikes and after comparing and contrasting different hikes the previous day we settled on the North Face hike at the ski resort.  This hike had three big benefits, there was a restaurant/pub at the 80% completion mark of the hike, it went to a summit of a mountain which had views of various glaciers and other mountain peaks and best of all we could take a gondola down from the restaurant for free with Rupert.

We started the hike early as it was supposed to get hot and the hikes got pretty gruelling, one section specifically, known as the stairway to heaven, had some of the steepest gradients we had ever seen, thankfully the ski resort had created a kilometre and a half of stairs, steep uneven steps.

It was only made worthwhile when we sat at the top of the mountain and had a beer, a beer that was somehow cheaper at the top of a mountain than at the brewery it was from.  Throughout our trip, we actually noticed this oddity a few times on our trip.

The most scenic drive we have done in a long time is the drive from Anchorage to Whittier, the drive is comparable to the sea to sky highway north of Vancouver to Whistler, and we were excited to drive it in the sun.  It was a great drive; Paul would love to do it on a motorcycle.

After a quick stop in Anchorage to fill up gas at Costco and get chocolates from a company that was highly recommended (they weren’t that good ☹) we headed to the cute community of Palmer.  This community seems to be where all the hipsters of Alaska live, and yeah, we loved it, hahah, cafes, breweries, hikes, views, and bakeries, so we spent the rest of the time here camping in our van down by the river.

 

Aug 11^th – More scenic drives

We wish we could go back in time and tell our past selves to skip northern Alaska, so we could spend more time on the Kenai Peninsula, in greater Anchorage and in Valdez as these areas and the drives to them were stunning.  Although it rained for most of the day the weather complemented the drive.  The last 200 km into Valdez were especially stunning with glaciers and waterfalls viewable right from the highway and the jaw-dropping Keystone Canyon which combined the best elements of the entire drive into one 10-kilometre section.

Valdez is a cute community right on the ocean with lots to do, but fewer tourists because there is not a lot of infrastructure to get tourists there (there is no train line, we saw very few tourist buses and only small cruise ships can get to their port). 

We started our time in Valdez the same way we start most of our time in new communities, by stopping in visitor information to get some recommendations of what to do and check our emails and send a message or two to our families.  We were immediately intrigued by pictures at the information center of people paddling in ice caves and felt compelled to enquire.  We learned that there were companies that for $150 USD would take you to Valdez Lake, a lake full of icebergs, give you a kayak and then would take you to the best ice caves within the icebergs.

Well, how could we turn that down?  We immediately walked to a tour company a booked for the next day.

 

Aug 12^th – Paddling into Ice Caves

It was an early start, so we set the alarm, had breakfast and made our way to the tour company.  Before we knew it, we were in the water paddling surrounded by icebergs, glaciers and mountains.  Paddling on this lake alone was worth the cost, but then we were taken to an ice cave, then another, then another.  In the end, we saw 5 ice caves, each unique and beautiful. Highly recommend.  Unbelievable, although the forecast was for rain (with a 100% chance) it never rained while we were on the water.  It wasn’t until we had packed up and returned to the town center that the rain returned.

We headed towards a hatchery on the south side of the city as we had heard at high tide, we could see various sea lions feasting on salmon.

The area of the hatchery was quite a thing to see as there were thousands of fish all trying to get back to the hatchery as the salmon run was still occurring and the local birds and sea lions were getting very well fed.

If you haven’t guessed we are big fans of Valdez.

We decided to end our time by going out for dinner at a well-reviewed Seafood place called the Fat Mermaid.  We had gone out for dinner a couple times in Alaska but we were always disappointed, the food wasn’t bad, but not as good as we thought it should be for the price.  Well, this was the worst meal we had had with overcooked fish, fries that tasted like they had gone cold and then were refried and WARM COLESLAW.  Paul had the good sense to not eat the coleslaw, but Kendra feeling that she hadn’t had enough vegetables lately decided to eat hers.  Probably not the smartest choice.

 

Aug 13^th – Alaska’s Revenge

It was time to leave Alaska, the forecast for the next few days was a 100% chance of a lot of rain.  The morning was also feeling a bit colder with the area feeling as if autumn was only a week or two away so we decided to get back to Canada, meaning a long day of driving.  We left early and started heading
north.

