Alaska with the Stocks 2009

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Sorry to hear about the Salmon Bake, it was the greatest fish we had in Alaska. The young couple who were running the Salmon Bake and cg were the son and DIL of the owner of Fast Eddies.
 
I've really enjoyed the last few posts.  Like Ned, I'm reliving my 2006 trip.
Here's what my Honda looked like when it arrived in Chicken on June, 28 2006.  We had just come in from The east and it had rained all day.

I'm not sure, but the mud may have been preferable to the dust.
 

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I guess we were lucky on our trip on the top on the World highway (in 1998). I remember the road to be smooth gravel. Now on the Alaska side the road was much worse. Then just past Chicken we blew a hydraulic hose losing steering and the radiator fan. I had to drive the towed to Tok to arrange a tow. Fred and daisy stayed with Sheila until I returned. At that time the road from Chicken to the junction was unpaved. Just a small adventure on a great trip that we hope to repeat summer after next.

ken
 
June 13 Day 22 Valdez, AK

Last night we went to bed with rain on the roof and we awakened to the pitter patter on our roof. We wanted to clean the coach of its dirt layer, but I did not want to get wet going into the restaurant to post on our log.  So we did a quick wipe-down and set sail. 
Before we left California, we purchased two discount coupon books for Alaskan food and activities.  The great Alaskan Tour Saver cost $100, and Northern Lights cost $50.  There is some overlap, but each will easily pay for itself at least 8 times over.  Most are for buy one, get one free.  We will be going on the Stan Stevens wildlife cruise on Monday, and that alone will save us $112. At the end of the journey I will calculate my total savings for each.
We did not realize that there were coupons in it for Dawson City, YT, Canada, so we missed the $6 savings at Diamond Gertie's.  We wanted to get the free 1/4 pound of fudge in Tok, but they didn't have any "yet".  Everyone passes through Tok at least twice on their journey, so we will try again later.
We wanted to see the Tetlin Wildlife Preserve outside Tok, but it is closed on weekends.  It sounds like an interesting place to visit, with spotting scopes to see animals.  But we didn't want to wait around for 2 days.
We really appreciated the paved, straight road.  It did have some "Whoops!" frost heaves that we hit at speed because only about 80% were marked, and some short gravel breaks, but overall is was wonderful.
When we left Glennallen, the scenery became much more beautiful.  In the Yukon, the forests have been devastated by the spruce bark beetle and fires.  The trees have to be hardy enough to withstand such cold that their limbs are very short and they appear scrawny.  Now, in Alaska, the trees have became more robust
We stopped in at the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park Visitor Center, which I would highly recommend.  We got to feel pelts from each of the large predators, and they were surprisingly soft and silky, even the wolf.  They had excellent displays and a 22-minute film, as well as talks by the rangers.  They received a large infusion of money from President Bush to celebrate Alaska's 50th anniversary.  I was surprised to hear this, because I belong to several environmental organizations that have bemoaned the lack of funding for national parks.  Could it be because Alaska's governor and senators are all Republican?  This national park is as large as Connecticut, but it only gets 1/64 of the visitors to Yellowstone. 
About 40 miles before Valdez, we noticed a very large snowfield, and we thought it might be a glacier.  I read ahead in the "Milepost", and sure enough, it was Worthington Glacier.  We were able to take our 37' motorhome w/an attached toad, in to the base of the glacier.  They have long spaces designated for RVs.  It was beautiful, but I wondered how much larger it was 10 years ago. At Wrangell-St. Elias NP, a ranger told us that the Copper River flowed between 2 glaciers.  In 1998 those glaciers were 300 feet apart.  Now they are over 5 miles apart!
The vegetation became more dense, greener, with intermittent small waterfalls, and the rain/drizzle stopped.  We saw a large lump ahead, and it turned out to be a porcupine sniffing something as he strolled across the road.  As we rounded a curve, there was a tall, beautiful waterfall, Bridal Veil Falls, followed quickly by Horsetail Falls.
We chose to stay at Bayside RV Park because it has 50 amps, and we cook and heat with electricity.  We may go down to Sea Otter Campground, 20 amps, for a day or two later because it is so highly recommended. The WiFi here is great.  We will try out our Motostat today and see how good our reception is.
 
Wildlife:  1 jackrabbit, 2 chipmunks, 1 porcupine
Weather:  Rainy, overcast until 5:00, when it cleared  50's
Overnighted at Bayside RV Park, $34, 50 amps, FHU, TV, WORKING WiFi, front row on the bay overlooking a grass area where ducks fly in and out, chipmunks
Miles Driven:  254

 

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Terry A. Brewer said:
Linda

You skipped the Demster Hwy & the trip to Inuvic...Where is your sense of adventure.<G>

Betty's eloquent description of that trip quickly convinced me that the trip to get there on the chance the plane would have enough passengers was not for me.  I'm willing to gamble occasionally, but not to go through what you guys did without a 100% guarantee of the flight taking off with us on board.  My adventures are going to be tame wildlife cruises to glaciers.

