Back to the Yukon and Alaska - a few more pictures added

It seems that these days Alaska and the Yukon keep calling us back, so we traveled up there again for over a month. We were going to stay longer, but reality called us home. But, next year, we may have to go again because they are supposed to complete the Dempster Highway the the last 60+ miles to Tuk and the Arctic Ocean. We didn't do the Dempster again this year partly because the heavy rains were causing problems with some of the river crossings. So, while we traveled some familiar territory, we traveled some areas new to us, like to the end of the Taylor Highway and Eagle, across Alaska on the Denali Highway, the Glenn Highway to Tok and the Campbell Highway in the Yukon.

We have so many pictures so we selected a few to share here. I intended to keep it to 10 pictures, but that didn't happen. :-) They are in no particular order, and while they are labeled, there is no narrative --- did that on facebook. :-)

Thanks for looking

This was the most common weather this year ---- rained a lot.



Near Port Hardy on Vancouver Island



The Rainbow Bridge in Prince Rupert celebrating the LGBT communities.



In a campground in BC. The owner is from Illinois and hopes to make it to Prudhoe Bay and then to Key West Florida.



A pensive Santa in North Pole, Alaska



The Yukon River in the remote village of Eagle, Alaska === it is where in 2009 part of the town was washed away by ice jammed in this bend.



Hope Alaska on the Kenai



Headed up to Eagle



Alaska sense of humor at a rest stop --- BTW-- water is from rain. :-)



Some communities can only be reached this way and the planes have huge tires for landing on rocks.



The beauty of gold mining in the Yukon!


Patiently looking for gold in Bonanza Creek



From the Campbell Highway



Simpson Lake on the Campbell Highway



Matanuska Glacier off the Glenn Highway



Habor at Valdez, Alaska



More of Valdez --- love that town.



Kluane Lake in the Yukon --- dry at one end



The Denali Highway



View from the Ferry to Whittier, Alaska



Another view from the same ferry --- the weather changed quickly



The famous Whittier tunnel --- one way traffic including trains.




Saw many bears, but this year none stopped for photos --- but isn't this girl pretty?



And these guys just feed along the highway



And shoot, no travel photos are complete without a picture of Tommy Dog. He is almost 15 now, but is hanging in there!



So much to see, so much territory to cover.



[Edited on 8-15-2016 by DianaT]

[Edited on 8-16-2016 by DianaT]

Thanks much ... looking good WOOF !!

[Edited on 8-15-2016 by wessongroup]

Quote: Originally posted by wessongroup

Thanks much ... looking good WOOF !! [Edited on 8-15-2016 by wessongroup]

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider

Awesome pics! Thanks for posting. I've spent the last few days dreaming about Alaska. I think the plane in your pic is a Super Cub. They are amazing. Watch it land in 10 feet, and then take off in another 10 feet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7u1jzjFL8s The first time I was in Seward, I missed the downtown area. I like Seward, too. I was a little concerned riding a motorcycle through the Whittier tunnel, but it ended up being a non-event. My friend asked if I wanted to ride the Denali Highway one evening. It was probably after 10 pm. I said "yes," thinking it was paved and we'd make it to Paxton in about an hour or two. I have a picture from the Denali Highway around midnight at the Susitna River, pretty much the same as yours. We ended up stopping all the time, and camped somewhere in the middle around 3 am.

First of all, I mislabled two pictures! They are Valdez, no Seward. We were in Seward many years ago and was going to return and stay there this time, but it was 4th of July and half of Anchorage heads for the Kenai Peninsula for the holiday, and Seward is really packed because of a marathon. The small town of a few thousand turns into a place with about 30,000. That is how we ended up in Hope, which was a good thing. Next time, maybe we will return to Seward as it is a good place.

Love that u-tube. Those planes are amazing. Eagle has a nice grass runway and this guy was using every bit of it. We were standing in front of the BLM building with the ranger and the plane went right over us. The ranger told us that the pilot was using all of the runway because he was just learning and did not have his full license yet.

The Denali Highway is beautiful, but as you know, up there a highway can be anything from a 4 lane paved freeway to a single lane rocky dirt mountain road like part of the Taylor Highway to Eagle. The worse I drove this year was where there was road work on the Campbell. Many of the gravel highways do not have a good base to a lack of gravel. Well, it had been raining a lot and as I approached the long construction area, a young lady was spinning the sign. I pulled up and inquired as to if I should stop or go. She said she did not have a clue as she was not sure what they were doing at that time. Finally she said to go and as I was driving away, she suggested I turn on the 4WD as it might be a bit soft in part of it. OMG, I ended up in deep mud for a few miles. While I was fighting the steering wheel to go where I wanted it to go around all of the moving heavy equipment, John just kept saying, don't stop, don't stop.

This year, we really felt for so many motorcycle and bike riders because of the really wet weather and so much mud. We always slow way down and let them pass on dirt and gravel.

I hope you make it back up there soon ---- so much to explore.

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH

amazing photos!!

Quote: Originally posted by 23S52N

Thanks for those, Diane. Brought back a lot of memories. Haven't been back since I left in '79, but each year, as Service described it, i get the 'Call of the Yukon'. He too never returned.

Quote: Originally posted by Udo

Thanks for the photos, Diane. I traveled the same areas as you have for several months in the mid seventies while working for several magazines as a writer.

Quote: Originally posted by chuckie

Grand country! Wandered around it a bit..Thanks

A great place to wander.

Quote: Originally posted by BornFisher

Awesome! Made it up there last year, majestic comes to mind. More pics would be great!!

