Fairbanks to Soldotna

It is June 24 and we are now in Soldotna getting ready to do some fishing.  The guys are outside hooking up the rigs and I am trying to get caught up on this blogging.  So much has gone on for the last 2 weeks!

At Fairbanks we went to the University of Alaska museum.  This is a beautiful museum with great displays and some really cool movies.  There is a 8'3" bear in one of the displays and some other displays of large animals.  I especially like the 1913 descent on Mt. McKinley display.  The descendents of the original expedition started an anniversary climb on June 7 and expect to take a month.  Another great thing we did was the Riverboat Discovery - going on a sternwheeler up the Chena river.  During our time on the boat we saw a float plane takeoff and land on the river, a demo of dog sledding, and presentations of Athabascan culture at a reenactment village.  But the highlight of this week was a flight across the Arctic circle to the landing strip at Bettles, Alaska and spending 2 nights at the Bettles lodge.  While we were there we took a town tour, talked to the park rangers and watched movies about the Arches of the Arctic National Park, and paddled canoes for 2 hours down the koyukak river.  When we reached the end of our paddle trip we explored the ghost town of Old Bettles and waited for the boat from the lodge to pick us up. The mosquitoes were terrible!!!  And we waited and waited.  Finally, because the boat was not working, the lodge picked us up in a float plane.  That was a real treat and a very welcomed sight.  The food a the lodge was very good and the staff was friendly and accommodating.  And best of all - Chica got to go.  She had to be in a crate but all the way back on the plane she had her head stuck out of the crate looking where she was going.  We topped off our Fairbanks week with a visit to Mary Shields , first women to finish the Iditarod, and a dog sled demo.

The next stop was Denali.  We could not believe the weather we had during our stay - sunny, warm, and clear skies the entire time.  Mt. McKinley is usually only seen 1 day in 7 and we saw it everyday.  We took the bus the first day we were there to Wonder Lake.  That is the long ride for 10 hours.  We saw lots of caribou, some moose, dall sheep, ptarmigan, and 3 grizzly bears.  One of the grizzly bears was on the side of the road and stayed there for about 20 minutes.  Of course, the bus stops the entire time and we take lots of pictures.  And the views of the mountain were fantastic.  The rest of our time in Denali was spent taking hikes, bike rides,visiting the visitor center, watching a free dog sledding demo, shopping.

We left Denali and stopped over night outside Talkeetna.  Six of us went into the town to look around.  When Chuck and Jan were getting their mail, they talked to a pilot going to Mt McKinley that afternoon and said he had seats available.  All six of us wanted to go so they took a plane just for us.  What a ride!  It was a beautiful flight through the mountains and landing on Ruth Glacier at the base of Mt. McKinley.  We got to play around in the snow for awhile and then flew back.  On the flight was Moores, Ron and Bernita Poutney, Sally Schindel and myself.  

At Anchorage we stayed for 2 days.  There was a summer solstice party going on down town that we attended along with the weekend open air market.  On Sunday, I went to the Alaska Native Heritage center with Sally, Sandy Murray, and Keith Forrester.  The four of us took a short dog sled ride with an Iditarod competitor named Jake.  Then Sunday afternoon Dean and I drove to Soldotna.  

Next report will be on the fabulous number of fish that we have caught while we are on the Kenai Peninsula. Hopefully!!!

Muncho Lake to Fairbanks, Alaska

So much has happened since I last blogged.  We are just too busy and many times we have had no internet.  But here in Fairbanks we have good internet so I will try to catch up!

After Muncho Lake we went to Laird Hot Springs.  Since we were cold from our stay at Muncho (where it rained most of the time), soaking in the hot pools was a welcome relief.  After Laird we arrived at Watson Lake and spent most of the morning installing the sign that Ron Poutney made for the group that is traveling to Alaska this summer.  It is a great sign and in a great place in the front of the sign post forest.  We used the library internet, did some shopping and visited the visitor's center in Watson Lake.  Our pick of boondocking spots was not very good on this night since we chose a church parking lot on an indian reservation.  When a local came around at 10:00 and said we needed to pay $10 per rig we packed up and went on down the road.  Luckily, there was a rest area close by.

     Whitehorse, Yukon was our next stop.  We stayed at Pioneer RV Park in the dry camping area which used to be free but now cost us $10 per night.  We stayed two nights - did laundry, walked around town, and went to the Frantic Follies (a vaudeville performance at one of the hotels).  During our stay at Pioneer RV a black bear walked right by our rigs.  Quite a thrill!

