Alaska Trip 2010
For the slideshow of near miss by tree that fell on my first day, click here.
For the beautiful sunset in Shell, Wyoming, click here.
For the beautiful sunset in Shell, Wyoming, click here.
It is now August 09, 2010... I am sitting on the ferry boat that I left Sitka, Alaska on at 0300. It is now 9:15 PM. We are on the last leg of the
trip to Ketchikan. I think we will arrive there at 0130 on the 10th.
trip to Ketchikan. I think we will arrive there at 0130 on the 10th.
July 18, 2010
Greetings from the very wet Alaskan Challenge!!! As I start this message it is 9 PM Alaska Time.. I think that is midnight back in home state. I am
going to change the name of the trip from the Alaskan Adventure to the Alaskan Challenge. This has turned into the second hardest trip I have
ever been on.. The hardest was my trip to old Mexico back in the Mid 80s.. That was like the filming for the Indiana Jones movies.. This trip is
wearing me down big time.. I think I have arrived at the point of writing this whole thing off as a loss. It was one month ago today that I started this
trip, and it has been nothing short of a battle to get through to this point. The most of the stress comes from fighting the rain issues all the time.. It
just never dries out and being one who came to see and take photos, there is little to see and less to take photos of...
If you have been following my updates then you know how much rain I have written about.. If you have been here and experienced the rain, then
you know what I am talking about. If you have been here and everything was as it we would expect, you haven;t a clue.. Several of you have been
here and have written me to tell me it was nothing like this when you were here.. You must be the lucky ones.. Several of you have told me how
awesome the plane ride was up to the glaciers near Denali.. The photos I saw from one of those trips back in the early 80s is what got me
interested in coming here. I said that someday I would do that too. I thought that someday was here, but it wasn't. Yesterday, the 17th I stopped by
the airport in Talkeetna to ask about the rides. Only two had gone that day, from the K2 office.. The others should have been about the same.
They suggested they would try again this morning.
I camped about 12 miles from the airport and had plans to go back to town, shower, get in better smelling clothes for the ride with other people..
But, at 0600, I woke up to the sound of rain on my tent. Then a friend from back home called to check on me.. I reported more rain!!!!!!!!! After the
chat, I took a short nap, then decided that there was no reason to go back into town and be told what I already knew, it is raining!!!!!!! No flying.. I
skipped breakfast, opened the trunk, gathered up my tent and contents, cramed them in the car and ddrove off, headed south towards Anchorage.
I was giving up on the hopes of getting the see the glaciers that had motivated me to be here. The reports I had gotten earlier told me that the rain
would most likely last for the rest of the week.
Once Wasilla, I stopped in McDonalds for a bite of breakfast at around 10:30 AM.. Got my order, went to a table, ate, and left, but, as I approached
my car, I noticed the driver side rear tire was low!! Now what!!!!!! I drive to a gas station, as if they had an air pump thing for me to use. They
handed me a air hose and told me to go hook it to a box in the lot and pump the tire up there. I did. I returned the hose, and asked if there was a
tire repair place open on this day, Sunday!!!!!! The man suggested that there might be at a place called Mr Lube. I got the directions. I also called
AAA, of which I am a member. I told them my issue and asked if they could help.. I was asking if they could find a repair place for me.. They could
not find one in Wasilla that was open on Sunday. I asked them to try Anchorage which is south of here. They came back and said, no. There were
no places open in Anchorage either.. Am I screwed or what. I asked what they would suggest. They said they would send someone out to change
the tire, but that was all.. I would have to wing it until tomorrow when the shops opened up.. I went to look for Mr Lube.. Could not find it.. Decided to
go south towards Anchorage and see what I could find. I found a Walmart.. Went in, asked if they had tire repair people. No, they do not. The fellow
I talked to suggested I go to Mr Lube.. I told him I could not find it earlier.. He gave me new directions and off I went.. This time I found it and it was
open!!!!!!!
I walk in, tell the lady behind the counter what the issue is and she tells me sure, she can help.. Sends me around back to bay four where a fellow
will be waiting for me.. And, he was.. Got right on it.. Just as soon as he jacked the car up, he could see the issue.. something stuck in the time on
the outside tread. He removes the tire, breaks it down, etc, and sure enough, there is a screw sticking in the tire. I tis about 1.5 inches long.. I take
a photo of it in the tire. He removes it and I keep it for memory item. He patches the tire, and rebalances it.. I am sure this will be a 100 dollar
repair.. It was not, it was $14.28 cents!!! I had an extra 5 dollars in my pocket and gave that to him for a cup of coffee... Then, back a the counter, I
pay my bill.. Just so happened, the lady that I wrote up the work order was there and she was cute, but when I went to pay my bill, there was an
even better one there with her..
best things I have seen Alaska so far!! Two of them.. Might have been the owners wife and daughter... Lucky guy!!! I paid, I left. I went back to
Walmart for lunch food. Got a couple calls so I wondered the store and chatted on the phone for a long time, as if that would help the rain issue...
Back at the call, I call a buddy in STL and ask him to get me a weather report.. He does. It is raining in all directions and will be for the rest of the
week. There is no place for me to run to get away from the rain.. I had thoughts of going on to Homer, but there is rain there as well, now. I have
friend of a friend there who was and still might be going to help be my guide for the area, but when I called them today for a weather report, I could
not reach them. I think they are rather busy sometimes. Also, there is another strange twist that I may have mentioned to this story for this area. I
was here in the late 70s I think it was. One the last couple of days I was here, a young lady at the time offered to be the guide for me and my
friends on a road trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks. She was raised in Fairbanks. The long ride gave us a chance to visit and become friends of
sorts.. Her family owned the Sandbar resturant in Fairbanks and where we went to eat. Her father gave me a couple of little paper puzzles that he
gave out as promotion items. I brought them home and put them in my brief case. I carried that brief case for the rest of my working career and still
have it, and still inside the brief case is those two puzzles, or at least one of them is.. For some reason this lady and I stayed in touch for years,
over 30 years I am thinking. We exchanged Christmas cards, birthday cards and a few phone calls. My visit here then was in November and it was
cold, plus the days were short.. In her cards and letters, etc, she always encouraged me to come back when the weather was warm and the days
were long, to enjoy the summer version, and if she could, she would show me around, since she lived outside of Anchorage after she became an
adult. I assumed that one day I would come back, even if it was on a cruise ship, etc.. She said it did not matter, she would meet me and have
coffee and chat.. During this time, she got married, got divorced, and remarried. She was living a very good life with her new mate. And for years
we continued to be pen pals and share stories and Alaska and how people lived up here. She was a very outdoor type person.. She fished, canned
fish, smoked fish, killed and dressed, moose, bear, caribou, and the list goes on. She was a true Alaskan.. The stories she shared should have
been put in a book. I loved getting her cards and reading the stories of her life.. Looked forward to meeting her and her husband someday and
seeing how they lived at this time.. They had built a new home and also a cabin on a lake somewhere north of here.. Then, the story ended. About
two years ago, she stopped sending cards, or letters, or calling. Oddly enough, the cards I sent up here, were never returned or replied to. Was
and still is a big mystery to me. For over 30 years we did the pen pal thing, then all of a sudden she was gone.. I susppected her husband might
have demanded that she stop the connection, but I never could find out. O sent several cards to ask if there was a reason I no longer heard from
her. There was no reply. I finally stopped sending cards up this way.. They never came back, but where did they go? Today, at the local visitor
center, where I was looking for campground info etc, I told this story to the lady who worked there and grew up here.. She did not know this family,
but grabbed the phone book and started looking for their names. Nothing under Wasilla, which is the town I always thought she worked in.. Then I
mentioned to the lady that I thought the mailing address was actually a box number in Chugiak(sp?). She looked, and there they were.. Both their
names were listed.. So, they are alive and well I presume. But the mystery of why the connection was cut is a big mystery.. I would thought she
would have sent at least one card or letter to explain, but no.. In fact, when the fellow I came up here to see, and was responsible for me meeting
this lady, passed away about a year ago, I sent her a note to tell her about his passing. Thought that might get a response. But no, that did not get
a reply.. So, I guess I will just have guess what happened..
While at the visitor center, the lady working there tried to find a cheap room for me to dry out in for a night.. And, get caught up on my internet
work.. The cheapest anywhere in the area was 125 dollars per night.. I said I would rather camp. She recommended this campground, the
Homestead RV.. I came and I took a site here.. Seventeen for a site, and a dollar for the internet.. Sounds good, right. I move in set up my tent, and
go up to the office to find a good place to sit and do email. The office lady sent me to work bench just outside the office.. Internet is good there and
there is a plug in there.. I use it for awhile, then I want to go do the ice cream social they will be having in a few minutes.. When I start to get off the
stool, I learn that I am stuck to it.. I get unstuck, look at the stool and see what looks like the effects of wet paint.. I'm right. There tan colored paint
on the seat of my expensive rain pants!!! I go back in the office and show them what happened. They are very sorry.. They had painted the bench
and stools earlier and assumed it was dry. They had taken down the wet paint sign.. Then we find out that the paint if oil base!!!!!!! And there is no
paint thinner in the shop.. Damn. What next!!!!!!! I mentioned mineral spirits.. The man working the office is an artist and has some mineral spirits..
He runs and gets it for me.. I go to the bathroom and start working on the seat of the pants with the mineral spirits.. I get pretty much all of the paint
off. And I was the pants a couple times.. I think I did it, I think I saved the pants, unless they delaminate later!!!!!!!! Really what else could happen??
Don't mention it, yes, it could be worse, I know. But, vacations are supposed to go better than this!!!!!!!!!!
Are you tired reading? I think I am about out of something to say. I did go take a much needed shower before I started this and I have been sitting
in the car to write this and there is no place now to sit and work.. It is 10 minutes after 10 PM... I best wrap this up and get it out.. I do not have any
photos to share.. There is supposed to be moutains all around me, but I cannot see them.. There is a bit of an urge to hang around until this
weather front moves on, but that could be forever.. I will sleep on it tonight and see what I think of in the morning...
Stay tuned, surely there will more interesting stuff as I move along on this Alaskan Challenge!!!
Greetings from the very wet Alaskan Challenge!!! As I start this message it is 9 PM Alaska Time.. I think that is midnight back in home state. I am
going to change the name of the trip from the Alaskan Adventure to the Alaskan Challenge. This has turned into the second hardest trip I have
ever been on.. The hardest was my trip to old Mexico back in the Mid 80s.. That was like the filming for the Indiana Jones movies.. This trip is
wearing me down big time.. I think I have arrived at the point of writing this whole thing off as a loss. It was one month ago today that I started this
trip, and it has been nothing short of a battle to get through to this point. The most of the stress comes from fighting the rain issues all the time.. It
just never dries out and being one who came to see and take photos, there is little to see and less to take photos of...
If you have been following my updates then you know how much rain I have written about.. If you have been here and experienced the rain, then
you know what I am talking about. If you have been here and everything was as it we would expect, you haven;t a clue.. Several of you have been
here and have written me to tell me it was nothing like this when you were here.. You must be the lucky ones.. Several of you have told me how
awesome the plane ride was up to the glaciers near Denali.. The photos I saw from one of those trips back in the early 80s is what got me
interested in coming here. I said that someday I would do that too. I thought that someday was here, but it wasn't. Yesterday, the 17th I stopped by
the airport in Talkeetna to ask about the rides. Only two had gone that day, from the K2 office.. The others should have been about the same.
They suggested they would try again this morning.
I camped about 12 miles from the airport and had plans to go back to town, shower, get in better smelling clothes for the ride with other people..
But, at 0600, I woke up to the sound of rain on my tent. Then a friend from back home called to check on me.. I reported more rain!!!!!!!!! After the
chat, I took a short nap, then decided that there was no reason to go back into town and be told what I already knew, it is raining!!!!!!! No flying.. I
skipped breakfast, opened the trunk, gathered up my tent and contents, cramed them in the car and ddrove off, headed south towards Anchorage.
I was giving up on the hopes of getting the see the glaciers that had motivated me to be here. The reports I had gotten earlier told me that the rain
would most likely last for the rest of the week.
Once Wasilla, I stopped in McDonalds for a bite of breakfast at around 10:30 AM.. Got my order, went to a table, ate, and left, but, as I approached
my car, I noticed the driver side rear tire was low!! Now what!!!!!! I drive to a gas station, as if they had an air pump thing for me to use. They
handed me a air hose and told me to go hook it to a box in the lot and pump the tire up there. I did. I returned the hose, and asked if there was a
tire repair place open on this day, Sunday!!!!!! The man suggested that there might be at a place called Mr Lube. I got the directions. I also called
AAA, of which I am a member. I told them my issue and asked if they could help.. I was asking if they could find a repair place for me.. They could
not find one in Wasilla that was open on Sunday. I asked them to try Anchorage which is south of here. They came back and said, no. There were
no places open in Anchorage either.. Am I screwed or what. I asked what they would suggest. They said they would send someone out to change
the tire, but that was all.. I would have to wing it until tomorrow when the shops opened up.. I went to look for Mr Lube.. Could not find it.. Decided to
go south towards Anchorage and see what I could find. I found a Walmart.. Went in, asked if they had tire repair people. No, they do not. The fellow
I talked to suggested I go to Mr Lube.. I told him I could not find it earlier.. He gave me new directions and off I went.. This time I found it and it was
open!!!!!!!
I walk in, tell the lady behind the counter what the issue is and she tells me sure, she can help.. Sends me around back to bay four where a fellow
will be waiting for me.. And, he was.. Got right on it.. Just as soon as he jacked the car up, he could see the issue.. something stuck in the time on
the outside tread. He removes the tire, breaks it down, etc, and sure enough, there is a screw sticking in the tire. I tis about 1.5 inches long.. I take
a photo of it in the tire. He removes it and I keep it for memory item. He patches the tire, and rebalances it.. I am sure this will be a 100 dollar
repair.. It was not, it was $14.28 cents!!! I had an extra 5 dollars in my pocket and gave that to him for a cup of coffee... Then, back a the counter, I
pay my bill.. Just so happened, the lady that I wrote up the work order was there and she was cute, but when I went to pay my bill, there was an
even better one there with her..
best things I have seen Alaska so far!! Two of them.. Might have been the owners wife and daughter... Lucky guy!!! I paid, I left. I went back to
Walmart for lunch food. Got a couple calls so I wondered the store and chatted on the phone for a long time, as if that would help the rain issue...
