Alaska Road Trip
- Jocelyn Timmermans
- Oct 8, 2022
- 15 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2022
August 1 - 31
Our month long journey covered a total of 10,734 km and costed $2684.00 on diesel. It took us through BC, Yukon, and Alaska. We didn't just drive it. The road was peppered with pull-outs that offered photo-ops and with signs pointing the way to short scenic walks to explore. And the wildlife!!! I'd never seen so much and such a variety, almost all of them along the highway.
This blog does not include the hikes. You'll find them in three separate blogs: Tombstones, Kluane - 2 day hikes + Alaska- 3 day hikes.
Aug. 1 - We met in Hope and then drove to Quesnel by way of the Fraser Canyon.
We stopped for a 10-minute walk to the Begbie fire-lookout, originally built in 1923. We stood in awe as lightening bolts flashed every few minutes from dark clouds that were getting a little too close for comfort. This mountain was named after the legendary English judge, Sir Matthew Begbie. who restored law & order in the north during the Cariboo gold rush.
We drove north on Hwy 1, which turned into Hwy 97, the Cariboo Hwy north of Cache Creek.
Close to 100-Mile House we got caught in a hale storm with a fierce wind and ice-balls as big as my pinky fingernail. Alot of vehicles were pulling over on the side of the highway as visiblity was limited. When we got a new star in our windshield, we decided it was time to stop driving for us as well.
It was definately worth checking out the Williams Lake info centre. This section is a cowboy museum.
We learned to not wait till our gas tank was almost empty, because gas stations were few and far between.
We spent the night at Ten-mile Lake Provincial Park, just northeast of Quesnel. We often got double sites, parking two vehicles on one site. There was always room in the campsites. Interesting tent pads made of grass.
A short after dinner stroll on trails by the lake.
Indian Paintbrush Daisies
Aug. 2
Interesting art in a gallery beside the information centre in Williams Lake.
The guys were fine to leave the women to do the planning. Every morning, before we parted ways, we'd agree as to where we would camp for the night. Often we ran into eachother along the way.
2-pic slider
A road-side stop to watch the Wet'suwet'en fishermen dip net for salmon in the raging waters of the Moricetown Canyon, close to Smithers.
We stayed at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park for the night by Telkwa.
Day 3
A one hour hike to New Hazel falls (Hwy 16)
Blackening Russula Stinking Brittlegill Russula Copper Brittlegill Russula
A short side trail climbed up to this lookout.
Close to the junction of Hwy 16 & 37, the Cassiar Hwy, were these 12 totem poles.
Kitwancool with its 22 totem poles is just a bit farther north on the Cassiar Hwy.
The clan's status and inherited family traditions were portrayed in these poles by mythical creatures, sometimes in human form.
We backtracked here, turning right onto Hwy. 16 and then right again by Terrace onto Hwy. 113 north. Stayed the night at the Nisga's Memorial Lava Bed Provincial Park.
Our Chilliwack Outdoor Club RV convoy; Lorenz with his home-made camperized van, Simon & Irene with their 'Beast', us with our Sprinter camperized van + Anne & Ingrid with their two tents.
Aug. 4
We backtracked a bit on Hwy 113 to see these sites. In the mid 1700s, a massive eruption killed over 2000 people.
The flooded forests are right along the edge of Hwy 113.
Goldenrod
A short walk to Beaupre Falls.
Reindeer Lichen Tufted Vetch
Then we turned left (west) at the junction, continuing on Hwy. 113. A short drive off the highway got us to Gitwinksihlkw Village.
Alcohol Inky mushrooms
A 1 hour hike in the village. Simon looks rather horny.
The lava fields.
Nisga'a Museum.
The Gingiox village is "dry". Its located at the end of the road, on the west coast.
Driving back on Hwy 113 east, we stopped in at the tree tunnel.
A tree mould created by lava setting a fallen tree on fire and then cooling and hardening quickly.
Stonecrop
After gleaning some info from the locals, we decided to drive this 'restricted' private gravel road east to the Cassiar Hwy. This saved us hours of driving.