Two key things happened on this journey

#1 - That coleslaw Kendra had eaten gave her food poisoning…

#2 - The roads got really bad on the ALCAN highway between the Canadian border and Tok, Alaska, while Paul was trying to see if it was safe to pass a vehicle, he did not notice a giant pothole.  Well, the passenger side tires hit the pothole denting both rims…  The front tire was okay, small dent, but would hold air and didn’t cause a wobble.  The rear rim was losing air relatively fast, so we pulled the full-size spare off the top of the roof and changed the tire.

Thanks, Alaska it’s been an adventure

The best moment of the day was crossing the border into Canada, after a quick chat with the border guard, he said “Welcome Home” and it somehow put quite the smile on our faces after Alaska decided to give us one last less than stellar day.

 

Aug 14^th – Good to be “home”

We had camped just outside of Kluane National Park, and driving into the park, chatting with Parks Canada we decided upon a hike, the most popular hike on the north side of the park known as Sheep Creek.  Not much to say about it other than it is beautiful and totally worth doing!!

The community of Haines Junction is in between the north and south sides of Kluane National Park, a community we had never been to before but was an amazing community.  It reminded me of Jasper but had little to no tourists.  The most happening spot was a bakery called Village Bakery, with fresh food, freshly baked goods, great coffee (or beer) and a patio that looked out to the mountains.  Highly recommend spending some time here. Not to sound like too much of a fanboy, but Canada is an incredible country.

 

Aug 15^th – A nothing day

We spent the night in Kathleen Lake Campground within Kluane and decided to spend two nights so we could put up our feet and have a “nothing day’.  We had a campfire, roasted hot dogs, read our respective books and had a leisurely walk down to Kathleen Lake.  It was a needed rest day.

 

Aug 16^th – Driving across the Yukon

We left Kluane relatively early so we could get to the bakery in Haines Junction before they sold out of sourdough. The next stop was Whitehorse to purchase food and drinks.  We also wanted to get Fountain Tire to look at our tires, unsurprisingly they did not have the rims we needed in stock, but after looking at our set up suggested we continue to drive and get the rims (and tires) looked at in Edmonton so we started our drive towards British Columbia stopping for the night just outside of Watson Lake.

 

Aug 17^th – “The Best Place on Earth”

We stayed the night in Watson Lake as it was the closest campground to our next major stop, Liard River Hot Springs.  The slogan for British Columbia is “The Best Place on Earth” but when I think of that slogan, I only think of one place Liard River Hot Springs (in the winter).  We were slightly concerned it would not have the same magic in the summer but knew we wanted to get a site right at the campground which we had heard fills up by around 3pm. You can reserve campsites but all reservable sites were already reserved.

We couldn’t leave Watson Lake without exploring the famous Sign Post Forest.  We had seen pictures of the signpost forest before but pictures do not do it justice, it is vast with so many unique and interesting signs.  We spent over an hour wandering and reading about people's own adventures in the north.  We left wishing we had prepared something to place in the “forest”.

We made it to the hot springs and got a great spot and spent the rest of the evening in the hot springs.

 

Aug 18^th – A Day at the hot springs

Liard River Hot Springs in the winter is an 11/10.  It is just magic, Liard River Hot Springs in the Summer are still outstanding, but maybe just a 9/10.  One of the great aspects of this hot spring it is so large and so natural that there is a perfect temperature for anyone at any time of year.  If you want to sit in 40 degrees heat you can sit by the source, you want 12 degrees then head down the tunnel/river/creek at the far end of the hot springs.  Want something in-between, just walk around, and you will find it.

We spent the day sitting in hot springs, or hanging around the campsite playing games or snacking.

Great day!

 

Aug 19^th – HOTEL PARTY

When this trip began, we had planned to treat ourselves to a hotel every couple of weeks.  We knew this would happen less in the north, but we still had plans to sleep in a hotel periodically.  Well going north to the Yukon/Alaska during tourist time meant that hotels started around $250 a night, if there was even availability, so we spent 45 nights in the van. 

Well, today we decided to finally get a hotel in Fort St. John so that we can relax, order some pizza, and hook up the computer to the TV and Netflix and Chill.  It also gave us the opportunity to give Rupert a much-needed bath. 

$100 was well spent!!