Back at the call, I call a buddy in STL and ask him to get me a weather report.. He does. It is raining in all directions and will be for the rest of the
week. There is no place for me to run to get away from the rain.. I had thoughts of going on to Homer, but there is rain there as well, now. I have
friend of a friend there who was and still might be going to help be my guide for the area, but when I called them today for a weather report, I could
not reach them. I think they are rather busy sometimes. Also, there is another strange twist that I may have mentioned to this story for this area. I
was here in the late 70s I think it was. One the last couple of days I was here, a young lady at the time offered to be the guide for me and my
friends on a road trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks. She was raised in Fairbanks. The long ride gave us a chance to visit and become friends of
sorts.. Her family owned the Sandbar resturant in Fairbanks and where we went to eat. Her father gave me a couple of little paper puzzles that he
gave out as promotion items. I brought them home and put them in my brief case. I carried that brief case for the rest of my working career and still
have it, and still inside the brief case is those two puzzles, or at least one of them is.. For some reason this lady and I stayed in touch for years,
over 30 years I am thinking. We exchanged Christmas cards, birthday cards and a few phone calls. My visit here then was in November and it was
cold, plus the days were short.. In her cards and letters, etc, she always encouraged me to come back when the weather was warm and the days
were long, to enjoy the summer version, and if she could, she would show me around, since she lived outside of Anchorage after she became an
adult. I assumed that one day I would come back, even if it was on a cruise ship, etc.. She said it did not matter, she would meet me and have
coffee and chat.. During this time, she got married, got divorced, and remarried. She was living a very good life with her new mate. And for years
we continued to be pen pals and share stories and Alaska and how people lived up here. She was a very outdoor type person.. She fished, canned
fish, smoked fish, killed and dressed, moose, bear, caribou, and the list goes on. She was a true Alaskan.. The stories she shared should have
been put in a book. I loved getting her cards and reading the stories of her life.. Looked forward to meeting her and her husband someday and
seeing how they lived at this time.. They had built a new home and also a cabin on a lake somewhere north of here.. Then, the story ended. About
two years ago, she stopped sending cards, or letters, or calling. Oddly enough, the cards I sent up here, were never returned or replied to. Was
and still is a big mystery to me. For over 30 years we did the pen pal thing, then all of a sudden she was gone.. I susppected her husband might
have demanded that she stop the connection, but I never could find out. O sent several cards to ask if there was a reason I no longer heard from
her. There was no reply. I finally stopped sending cards up this way.. They never came back, but where did they go? Today, at the local visitor
center, where I was looking for campground info etc, I told this story to the lady who worked there and grew up here.. She did not know this family,
but grabbed the phone book and started looking for their names. Nothing under Wasilla, which is the town I always thought she worked in.. Then I
mentioned to the lady that I thought the mailing address was actually a box number in Chugiak(sp?). She looked, and there they were.. Both their
names were listed.. So, they are alive and well I presume. But the mystery of why the connection was cut is a big mystery.. I would thought she
would have sent at least one card or letter to explain, but no.. In fact, when the fellow I came up here to see, and was responsible for me meeting
this lady, passed away about a year ago, I sent her a note to tell her about his passing. Thought that might get a response. But no, that did not get
a reply.. So, I guess I will just have guess what happened..
While at the visitor center, the lady working there tried to find a cheap room for me to dry out in for a night.. And, get caught up on my internet
work.. The cheapest anywhere in the area was 125 dollars per night.. I said I would rather camp. She recommended this campground, the
Homestead RV.. I came and I took a site here.. Seventeen for a site, and a dollar for the internet.. Sounds good, right. I move in set up my tent, and
go up to the office to find a good place to sit and do email. The office lady sent me to work bench just outside the office.. Internet is good there and
there is a plug in there.. I use it for awhile, then I want to go do the ice cream social they will be having in a few minutes.. When I start to get off the
stool, I learn that I am stuck to it.. I get unstuck, look at the stool and see what looks like the effects of wet paint.. I'm right. There tan colored paint
on the seat of my expensive rain pants!!! I go back in the office and show them what happened. They are very sorry.. They had painted the bench
and stools earlier and assumed it was dry. They had taken down the wet paint sign.. Then we find out that the paint if oil base!!!!!!! And there is no
paint thinner in the shop.. Damn. What next!!!!!!! I mentioned mineral spirits.. The man working the office is an artist and has some mineral spirits..
He runs and gets it for me.. I go to the bathroom and start working on the seat of the pants with the mineral spirits.. I get pretty much all of the paint
off. And I was the pants a couple times.. I think I did it, I think I saved the pants, unless they delaminate later!!!!!!!! Really what else could happen??
Don't mention it, yes, it could be worse, I know. But, vacations are supposed to go better than this!!!!!!!!!!
Are you tired reading? I think I am about out of something to say. I did go take a much needed shower before I started this and I have been sitting
in the car to write this and there is no place now to sit and work.. It is 10 minutes after 10 PM... I best wrap this up and get it out.. I do not have any
photos to share.. There is supposed to be moutains all around me, but I cannot see them.. There is a bit of an urge to hang around until this
weather front moves on, but that could be forever.. I will sleep on it tonight and see what I think of in the morning...
Stay tuned, surely there will more interesting stuff as I move along on this Alaskan Challenge!!!
July 14, 2010...
This day has almost been too long ago to remember. I did get packed and up and headed out of Fairbanks on this day.. Not much to share except
that there was rain!!! Have your hear that before.. The drive down to Denali was not much to report on, but when I got the little town outside of
the park, I stopped to watch the outfitters put their rafts in the water.. You will have to see the photos later to appreciate it. They slide them down a
BIG hill on slides!! After watching this operation for awhile, I went back to the car, in the rain!!! Ended up falling asleep while waiting out the rain!!
Once awake I drove on into the park.. At the visitors center, I found fair help, but was sent to another place that was not so good.. The place I was
sent to is call the Widerness Access Center... There I was able to learn a little about the bus ride options, etc.. This is Wednesday, there is
supposed to be rain on Thrusday, and some sun on Friday. I want to ride the bus that goes all the way to the end of the road in the park.. I can
get on it for Friday. Also, I want a tent site. It is a damn wonder I got anything done here. The people working here are so not trained for their
jobs.. It is a joke.. Let me say here that for all the neat stuff we have been shown and have heard about Denali, it is nothing like that.. It is a joke.
Whoever designed the system there had to be drunk and smoking weed when they designed the layout of the park building.. Later I will try to
explain, but it is so screwed up, it is beyond funny. It is miserable.. If there was a way to put things in the wrong place and make it as ineffecient as
possible, that is what they have done.. The people, the bus routes, the schedules, the people doing the jobs, all are a mess.. Actually I think the
people could do better, but they seem to working in such a messed up place that little is working correctly.. When I do the web version of this, I will
try to explain. I did manage to get a ticket for the bus ride on Friday. This is will be a 12 hour ride on a bus, on a dirt road. I was also able to get a
tent site for that this night and the next, but the tent sites do not have parking with them. You have to park at the visitor center and carry your stuff
on the bus or walk and carry it.. I was too late for the last bus, so, I had to put what I could in a backpack and start walking.. The girl in the office
said it was just over a mile down a trail from the visitor center.. I started looking for the trail.. I could not find it, the people I talked to did not know..
On best guess I started out. Then I met a fellow who worked in the area. He gave general directions.. No good.. Found a ranger fellow. He gave
directions.. I tried again.. No luck.. Now it is late enough for to be concerned about bears.. I try my GPS.. It does not have helpful info in it.. I doo
not want to get out in the woods this time of day by myself.. The brush is thick and the big animals are out.. I do not have the bear spray with me..
I turn back. At the visitor center, I start walking the road, which is the long way to the campground. I make it, but have walked about 2 miles to get
there. I find a site and move in.. Home! I have paid for this night and the following.
July 15, 2010
As I recall, it is raining when I wake up.. In fact it has rained hard during the night. I will learn later that my tent has leaked because I did not get it
set up correctly and because the seals in the corners have gotten old and need to be resealed. In the friggin rain, I get a bite to eat. I secure the
tent for the day and start walking up the the trail that is supposed to be the one I was to walk coming in last night.. With the GPS and the
brighness that real daylight brings, I found my way back to the visitors center.. what a hoot.. I would have NEVER make it to camp last night if I
wanted to. The trails were just too screwed up and poorly signed, etc.. This park is a mess of the biggest kind.. A real nut designed it. Back at the
visitor center, OH, and by the way, the trail I came up on, comes in the back door of the visitor centers lower level. Most people would never know
it exists... Bad.... I go it to ask how to go see the dog sled demo.. Now remember, it is still raining.. The ranger, who is not too bright, gives me
directions.. Bad... By asking about three other people, I finally learn how to go see the dog sled demo. The people who work at this place really
are out of this world goofed up.. And their park info booklet is as nutty as they are.. It is little to no help either. My biggest help may have come
from a bus driver I got to ride with. Their bus system is so screwed up that is is hard to believe, then, the drivers hardly slow down at the bus
stops.. You almost have to jump in front of the bus to stop it!!!!!! I missed the first bus because of this, but saw another and just jumped on, not
caring which way it was going.. Turns out I got a real nice fellow. I told him about the issues I was having.. He explained enough of the basics that I
could go see the dog thing. What you need to know, is that the parks people do not want you driving your car anywhere in the park, but still you
have to get places and they are not worth a damn at getting you there.. As it turns out, I have to go to a bus stop, 40 minutes before the dog sled
demo. Thinking there will only be one bus, many, including me trying to cram out way on.. Then the driver comes over says no, you do not have to
do that, there will be other buses coming.. And there was.. There were about four buses to take people to see the dog sled demo.. And guess
what, it was raining to beat hell when we arrived.. Rained all the way through the show, and was still raining when we left.. I think it quit raining
later.. The dog show was kinda neat, but nothing like what we all expected, given the big talk about it.. It was nothing more than seeing a few of
the dogs that work in the park in the winter, plus the gear used, one of the sleds, and then got to watch five of the dogs pull the demo sled for
about 15 seconds, if that long. And most of the time the team was behind the brush from the viewing audience, so there was nothing to see... It
was kind of a joke. It could have been done soooo much better... At one point I gave up in doing my stuff for lunch and went to the Marino Grill
by the visitor center.. Burger there was $10.50 and fountain soda was $2.00... Sound bad, but the burger turned out to be awesome... Later,
after I had enough of the rain and the wet dogs, I went back to this place for a bottle of beer, at $4.00.. Was good. Alaskan Ale.
I knew I had to get up early for my long bus ride tomorrow to Kantaskia?, the end of the dirt road in the park.. I had a camp site for tonight, but not
tomorrow night. I first thought I would leave the park after the bus ride, but decided against it.. Went back to the Wilderness Access Center and
paid for another night.. This way I did not have to do anything but go to bed when I got back.. Then, off I went to get some rest..
July 16, 2010
I have my alarms, the cell phone and GPS set to wake me up.. The phone works, the GPS does not.. If you are thinking of buying a Garmin 78S,
forget it.. It might have been a good idea on the drawing board, but it did not turn out be any good.. More on this later. I did get up, I did get myself
fed and ready to do.. Now, I should say here, the camping sites here do not come with showers.. If you want a shower, it is about 15 minute walk
away and costs several dollars.. Many of the campgrounds do not have showers.. Some have running water and flush toilets, but that is the fancy
ones.. Cost for my tent site in Denali was 14 dollars per night.
I caught the bus up to the Wilderness Access Center where I am to catch the bus to for the long ride. Then I lean there were other options for
guided tours that do the same trip, but nobody tells you this at the info counter.. You have to figure it out some other way.. I learned about it when
they started calling out the buses for people to leave. Really poor communication in the park service people line up, or whatever it is called... I do
manage to get a cup of coffee, and I do manage to get on the right bus, and I do get a driver that should have only had 4 year old people as
customers.. Some of the crazy stuff she said just plain as nuts.. She had people whispering on the bus so as not to scare the animals that were so
far away that you had to have field glasses to see them!!!!! She wanted to keep the park natural.. There were dozens of buses, brush hogs
mowing the sides of the roads, graders grading the roads and she was telling us to bery very quite so as not to bother the animals.. You probably
would have had to be there to appreciate the show... We left at near 0800, road 90 miles, with some stops, Got to see the Top of Denali for just a
minute or two, then arrived at the roads end at 1:45 PM.. After a 10 minute potty stop, we were gone again, headed back.. We had a few more
stops on the way, and arrived back at the visitor center near 7:30 PM.. I hurried up to the grill to get another of those high priced burgers, but the
place closed at 6 PM.. I grabbed a can of chili beans and a can opener out of the car and headed towards the campground. I stopped off at the
general store to see if there was something cold to drink and Doritos. They had both. I chose the Big can of Fosters beer, and then went to check
on the Doritos.. They had them.. The regular bag of Doritos, not the family size, was 8 dollars.. I told the lady I would just settle for the beer.. This
cost about 4 dollars, which is a bargin up here.. On the cruise ship, the same beer sells for near 8 dollars. !!!! So, with beer and beans, I head for
the campground again.. But, 50 yards from the store I encounter a mama moose and her baby eating along side the trail... Got a few photos,
watched them awhile, went around them and on to camp where I devoured the beans and beer! Was good. On the bus ride this day, we did see at
least 4 grizzly bears, and a bunch of caribou and dall sheep, but all were really far away.. We all took photos, but they were so far away you will
never find them in out pictures!!!!!!!! The most wildlife is right in town!!!!!!!!
July 17, 2010,
RAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have I mentioned that it rains up here in Alaska??????? OK, you figured it out.. It rained again today.. Actually it started raining
last night, and was still raining when I woke up this morning... It did stop long enough for me to fix one of my freeze dried Granola breakfast meals,
and some coffee, the tea bag kind... Had a banana, and then the rain!!!!!! I finally said to hell with it and started packing in the rain... Since my car
was over a mile away, I figured that if I could get all my stuff to the bus stop, about 5 minutes away, I could use the bus to finish the trip.. It worked.
I got to the bus stop at 10 after the hour. Three minutes later the bus was there to get me.. 8 minutes later I was back at my car... The rain had
stopped for a few minutes.. But as soon as I started to put the stuff from the pack in the car, down came the big rain again... Did I mention that it
rains in Alaska? I managed to throw it all in, and with a few choice words I started the car up and headed over to the place to get some coffee and
think this whole thing over... I got the coffee, returning a couple calls.. Got my sister on one of the calls.. Had a nice visit.. Then I noticed it was
near lunch time... And I was not in the mood for more food bars!! So, back to the Marino Grill to get the well priced burger... Today I had the
cheese burger.. Eleven dollars for this little baby, and there was a two two dollar add on for the fountain drink... Thirteen dollars in all... But, it was
worth it.. The burger was great!!!!