Quote: Originally posted by BigBearRider

Geez. I thought you said "Seward" before, not "Valdez" and I could see that the pics of the kayaks were from Valdez. Valdez is cool too. Does the gas station still have the giant white board with names of "Valdez' Most Wanted" - people who have passed bad checks? I especially like the Black and White pics of the clouds. Very nice. [Edited on 8-15-2016 by BigBearRider]

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

Diana you always post such great photos, and this time in my old playground! What the photos can't capture, is the scale of that vast patch of wild land! You had me confused for a while, since I have worked and played in both Seward and Valdez and couldn't make that harbor shot fit in my mind. During the 90's, I spent the first week of April skiing the mountains surrounding Thomson Pass north of Valdez. World class skiing! Driving through the Whittier tunnel is a fairly recent thing. There is a train station at portage that we always had to load on to a flat bed rail car for the trip, and if a ferry was loading or unloading vehicles, it could be hours waiting for a space.

Seward and Valdez look nothing alike. That was a big OPPS.

You are so correct that the vastness just cannot be captured --- so much wild area just goes on and on.

I don't like tunnels very much and the Whittier Tunnel is so drippy, narrow and rather spooky, IMHO. :-) Then again, I just keep hoping all the computers keep working, especially the one that sends the train onto a side track when cars are in the tunnel. It all seems to work well with the wait not too long today.

Thanks. If it was not for those winters, we could easily live in Valdez.

Quote: Originally posted by StuckSucks

Nothing short of spectacular - amazing! Like the bear footprint in the AK rest stop - thanks for adding the rainwater comment (peace of mine). Like car/train tunnel - interesting idea. On my bucket list: Alaska Highway Thanks for sharing!

Thanks --- That bear footprint took me off guard. It was raining hard and John couldn't believe that I returned to the truck to take my camera back to the bathroom.

Quote: Originally posted by rts551

Spectacular photos Diane. and its not the camera or photo editing. Its the Photographer. Keep posting your good work. PS You may have to start watermarking them!

Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo

Ground water dripping from the tunnel roof can be annoying. Sometimes in the winter, a high pressure, sub-zero system on the west side of the pass will turn those drips into massive icicles! Drips are way better than falling ice! By the way, if you were to visit Portage Lake, you would see Spruce trees that are as wind sculpted as I have only seen on exposed ridges. [Edited on 8-15-2016 by AKgringo]

While waiting for our turn to pass through the tunnel, we tried to drive to Portage Lake, but it appears that it is all now private property in that area and we were turned back. ???? Would like to see it.

And just a few more pictures. So much up there!

Glacier near the Whittier Tunnel




Now THIS is Seward --- looking back from driving out to the point, before we quickly left town.



These guys thought this was the winning halibut for that days derby, but a bigger one came in right after this one was registered.



Dawson City where the Yukon and Klondike rivers join together.



One of those great little planes with the big wheels. Also, on the little grass strip in Eagle, a large US Post Office plane lands that can and does bring as much as 1000 pounds of supplies a few times a week. It is so important as they, as are many places up there, are totally cut off during the winter. LOVE that town.




And I really enjoyed this u-tube that BigBearRider posted. It really shows how wonderful this little planes are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7u1jzjFL8s

The quiet Brushkana Creek where we camped off the Denali Highway --- obviously it does not always stay so calm and gentle.



I love watching the workers on the Ferry. This young lady told us that her goal is to hike the entire Pacific Crest Trail, and we wishe her lots of success.



A rather typical home in Hope, Alaska. Exploring that rural area was fun.



The famous Chicken made out of old school lockers at Chicken, Alaska.



Bridge over the Nenana River on the Park HIghway. These bridges are so important as they give the residence a year round road.




And on our rocket run home, we went through Chetwynd, British Columbia where they have an annual Chainsaw carving contest, and the artwork is then spread around town. These are not the average cute little bears that we are used to seeing made by most chainsaw artists.



Thanks for looking.

Glad you put them up ... watermarked or not

Always wanted to get up there to check it out ... your pic's help a lot ... amazing country, considering how things look down in the "lower 48"

And Tommy is lucky have a couple of folks like you guys WOOF !!

Best of luck finding your next "location" on this planet ... will say you seem to be heading north .... but, then that is understandable ... you guys have been down south and checked that out, plus the all years you guys lived in Imperial County and worked .... the north is a natural IMO

What is your overall take away as AK .... as a place to live ... for all 4 season's ... my stopping point on places which have an environment like AK has always been the -20 or -40 below, and very short summers ....

Quote: Originally posted by wessongroup

Glad you put them up ... watermarked or not Always wanted to get up there to check it out ... your pic's help a lot ... amazing country, considering how things look down in the "lower 48" And Tommy is lucky have a couple of folks like you guys WOOF !! Best of luck finding your next "location" on this planet ... will say you seem to be heading north .... but, then that is understandable ... you guys have been down south and checked that out, plus the all years you guys lived in Imperial County and worked .... the north is a natural IMO What is your overall take away as AK .... as a place to live ... for all 4 season's ... my stopping point on places which have an environment like AK has always been the -20 or -40 below, and very short summers ....

Thanks! Tommy is our baby and we are really catering to him these days in his old age. We owe it to him! And we won't leave him to travel ---not at all. He is getting a bit fragile.

While we love so many places in Alaska and the Yukon, we know that year round living there is not for us ---- it is all about those winters! Now if we were A LOT younger, well, that might be a different story.

We are now changing from our tiny camper to a very small trailer which will limit us a bit more, but we will see how it works. We are buying one of those cute little R-pods. :-)

After a shake down trip, we think we will head east for a long small town, downtown city tour ---- we will see as we plan one day at a time. And we hope to get back to Baja next spring to see friends and visit the whales in San Ignacio. Some of that will depend on Tommy's health.

WOOF

Quote: Originally posted by Skipjack Joe

These pictures are wonderful, Diane. Did you shoot the wildlife ones at Denali Park?