My sense of adventure is many miles behind me at the TOTW Highway and someday it may catch up with me.  Dean loves off-roading, racing cars,  and challenges, so when he says a road is a "disaster" it has real meaning.  The locals say this year is especially bad.  I can't imagine that it is any wider, even on a good year.  Also, I got to dip my toes in the Arctic twice while I was in Scandinavia.  That trip was much easier, it's the same ocean, and if one wants to be at the Arctic,  I would highly recommend doing it from Europe.

Linda
 
Ken & Sheila said:
I guess we were lucky on our trip on the top on the World highway (in 1998). I remember the road to be smooth gravel. Now on the Alaska side the road was much worse. Then just past Chicken we blew a hydraulic hose losing steering and the radiator fan. I had to drive the towed to Tok to arrange a tow. Fred and daisy stayed with Sheila until I returned. At that time the road from Chicken to the junction was unpaved. Just a small adventure on a great trip that we hope to repeat summer after next.

ken

Your story proves that things could always be worse.  We spent most of today cleaning and repairing.  It was like putting our coach inside a tornado--but it lasted many, many hours instead of just a few minutes.

Linda!
 
Lou (onaquest) said:
 We had just come in from The east and it had rained all day.

I'm not sure, but the mud may have been preferable to the dust.

I totally agree that the mud was better.  It was a gentle rain, and that dust really choked me up.  I'm still tasting it.
 
Jeff said:
Sorry to hear about the Salmon Bake, it was the greatest fish we had in Alaska. The young couple who were running the Salmon Bake and cg were the son and DIL of the owner of Fast Eddies.

I have thought of you and Sue several times.  I remember her saying that she would only come to Alaska again if she could ferry one way.  I see why.  Alaska is the prize in the cracker jacks--so much prettier and more fun things to do.  And, I've thought (with a hint of a smile) about the night all the mosquitoes invaded your coach after you had so kindly escorted me back to mine.  I bought you a book about mosquitoes when we were at Wrangell-St. Elias NP.  Ask Dean for it in Quartzite or at next year's Hop-Skip-Jump.

Linda
 
Ned said:
Sorry to hear the Salmon Bake is closed, but it's good that the campground is still running.  We stayed there both coming and going and the front row of sites was satellite friendly too.  Sites 1 and 2 are 50A by the way.  And they had excellent WiFi.  That was one of our favorite campgrounds in AK.

Here's what our coach looked like at Chicken.  Russ's Jeep is behind us.

Glad to know about Sites 1 & 2.  The people at Eddy's (I saw the correct spelling as we left and forgot to correct it on my post) were so nice, and we go through Tok again.  Thanks.

I wish you could have seen how many rocks were everywhere--base of windshield, bumper, side windows, hood (under the plastic).  It was raining, so I'm surprised Dean even took one shot, but I'm glad he did.  We already had window chips in both the RV and car from just driving around before TOTW, but they are becoming more numerous.
 
Linda:

Keep writing. Reading this brings back all the great memories of our trip two years ago.
 
After living in Alaska for 22 years, I can tell you that the TOTW highway can change at any time. Someone coming behind you next week may find it smooth sailing. It all depends how long its been since the road graders have been through, the weather and how much traffic has been across it.

The tour company I worked for ran tour buses across it three times a week.

Enjoy Valdez, it is one of Peg's and my favorite towns.
 
Do go to the several museums in Valdez.  It's an interesting story about how they moved the town.  The museum at the airport is not to be missed.
 
Alaskansnowbirds said:
Enjoy Valdez, it is one of Peg's and my favorite towns.

We fell in love with Valdez in 2006.  We were there for there "first ever" July 4th fire works display.  Not too impressive in broad daylight (11pm - still too light), but the spirit of the people was fantastic. 

They had canoe jousting contests on the town pond and a "free" cookout for the whole town.  After dark (dusk) they lit a giant bonfire and danced and sang for hours.  Fantastic folks.  Also my favorite.
 
June 14 Day 23 Valdez, AK

We had arranged our trip with Stan Stevens through the RV Park.  Unfortunately,  we discovered rain is predicted on Monday, and Tuesday is supposed to be sunny all day.  The 9-hour cruise, which is most highly recommended, only goes out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. So we're going to brave the rain.
We cleaned and repaired while the rain fell until late afternoon.  When it cleared, we set about to explore Valdez.  We went to the VC-always our first stop since we've learned how valuable they are.  We got a good map and set out to explore.  We went to check out Sea Otter RV Park, but Dean says with only 20 amps, I will have to choose between heat and running the refrigerator.  We'll stay put, but Sea Otter does have a premium view.  Valdez is really a tiny town.  We found the movie theatre, but it is closed this week because they have a playwrights' conference.  Alaska Halibut House had been recommended by the painter at the VC, so we decided to have dinner there.  Halibut & fries were $11-fast food, order at the counter, but there were 4 tasty pieces of halibut.