Once I finished eating, I dropped off a couple of things at the post office and left the park!!!!!! Now I am headed south for Talkeetna where a lot, if
not most of the flights leave from to go see the Denali glaciers and side of the big mountain... I forgot to check the mileage, but I'm guessing it to
be about 170 miles from where I slept to the little town of Talkeetna.. I stopped at two visitors centers to ask about the flying options.. The info was
not all that good, but... I found out where the airport was and went out to talk to the people... K2 was the first and only one I talked to. Went over
options and the prices... Could not make up my mind... The fellow helping me said to think about it tonight and return in the morning to see what
they could do and who the weather was doing.. This is important.. Read on.. They had only taken two flights up this day because the weather was
too bad to see the moutain.. I said I would return in the morning. The rices range from near 200 dollars to over well over 300 dollars.. Some flights
land on a glacier, others do not. I will go back tomorrow. I leave, I go to find place to camp.. Not easy to do!!! I tried the tent only place in town..
Nasty place!!!!!! And, full..... No showers. It is a pig pen.. I got the boat launch place that has sites.. Poor at beast for 20 dollars. I pass.. I go to
the local RV place.. They do not have a place for me, but I have a nice chat with the owner.. He will sell me a shower tomorrow for 4 dollars, and
he has free highspeed internet if I want to use it... I remembered this little place back about 12 miles from Talkeetna that might have a place.. I
drive back here, I'm here, and I ask about camping.. They got it.. About 5 sites and I am the only customer.. Cost 15 dollars, but, they have some
wifi.. It only works in one spot on their porch... I see that they sever food, so I asked what the deal is.. The wife here is Thai?, and she cooks and
sells this type food... I get a beef mean and a diet coke... 10 dollars for a little Thai food, and one dollar for a the coke... There is no sales tax
here!!!!!!!!! I visit with Ken, the owner while I eat... He is retired Air Force!
After dinner, I go set up camp and try to dry out the wet tent, then I came back here to download some photos and try to get out an update....
OK, it will be midnight here in a few minutes.. I did download my latest photos, but there is no time to to attach any here, at least I don't think so.. I
need to finsh getting my batteries and camera stuff ready for tomorrow, in case I get to fly.. I will go back to the airport in the morning and see if
the weather is going to be good enough to fly..
You ask what people here in Alaska do at midnight when it is light out!! For the last hour, cars have been going by at 70 miles per hour.
Motorclyes at 75 miles per hour, four wheelers at the speed of sound, and the guys across the highway have shot off over 200 rounds of ammo
from an automatic weapon some kind.. Sounds like a war going on over there at times...
Note... One person asked about the flat terrain.. Where are the mountains.. There are few mountains in this part of the state. The area where
Denali is, seems to be a freek ridge that comes up out of the ground for a short distance.. All the area around it is flatter than Kansas... Down
along the coast it is supposed to be more of a mountain type terrain.. Will see that in a few days.. If I can fly tomorrow, I will.. If not, I am headed on
south where the weather is supposed to be better.. Either way, I am headed south. So, I'll share that with you when I get to a place where I can
send out a note. In the morning, I get to go to the RV campground and pay them to use their shower.. There is not one at this campground.. Also,
there is no water at this campground. The water is unsafe to give to people who might drink it... So, for legal reasons, they people here cannot
give you water!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok, stay tuned.. Hopefully I will get to share some photos later... It is now past midnight and looks like sunset back in the lower 48... And, for what
it is worth, the car started with just over 110,000 miles on it.. It now has well over 117,000 miles on it, I think... I may have to change the oil again
before I get back to STL.
2010-06-29
At around noon this day, I arrived in Radium Hot Springs, filled the car with gas, which is sold in litres here. One litre goes for about $1.05, or $4.20
per gallon!!! I thought about eating lunch in the Subway, which was part of the gas station, but there were no tables to sit at!!So, I ask the lady for
the location of internet access. She directed me to the library. Which was closed, but she had also told me about a coffee shop that offered internet
access. It was called Meet At The Top Of the World. At the coffee shop I got a great Turkey Sandwich and a huge mug of coffee, which was a mix of
regular coffee and the dark roast!! Cost, a little over 10 dollars. I charged it.. I charge everything as I go. Saves carrying the local money. They do
take US money here, and it has the same value as Canadian money.
At the shop I spent almost two hours catching up on a few emails and downloading more images from the camera. Right now the big camera shows
that I have shot 4477 images since I left home on the 18th.
The little camera has a few images on it, but not many.
After leaving the coffee shop around 3 PM, I headed for the park. The entrance was about a mile from the coffee shop.. Costs $9.80, I think it was,
for a 24 hour pass... If I stay longer, I have to pay for another day, etc.. You get little stickers that you have to put in your window.
This may be a funny time to mention it, but driving here is still strange to me. Everything is in kilometers!! And you are supposed to drive with your
headlights on all the time. The issue here is that I have been trying to follow the speed limits to a T... Not the locals, they just about run me over!! No
matter, I will stay with the rules.. It is only a few more days here, then I will be back in the US, but, Canada is absolutely awesome in this area..
Mountains, lakes, cool temps, low humidity.. Really neat, and most everyone here is in great shape!!! I am about the most overweight person
here!!!!! These people are very active.. Hiking, biking, camping, and the list goes on... But, the temps are in their favor... It is 69 degrees here. I
would be closer to 100 back home.. Back home, people go eat, here, people go play....
After entering the park today, I started taking photos as usual, but I keep looking up, so all I see is mountains, but other people are doing the animal
thing.. They see the animal, they stop. I see them stop, I stop, then ask what they see!!! Great system... Today I got photos of a bull moose, and
later a grizzly bear. I saw neither until I saw other people stopping to look...
I was planning to stop further south of where I am now, but due to the road construction and the rain, I could not find the campgrounds I was driving
by.. I eventually arrived at the Lake Louise campground and was able to get a tent site. This one is a no-fire site, D4, and cost $27.40.
I found the site, and set up the tent.. Lucky I had a stake hammer, the ground is nearly solid rock here!!! Got the tent set up, fixed dinner, and
learned where the bathrooms etc were from one of the workers.. Its a darn good hike to the john!!! The shower house is on the other end of the
campground. Best I drive there, but walking is what most are doing.. After dinner, I walked to the theater where a couple of ladies were doing a show
about the park system.. It was cute.. Stated at 8 PM.. Lasted an hour. I came back here and started this update. It is 9:50 PM and still daylight.
Strange about the long days as you get further north.. Can hardly wait to see the 24 hours of daylight!!!
I think this about ends the update as it relates to today, but I have to think about a plan for tomorrow. I am sure the famous Lake Louise is on the
list, but not sure what else I will do. I may visit a couple more lakes and scenic spots as I go towards Jasper..
I'll mention this, then close, the Canadians must not be to0 much on internet type things and there is hardly any access on this side of the border.
Today I used an internet coffee shop, and may have to do the same in the future. Back home, there are libraries, etc that have internet service, but
not up here...
Ok, bed time..
At around noon this day, I arrived in Radium Hot Springs, filled the car with gas, which is sold in litres here. One litre goes for about $1.05, or $4.20
per gallon!!! I thought about eating lunch in the Subway, which was part of the gas station, but there were no tables to sit at!!So, I ask the lady for
the location of internet access. She directed me to the library. Which was closed, but she had also told me about a coffee shop that offered internet
access. It was called Meet At The Top Of the World. At the coffee shop I got a great Turkey Sandwich and a huge mug of coffee, which was a mix of
regular coffee and the dark roast!! Cost, a little over 10 dollars. I charged it.. I charge everything as I go. Saves carrying the local money. They do
take US money here, and it has the same value as Canadian money.
At the shop I spent almost two hours catching up on a few emails and downloading more images from the camera. Right now the big camera shows
that I have shot 4477 images since I left home on the 18th.
The little camera has a few images on it, but not many.
After leaving the coffee shop around 3 PM, I headed for the park. The entrance was about a mile from the coffee shop.. Costs $9.80, I think it was,
for a 24 hour pass... If I stay longer, I have to pay for another day, etc.. You get little stickers that you have to put in your window.
This may be a funny time to mention it, but driving here is still strange to me. Everything is in kilometers!! And you are supposed to drive with your
headlights on all the time. The issue here is that I have been trying to follow the speed limits to a T... Not the locals, they just about run me over!! No
matter, I will stay with the rules.. It is only a few more days here, then I will be back in the US, but, Canada is absolutely awesome in this area..
Mountains, lakes, cool temps, low humidity.. Really neat, and most everyone here is in great shape!!! I am about the most overweight person
here!!!!! These people are very active.. Hiking, biking, camping, and the list goes on... But, the temps are in their favor... It is 69 degrees here. I
would be closer to 100 back home.. Back home, people go eat, here, people go play....
After entering the park today, I started taking photos as usual, but I keep looking up, so all I see is mountains, but other people are doing the animal
thing.. They see the animal, they stop. I see them stop, I stop, then ask what they see!!! Great system... Today I got photos of a bull moose, and
later a grizzly bear. I saw neither until I saw other people stopping to look...
I was planning to stop further south of where I am now, but due to the road construction and the rain, I could not find the campgrounds I was driving
by.. I eventually arrived at the Lake Louise campground and was able to get a tent site. This one is a no-fire site, D4, and cost $27.40.
I found the site, and set up the tent.. Lucky I had a stake hammer, the ground is nearly solid rock here!!! Got the tent set up, fixed dinner, and
learned where the bathrooms etc were from one of the workers.. Its a darn good hike to the john!!! The shower house is on the other end of the
campground. Best I drive there, but walking is what most are doing.. After dinner, I walked to the theater where a couple of ladies were doing a show
about the park system.. It was cute.. Stated at 8 PM.. Lasted an hour. I came back here and started this update. It is 9:50 PM and still daylight.
Strange about the long days as you get further north.. Can hardly wait to see the 24 hours of daylight!!!
I think this about ends the update as it relates to today, but I have to think about a plan for tomorrow. I am sure the famous Lake Louise is on the
list, but not sure what else I will do. I may visit a couple more lakes and scenic spots as I go towards Jasper..
I'll mention this, then close, the Canadians must not be to0 much on internet type things and there is hardly any access on this side of the border.
Today I used an internet coffee shop, and may have to do the same in the future. Back home, there are libraries, etc that have internet service, but
not up here...
Ok, bed time..
July 05, 2010
Update from Skagway, Alaska..
It is now 11.20 PM, and has just gotten dark, if you can call it that.. There is not much battery power left in the computer, so this may be short as I
have been downloading images and that sort of thing, but just to give you some idea of what is going on, I'll add a few bits of info from today.
I got up around 0700.. Now you need to know that the sun comes up here around 0415.. But, since I stay up late doing this sort of thing, I sleep on
til 0700.. By the time I get up, the rest of the world has their day half finished!!! Actually this morning, there was a lot of activity in the campground
as this seems to be the place were people camp before they start to backpack the famous Chilkoot(sp?) Trail. I think I spelled that wrong, but you
can look it up.. It is the one of the two famous trails that these gold seekers used to head for Dawson City and the hope of getting rich..
Once I had finished breakfast, I elected to come back here for another night, so I paid my next 10 dollars for this site, then headed to town.. Wasn't
sure what I would do, but several places were suggested to me.. Two of the places in town are owned and operated by a fellow from St. Louis.. A
place called the SOS.. Later I would go there and get my free wooden train whistle... More on that later.
In town, it was again cold and super windy!!! But, I headed for the visitor center.. There are two of them. The one run by the town people is rather
a waste of time.. The second is run by the park service and has a few more neat things to see and do. First I went on a walking tour with a park
ranger that was quite good!!! Hard to believe what these fellows and women went through in hopes of getting rich!!!!! Few of them did, many died,
others turned back. Many who made it to the gold fields found all the claims taken.. They got nothing for their work.. They lived a miserable life.
And, they are not all good Christain people it would seem. In one season, they killed about 3000 horses, due to over working the animals, etc...
They were rotting in piles along the trail.
A park ranger took us in groups around the town and gave us about a 50 minute talk on the famous places that are still standing.. Some really wild
stories took place during this time. I took the tour, visited their museum, and watched the video that they have, which gives an overview of how the
Klondike Gold Rush came to be and how it died... For all the fame, it was only a two year event..
I walked the streets and took photos for awhile, then went back to my car, which was parked in front of the food market.. There is one food market
and one gas station in town. I went in the food market just to browse. My favorite treat is Doritos.. I looked for some in the store.. Found them.. The
family size bag that sells for 3 dollars at Walmart back home, was 7 dollars in this store.. Nice price jump.. More on prices later..
I went to the car, ate my food bar lunch, talked to a couple fo friends via cell phone since service is perfect in town.. Then went to the famous Red
Onion Saloon to get warm and a bite to eat. The food bars were not enough. The Red Onion Saloon was once a brothel in the gold rush days..
Tours of the business rooms upstairs was 5 dollars.. The sign says 5 dollars for 15 minutes, just like in 1889,, I think that was the year..
I ordered a pizza and an Alaskan beer.. The pizza was 10.50 for a thin 7 inch size.. The beer was a draft and was 5 dollars.... The bill was 16
dollars, plus some cents.
When I was finishing up, I happened to see the Canadains I had met twice earlier on my trip.. Caught up with them and toured a few more places in
town, to include seeing the Gold Rush movie again. Then Dave, the Canadain and I went to the SOS to get our free wooden railroad whistles!!!
Only, we could not get them because we did not have the coupon that was in the local paper.. So, off we went to our cars to get the papers and
then back to the store to get our whistles.. They are pretty nice.. I would not have known about the place, except that at the only gas station in
town, yesterday, I was talking to the lady who runs it and learned that a man and woman from St. Louis own the SOS and some other businesses
in town, mostly gift shops.... When I went in to get the whistle, I learned that the fellow working behind the counter lives near Hawn State Park..
Actually St. Genevieve... Did I spell that correctly? He goes to school in Springfield, but because it is his aunt that is one of the owners, he comes
here each summer to work!! Leaves in August to got back to college..
After all this, the group of us, me and the Canada folks went for coffee.. We went to Starbucks.. Coffee was cheaper there than back home, I
think. After the coffee, we headed for the brothel tour, but stopped to check the local liquor prices.. They were not too bad.. Seven dollars for a 6
pack fo Miller Lite.. That is more than at home, but half the price the Canada people have to pay for it... They pay double for booze in Canada....
For five dollars each, we all took the brothel tour.. Was not much to see, but the lady giving the tour was great. So it was a good time. Now
somewhere in the crowd, I got seperated from the Canada people and they were gone, as they had to hurry and drive back to Whitehorse tonight.
