8-20-2013 Boya Lake to Stewart

We pounded out another 300 miles down Highway 37 to Meziadin Lake Provincial Park.  It is approximately 25 miles from Stewart and another Provincial Park without any hookups. The road got progressively better, but it still takes a lot of attention to avoid the bumps in the road. We did not have any problems to deal with that day. The road is narrow and winding with many uphill stretches. 

We were fortunate to see several black bears along the road. I believe that we saw about a dozen. You can spot them a ways down the road and creep up on them. Its berry picking time and the bears love the huckleberry. They do not hang around when you approach them so you have to be fast with the camera.  Now you see them, now you don’t.

We traveled in the rain most of the day but when we got to the park it was once again warm and sunny.  The park sits alongside the lake.  We were lucky to get the last 2 sites overlooking the water.  Not right on the water but the next best thing.  Before we arrived, there had been a brown bear in the park, we were told by one of the campers.  After having our dinner of leftovers, we walked throughout the park to see if he was still there.  They said that the bear had swum over from the island that was a few hundred yards from shore. We did not see any bears that evening.

After returning to the RVs we settled in for the night. With no outside contact to the rest of the world, hunkering down with a good book is refreshing.

There will be more people living "on the grid" but I hate to see the electrical poles going up.

See one on each side of the road!

Fireweed has gone to cotton.  Snow is coming soon.

wooden decked bridge

walking the park

Meziadin Lake Provincial Park

8-19-2013 After Whitehorse

We departed Whitehorse about mid morning and  headed approximately 300 miles south to our next stop at Boya Lake.  It is a Provincial Park, what we call in the lower 48 a State Park. Most of the Provincial Parks do not offer any services like electric and water or a dump station. So, you have to be somewhat conservative with your water. We have a generator so the electricity is not a problem, except we can only run the generator at certain times throughout the day, 7-10 in the morning and 5-8 in the evening. It does take some planning for meals and charging the batteries. 

During the trip to Boya we had to make a stop to change a tire on Don’s Jeep. When we were following him down the highway we noticed that he apparently ran over something in the road and punctured the right rear tire. He was the leader that day so we had to pass him and signal him to pull over. We normally have our CB radio on, but Bob had left the CB on from the day before, so it was not working. We were able to get him stopped in time so as not to damage the tire beyond repair. We had purchased plug kits just for these occasions. When you are hundreds of miles from nowhere you have to be pretty much self-sufficient. We put the spare on the ground and proceeded on. We later repaired the tire when we arrived at the Park.  Just another day in the lives of wilderness travelers.  The Boy Scout motto of “Be Prepared” really holds true in this part of the world.

Not a bad view out our front window at the Park!!

After arriving at the Park and settling in, we started a can fire and relaxed. Traveling 300 miles on 2 lane roads with many uneven conditions is very taxing. Our campsites were overlooking the lake and the view was very relaxing.

We had cooked a pork rib roast in the crock pot during the trip to Boya Lake. Having an inverter so we can cook while driving is a real plus!  Once arriving we fried up some potatoes with onions and had very good meal.  Our meals on the trip have been outstanding.  We eat out occasionally, but for the most part we cook some wonderful dinners. The gals have done a great job with the variety and meal planning.

After dinner, the girls made smores for desert and enjoyed sitting around the camp fire.

We had stopped at "Jade City"  really a "city" only because they are one of the largest jade mine areas in the world.  Another learning opportunity.

8-18-2013 Museums of Whitehorse, YT

Bob decided to lay back today so this was a Sharon & the Jacobs museum day.  We had decided a long time ago that if the brochure said “3 hours to go through this museum,” Bob was done in an hour, Don and Joy in 2 hours and Sharon in 5 hours.  So we compromise.

We started at the Beringia Museum.  We've always heard about the isthmus of land that used to connect Asia/Russia to Alaska, well this was it!  The tour we took focused on the climate change and temperature when animals appeared and disappeared.  There were actually mammoths still living 3,700 years ago on an island north of Siberia, while the Egyptian rulers were doing their thing!  To put these on a time line is very interesting to me.  And, looking at this from a scientific perspective without bias was very interesting.  The “ice age” we refer to is a “glacial” period, not the deep “ice age.”  Animals that developed and some were able to evolve for different areas while others were not.  So much to cover, so little time.

 

the land that connected us 

Joy's friend, the giant squirrel, on the trail!

The Yukon Transportation Museum was our next stop.  I love transportation museums.  More and more, I’m feeling a part of the history, but not here.  Because we have been so immersed in Alcan Highway and gold stampede history, this reinforced the hardships of “getting there.” 

 

We've seen this picture many places, but here was the sleigh also.  

Switching gears, we next went to the Old Log Church Museum.  Again, we've heard a lot about the dedication of the early missionaries and bishops traveling around to visit the peoples.  In addition to many artifacts, we heard the story of "the bishop who are his boots" here.  Lost and without food, they literally ate their boots to survive.  We continue to marvel at the lengths all of these northern people go to, whether to survive as First Nations people or for God or gold.