Weather:  Rainy until 4:00 when it cleared  high 50's

 
June 15 Day 24 Valdez, AK

What an amazing day!  It was sunny all day long until we were on our way back to the RV Park, where the promised rain appeared.  The Stan Stephens bus driver, his daughter, picked us up at the RV park at 9:00.  She told us that when she went to her prom, the temperature was -82?F, and they hired the freshmen to go out to their cars every 1.5 hours and start them up. As we boarded the Valdez Spirit, everything was well-organized, and we departed the dock before 10:00. The modern boat has comfortable seats inside and a viewing rail all the way around outside, so everyone could easily see all the action.
Within a few minutes, a few sea otters appeared.  Shortly after that, we spotted a bald eagle sitting in a tree looking at us as we looked at him. We learned that eagles have 1-2 eaglets every other year, but if food is abundant, they will produce babies each year.  They return to the same nest year each year and just add on more branches.  Nests that have blown out of trees have weighed more than 1 ton. There were beautiful stairstep waterfalls cascading down lush green hillsides.
Captain Chris piloted our boat through a field of ice that had calved from the Columbia Glacier, which is the most actively calving glacier in North America. The picture shows what appears to be dirt on the surface. It is actually ash from the recent eruption of Mt. Redoubt, a volcano that is south of Anchorage. Columbia Glacier puts out 13-15 million tons of ice per day.  The ice chunks we saw floating by are considered "young", only 200-250 years old!  The base of these "bergie bits" is an awesome glacial blue.  The more blue the ice appears, the more compressed it is. This is a retreating glacier, and retreating is part of a cycle glaciers go through.  The ice field prevented us from going closer than 9.5 miles away from the glacier, which is moving downhill at 130 feet/day.
A member of the crew put a net over the side and snared a piece of the glacial ice.  We were amazed at its clarity, and the crewman said it is safe to drink.  The ice chunks came in such interesting sizes and shapes, you could imagine the shape of a dragon or a whale, kind of like laying on your back and looking at clouds.
Next, we went to Mears Glacier.  We could hear what sounded like fireworks.  These loud sounds were followed by massive amounts of ice from the glacier falling into the water, an action called "calving".
A tasty lunch of chicken alfredo, rice, vegetables, and Oreo cookies was served to us.  Free coffee, teas, and water were available throughout the trip.  There were reasonably priced snacks, gifts, and candy bars.
Besides dogs, what makes LOUD barking sounds? 300-500 Stellar sea lions who have "hauled out", and are proving who is boss.  We saw a group of sea lions who were either juveniles or "unsuccessful" adult males (the losers in the battle for dominance). The male winners and adult females were in a separate location, called a rookery.  Meanwhile, the ones we saw were relaxing on the shore or swimming near the shoreline. Over the last 30 years, the Stellar sea lion population has decreased by 80%, and scientists don't know why.
Captain Chris told us the true story of the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster.  He said that as the captain came into the Prince William Sound, he encountered chunks of ice from Columbia Glacier.  He requested permission from the Coast Guard to depart from the usual lane he would be in, and he received the OK.  He usually would have a crew of 40, but in a cost-cutting move, Exxon had decreased the crew to 17.  He and his 3rd mate had worked 22 hours straight.  He was not drunk.  After he had bypassed much of the ice, he handed over the steering to the 3rd mate so he could go below and do his paperwork, since he had just filled up his 11 tanks with oil.  When the 3rd mate took over, he did not take off the auto-pilot, so although he was steering properly to go back to his proper lane, the ship stayed the course.  By the time he realized the problem, the 3rd mate was too close to shore.  When he hit the rock, 8 of his tanks ruptured, and he lost 16% of his load.  The captain and the 3rd mate both lost their licenses for 6 months.  The captain now works as an advisor for an attorney who does maritime lawsuits.

We had been smelling a wonderful aroma for 3 hours.  At about 6:00, we were served delicious clam chowder from Ivar's, a famous seafood restaurant chain in Oregon.

On the way back to port, the captain saw several Dall's porpoises who kept crossing in front of the boat and leaping right next to the boat. There was a company barbecue waiting for Stan's employees, but the captain detoured to give us an additional experience. We kept moving at a decent speed, and the porpoises kept up with us, almost as if it were a race. It was like they were playfully leading us back home.  What a grand finale!  Our 9 hour trip lasted 9 hours and 40 minutes-well worth the price!  This is an "ABSOLUTELY MUST DO"!

Wildlife:  Millions of sea gulls, 9 sea otters, 7 bald eagles, 1 humpback whale, 6 seals, 5 orcas (killer whales), about 300 Stellar sea lions, 30-40 puffins, and 5 Dall's porpoises

 

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Day 24 Part 2

More photos from the boat trip.

Dean
 

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Linda and Dean

When we were last in Valdez the playwrights conference was on also. Lots of celebrities in town; Patricia Neal, Edward Albee, Chris Noth and others. The VC provided us with complementary tickets to a couple of the seminars, but we were only able to attend Patricia Neal's talk about her life and battles.
 
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