Rocky Goes to Alaska

Day 79, 12 August 2015

Anchorage to Tolsona 167 miles

In order to go south and explore the Inside Passage, we need to head northeast to Tok and the Alaska Highway. This put us back on the now familiar Glenn Highway, and we got reacquainted with the Matanuska Glacier, Sheep Mountain, and the Tolsona Wilderness campground. We met Curtis and Graham, two brothers from Texas whose father established a homestead nearby over 40 years ago. Their father returned to Texas the following year, but the boys came up to continue building a home. They bought the land where the campground is on a government program as well, where, like a homestead, land was available to start a business. That’s how the campground started. Graham and his wife still live on the original homestead about 6 months out of the year (minimum to keep Alaska residency). They look forward to opening the campground in May. And they look forward to closing it in September each year. The office is filled with antiques, some for sale, some not. Since it recently rained, campfires were allowed, so we took advantage of the opportunity to build a fire and toast smores after dinner. With the clearing skies and the wilderness around, Charli also saw some shooting stars from the Perseid Meteor Shower (and stayed up too late doing so).

Antique wagon

Lots of cool antiques

Tree with burls

Bannister made from a tree with burls

Enjoying the campfire

'Smores anyone?

Day 80, 13 August 2015

Tolsona to Tok 153 miles

Another beautiful day! We’ve been told that Alaskan summers are not always this nice. We caught clear views of mountains not usually visible, including Drum (12kft), Wrangell (14kft), and Sanford (16kft). Turns out that Wrangell is an active volcano and so most of the snow on it has melted from its warmer temperature. The fireweed started to change. It starts in the spring as an edible shoot, turning into the purple flowers in summer, then dropping the flowers and sprouting orange leaves and dandelion-like puff balls whose seeds spread in the wind. It is said that, when the fireweed lose their blossoms, winter is 6 weeks away. We plan to be home by then. Except for a few spots where there was road reconstruction, the Tok Cutoff was paved, but quite wavey, with many frost heaves and “whoop-dee-doos.” Scenery was pretty nice, though, with views of the Slana River, a side shot of Mt Sanford, and the Mentasta Mountains. Tok, which began as a construction camp on the Alaska Highway in 1942, is believed to be named after a husky pup, mascot to a US Army Corp battalion who were breaking trail north from Slana. Because Tok is the major road entry point to Alaska, it’s primarily a service center for summer travelers. Tok is the only town in Alaska that a highway traveler must pass through twice – once when arriving, and once again when leaving the state. It is also known as the “sled dog capital of Alaska” because so many residents are involved in breeding, raising, and mushing dogs. So this was our second visit and, not feeling like another pancake tossing contest at the Sourdough Campground, we chose a different campground, the Tok RV Village. Nice place, with live entertainment nightly. Tonight’s entertainment was Wes Coquette who bills himself as an entertainer, singer, songwriter, and musician. We recognized him as the fellow who worked at the visitors center desk and helped us a couple of hours ago. And he knew some John Prine – in fact, Prine is one of his three favorite songwriters (others are Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver) – my hero. He is raising money for a recording project, so we gladly pitched a healthy tip into his guitar case. Incidentally, at the campground we saw two other motorhomes just like ours – good taste, eh

Wrangell Mountains

Fireweed in July

Fireweed in August - still beautiful but different

Mentasta Mountains

Mt Mentasta

Copper River Valley

Wes singing some John Prine

Day 81, 14 August 2015

Tok, AK to White River, YT 144 miles

We’re back on the Alaska Highway. And from where the Taylor Highway comes down from Chicken, this is new territory for us (since we took the Klondike Loop north from Whitehorse on the way up). This stretch of the Alaska Highway is known for its poor condition, due to the type of soil and the severe effects of winter. The frost heaves, potholes, and washboard - although graded and covered with rocks – forces vehicles to go slowly through long stretches of crud between reasonably well maintained paved sections. We thought it lived up to its reputation. There were some interesting stops along the way, including the Seaton Recreation Area. The state recently built decks, boardwalks, and walking trails around a pond and beaver dam at the site where Bill and Irene Seaton’s roadhouse used to be. Interpretive signs tell the story of how important roadhouses were to the early travelers on the Alaska Highway. Just north of Beaver Creek, we crossed back into Canada, but this time, it was a much less dramatic experience (no vehicle search, no piercing questions). Guess we didn’t look suspicious. Beaver Creek is one of two sites where construction crews working from opposite directions connected the highway (the other was Contact Creek which we described on the way up). The coolest place in Beaver Creek is Buckshot Betty’s restaurant, where we had lunch. We camped about 30 miles past Beaver Creek at the Discovery Yukon Lodgings and White River RV Park, owned by a very nice Irish lady who, after struggling for nine years, hopes to at least break even this year. She almost did last year, but she had to replace her generator, the only source of electricity for the complex.

Along the trail

Beaver pond at Seaton Roadhouse site

Easy crossing into Canada

Buckshot Betty having lunch

These mounted animal heads are gathered from roadkill and auctioned off by the Transportation Department

Our gracious campground host

A raven came to visit

Day 82, 15 August 2015

White River, YT to Haines, AK 305 miles

Much of the road between Beaver Creek and Destruction Bay is torn up, but the scenery improved, with more mountains and lakes. Destruction Bay grew out of building the Alcan. It got its name when a storm destroyed all the buildings and materials. It was one of several relay stations spaced in 100-mile intervals to give truck drivers a break and a chance to repair their vehicles. A gas station and a lodge is all that remains. We had brunch at the restaurant. The owner was setting up a stage for a small band coming to perform for the RV caravan he was expecting tonight. Reflection Lake, the Kluane River, and Kluane Lake, and Horseshoe Bay are all in view at pullouts along the highway. Originally, we were going to stay in Haines Junction, to break up the drive, but, with nothing to do there, the weather being so nice, and suddenly discovering the nicely paved Haines Highway, we forged ahead to Haines, Alaska. This drive is one of the national scenic byways, and it definitely deserves recognition – no services, but a very nice drive through some beautiful scenery. About 85 miles north of Haines, we left the Yukon and entered British Columbia. If we didn’t see the small sign, we would not have known. Much more obvious was the US border and its customs station, about 40 miles later. Nice fellow at US Customs welcomed us back into the States. The stretch of road into Haines is very nice, following the Chilkat River, passing a bald eagle preserve, rafting outfitters, and fish wheels.

Reflection Lake

Horseshoe Bay

Glaciated mountains

The closer mountains were not snow covered, but just as beautiful

Part of the scenic byway

Cool town sign

Day 83, 84 16-17 August 2015

Although it was a beautiful day when we arrived in Haines yesterday, clouds covered much of the scenery today. We learned that yesterday was National Relaxation Day. Well, we celebrated a day late, by laying back waiting for a ferry boat to be repaired. We did buy ferry tickets, found an RV park to babysit Rocky, made hotel reservations, did some laundry, washed the Jeep (since we’re taking it with us), and planned our next adventure – exploring Juneau and Sitka in the Inside Passage. Well maybe it wasn’t so relaxing, but we did not spend the day driving to a new location. What do you do when the ferry is delayed a day and it's drizzling rain? Why go to the Hammer Museum, the Distillery, and the Brewery, of course. Then with the wind howling, the RV rocking, and a storm a brewing, we hunkered down for the night. If we survive the storm, we will be on the ferry tomorrow.