At the Whitehorse Visitors Center we turned in our Yukon Gold Passbooks.  We have been collecting stamps at various sites we have visited in the Yukon.   For 10, you have a chance at 2 oz of Yukon gold!  For 20, 5 ozs!!  We had 14, but figure a Yukonian (?) will win so they can make create ad campaign, and pay the tax.  There were 6 stained glass windows in the foyers that I really liked.  Home  improvement project???

The fish ladder we saw was the longest in the Yukon.  Remember from before?  Helping the salmon to get around the hydro-electric plants built on the rivers?  There were few fish actually using the ladder when we were there, but we understand the principal and loved the salmon art work created by school children.

Paint, nails and o-rings

The Klondike steam paddle wheeler was the first we’d gotten to tour.  This one was wood steam propelled rather than coal, a much more plentiful source of fuel.  Having artifacts in each of the areas made it so real.  Boxes and crates of cargo with labels make it much easier for me to connect.   The dining hall, food prep areas, “staterooms” and lounge areas are much different from the cruises of today, but very elegant for the times. 

Don and I were talking today about the simpler way of life up here as opposed to the hustle and bustle, “things and possession” way of life at home.  They are considering going “fulltime,”  RV talk for living and traveling in their motorhome all the time.  We have disconnected from our “stuff” at home and would be easy to just keep going, but to go home and “sell all to hit the trail” might be a challenge.  And, for us, we would miss out too much on a growing  family!! 

We head south through British Columbia tomorrow, planning to stay at 2 different provincial parks.  Part of our simpler way of life.

8-17-2013 Whitehorse

We arrived in Whitehorse early afternoon after dropping the girls off at the Takhini Hot Springs. They decided to spend the day relaxing.   Don and Bob settled in at the Pioneer RV Park and took care of the shopping and resupplying of the essentials that we would need to carry us the next leg of our journey.  We will be traveling down Highway 37 toward Prince George which is about 800 miles.  Although the road should not be a problem, there are not many cities along the way.  When we leave Whitehorse Monday morning, we will be staying at the provincial parks for the next 3 night. That means we will utilize the provisions that we carry with us.  There will not be any electric or water available to us.  So it is essential that we top off all the water tanks and make sure that the generators are functioning as they should.  That’s the beauty of traveling by motorhome, you have everything you need to enjoy the comforts of home.

We are looking forward to seeing what the Canadian Rockies has to offer from this side. Once we head down on Highway 37 we will be traveling on roads that we have not been on before. This road will take us down the western part Canada through British Columbia.

This road was under consideration when they built the Alcan Highway during WWII, but they felt that it was vulnerable to attack from the Japanese due to the fact that is was fairly close to the coast line.  So the developments have been somewhat slower on this stretch of the road.  The adventure of traveling the Alcan Highway still attracts the majority of the crowd.  I’m not sure how long the romance of the Alcan will last with upcoming generations, they will barely know much about why it was built and the significance that it represents.

As we begin winding down our Alaskan Adventure we are beginning to see the signs of fall coming upon us. Some of the trees are beginning to turn color and the fireweed is going to seed. It is somewhat a bitter sweet moment for all of us.  We have thoroughly enjoy our time in Alaska and would like to continue exploring and experiencing the many wonderful landscapes of this part of the world.

The closer we get to the state of Washington we know in our hearts that this trip will be nearly over and we all will have to step back into reality and the hustle and bustle from which we came. We will a little wiser and more appreciative of the abundance and blessings we have.  We will all look at life more closely and be aware of what really is a priority in our lives.  One needs this kind of cleansing occasionally to evaluate one’s self and what is the meaning of life.

But for the mean time, we have lots more to see and many more blogs to write. So put away your crying towels and hang on, we’re not finished yet.

See, even when the blooms are gone, they still look like fire.

Now they are called "cotton."  A field looks smokey.

8-16-2013 Tok to Haines Junction

We headed south out of Tok for the Canadian border and arrived about noon. The smoke from the forest fires had spread nearly to the border. It was pretty dense and difficult to breath. Getting to the border went smoothly, not that it shouldn't have but sometimes the border agents can be a little intimidating. No sir, no guns, no firewood, no pets, ok you can come in. When you leave the US border you travel approximately 13 miles before you come to the Canadian Customs building. The road getting there is in terrible condition. The first bump we came to nearly took all the wheels off the ground. Think our tow vehicle went airborne. Bob did stop and check. But guess they put it there to say "Welcome back to Canada!"

It appears that the fixes we made to Don's RV did the trick. All went well and we did not have any problems. 

We traveled about 300 miles or 500 km (we are back to the metric system again) and settled in just east of Haines Junction. We will head on in to Whitehorse tomorrow.  Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory and there is lots to do. Sixty percent of the population of the Yukon live in Whitehorse. We may be here for a couple of days. 

The weather is nice blue skies and 70 degrees or about 16c

Smokey!!

Top of the World!!  Chicken, AK  Somehow we keep dressing alike!

Sad day.  Good bye to Alaska!!

I love the Canadian way of getting drivers to slow down!!  Cardboard!!

Bob sits at the "computer desk" doing business even on the road!