     We have been fortunate to find some very nice boondocking spots.  After Whitehorse we stayed at a large area by Crazy Creek Bridge on our way to Dawson City.  When we got to Dawson City we asked a closed gas station if we could park there for a few nights.  The couple that owned the station said of course and  we all became great friends, even inviting them over for HH one night.  During our stay we drove to Quartz Creek and visited some friends we meet in Whitehorse.  This couple owns the ground that Gold Rush (a reality TV show about mining in the NW) was filmed on.  We spent the day with them and even got to pan a little gold.  Very nice people and they are from Oklahoma!  The rest of the time in Dawson City we played tourist - going to the museum, Robert Service cabin, Keno sternwheeler, Grand Palace theater, and checking out the ferry we need to take to cross the Yukon.  We left on June 6 when the sun finally came out so we could cross the Top of the World Highway when it was clear and sunny.

     After taking the free ferry across the Yukon we drove the Top of the World Highway for a couple of hours and then found this incredible spot to boondock.  Off the road about 1/4 of a mile to a large lot that was an abandoned mine building with only the foundation remaining.  Beautiful!  The next day we drove across the US border and had lunch in Chicken.  That night we found another great spot in a large gravel pit.

     We arrived in Tok on Saturday, June 8, and meet up with the last member of our group - Sally and Gregg.  After fueling, washing rigs and toads, dumping and filling tanks and getting our free fudge (Alaska Toursaver coupon) we were off again.  And again we found a beautiful spot by a river to spend the night.

Now we have been in Fairbanks for 3 days.  During that time we stopped at the North Pole, spent a lot of time at the UofA museum, did the Riverboat Discovery, and took a tour of the Large Animal Sanctuary of UofA.  Tomorrow 6 of us (and Chica) are flying to a lodge in the northern part of the state for three days.  It will be an adventure!  Here are a few pictures -

Blackfoot, Idaho to Muncho Lake, BC

We have traveled a lot in the last 10 days.  In Blackfoot, Idaho, we stayed at a closed restaurant parking lot close to a city park.  We got a nice walk in around the park.  The next day we moved to Salmon, Idaho.  The drive thru Idaho was very beautiful.  In Salmon we stayed at a boondocking spot listed in Day's End - fishing access North of town by the Salmon River.  This was a very nice spot and close enough to town that we could walk in and look around.  We stayed in our first Elks the next night at Kalispell, Idaho.  Got to do some shopping at Costco.  On Wednesday May 22 we moved into Canada.  We had no problems at the border, but we had problems finding a place for the night.  Our original intent was to stay at Radium Hot Springs.  But it was rainy when we got there and we decided to go on into Banff National Park.  After paying $18 to drive thru the park, we had to unhook the car because the grades were posted at 11%, although we never found the 11%.  We finally stopped at a rest area and realized that we were a few miles from a really nice overflow parking area near Lake Louise that allowed overnight camping.  

The next day we got our highways mixed up and ended going 100 miles out of our way to Golden, AB.  That is not good when you are paying over $4 per gallon for gas and the motorhome is averaging around 5 MPH. So we got more gas and got on the right road.  Traveling between Lake Louise and Jasper is beautiful but we had a rainy day so we did not get to see as much.  We left the park and ended up at Hinton, AB where we stayed at Walmart again and got gas, again.  This was a quieter Walmart.  

The next day, Dean wanted to change the oil and work on the rig a bit.  So we broke off with the Poutney's for the night and stayed at Kakwa Recreation Area in a no fee campground outside of Grand Cache, BC.  Rained all day but we truly enjoyed this little campground.  No one was there and it was very quiet.  

On Saturday we meet the Poutney's and the Moore's in Dawson Creek at the Walmart.  We went to the famous start of the Alaska highway and took lots of pictures. Around 5:00, Sandy Murray and Keith Forrester joined us at the Walmart.  Now we have 4 out of 5 rigs that are traveling to Alaska this summer.  We are not sure where Gregg and Sally Schindel are at this point.  We will meet up with them later. 

Sunday we all took off and drove to a closed Provincial Park on the Prophet river.  What a lovely place to stay.  We practically had the campground to ourselves.  And the weather was great.  Took a long walk and had a nice fire.  

Today we drove thru fantastic scenery to Muncho Lake.  We are staying in Strawberry Flats CG with all of our rigs looking out at the beautiful turquoise water of Muncho Lake.  Animal sitings to date:  3 adult bears and 2 cubs, stone sheep, moose and baby, badger, marmot, 6 caribou, and lots of deer.