I then went to the local gas station, the only place in town where I could fill up my water bottles!!! Used the laundry sink in the bathroom to get
drinking water.. Then headed for the local library.. It was closed, but the wifi had been left on, so I was able to reply to a few messages.. Then, I
headed out of town to see the Gold Rush Cemetery.. It was okay, but not much to see.... If I knew more about the people in it, it might have been
better, but,,,,, The part that was great, was the Reid Waterfall behind the cemetery.. It was awesome.. I hope to share photos of it later...
Once done done with the cemetery thing, I headed back here, where I started downloading images and doing backups etc... Most all of that is
done now, and this is about done, cause the meter says the battery is about gone.. It is also a few minutes after midnight.. So, guess I best shut
this down and sleep..
In the morning, I plan to head back to town for a little more touring, then I will head back north into Canada. The goal being to get to Haines, which
is just on the other side of the mountain.. Might get there late tomorrow... Will see how it goes... I will try to get this sent from the wifi in town before
leave...
They say you feel warm just before you freeze to death, well, I might be on my last leg.. I seem to be a lot warmer now than yesterday.. I might be
getting use to this damn cold and wind!!!!!!! The locals can handle it, so it can be done....
More later.. This is being written in Dyea, but will be wifi-ed out in Skagway.
I am trying to add a few photos this morning.. 2010-07-06.. Included will be my 5 dollar comforter!!!!
Tom
Update from Skagway, Alaska..
It is now 11.20 PM, and has just gotten dark, if you can call it that.. There is not much battery power left in the computer, so this may be short as I
have been downloading images and that sort of thing, but just to give you some idea of what is going on, I'll add a few bits of info from today.
I got up around 0700.. Now you need to know that the sun comes up here around 0415.. But, since I stay up late doing this sort of thing, I sleep on
til 0700.. By the time I get up, the rest of the world has their day half finished!!! Actually this morning, there was a lot of activity in the campground
as this seems to be the place were people camp before they start to backpack the famous Chilkoot(sp?) Trail. I think I spelled that wrong, but you
can look it up.. It is the one of the two famous trails that these gold seekers used to head for Dawson City and the hope of getting rich..
Once I had finished breakfast, I elected to come back here for another night, so I paid my next 10 dollars for this site, then headed to town.. Wasn't
sure what I would do, but several places were suggested to me.. Two of the places in town are owned and operated by a fellow from St. Louis.. A
place called the SOS.. Later I would go there and get my free wooden train whistle... More on that later.
In town, it was again cold and super windy!!! But, I headed for the visitor center.. There are two of them. The one run by the town people is rather
a waste of time.. The second is run by the park service and has a few more neat things to see and do. First I went on a walking tour with a park
ranger that was quite good!!! Hard to believe what these fellows and women went through in hopes of getting rich!!!!! Few of them did, many died,
others turned back. Many who made it to the gold fields found all the claims taken.. They got nothing for their work.. They lived a miserable life.
And, they are not all good Christain people it would seem. In one season, they killed about 3000 horses, due to over working the animals, etc...
They were rotting in piles along the trail.
A park ranger took us in groups around the town and gave us about a 50 minute talk on the famous places that are still standing.. Some really wild
stories took place during this time. I took the tour, visited their museum, and watched the video that they have, which gives an overview of how the
Klondike Gold Rush came to be and how it died... For all the fame, it was only a two year event..
I walked the streets and took photos for awhile, then went back to my car, which was parked in front of the food market.. There is one food market
and one gas station in town. I went in the food market just to browse. My favorite treat is Doritos.. I looked for some in the store.. Found them.. The
family size bag that sells for 3 dollars at Walmart back home, was 7 dollars in this store.. Nice price jump.. More on prices later..
I went to the car, ate my food bar lunch, talked to a couple fo friends via cell phone since service is perfect in town.. Then went to the famous Red
Onion Saloon to get warm and a bite to eat. The food bars were not enough. The Red Onion Saloon was once a brothel in the gold rush days..
Tours of the business rooms upstairs was 5 dollars.. The sign says 5 dollars for 15 minutes, just like in 1889,, I think that was the year..
I ordered a pizza and an Alaskan beer.. The pizza was 10.50 for a thin 7 inch size.. The beer was a draft and was 5 dollars.... The bill was 16
dollars, plus some cents.
When I was finishing up, I happened to see the Canadains I had met twice earlier on my trip.. Caught up with them and toured a few more places in
town, to include seeing the Gold Rush movie again. Then Dave, the Canadain and I went to the SOS to get our free wooden railroad whistles!!!
Only, we could not get them because we did not have the coupon that was in the local paper.. So, off we went to our cars to get the papers and
then back to the store to get our whistles.. They are pretty nice.. I would not have known about the place, except that at the only gas station in
town, yesterday, I was talking to the lady who runs it and learned that a man and woman from St. Louis own the SOS and some other businesses
in town, mostly gift shops.... When I went in to get the whistle, I learned that the fellow working behind the counter lives near Hawn State Park..
Actually St. Genevieve... Did I spell that correctly? He goes to school in Springfield, but because it is his aunt that is one of the owners, he comes
here each summer to work!! Leaves in August to got back to college..
After all this, the group of us, me and the Canada folks went for coffee.. We went to Starbucks.. Coffee was cheaper there than back home, I
think. After the coffee, we headed for the brothel tour, but stopped to check the local liquor prices.. They were not too bad.. Seven dollars for a 6
pack fo Miller Lite.. That is more than at home, but half the price the Canada people have to pay for it... They pay double for booze in Canada....
For five dollars each, we all took the brothel tour.. Was not much to see, but the lady giving the tour was great. So it was a good time. Now
somewhere in the crowd, I got seperated from the Canada people and they were gone, as they had to hurry and drive back to Whitehorse tonight.
I then went to the local gas station, the only place in town where I could fill up my water bottles!!! Used the laundry sink in the bathroom to get
drinking water.. Then headed for the local library.. It was closed, but the wifi had been left on, so I was able to reply to a few messages.. Then, I
headed out of town to see the Gold Rush Cemetery.. It was okay, but not much to see.... If I knew more about the people in it, it might have been
better, but,,,,, The part that was great, was the Reid Waterfall behind the cemetery.. It was awesome.. I hope to share photos of it later...
Once done done with the cemetery thing, I headed back here, where I started downloading images and doing backups etc... Most all of that is
done now, and this is about done, cause the meter says the battery is about gone.. It is also a few minutes after midnight.. So, guess I best shut
this down and sleep..
In the morning, I plan to head back to town for a little more touring, then I will head back north into Canada. The goal being to get to Haines, which
is just on the other side of the mountain.. Might get there late tomorrow... Will see how it goes... I will try to get this sent from the wifi in town before
leave...
They say you feel warm just before you freeze to death, well, I might be on my last leg.. I seem to be a lot warmer now than yesterday.. I might be
getting use to this damn cold and wind!!!!!!! The locals can handle it, so it can be done....
More later.. This is being written in Dyea, but will be wifi-ed out in Skagway.
I am trying to add a few photos this morning.. 2010-07-06.. Included will be my 5 dollar comforter!!!!
Tom
Update written in Haines Thursday, July 08, 2010 0730
Since internet is hard to come by, I am not sure when this will be going out, but I think the last update I sent was on Wednesday morning as I was
leaving Skagway... Well, I am here to tell ya, the drive out of Skagway was a challenge!!!! On the road was about the thickest fog I have ever
seen, or seen in a long time!!! If you were to throw a baseball in front of ya, it would have gone out of site before it hit the ground! I did take a few
photos through the front windshield, as I seem to be doing a lot here, just to get record shots of what things look like from behine the steering
wheel. When I arrived back at the Alaska sign I had taken photos at a couple days earlier, I could hardly see it in the fog... I did stop and take a
few images anyway, and met a nasty tour bus operator who wanted me to get out of the way of the sign so his people could take a picture.. I was
actually leaving at the time, but he must not have noticed.. When I came into Canada on the June 27, they did a complete search of the car...
When I came in this time, they just as if I was carrying weapons, tobacco, etc, and where I was headed.. Then they waved me on....
On the Canada side of the mountains, the fog moe or less went away and I had a nice drive on in to Whitehorse. There I went to the visitor center
and asked how to find the Frantic Follies satage show that was in town.. The lady gave me directions and off I went. Found it, got info, went to a
Subway for dinner,, then went to the local campground to get a tent site... Got it, showered and changed clothes, then headed for the show.. Was
24 dollars.. Sat on the front row with some some neat people from Louisiana.. Did I spell that correctly? Was a great shwo, one of those
vaudeville? acts, of sorts...
The show started at 8:30, ended at 10:30 PM.... Went outside and it was as daylight as 10:30 AM, well ealy morning anyway... One of the people
on this update list asked what it is like to be in total daylight all the time.. It is strange.. I took photos of my car at 10:30 PM that looked as if they
were taked at high noon... Now for the difference, at night it is ghostly here... It is light, but there are no people, no cars, everything is locked at,
just like at night.. It makes you think the end of the world has finally arrived and all the people were taken away by some strange force!!! To be in
a town at midnight in full daylight and nobody walking or driving around is something to see.. Very strange... You have to have a good clock and
calendar to stay on top of thing...
Yesterday morning, I woke up, did my breakfast thing and headed out.. Was going to try to get an update out while I was in town, but the library
did not open until 10 AM... I would have to wait an hour, so I passed on that option and headed for Haines.. The drive to Haines has been the best
so far as I can remember... Had great weather, no rain, sunny skies, and beautiful mountains and rivers... Hopefully the pictures will show this... I
arrived in Haines, got my town sign photos, went into town and down to where a cruise ship was parked... Made a few phone calls and then went
off to the see the town.. Neat place this town is.... Not a tourist town like Skagway, but neat... I got some info at the info center, then went off to
see the town.. First thing was the Hammer Museum.. It is awesome... Took the tour, and met the man how started it.. There are over a thousand
on disply, and thousands more in storage.... From there I went to the micro beer brewing place, and had a Spruce Tips beer.. Was awesome...
From there I came to the place where I am now.. The little campground here near town... It is is dive, but was easy to get to... The bathroom is
falling apart, and the showers are pay-showers... I passed on them as I did not trust them to do the job!!! But, it was a place to sleep.... After
paying for the tent site, in the hotel lobby, I stopped by the bar and had a few more pints of Red Ale from the micro-brew place. It was good.. Also
talked to a couple of the ladies sitting at the bar. The one next to me was a retired school teacher from Michigan, and the other was a pharmacy
person from the Anchorage area, I think,,, And the bar maid, Sue, could fill a glass fuller than anyone I have ever seen, and not spell the
contents of the glass!!!
OK, it is now after 0800, and the places I want to see are starting to open, so off I go to see the town again... Will send this when I find wifi.....
Since internet is hard to come by, I am not sure when this will be going out, but I think the last update I sent was on Wednesday morning as I was
leaving Skagway... Well, I am here to tell ya, the drive out of Skagway was a challenge!!!! On the road was about the thickest fog I have ever
seen, or seen in a long time!!! If you were to throw a baseball in front of ya, it would have gone out of site before it hit the ground! I did take a few
photos through the front windshield, as I seem to be doing a lot here, just to get record shots of what things look like from behine the steering
wheel. When I arrived back at the Alaska sign I had taken photos at a couple days earlier, I could hardly see it in the fog... I did stop and take a
few images anyway, and met a nasty tour bus operator who wanted me to get out of the way of the sign so his people could take a picture.. I was
actually leaving at the time, but he must not have noticed.. When I came into Canada on the June 27, they did a complete search of the car...
When I came in this time, they just as if I was carrying weapons, tobacco, etc, and where I was headed.. Then they waved me on....
On the Canada side of the mountains, the fog moe or less went away and I had a nice drive on in to Whitehorse. There I went to the visitor center
and asked how to find the Frantic Follies satage show that was in town.. The lady gave me directions and off I went. Found it, got info, went to a
Subway for dinner,, then went to the local campground to get a tent site... Got it, showered and changed clothes, then headed for the show.. Was
24 dollars.. Sat on the front row with some some neat people from Louisiana.. Did I spell that correctly? Was a great shwo, one of those
vaudeville? acts, of sorts...
The show started at 8:30, ended at 10:30 PM.... Went outside and it was as daylight as 10:30 AM, well ealy morning anyway... One of the people
on this update list asked what it is like to be in total daylight all the time.. It is strange.. I took photos of my car at 10:30 PM that looked as if they
were taked at high noon... Now for the difference, at night it is ghostly here... It is light, but there are no people, no cars, everything is locked at,
just like at night.. It makes you think the end of the world has finally arrived and all the people were taken away by some strange force!!! To be in
a town at midnight in full daylight and nobody walking or driving around is something to see.. Very strange... You have to have a good clock and
calendar to stay on top of thing...
Yesterday morning, I woke up, did my breakfast thing and headed out.. Was going to try to get an update out while I was in town, but the library
did not open until 10 AM... I would have to wait an hour, so I passed on that option and headed for Haines.. The drive to Haines has been the best
so far as I can remember... Had great weather, no rain, sunny skies, and beautiful mountains and rivers... Hopefully the pictures will show this... I
arrived in Haines, got my town sign photos, went into town and down to where a cruise ship was parked... Made a few phone calls and then went
off to the see the town.. Neat place this town is.... Not a tourist town like Skagway, but neat... I got some info at the info center, then went off to
see the town.. First thing was the Hammer Museum.. It is awesome... Took the tour, and met the man how started it.. There are over a thousand
on disply, and thousands more in storage.... From there I went to the micro beer brewing place, and had a Spruce Tips beer.. Was awesome...
From there I came to the place where I am now.. The little campground here near town... It is is dive, but was easy to get to... The bathroom is
falling apart, and the showers are pay-showers... I passed on them as I did not trust them to do the job!!! But, it was a place to sleep.... After
paying for the tent site, in the hotel lobby, I stopped by the bar and had a few more pints of Red Ale from the micro-brew place. It was good.. Also
talked to a couple of the ladies sitting at the bar. The one next to me was a retired school teacher from Michigan, and the other was a pharmacy
person from the Anchorage area, I think,,, And the bar maid, Sue, could fill a glass fuller than anyone I have ever seen, and not spell the
contents of the glass!!!
OK, it is now after 0800, and the places I want to see are starting to open, so off I go to see the town again... Will send this when I find wifi.....