We stayed at the Meziadin Provinical Park campsite, located at the Hwy 37A junction to Stewart.
Aug. 5
Case hit the brakes when we saw this mum with her two cubs. The semi-truck behind us did not appreciate that very much. But I got a great shot!
A Red Fox!
He let me get within a few feet of him. A trucker kept throwing morsels out to him as I slowly approached.
A one-hour walk in Kinaskan Provincial Park.
1) Scrambled Egg slime 2) Little Blue Polypore 3) Yellow-tipped Coral 4) Orange-capped Bolete 5&6) American Slippery Jack
We found a toad in the fire pit.
Claspleaf Twistedstalk No, Case did not pick that mushroom.
Squeezed into another double site by Boya Lake.
Aug. 6
We spent the morning here, glad for a reprieve from all the driving done in the last five days. Case & I took a 45-minute walk to the beaver dam.
The boreal forest consists mostly of trembling aspen and lodgepole pine.
Beavers build a dam to create deeper water for their home. This makes it less likely to freeze.
A beaver house creates protection from predators and provides storage for food for the winter.
Yellow Mountain Saxifrage Sticky Tofieldia
Boya Lake gets its clear water and color from the sun reflecting off of the white bottom of the lake which is composed of marl which is a mixture of silt and shell fragments.
Potentila.
Lorenz, Simon & Irene + Anne went swimming & kayaking. Lorenz's kayak is inflatable and Simon & Irene's can fold into a 20 lb. backpack.
Honked when we passed them on the highway.
An hour walk mostly on board-walk to Rancheria Falls. We were now in the Yukon, on Hwy 1 west.
This boreal forest is dense with black and white spruce trees.
Bunchberry Dogwood.
5-pic slider Who would expect such an amazing taxidermy display in the tiny town of Teslin? As I walked into the gift shop beside the gas station, I thought to have a look. Wow! The 1800 lb. bull moose with the attacking wolves was my favorite. Check out the others on my slider....
Good ol' happy hour. Thanks to Ingrid, we had a shelter from the rain and bugs.
Camped 14 miles past Teslin.
Aug. 7 - to get to Carcrosse we turned left on Hwy 8.
Unfortunately the cultural centres were closed on Sundays.
The historical town of Carcrosse.
Bennett Lake.
Mountain Marsh Larkspur.
The Carcrosse desert is not really a desert. It was created by a glacial process in which lakes were formed by the melting ice. Sand & silt that was trapped in the glaciers, sank to the bottom of the lakes.
When this guy saw I was following him, he stopped, turned round and started coming towards me with his prickles up.
I talked soothingly to him and slowly back away (after I got my photos, of course).
Emerald Lake as viewed from a pull-out by the Hwy 2.
Nice to have our mechanic friend, Lorenz with us. He came in very handy when Simon's camper lining started coming loose. He convinced Simon that he didn't have to waste time the next day by going somewhere to get it fixed. Silly guys. They kept making comments about "screwing around".
What are friends for anyways?
We camped by this gas station in Haines Junction for the night. They had showers. The manager joined us for happy hour.
Aug 8 & 9 we hiked in Kluane National Park. Check out my Kluane NP - 2 day hikes blog for these two days.
We stayed two nights at the Congdon campsite.
It was a 1 1/2 hour drive north between the two trailheads. Here we stopped in by the visitor centre, by Kluane Lake.
We checked out this decrepit cabin close to the visitor centre. Rhubarb plants were growing around it.
We were surprised to see this life size dummy in a shed beside it. Liverleaf Wintergreen.
Aug. 10
Snow on the very mountains we'd hiked the day before.
Heading for better weather. We crossed into Alaska at Beaver Creek. Between there and Tok the road was pretty rough, full of pot holes.
Arrived in Tok.
We ran into Ingrid & Anne at the visitor centre in Tok. Their tents dried out quickly in the warm sun.
From Tok we stayed on Hwy 1, turning left & southeast at the junction.
Permafrost (frost staying in the ground for at least 2 years) makes it difficult for trees to grow.
Stayed at Dry Creek campsite, close to Glennallen.