Page to Idaho

We left Page on Sunday and bookdocked at Mt Carmel Junction north of Kanab for four days.  Ron, Bernita and I went to a Earthfest (a yearly event in the Kanab area) presentation at the amphitheater of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and listened to music, poetry reading, and a Lakota pipe ceremony.  On Monday we tried for the lottery at the ranger station in Kanab,to hike The Wave in the Vermillion cliffs area SE of town.  There were 104 applicants that day and we did not make it.  We were prepared for a hike so we drove to the Wire Pass trail head and did this trail and into Buckskin Canyon.  The hike was 30 minutes in before we got to the slot canyons.  They were beautiful.  We hiked a little to the south in Buckskin canyon before encountering a large pool of water.  We hiked North for over a mile.  The hike total time was 4 hours and we were very hot and tired when we returned to the car.  Then we had an hour drive back to our campsite.  Our group decided that we would not return for the lottery for The Wave on Tuesday since the weather is turning very hot and there is no shade on The Wave hike.  Maybe another time.

On Tuesday we went to Zion and spent the day.  We did a couple of short hikes and again the weather was very warm.  There were lots of tourists in Zion, especially from other countries.  We enjoyed riding the shuttle bus and not having to drive in the park.

On Wednesday the guys stayed at the rigs and Bernita and I went to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary between Mt. Carmel Junction and Kanab.  We took the free two hour tour.  This is the largest no kill animal shelter in the country with around 1600 animals and a staff of 500 paid employees and lots of volunteers.  It was very interesting. The cemetery which has over 5000 graves was very impressive.  

Thursday we drove a short distance to Red Canyon NF Campground, paid $7.50 for a site, and went to Bryce Canyon for the day.  It was much cooler than at Zion and we took a ton of pictures.  When we got back at the rigs I convinced everyone to stay another day so I could do the bike trail running 8 miles from our Campground.  Dean and I did this trail on Friday - 47 minutes up and 23 minutes back - what a ride!  Since we did not have internet or phone at this campground we left in the afternoon and drove to Richfield, Utah to the Walmart.  This was a mistake.  We got supplies then during the evening truckers started coming in.  We moved after a refrigeration truck came in and parked next to us.  Then a trucker pulled in by us and ran his talk radio all night long.  We all decided that parking at Walmart will be our last resort.

Yesterday we drove to Cabela's South of Salt Lake.  Great parking lot with dump and water.  And the shopping !!!!  We shopped at Cabela's and at the Columbia Sporting Goods store in the outlet malls.  We spent a lot of money.  It would have been cheaper to stay at a RV resort but not as much fun!

Today we are in Blackfoot, Idaho, heading North.  Good stop for laundry!

Pine to Page

So I am going to try to blog again after a few trips of not posting.  

We left Pine, Arizona, last Wednesday (5-8) for the start of our second trip to Alaska.  We meet up with Ron and Bernita Poutney outside of Page at the Lone Rock Campground.  Our travel time was a little bit longer than usual because Hwy 89 West of Page is closed do to the road collapsing in February of this year. Lone Rock CG is about 9 miles North of Page, in Utah, and is run by the National Park Service.  Cost for us - $5 per night.  No amenities except for dump and water.  But a fabulous view of Lake Powell and surrounding area.

On Thursday we went to the Lower Slot of Antelope Canyon.  This has been on my bucket list for many years.  Dean and Ron did the photographers tour of 2 hours and Bernita and I did the regular tour of 1 hour.  This canyon is beautiful, not very crowded, and well worth the money.  I have included some pictures.  We also stopped at the lookout over Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River.  Great view but I sure don't remember hiking that much when we were here before!

On Friday, we drove to the thriving city of Big Water, Utah (population 430), and enjoyed a nice presentation from a paleontologist on the Grand Staircase/Escalante area.  Then we did a hike at the Toadstools (pictures included).  After a brief stop at the Paria Ranger station to ask about hiking in the Vermillion Cliffs area, we stopped at the old Paria Townsite, which only has a couple of structures standing.  Highlight of this stop was having to cross the Paria River (streams) twice going over and twice back.  No one fell in!

Today, Saturday, Dean, Ron, and Bernita went on the boat trip to Rainbow Bridge.  Since I have been there twice I decided to go to the Upper slot of the Antelope Canyon.  This canyon is very disappointing after going thru the lower slot.  There were so many people there - probably close to 200.  It was very hard to get a picture without someone in the picture.  And the price of this tour is almost twice the cost - $46 compared to $26 for the lower.  For those of you planning to go to Antelope Canyon - do the lower and forget the upper.  

Tomorrow we leave for Kanab and try our chances on hiking into The Wave, day trip to Zion, and some other hiking trails.