2010-07-20
WOW, what a day! I wake to the sounds of what seems like a whole military unit leaving for war! I hear this around 0700.. I listen to it for 30
minutes wondering what the heck is going on.. Finally I open the tent enough that I can look out.. There are boo-coos of boats heading out to the
open water or to their favorite fishing spots or something.. But it seemed like every boat in Alaska was trying to leave Seward as if the darn place
were on fire, or else there was another gold rush somewhere out on the open sea!!! In a bit I decided to get up.. The noise was too much to sleep
anymore and who knows how long it would go on... Now if I have not told you, I am camped in the tent site closest to the water.. This is site number
5 in the city campground... Nice enough place, but real close to the water... That is all good until about ???? in the morning.. When I got out of my
tent, I saw the man camped next to me. Mentioned to him that this boat noise had been going on for awhile.. He said it woke him up around 0600,
and had not slowed down.. Apparently it was the chartered fishing boats going out for the day..
As I recall, it was not raining this morning.. Foggy, but not raining.. I do not remember what sunshine looks like.. It does stay light here for most of
the night, but it is the light coming through the clouds, just like now. Decided to try and get on a tour boat today instead of waiting for tomorrow, if I
can.. I rush a bite to eat, renew my campsite, and head down town. There are really only two tour companies in town as far as I know.. Kenai Fjord
Tours and Marine Tours. I go to both and ask for rates, discounts, etc.. Then I go next door to a coffee shop and get an opinion.. Seems the Kenai
group is the bets chose.. Food is included and free parking... I choose them and pay... Was 139 for the 5 hour tour, but then there was the AAA
discount, and then the port tax and the other tax?, so the total came to 142.00.. Go figure!
I had a couple hours to kill, which I did, talking on the phone.. Got a call back from a friend that had been busy earlier.. ( It is 9:30 PM and has just
started raining... again).. Then I when to the free lot, parked the car and rode the shuttle back.. Almost missed it cause I had to run back to the car
and get a pair of socks.. Thought it might be cool on the boat.. So far I have worn only the pair of Chaco sandals I was wearing when I left STL.. I
have boots and tennies in the car, but have not needed them yet...
I get to the dock where we are supposed to load up and get to talking cameras with people on the dock.. A man pulls out a lens filter and asked if
this will fit my camera gear.. We try it, but no, it is too big!! I say no, I cannot use it.. He says do you want it anyway.. I do!!!!!! Sure, I'll take it.. It is
at least an 80 dollar filter, if I'm guessing right, and I may have a lens soon that can use it... I'm thinking it is time to invest in some bigger camera
gear, given the things I am getting involved in.... Thinking I will go with Canon.. Nikon treated me bad and on the tours, the big cameras people are
carrying are all from Canon. I would hate like heck to go back to Nikon, but there is one sad thing that makes a difference, which camera matches
the grip of your hand and is more comfortable to use.. That is a real issue... I'll have to see if Canon fits my hand... The man gave me the filter!
Now for the tour cruise.. When it took off, I hurried and got on the bow of the boat, but I was not there long... This boat moves fast and we were not
far from the dock when we hit rain, fog, cold air, you name it... And it stayed that way for the next 5 hours or so.. We were gone about 5.5 hours
and hardly saw anything.. I heard there was beautiful scenery in all that fog, but we barely saw any of it.. A couple of times the driver got us close
to land so we could see some seals and some puffins and ??? We even managed to see dolphins and whales at pretty close range.. However,
taking photos of them is like trying to photograph a ????, they are there and gone before anyone can get a shot.. About 1.5 seconds of viewing
for these things.
The fog and rain finally got so thick we could see nothing.. Everyone was hiding inside the boat trying to dry themselves and their cameras, etc...
We did make it to a big glacier, but it was raining so hard and was soooooo cold that few of us could stand to be outside for more than a few
minutes.. The boat stayed there about 30 minutes.. Then, we headed back.. We had left the dock, at about 11:30 AM, got to the glacier at 3:00
PM. Then we headed back, we saw 99 percent fog on the way back, but did stop for a whale encounter on the way back.. All of it together was
about 8 seconds of whale time. Then we headed back to the dock.. Got back at 5:30 PM, right on time.. I then went to Subway for dinner, then
went and watched the fishing boats come in.. WOW. These people bring in some really strange fish.. Will talk about that later.. My computer
battery is about to die... I finished the fish watching, headed to the car, jumped in, ran to local hotel parking lot, looked at a few emails before the
connection died.. Then I came here to the campground.. I am in for the night, I think.. It is 10 til 10, PM.
Tomorrow, on the 21st, I think I will try for the aquarium or whatever it is called, then head over to Homer, which is xxx miles away... Then, maybe I
will get better weather.. Either way, I plan to go to Valdez before starting my journey home.. Hopefully there will be some sun before I leave this
area and I can run back to Talkeetna and do the flying tour of Denali.. If not, it will just have to be a ???... Might not ever get back this way... I'll
look at other peoples photos... I do hear it is a fun thing to do, so I would love to get it done while I am here...
Bed time... Maybe.. I feel like a Dorito would be a good snack before I go to bed!!! :-)))
PS.. There are no ticks or chiggers here, none that I have heard of... Too darn cold!!!!!!!!
2010-07-21.....
I woke up to more boats going out fishing, but this time fell back to sleep... Getting used to the life here I guess... And, guess what, there is
sunshine right now!!!!!!!! I should have gone on the boat tour today!!!!!!!!!! Am I being punished for something????
Ok, here is the deal, I woke up, got up fixed a freeze dried breakfast, and took down the tent.. Time to move on.. Not sure how soon I will get out of
Seward, but I am trying... I first went to the Alaska Sealife center... 19 dollars with a discount.!! Spent about 1.89 hours there, then headed to the
library, where I am now.. Here I can download my photos from the camera, clean up some email stuff and get back on track.. Not much left to do in
this town, I don't think, but I might find something.. I stumbled on the Mile 0 sign and starting post for the Iditarod race each year.. I was not aware it
was here.. Almost missed it. Kinda neat to be at the point where the famous race starts... I see on my map that there is a glacier not far from here
that I can drive to.. Will try to find that on the way out of town, provided I get out of here today... My next stop is Homer, or so I think...
Have not sent photos in awhile, so will try to get a few together and share.. It is hard to separate the good ones from all the junk ones...!!!!!!
Off to see a glacier, before the rain comes back.. I have checked the weather for here in Seward, Homer, and Valdez.. Rain is predicted for the
next 10 days.... I am going to check the weather for southern California and see how fast I can get there, unless it is raining there as well.!!!!!!!!!
2010-07-21, evening
Darn, wouldn't you know it, I took the tour boat rid yesterday, and got rained out.. Could hardly see the front of the tour boat.. Could not stay
outside on the viewing deck because of the hard rain, cold wind and my freezing fingers.. Not to mention all the wet camera gear that everyone
was getting!!! What a mess, but, then today, it has been nice all day.. We had SUN today!!!!!!! It did rain again today, but wasn't for long... Mostly
it was a nice day... Would loved to have been on the tour this day!!!!!!!!! Did someone say that if it were not for bad luck, I would have not luck at
all!!!!!!! Well that is not entirely true, I have had bad luck on this trip for sure, but some things have worked out, but I will have to think what it
was!!!!!!!
At around noon this day, I sent out an update from the Seward library.. As I recall, I had just gotten back from the Sealife place and was planning
to leave town.. I did.. On the way out, I stopped at Safeway, got some turkey, apples, bananas, etc... Ate most of the stuff for lunch as I drove out
to a place called Exit Glacier.. On a scale of one to 10, it was about a 5. Was something to do to kill time, but not a real highlight of the trip.. To
see the glacier, a person has to walk just over a mile to the viewing area. At this point the wind is very strong and cold!!!!!! However, it was not
raining!!!!!! I took the usual memory shots and headed back to the car.. From there I headed for the next town on my list, Soldonta I think it is
called.. It is on the way to Homer.. On the way there is when I hit the rain.. In fact, as I left the Seward highway to go towards Homer, it was raining,
but I still got out and took a few photo of the lake at the intersection. Then on the road again.. Mountain!! If you are like me, you have seen
mountains a many in photos of Alaska.. Well, a lot of Alaska is flatter than Kansas.. And much of the area I drove through today was just that, flat.
Nice for driving, but not no calendar photos in this area.!!! Again, I think the man that said that if you are not in a boat or a plane, you will not see
the better parts of Alaska.. There are just miles and miles of flat stuff!!!!!!!!!!
Sometime around 5 PM, I rolled into the town of Soldonta. Stopped at a place called Fred Meyer, I think, and got gas.. This person or family must
me like Walmart to our part of the country.. They have some rather large stores here that sell just about everything thing.. I got turkey, beer,
Doritos, and apples.. What a combination!!!!!!! I left with the thought that I would have much of this for dinner this night, provided I could find a
campground. My AAA book listed one RV place in town and two camping places on the way to Homer. About 15 miles out of town, I saw the sign
for Johnson Lake State Recreation Area. This is one of the places to get a camp site. I drive the back roads til I arrive. I read the regulations
board and go look for a site. All the sites are full... But, there was a note at the entry area that mentioned overflow camping. Sounds good, but
along with the overflow camping sign was a note that said NO Camping where the overflow sites were located.. These were also listed as Day-Use
area sites... Just so happened that I found the campground host's trailer and knocked on the door.. I explained the problem I had. The lady at the
door laughed and said, don't worry about the signs, go ahead and pick a spot, pay my 10 dollars at the pay station and be happy.. So, I did..
Since it is July 21, I picked site 21..!!!!!!! Nice spot right on the edge of the water here at the lake.. My tent is about 20 feet from the water... Much
better than the other campsites around the lake!!!!! But, to use the restroom, you gotta run up the road or drive up the road a ways to the
potty!!!!!! Not too handy, but!!!
Speaking of being on the lake, the kids, and the people as a whole are a much hardier bunch of people than what we see back home.. When I am
about to freeze, these people are running around in a t-shirt and shorts!!!!! As I write this, I am sitting at a picnic table facing the lake. Not too far
in front of me is a couple of kids, boy and girl, paddling a canoe around as if it were high summer back home.. They are having a ball... And, they
are not the only ones, others are out on this little lake in canoes and small paddle boats, just zooming away!!!!!!!! I have on a t-shirt, a shirt, a
fleece jacket, and a Goretex Parka, and I am thinking of going to bed to get warm, or warmer!!!!!!! This is a beautiful lake and the effect of the
sun setting is doing wonders for the visual effects.. I got some photos awhile ago, but should think about getting more before the light gets too
low.. I am just now seeing the moon come up.. This is the first time I can remember seeing the moon since I started this trip!!!!!! Its almost a full
moon, and is coming up in front of me on the other side of the lake.. Perfect view!!!!!!
To those who have been here, this is no surprise, but to me it is.. The fishing!!!!!! I never seen so many people fishing, they are in a fishing fever
here!!!!!!! Everybody, except me, is doing it.. I gather the fishing is very good here and so people are really getting after it. Also, this must be the
time the big fish are coming in to do their reproduction thing..
Its 10:30 PM.. The is no rain, there is little wind, the lake is calm, the kids are out paddling around on it, and the moon is coming up on the other
side, but I am about to reach the chill level.. So, time for me to go lay down... But, before I go, I have to mention something that was strange at the
Exit Glacier today. The park people talk a lot about the glaciers getting smaller. At Exit Glacier this day I found a series of signs, showing where
the edge of the glacier had been on a given year, starting back in the 1800s. Then oddly enough I found a sign that was for 1926, the year my
dad was born.. The sign was a long way from the glacier.. But, then further down the trail was a sign for 1951, the year I was born. Is that odd or
not??? But, it was still a long walk from the year I was born to the present edge of Exit Glacier. The experts are not quiet sure why this glaciers
are getting shorter.. Well the dumb butts should have asked me. It is the friggin RAIN!!!!!!!!! You spray water on an ice cube long enough and it
will disappear!!!!!!!!!! Darn, if it rains every year like it has while I was here, then the answer is simple.. So, who is the teacher for these
experts????? I do believe it is the rain, but whatever it is, it is making the glaciers disappear.. The big I have been to several times in the
Canadian Rockies is really getting shorter... When I was here in the late 70s, in November to see a college buddy, he took me to a place here
outside Anchorage called Portage Glacier. Portage Glacier at that time came down to the lake and into the water. In fact there were big blue
chunks of ice out in the lake, frozen in place by the cold of winter.. We went on the frozen lake and walked around these huge blocks of blue ice.
And by big, I mean big.. Like 10 or 12 feet tall, as I recall.. Huge, and blue!!!!!! Today, that is all gone. There is no longer big chunks of ice in the
lake and the edge of Portage Glacier has receded so far back up in the hills that there is no ice from it in the water.. They were giving out a chart
showing the recession of the glacier over the years, and one of the plotted years was 1974, the year I came to STL.. It was late 70s when I was
there.. I am truly amazed at how far the glacier has receded in just the 30 or o years since I was here... The big question is this just a natural thing
that is going on, or are we causing it?
You might like this.. You hear a lot about solar energy as a replacement for fossil fuel.. Well, it won't work here.. There is hardly ever any
light!!!!!!!!! But, there is a lot of friggin wind.. There is enough wind to make electricity for everyone in the world, I think.. !!!!!!! I think they could
easily set up the wind generators here and supply everyone with energy for lifetimes to come!!!!!!!!!
Another thing that is different here is number of small planes.. There are lots of them here, and they are not new!!!!!!!! For those who know what
a J-3 Cub is, well I think near all that were ever made now live in Alaska.. Cannot say I have seen them flying, due to the crappy weather, but
there are bunches of them at the airports that I pass.. It seems everyone here flys, even the darn kids.. These kids do it all.. But, then you have to
ask where does all the money come from to do all the things these people do.. I have asked that a lot of times and still do not have the answer.. It
would seem a lot of the money is still coming from the oil work up here.. Then there is the question of why the heck does gas cost so much if there
is so much oil here.. This one I did get an answer to.. They do have a lot of crude oil here, but almost no refining places... Seems that the refining
places are not that big and and are pretty far south, so all the gas in the state has to be trucked out from this, or these southern refining
stations.. Now, as I understand it, we too have our refining stations in the southern areas of the lower 48, but, we have huge pipelines that carry
this refined gas out across the country.. Up here, there is no supply pipeline to carry the finished product to the small towns... So, it is hauled to
its end point. I am guessing some of it goes by train, but there are few train lines in the state. So, I am not sure how important trains are to the
delivery of gas to the other parts of the state.. You might find this interesting.. When we took the tour to the Arctic Circle, the guide told us that
when the pipeline first opened, it was flowing at full capacity, or about 2,000,000 barrels a day.. Now, it is carrying about 40,000 barrels a day.. I
did not catch the reason for this, but she implied that the design was for about 40,000 per day, but in order to recover the money spent on the
pipeline, the owners pushed it for all it was worth to get fast money to pay for it... Once paid for, they backed off.
Here is another tidbit of info. When we were on the tour boat yesterday, the tour guide told us about the history of Seward and what a great
shipping place it had been at one time.. Then, in a matter of about 5 minutes, back in 1964 I think it was, Seward and some other parts of Alaska,
like Anchorage, were near destroyed by an earthquake. Some of the other places, like Anchorage, revised the town plan and started over, but
Seward did not.. I missed the reason why, but it seemed there was a fear of reinvesting in a place with such a potential loss.. There are lots of old
post in the water that were from the early days of docks and shipping areas. It did seem strange that the Sealife building was put there and right
on the edge of the water.. The cost of this operation, 67 million, which was part of other Valdez oil spill settlement.
Where are your recovery dollars going? I have found a bunch of them up here. There are bunches of park projects taking place up here, and
each has a sign on it saying the recovery dollars are paying for it... Don't know any more than that, but that is how it is....
Its near midnight, one person is still out paddling on the lake, and I am ready to call it a day... Been taking photos of the moon that is now
reflecting in the lake.. Pretty neat.. It felt strange to come here and find it daylight at midnight.. I think I am going to be in for a shock when I get
back to STL and it is dark at Midnight.. I have not used a flashlight for anything in ????? ages... This extra daylight thing sort of grows on ya...
2010-07-22, from Homer Alaska at about 6:30 PM, local time.. Am in the library.. Will send this update, plus a few photos, then have to go find a
place on the beach to stay the night.. It is 8 dollars and open camping!!!!! I'll give it a try.. But, there is the tide thing here, so I have to keep that
in mind...
I left the campsite I had last night, and drove here today.. Not much to see.. Kinda like driving across Kansas, again.. Now here on the coast,
there is more hills.. Stopped at one of the overlooks.. Took a few memory shots, then noticed smoke.. A boat had just caught on fire... Others
came to the rescue, got the people off, I heard.. About an hour later the Coast Guard showed up and sprayed some water on it.. Then, they left..
When I got into town, I noticed the boat was burning again, or it was another one.... Nobody cares..
In town I did the visitor center thing, then headed out to the spit!! Saw and eagle nesting right in town.. Eagles are everywhere up here!!!!!!! Went
to the end of the road.. No more road.. Took photos etc, then made a few calls, now doing this.. Will go get campground and settle in for the
night.. May have more to tell later, but will get this out now... There is not much to see in this area.. You can fly from here to where the famous
bear eating fish place is, but that is a 600 dollar plane ride!!!! :-)))
More later. Click HERE for image for this update
Darn, wouldn't you know it, I took the tour boat rid yesterday, and got rained out.. Could hardly see the front of the tour boat.. Could not stay
outside on the viewing deck because of the hard rain, cold wind and my freezing fingers.. Not to mention all the wet camera gear that everyone
was getting!!! What a mess, but, then today, it has been nice all day.. We had SUN today!!!!!!! It did rain again today, but wasn't for long... Mostly
it was a nice day... Would loved to have been on the tour this day!!!!!!!!! Did someone say that if it were not for bad luck, I would have not luck at
all!!!!!!! Well that is not entirely true, I have had bad luck on this trip for sure, but some things have worked out, but I will have to think what it
was!!!!!!!
At around noon this day, I sent out an update from the Seward library.. As I recall, I had just gotten back from the Sealife place and was planning
to leave town.. I did.. On the way out, I stopped at Safeway, got some turkey, apples, bananas, etc... Ate most of the stuff for lunch as I drove out
to a place called Exit Glacier.. On a scale of one to 10, it was about a 5. Was something to do to kill time, but not a real highlight of the trip.. To
see the glacier, a person has to walk just over a mile to the viewing area. At this point the wind is very strong and cold!!!!!! However, it was not
raining!!!!!! I took the usual memory shots and headed back to the car.. From there I headed for the next town on my list, Soldonta I think it is
called.. It is on the way to Homer.. On the way there is when I hit the rain.. In fact, as I left the Seward highway to go towards Homer, it was raining,
but I still got out and took a few photo of the lake at the intersection. Then on the road again.. Mountain!! If you are like me, you have seen
mountains a many in photos of Alaska.. Well, a lot of Alaska is flatter than Kansas.. And much of the area I drove through today was just that, flat.
Nice for driving, but not no calendar photos in this area.!!! Again, I think the man that said that if you are not in a boat or a plane, you will not see
the better parts of Alaska.. There are just miles and miles of flat stuff!!!!!!!!!!
Sometime around 5 PM, I rolled into the town of Soldonta. Stopped at a place called Fred Meyer, I think, and got gas.. This person or family must
me like Walmart to our part of the country.. They have some rather large stores here that sell just about everything thing.. I got turkey, beer,
Doritos, and apples.. What a combination!!!!!!! I left with the thought that I would have much of this for dinner this night, provided I could find a
campground. My AAA book listed one RV place in town and two camping places on the way to Homer. About 15 miles out of town, I saw the sign
for Johnson Lake State Recreation Area. This is one of the places to get a camp site. I drive the back roads til I arrive. I read the regulations
board and go look for a site. All the sites are full... But, there was a note at the entry area that mentioned overflow camping. Sounds good, but
along with the overflow camping sign was a note that said NO Camping where the overflow sites were located.. These were also listed as Day-Use
area sites... Just so happened that I found the campground host's trailer and knocked on the door.. I explained the problem I had. The lady at the
door laughed and said, don't worry about the signs, go ahead and pick a spot, pay my 10 dollars at the pay station and be happy.. So, I did..
Since it is July 21, I picked site 21..!!!!!!! Nice spot right on the edge of the water here at the lake.. My tent is about 20 feet from the water... Much
better than the other campsites around the lake!!!!! But, to use the restroom, you gotta run up the road or drive up the road a ways to the
potty!!!!!! Not too handy, but!!!
Speaking of being on the lake, the kids, and the people as a whole are a much hardier bunch of people than what we see back home.. When I am
about to freeze, these people are running around in a t-shirt and shorts!!!!! As I write this, I am sitting at a picnic table facing the lake. Not too far
in front of me is a couple of kids, boy and girl, paddling a canoe around as if it were high summer back home.. They are having a ball... And, they
are not the only ones, others are out on this little lake in canoes and small paddle boats, just zooming away!!!!!!!! I have on a t-shirt, a shirt, a
fleece jacket, and a Goretex Parka, and I am thinking of going to bed to get warm, or warmer!!!!!!! This is a beautiful lake and the effect of the
sun setting is doing wonders for the visual effects.. I got some photos awhile ago, but should think about getting more before the light gets too
low.. I am just now seeing the moon come up.. This is the first time I can remember seeing the moon since I started this trip!!!!!! Its almost a full
moon, and is coming up in front of me on the other side of the lake.. Perfect view!!!!!!
To those who have been here, this is no surprise, but to me it is.. The fishing!!!!!! I never seen so many people fishing, they are in a fishing fever
here!!!!!!! Everybody, except me, is doing it.. I gather the fishing is very good here and so people are really getting after it. Also, this must be the
time the big fish are coming in to do their reproduction thing..
Its 10:30 PM.. The is no rain, there is little wind, the lake is calm, the kids are out paddling around on it, and the moon is coming up on the other
side, but I am about to reach the chill level.. So, time for me to go lay down... But, before I go, I have to mention something that was strange at the
Exit Glacier today. The park people talk a lot about the glaciers getting smaller. At Exit Glacier this day I found a series of signs, showing where
the edge of the glacier had been on a given year, starting back in the 1800s. Then oddly enough I found a sign that was for 1926, the year my
dad was born.. The sign was a long way from the glacier.. But, then further down the trail was a sign for 1951, the year I was born. Is that odd or
not??? But, it was still a long walk from the year I was born to the present edge of Exit Glacier. The experts are not quiet sure why this glaciers
are getting shorter.. Well the dumb butts should have asked me. It is the friggin RAIN!!!!!!!!! You spray water on an ice cube long enough and it
will disappear!!!!!!!!!! Darn, if it rains every year like it has while I was here, then the answer is simple.. So, who is the teacher for these
experts????? I do believe it is the rain, but whatever it is, it is making the glaciers disappear.. The big I have been to several times in the
Canadian Rockies is really getting shorter... When I was here in the late 70s, in November to see a college buddy, he took me to a place here
outside Anchorage called Portage Glacier. Portage Glacier at that time came down to the lake and into the water. In fact there were big blue
chunks of ice out in the lake, frozen in place by the cold of winter.. We went on the frozen lake and walked around these huge blocks of blue ice.
And by big, I mean big.. Like 10 or 12 feet tall, as I recall.. Huge, and blue!!!!!! Today, that is all gone. There is no longer big chunks of ice in the
lake and the edge of Portage Glacier has receded so far back up in the hills that there is no ice from it in the water.. They were giving out a chart
showing the recession of the glacier over the years, and one of the plotted years was 1974, the year I came to STL.. It was late 70s when I was
there.. I am truly amazed at how far the glacier has receded in just the 30 or o years since I was here... The big question is this just a natural thing
that is going on, or are we causing it?
You might like this.. You hear a lot about solar energy as a replacement for fossil fuel.. Well, it won't work here.. There is hardly ever any
light!!!!!!!!! But, there is a lot of friggin wind.. There is enough wind to make electricity for everyone in the world, I think.. !!!!!!! I think they could
easily set up the wind generators here and supply everyone with energy for lifetimes to come!!!!!!!!!
Another thing that is different here is number of small planes.. There are lots of them here, and they are not new!!!!!!!! For those who know what
a J-3 Cub is, well I think near all that were ever made now live in Alaska.. Cannot say I have seen them flying, due to the crappy weather, but
there are bunches of them at the airports that I pass.. It seems everyone here flys, even the darn kids.. These kids do it all.. But, then you have to
ask where does all the money come from to do all the things these people do.. I have asked that a lot of times and still do not have the answer.. It
would seem a lot of the money is still coming from the oil work up here.. Then there is the question of why the heck does gas cost so much if there
is so much oil here.. This one I did get an answer to.. They do have a lot of crude oil here, but almost no refining places... Seems that the refining
places are not that big and and are pretty far south, so all the gas in the state has to be trucked out from this, or these southern refining
stations.. Now, as I understand it, we too have our refining stations in the southern areas of the lower 48, but, we have huge pipelines that carry
this refined gas out across the country.. Up here, there is no supply pipeline to carry the finished product to the small towns... So, it is hauled to
its end point. I am guessing some of it goes by train, but there are few train lines in the state. So, I am not sure how important trains are to the
delivery of gas to the other parts of the state.. You might find this interesting.. When we took the tour to the Arctic Circle, the guide told us that
when the pipeline first opened, it was flowing at full capacity, or about 2,000,000 barrels a day.. Now, it is carrying about 40,000 barrels a day.. I
did not catch the reason for this, but she implied that the design was for about 40,000 per day, but in order to recover the money spent on the
pipeline, the owners pushed it for all it was worth to get fast money to pay for it... Once paid for, they backed off.
Here is another tidbit of info. When we were on the tour boat yesterday, the tour guide told us about the history of Seward and what a great
shipping place it had been at one time.. Then, in a matter of about 5 minutes, back in 1964 I think it was, Seward and some other parts of Alaska,
like Anchorage, were near destroyed by an earthquake. Some of the other places, like Anchorage, revised the town plan and started over, but
Seward did not.. I missed the reason why, but it seemed there was a fear of reinvesting in a place with such a potential loss.. There are lots of old
post in the water that were from the early days of docks and shipping areas. It did seem strange that the Sealife building was put there and right
on the edge of the water.. The cost of this operation, 67 million, which was part of other Valdez oil spill settlement.
Where are your recovery dollars going? I have found a bunch of them up here. There are bunches of park projects taking place up here, and
each has a sign on it saying the recovery dollars are paying for it... Don't know any more than that, but that is how it is....
Its near midnight, one person is still out paddling on the lake, and I am ready to call it a day... Been taking photos of the moon that is now
reflecting in the lake.. Pretty neat.. It felt strange to come here and find it daylight at midnight.. I think I am going to be in for a shock when I get
back to STL and it is dark at Midnight.. I have not used a flashlight for anything in ????? ages... This extra daylight thing sort of grows on ya...
2010-07-22, from Homer Alaska at about 6:30 PM, local time.. Am in the library.. Will send this update, plus a few photos, then have to go find a
place on the beach to stay the night.. It is 8 dollars and open camping!!!!! I'll give it a try.. But, there is the tide thing here, so I have to keep that
in mind...
I left the campsite I had last night, and drove here today.. Not much to see.. Kinda like driving across Kansas, again.. Now here on the coast,
there is more hills.. Stopped at one of the overlooks.. Took a few memory shots, then noticed smoke.. A boat had just caught on fire... Others
came to the rescue, got the people off, I heard.. About an hour later the Coast Guard showed up and sprayed some water on it.. Then, they left..
When I got into town, I noticed the boat was burning again, or it was another one.... Nobody cares..
In town I did the visitor center thing, then headed out to the spit!! Saw and eagle nesting right in town.. Eagles are everywhere up here!!!!!!! Went
to the end of the road.. No more road.. Took photos etc, then made a few calls, now doing this.. Will go get campground and settle in for the
night.. May have more to tell later, but will get this out now... There is not much to see in this area.. You can fly from here to where the famous
bear eating fish place is, but that is a 600 dollar plane ride!!!! :-)))
More later. Click HERE for image for this update
2010-07-24
OK, time for another update.. My laptop is fully charged, but I do not type very fast, so lets see how long the battery holds up... It is now 9:40
PM... And, I am not sure where I am. I do know that I on the highway that goes from Palmer to Valdez... I am sitting in my car watching a bunch of
people people fishing in the lake out in front of me... These people play in all kinds of weather, to include all temperatures.. Bikinis, not in
Alaska.. These people wear winter clothes year around.. I think they live in them.. Just how they reproduce is still a bit of a mystery.
Yesterday, when I sent my last update, I was getting ready to leave Homer.. I had pretty much run out of the things to explore.. Or so I thought.
But, as some point, I decided a shower was order.. I don't think I shared this story with ya.. I had actually intended to leave Homer as soon as I
finished the last update, but it did not happen that way. I got the feeling that I needed a shower real bad, and a change of clothes.. Maybe I got a
whiff of myself as I got in the car or something, but a good shower seemed to be in order... So, I drove back to a laundry mat that is a do all
place.. You can take a shower, wash your clothes, drink expresso, and ??? I am not sure what all else you can do there, but you can get a
shower, or so the sign says.. I park in front, go in and inquire about the process of getting a shower.. I would seem that for a shower, you give
the lady 6 dollars, she gives you a room key that gets you into the assigned shower room.. The 6 dollar shower also comes with a towel and
wash clothe... So, I hurry out to the car, get my shower bucket, and a change of clothes and go back in side. Pay my 6 dollars, and get a key to
room number 8.. About three hallways later, I find room 8. I go in and find it a really neat and clean shower room with a chair, a towel, hand
towel, and wash clothe. I have 30 minutes to take my shower and get out... So, I set my watch timer and get in the shower..
I am learning about what it is like to have long hair!! Takes a lot longer to shampoo and dry!! I shampoo this long hair twice, rinse twice, shave in
the shower, then get down to the real business of getting the smell off of me.. I get it done.. But, I have brought my own scrubber. I carry the
nylon scrubber on a stick with me.. Much better than a clothe thingie.. And, I use liquid soak, which goes great with the scrubber.... Once clean,
dried, and in clean clothes, I am ready to leave again, but just by chance I looked at the local tour book one more time before taking off.. They
said you have not been to Homer unless you have been in the Salty Dawg Saloon.. No problem.. I know where it is. I go find a place to park,
which is not easy!!!!!!!!! I go in the the saloon, which is a sight to see!!!!!! Very old building, full of people drinking beer.. ALL of the walls and
ceiling are covered in one dollar bills.. They have STUFF written on them, then thumb tacked to the inside surface of the building.. Photos of this
at a later date.
So, what to order? I see that some of the people are drinking a large bottle of something that looks like beer, but could be anything! Maybe even
fish-water, whatever that is... I decide to ask the drinking people what they were having instead of talking to the bar-maid.. It would seem these
big bottles of liquid were local beers, and that they were out of the weaker stuff, so I would have to get stronger version.. I ask a fellow who had
one, and he was not to crazy about it.. Said that if he had it to do over again, he would get a weaker beer... So, I will go for the weaker beer.. I
finally get to talk to the bar-maid and learn that they are out of just about everything except the strong stuff and one called the Alaskan Amber..
So, I go for the bottle of Amber.. Cost for 12 oz. Is 5.25 dollars, but then of course you give the lady the three left over quarters, so now it is 6.00
dollars for the beer.. I pay, I wander around looking at all the STUFF on the walls, etc... I go in the room that has one pool table.. Also in this
room is a cigarette machine.. The price for one pack of smokes is 8.5 dollars.. There are two signs on the machine. The first says that this is a
small price for a living a relaxed life, or something to that effect, and the other sign says Shit Happens.. I finish my beer, take photos or the walls
and the empty beer bottle and head back out on the street for a few more photos.. Now that I am clean and can be around people, I visit a few
gift shops, and get a few more local photos... But, there is little to do, and the wind is blowing at high speeds.. I finally decide my visit to the spit
should end.. I get in my car and leave.. Something speaks to me from time to time.. This time the voice says to drive up town, I do, I find a
Subway. And, I get a footlong very of the darn thing.. Of course to make it healthy, I get Chicken breast and veggies, but I do include the Doritos
and soda!!! WAS GOOD.. Ate the whole thing.. Now it is time to leave.. The voice speaks again.. Says to drive the road out that goes out of town
towards?? I follow the road.. WOW, this is a great drive! This is where the people with money live.. No shacks up here!!!!!!! Was a great sight-
seeing drive of about 12 miles.. Went to the end, or as far as my car could go.. Beyond that it was 4x4.... Met a man at the end of the road from
Kansas City!!!!! Small world.. He retired from Ford three years ago.. He and his wife live in an RV and travel all the time now.. OH, and they are
“birders”, so they have all the big camera stuff to do the bird thing.. Very Impressive.. The equipment was Canon.. Nikon has more or less gone
to the dogs!!!!!!! All the big kids on this trip are using Canon.. Very few Nikons on the road, but of course I have one!!!!!! I hope to switch to
Canon before long.. However, it might be worth telling that these people has invested thousands of dollars in these Canons.. Thousands!!! What
they do with the photos is a mystery, but they are shooting a lot of images... The road got too difficult for my car, so I walked for a ways down the
harder road.. WOW, it was steep!!!!!! And, if you missed the second turn, there was about a 200 foot drop, straight into the ocean.. I walked
back, got my car and returned to town. But, then on the map, I see where there are two or three other Skyline roads that are supposed to be
good.. So, I drive, them as well and they were awesome.. The last road I was on just happened to have the local funeral home on it.. And what a
view.. I do believe this is the only funeral home in the world with a million dollar view of the valley below.. See photos later... With the drives
completed, I finally get headed towards Anchorage.
As I drive north from Homer, I am thinking I should have sent some postcards from this place, but somethings just don't get done.. Had the
weather been better, I might have stayed another day, but the cold, the wind, and the amount of people packed into the little tourist area was too
much for me.. I needed to get going north.. But as I drove north, I started to wonder where I would camp and then it dawned on me, this was the
weekend coming up.. Camping is big stuff here!!!!!! OOPs.. Now I know I should have kept my site in Homer and left this morning instead of last
night!!!! As I drive north, I try to drive to Kenai, but I drove and drove and ended up in Soldotna!! Don't know how that happened, but I was back
at the Fred Meyer store again. I went in to us the restroom, came out, got a phone call, sit and talked to a friend back home for a long time, then
got back on the road...
It is just a short drive away when I start seeing LOTS of people driving towards Homer.. After a while it become bumper to bumper traffic, all
headed in the Homer direction!! I start stopping at campgrounds and find them all full.. Now what!!! Finally at around 9:30 PM, I am tired.. I find a
pull-out and viewing area that has some RV rigs parked there. It is a sure thing they are set up to stay the night, so I joined them. Had to run to
the bushes to get rid of some body fluid, but then I was set for the night!!!!!! Within minutes I was in my bag and asleep. Woke up later, cold..
Got my 5 dollars comforter out and put that over me and around me.. Then back to sleep.. Did not wake up again until 0800.... But, I still amazed
when I thought back to all the autos headed in the Homer direction.. The traffic was still heavy when I fell asleep!!!!!!! I cannot image where
these people will stay when they get there, but I will assume they are going there to fish.. Almost everything here is somehow connected to
fishing...
Now awake, I pass on trying to eat in the parking area and just drive on up the highway. I finally come to the exit for Hope, Alaska. I go that
direction.. What I find is a place, not a town. There are old builds there that date back to the 1800s I think. They are now used for tourist
shopping. I drive around taking photos, stop and an expresso shop, wait my turn and get a 20 oz of regular coffee.. The cost is 3 dollars.
With my coffee secured in my car, I start to leave Hope, but see a cafe, so I stop and go in.. Figured I needed some food, it is now around
0900??? Looks old on the outside, but is very modern on the inside. I seat myself and the waitress brings me the menu.. How about this,
reindeer sausage!! There were other things on there, but you will not find this on the menus back home.. Most everything is priced as if it were
for the gold rush days.. I guess there are some rich people here.. I finally chose to have two pancakes for 5 dollars, one scrambled one at 2
dollars and coffee for 1.5 dollars.. Two pancakes, good ones, one egg and one coffee, 8.5 dollars.. Of course it is 10 with a tip. Now fed, I pay,
go to the boys room to get rid of more body fluid.. The toilet is stopped up.. I get business done, hands are washed, but now go back to tell the
waitress that the potty is stopped up!!!!!! Someone ahead of me overloaded the poor thing!!!!!!!
I leave the cafe and decide to drive the highway to the end of the road.. Turns out it is only one mile to the end and near the end is the only gas
pump in town. It has one grade, regular.. I do not need gas, but I do take the photos!!!! Then I head back out.. But, just before I get back to
town, I see a lot of people doing something that looks like fishing.. So, I go park the car, ask a fellow who has a fishing pole about what is going
on and how do I get down to the water to take photos of the action.. He sends me to the bridge that has trails off the ends of it. I make it as far as
the bridge, and just watch from there, as there are lots of people under the bridge fishing.. Both men and women.. And, kids.. Everyone is into
this fishing thing. While I am watching some kids catch a few, big ones, I take a few photos.. In a bit a young man is standing beside me and asks
if I can see the fish in the water near the bank of the river. At first I could not, but then I could start to make them out, once I knew what I was
looking for.. Turns out this young man has been here fishing since 0500. He is a West Point Cadet who is in Alaska for a school project for a few
weeks and is out for the day to fish, cause the military offered it as a day trip. As it turns out, he stays there with me for nearly and hour and
explains the who fishing thing to me.. These people are not really fishing, they are snagging, there is no bait on the hook!!!!!!!! But, there are
some serious rules to the game.. Heavy fines are in order if you do not play by the rules.. After he tells me what is happening, I catch on and see
what people are doing. They cast their line and jerk it back, then cast and jerk, repeating this action many times.. But just snagging one is not
enough. You have snag it in the mouth, or some call it flossing... Many of the fish we saw caught were snagged in the back and belly.. These
had to be turned lose.. And there was a limit of three fish person, etc.. During the course of chatting, I learned that this young man was from
Michigan, his dad is a broker/investor, he and his dad are big on fishing and make annual fly-in trips to the Northwest Territories for serious
fishing each year with a commercial company. This fellow has a pilot's license and has about 100 hours of flying time. He is going for more
ratings with time and hope to get a helicopter rating as well. He is studying to be an engineer, he plays a guitar and has written about 100 songs,
He builds RC planes in his spare time!!!!! He was an amazing person.. I finally had to say goodbye, so I could get on the road, but then just after
I walked away, I thought I should get his photo and put it on my site for this trip, but when I returned, he was gone and I could not find him..
Back on the road again, stopped for gas and discovered I was near the turn off for Alyeska? Ski area, so I decide to go there after getting gas
and doing the bathroom.. Now check this out.. I have to wait for a couple motorcycles to fill up and leave, then I fill up. This is a busy place, and
because I want to record my gallons, miles, etc. I pull out into the empty parking area to write this all down. Just after I park, a big female comes
zooming into the lot, heading towards me. She parks so close to me that she can hardly get out of her car, and in doing so, she bangs here door
into my car.. Her car was about 18 inches from mine.. Only two of us int eh lot and she has to park this close to me!!!!!!! Go figure.. I moved my
car so that when she came back out of the station, she would not have to hit my car again.. This one was missing its brain!!!!!
I did go up and drive around the ski area for a few minutes.. Not much to see.. I was there in November over 30 years ago.. I looked pretty good
with the snow on the hills...
Its raining again and I am headed for Anchorage. I do stop for photos once or twice, but mostly I am headed towards STL.. Before I get to
Palmer, I call back home and get a weather report for Talkeetna, just to see if there was any chance I could get to tour Denali in a plane before I
left. The home report says rain. Further down the road I pull over and double check, by calling one of the air service companies.. They said they
did not fly this day due to the mountain socked in.. I asked about the prediction for tomorrow. I did tell the lady I had to make a choice of going
north to
Talkeetna or east to Valdez, depending on the flying tomorrow. She checked the radar and asked the pilots what they thought. They said go for
Valdez. The weather report for tomorrow was not good!! So, I headed east... Stopped along the way for photos, ran on to an RV that was broke
down, but help was on its way. The driver had been here 4 times before and he never saw it this cold or wet.. He was 77 years old and still doing
the RV thing, with his girlfriend.. Both lived in Arizona.. He comes up here to get away from the heat!!!!! :-))) But, he was not liking this stuff...
Said he had plenty of beer and food, so he was okay!!!!!!!!
Not too long after leaving him, I found the place where I am now. I pulled in here, saw people camped here on the side of the road by this little
lake.. There are plastic bathrooms here.. I used the bathroom, then headed down the road.. Then, I pulled over again and checked my sources
for a campplace tonight. Not much coming up.. So, I come back here, asked the people if this was open camping and could I join in.. The answer
to all was yes.. So, I moved in.. Set up my tent and ate a bit of food.. Ate out of a can tonight.. No picnic tables.. Had chili beans and
pineapple!!!! :-))) Just after eating, the neighbor fellow comes over to talk.. This turned out to be great fun. He has lived and worked all over the
state.. He says this is near normal weather and the locals think nothing of it.. He works for a company that sells and services snowmobiles and
4x4 equipment.. We talked a long time. He lives in Wasilla and claims to be friends with Sara Palin and her husband, but only because they are
customers of his at his job.. The place he manages is the place they come to get their service work done.. He says they are great people. The
husband never speaks of his wife's job.. Leaves that all up to her. He stays out of it. But, yes, she is competitive, so do the political thing works
for her. He fishes.
The fellow I had been talking to is named John and was great to chat with.. Wish we had more time. He and his friends play outside year around
and 60 below zero does not not slow them down.. He thinks 40 below is just a nice weekend to go play. He and his buddies take their snow
machines and ice fishing gear and travel about 100 miles off the highway, set up camp, drill holes in the lake ice, and start fishing. They have
heaters in the their popup fishing sled that will keep them at about 50 degrees at night so they can sleep on the lake, then, 100 miles of
snowmobiling back to the car, etc... He hates bugs and wonders how we can put up with them down in the lower 48!!!!!!!!! :-))
OK, my battery is about gone.. Guess it is time to stop. It is now 11:31 PM.. Not real light out, but but now dark either.. Will not need a flashlight
to go get in my tent... Am headed to Valdez in the morning.. If the weather is fair, I should have a good day, there are several things I hope to do
there.. We will see.
2010-07-25....
Have I ever mentioned in my updates that it rains in Alaska? Just thought I would ask... I am sitting outside the Valdez, Alaska library, in my car,
using the library internet, via the wifi.. This one is unprotected so I and use it even though the library is closed.. I is raining as I write this.. It is 9:
11 PM, local time..
It is a good thing this car can serve as a mobile office.. I have two power converters running to keep this computer and all my other toys powered
up and running!!! At near four dollars a gallon, I am running this power plant near all the time.. All my toys eat up a lot of power!!!!!!!
OK, here is the deal... I had a good sleep last night, after writing that long update.. Go up around 0800, slept late!!! Had a freeze dried granola
breakfast and a can of pineapple, along with a real apple!!!! NO place to set up the stove to make coffee and tea, so I skipped that today... But,
it was not raining when I got up... After I ate, I took down the tent, then went over to talk to John that I met last night.. He was already out drinking
coffee by the campfire.. He told me more about how to survive an Alaskan winter.. It is wild the things people have to do here to survive at -40 to
-60 degrees.. How about a styrofoam toilet seat with you are dry camping in a cabin, to keep your butt from freezing to resting place!! Then
there is the Sterno for heating up the engine block on the snowmobile so it will start. And carrying carbide lantern stuff to make a fire.. Pour it on
a solid place, pee on it, then light it.. Gets a fire going fast!!!!!!!!!!! There were more tricks of the trade, but that is just a few... I had to say good-
bye and get on the road.. Not much to say about the drive over to Valdez, except that it rained about 4 times.. I stopped a few times along the
way and took photos.. There were some beautiful waterfalls as I got closer to town... Hope I go a few good shots of those.. I think I am up to near
10,000 images taken to this point...
I arrived in town and stopped by the site of the original Valdez, the one that the earthquake destroyed in 1964 I think it was.. Then I went to the
local RV place looking for a tent site... They got them for 28 dollars.. Told the lady I was looking for a better deal.. She sent me to the Glacier
Campground just outside town.. At the campground I meet Warren, who is a federal employee who takes military and DOD people out on fishing
trips for about 170 dollars per day.. This service is provided by the US government!!!! And there are other things in the area.. Not sure what all
they are, but they are here... May find them later. WOW.. what a deal. Because I am retired DOD, I get a site for 10 dollars and I get free
showers and the whole works.. Nice surprise... I pick site 25, set up my tent and come to town to see what is here.. I find a SUBWAY and have
dinner.. The prices here were good, but, I stopped by Safeway to check food prices.. My favorite, Doritos are over 6 dollars here. Apples, 3.30
per pound.. How many do you want!!!!!!!! Finally got a couple of bananas, the went by the beer area and got a 40 oz bottle Bud Light for later..
This was 1.06 for the two bananas, and 4 dollars for the beer...
OK, I have a tent site set up, I have eaten, I have gone online and paid most of my bills for the month, I have refreshment for later, and I have
read your emails.. Thanks for staying in touch!!!! You would not like the rain here, but the 56 degree days would feel nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going
to try and find a few images to share with ya, then head back to camp to settle in for the night.. Maybe a shower first.. Will think about that one..
Also, I picked up some tourist material.. Will look through that and see what I can do tomorrow to entertain me, or be entertained.. There are tour
boats here also, but if it is nasty here like it was at Seward, I will just skip the ride!!!!!! I think tours cost 150 dollars for the day here..
OK, I think that does it... Will see if I can find the images to share... OH, and yes, it is raining as I write this at 9:35 PM...
Click HERE for images for images for this update
2010-07-28, Alaskan Challenge Update
This little update is coming to you from the front porch of the Chicken Gift Shop!! Believe it or not, this place is about 70 miles from civilization.
The mail is flown in twice a week.. But, they do have wifi here!!!!!!!! I'm on it!!!!!!! :-)))))
IT IS NOT RAINING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been, before I got here, but lucky for me it is not now.. In fact it has rained so much here that the road
past this point is closed because it is washed out.. I thought about driving over to Dawson City from here, but the road is washed out. I think the
one guy here, Rick, said it yesterday was only the 14th day of sun here this year, or at least this spring....
I left Valdez in a heavy rain... Rained ALL the time I was there... I took the tent down in the rain, stuffed in a garbage bag and left town... I started
seeing sun off and on once I got near Tok.. I arrived in Tok around 5:00 PM... Got fuel, went to the visitor center, sent out an email or two, then
started towards Skagway, but remembered Chicken.. I asked at the visitor center about the road out this way.. It was paved to here, but dirt
beyond, and right now it is closed due to wash outs... This area got hit hard with rain the last two weeks.. Did a lot of damage via the washouts...
I arrived here in Chicken around 7 PM... Found out I could camp free for the night if I filled up with gas... I did, at 4.14 dollars per gallon... It will be
closer to 6 dollars when I get back into Canada.. I found out from the girl in the gift shop that I could do some gold panning here.. So, I bought a
gold pan and went to get rich, in the creek out front.. I actually found one little flake of gold!!!! A friendly lady who was watching took some photos
for me, of me doing my panning and finding my gold... The gold story here is a long one.. I do not think there is enough gold left here to even
bother with the stuff, but many do. I think they do it for fun.. The dredges go all the good stuff many years ago....
I camped here last night, then go up early this morning for a tour of the old townsite, by Nate, who is a trapper and tour guide in these parts...
Traps in the winter, does tours and odd jobs in the summer. As I type this, he is building another log building off to my right.. If you have not
guessed, everything here is generator powered... Even this computer is being powered by their generator...
There is probably a lot more I could add to this update, but since the sun is shining, I best get out and see the country.. Truth is, there is nothing
to see on the drive to Chicken.. More or less like the drive across Kansas... I have checked some of the places where I have been, and according
to weather.com, it is still raining in the places I have left behind... Sitting here and seeing the sun is starting to make me feel human again..
In the photos this time are a photo of the Glacier outside of Valdez, then there is my new little Dorito Buddy... A new member or the Dorito Club.. I
was eating at the local Subway in Valdez when this this little girl started smiling at me and showing me her Doritos that she was eating, cause she
saw me eating them... I had to tell her that these were my favorite snack food!! She liked that.. Very pretty, very friendly, and loved Doritos.. As I
was getting ready to leave, I asked her mom if I could get my photo taken with my new Dorito Buddy, she said sure and so now I have the proof
that I am not the only Dorito person in the world!!!!!!!! Also, there is a photo of the road into Chicken, a photo of me at one of the Chicken signs,
and one of me panning for gold out in front of this place....
With that, I think I have covered most everything up to now... I plan to drive on to Skagway, catch the ferry and head south... I think it is just over
500 miles from here to Skagway...
So, from Chicken, Alaska,,,,, Greetings from Tommy.. The rain soaked traveler......
....................PS.. I have noticed that there is little to no visitors here, so how does this place survive???? I just learned that there is normally lots of
tour buses here, along with the usual collection of RVs etc, but because the road to Dawson City is out, the tour companies are not bringing
people through here.. It is killing business in this gift shop... Life will return when the road is repaired.....
This little update is coming to you from the front porch of the Chicken Gift Shop!! Believe it or not, this place is about 70 miles from civilization.
The mail is flown in twice a week.. But, they do have wifi here!!!!!!!! I'm on it!!!!!!! :-)))))
IT IS NOT RAINING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been, before I got here, but lucky for me it is not now.. In fact it has rained so much here that the road
past this point is closed because it is washed out.. I thought about driving over to Dawson City from here, but the road is washed out. I think the
one guy here, Rick, said it yesterday was only the 14th day of sun here this year, or at least this spring....
I left Valdez in a heavy rain... Rained ALL the time I was there... I took the tent down in the rain, stuffed in a garbage bag and left town... I started
seeing sun off and on once I got near Tok.. I arrived in Tok around 5:00 PM... Got fuel, went to the visitor center, sent out an email or two, then
started towards Skagway, but remembered Chicken.. I asked at the visitor center about the road out this way.. It was paved to here, but dirt
beyond, and right now it is closed due to wash outs... This area got hit hard with rain the last two weeks.. Did a lot of damage via the washouts...
I arrived here in Chicken around 7 PM... Found out I could camp free for the night if I filled up with gas... I did, at 4.14 dollars per gallon... It will be
closer to 6 dollars when I get back into Canada.. I found out from the girl in the gift shop that I could do some gold panning here.. So, I bought a
gold pan and went to get rich, in the creek out front.. I actually found one little flake of gold!!!! A friendly lady who was watching took some photos
for me, of me doing my panning and finding my gold... The gold story here is a long one.. I do not think there is enough gold left here to even
bother with the stuff, but many do. I think they do it for fun.. The dredges go all the good stuff many years ago....
I camped here last night, then go up early this morning for a tour of the old townsite, by Nate, who is a trapper and tour guide in these parts...
Traps in the winter, does tours and odd jobs in the summer. As I type this, he is building another log building off to my right.. If you have not
guessed, everything here is generator powered... Even this computer is being powered by their generator...
There is probably a lot more I could add to this update, but since the sun is shining, I best get out and see the country.. Truth is, there is nothing
to see on the drive to Chicken.. More or less like the drive across Kansas... I have checked some of the places where I have been, and according
to weather.com, it is still raining in the places I have left behind... Sitting here and seeing the sun is starting to make me feel human again..
In the photos this time are a photo of the Glacier outside of Valdez, then there is my new little Dorito Buddy... A new member or the Dorito Club.. I
was eating at the local Subway in Valdez when this this little girl started smiling at me and showing me her Doritos that she was eating, cause she
saw me eating them... I had to tell her that these were my favorite snack food!! She liked that.. Very pretty, very friendly, and loved Doritos.. As I
was getting ready to leave, I asked her mom if I could get my photo taken with my new Dorito Buddy, she said sure and so now I have the proof
that I am not the only Dorito person in the world!!!!!!!! Also, there is a photo of the road into Chicken, a photo of me at one of the Chicken signs,
and one of me panning for gold out in front of this place....
With that, I think I have covered most everything up to now... I plan to drive on to Skagway, catch the ferry and head south... I think it is just over
500 miles from here to Skagway...
So, from Chicken, Alaska,,,,, Greetings from Tommy.. The rain soaked traveler......
....................PS.. I have noticed that there is little to no visitors here, so how does this place survive???? I just learned that there is normally lots of
tour buses here, along with the usual collection of RVs etc, but because the road to Dawson City is out, the tour companies are not bringing
people through here.. It is killing business in this gift shop... Life will return when the road is repaired.....
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Tom Ballard Photography
| A window in Tom's universe. This is more than a website of photos, it is a place to share photos, adventures, stories, opinions, and |
This page will be a work in process, as I have time to add to it....On June 16, 2010, I got in my car and headed for Alaska. I
thought I was just going to drive up, do a little sightseeing, take some photos, and head back. That is how is started, but it
grew into something much larger than I could have ever imagined. You will have to read what I have to share to understand
what happened.. The trip that was supposed to be less than 10,000 miles, grew into more like a 25,000 mile trip!! I expected
to take a few thousand photos. I took closer to 50,000 before it was all over. Before it was over, I had visited the Arctic Circle,
drove to the Mexico border, rode a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Somewhere in all this, I chose to continue on to
the tip of Maine and the tip of Nova Scotia, before returning home and ending the adventure.. The year is not over yet, so
there is still time for more adventure, so..........!!!!!After I started my trip, I started sending back emails and sample photos to
some of my friends. They in turn sent them on to their friends. And, before long the list of people grew beyond anything I
could have guessed... When the adventure was over, I think some people had withdrawal from not have a daily update of my
adventure!! Now I am back home and hope to start putting the photos and stories into one package, then sharing it here.
Knowing that some people who wanted in on the fun, asked that I put my info on my site.. Well, I did, sort of.. As much as I
could, I took copies of the emails I was sending to friends, and posted them here on my site. So, for now, all I have to offer is
copies of the emails that were shared with friends as I traveled.. I guess you could call it a diary. Sometimes there are just a
few samples, other times there is a share file that plays as a slide-show. So, grab something to drink and start the process of
following my trip, much the way my friends did while I was traveling.. The whole process will start with the two slide-shows.
One in Kansas City, the next in Shell, Wyoming.. Below the dotted line below will be the info shared with family and friends..
Hope you enjoy it.. I am leaving it the way I shared it.. So..... It is not edited for corrections, it is just the way it was shared..
Have fun!!!!! Then come back later for the full story and the full set of photos.
thought I was just going to drive up, do a little sightseeing, take some photos, and head back. That is how is started, but it
grew into something much larger than I could have ever imagined. You will have to read what I have to share to understand
what happened.. The trip that was supposed to be less than 10,000 miles, grew into more like a 25,000 mile trip!! I expected
to take a few thousand photos. I took closer to 50,000 before it was all over. Before it was over, I had visited the Arctic Circle,
drove to the Mexico border, rode a mule to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Somewhere in all this, I chose to continue on to
the tip of Maine and the tip of Nova Scotia, before returning home and ending the adventure.. The year is not over yet, so
there is still time for more adventure, so..........!!!!!After I started my trip, I started sending back emails and sample photos to
some of my friends. They in turn sent them on to their friends. And, before long the list of people grew beyond anything I
could have guessed... When the adventure was over, I think some people had withdrawal from not have a daily update of my
adventure!! Now I am back home and hope to start putting the photos and stories into one package, then sharing it here.
Knowing that some people who wanted in on the fun, asked that I put my info on my site.. Well, I did, sort of.. As much as I
could, I took copies of the emails I was sending to friends, and posted them here on my site. So, for now, all I have to offer is
copies of the emails that were shared with friends as I traveled.. I guess you could call it a diary. Sometimes there are just a
few samples, other times there is a share file that plays as a slide-show. So, grab something to drink and start the process of
following my trip, much the way my friends did while I was traveling.. The whole process will start with the two slide-shows.
One in Kansas City, the next in Shell, Wyoming.. Below the dotted line below will be the info shared with family and friends..
Hope you enjoy it.. I am leaving it the way I shared it.. So..... It is not edited for corrections, it is just the way it was shared..
Have fun!!!!! Then come back later for the full story and the full set of photos.
The 2010 Alaska Trip is now complete. What started out to be a trip to Florida ended up being the biggest adventure in my
life!!! In Florida, I decided to go on the Buffalo River in Arkansas. On the Buffalo I decided to go to Alaska. In California I
decided to go to the Mexico border, and, in Arizona, I decided to go on to Madawaska, ME., to complete a criss-cross of the
USA in one calendar year, and, somewhere in Missouri, I decided to continue on to the northern most points of Nova Scotia,
before returning... The trip to Florida started in February. The trip to Alaska started June 16... It was to be an adventure, but
soon became a challenge. As I traveled, I sent emails and sample photos back to friends and family.. Many of those
emails and photos are being shared here now.. I will add more as I have time. But, on September 22, 2010, I returned from
the western part of this adventure to the local gas station where I started the trip.. I think the records show that between
June 16, and Sept. 22, I traveled 17,026 miles, was gone 99 days, and brought home 38,062 photos. It was fun, but had
some challenges as well... Check out the Alaska pages to get a glimpse of what all went on.
life!!! In Florida, I decided to go on the Buffalo River in Arkansas. On the Buffalo I decided to go to Alaska. In California I
decided to go to the Mexico border, and, in Arizona, I decided to go on to Madawaska, ME., to complete a criss-cross of the
USA in one calendar year, and, somewhere in Missouri, I decided to continue on to the northern most points of Nova Scotia,
before returning... The trip to Florida started in February. The trip to Alaska started June 16... It was to be an adventure, but
soon became a challenge. As I traveled, I sent emails and sample photos back to friends and family.. Many of those
emails and photos are being shared here now.. I will add more as I have time. But, on September 22, 2010, I returned from
the western part of this adventure to the local gas station where I started the trip.. I think the records show that between
June 16, and Sept. 22, I traveled 17,026 miles, was gone 99 days, and brought home 38,062 photos. It was fun, but had
some challenges as well... Check out the Alaska pages to get a glimpse of what all went on.