Aug. 11
Ingrid, Case & I decided to get off of the beaten path and drive the rough road to the historic town of McCarthy. When we got to Chitina, the last town on the paved road, they had gas but no diesel. This cost us 1 hour of driving back to get it. In the meantime, Case dropped us off at Liberty Falls where Ingrid and I had just enough time to do this short hike.
It was a 2-hour 92 km drive on a very rough gravel road to McCarthy. Case does not scare easily, but on this Kuskulana historic bridge he did. Apparently these low guard rails were not installed till 1988! The bridge was built in 1910, is 600' long and at it's higest point, is 238' above the Copper River.
The 95km road to McCarthy follows part of the historic 196-mile Copper River & Northwestern Railway which was built between 1908 - 1911.
The wooden Gilahina trestle was originally 890' long & 90' high. It required half a million board feet of timber and was completed in 1911 in only 8 days! 15% of the railway is made up of these 273 trestle bridges because of the rugged landscape.
While the railway was being built, Kennecott mine construction was also underway. Mining began before the railway was finished. They dismantled a steamship and hauled it in pieces over the mountains from Valdez to the Copper river to use (along with sled dogs & horses) to haul eqipment so they could get started. When the train arrived in 1911, it turned around with a first payload worth $250,000. just 10 days later! Late in 1938, the mines closed and the train left, never to return.
McCarthy and Kennecott are located in the center of Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias NP, the largest park in the country. They co-existed for the 27 years that the copper mine operated. In 1867 the US bought Alaska off of Russia. But it wasn't till gold was discovered in the Yukon in the 1880s, that the Wrangell Mountain region gained popularity.
Kennecott was a company town and a "dry" town. The miners were not allowed to bring their families. By 1938, after selling over $200,000.00 in ore, the rich copper deposits were depleted. The mill town was abruptly abandoned along with almost everything in it.
The glacier sits right at the foot of the town of Kennecott.
We camped in the Valdez RV park, having driven Hwy 4 south. Simon & Irene had gone on ahead of us to secure our sites.
Aug. 12
You get all kinds.
We checked out the harbour of Valdez which was within walking distance of our campsite. In 1897 Valdez was a launch point for gold-rushers heading inland. It bustled in the first 20 years, gleaning an income from mining, shipping, fishing, fox farming and tourism.
Half a mile of the Valdez Glacier broke off the year before leaving these chunks of ice floating in the bay. Later Lorenz, Simon & Irene went kayaking here.
The Pioneer Cemetery was established in the 1890s. Over 90 people are buried here. These tombstones were restored in 2000. Most of them dated between 1911 to 1915.
We drove down Dayville Road to watch the spawning salmon by the Solomon Gulch Hatchery. Each year they incubate, rear and release 230 million pink salmon and 2 million coho.
Salmon making their way up stream right across from the hatchery.
A resident bear kept coming out to eat salmon here. Apparently he was just ripping them open and eating the eggs. Everyone else in our group saw him.
Leaving Valdez and driving through Keystone Canyon at Mile 14 of the Richardson Hwy. Horsetail Falls.
Bridal Veil Falls.
This railroad tunnel of 1906 was hand cut into the rock of Keystone Canyon. Nine companies wanted to use this short route from the coast to the copper mines at Kennicott. A gun battle took place and the railway was never finished.
The Worthington Glacier is located in Thompson Pass at Mile 29 of the Richardson Hwy.
I did a 45 minute hike to the toe of the glacier.
That white ice boulder on the lower left was about twice as high as a human.
Views from the Hwy.
Driving back to Glennallan, we could now see the giants of Wrangell-St. Elias NP which at 13.2 million acres, is the largest national park in America.
Sanford (4920m), Drum (3640m), Wrangell (4290m) + Blackburn Peaks (5030m) in Wrangell-St. Elias NP. Twelve of Alaska's fifteen highest peaks are in this park.
Stayed at Dry Creek campsite again. We had many stories to tell one another of our day. Lorenz got a photo of a black wolf!
Aug. 13
When we arrived in Ancorage, we all felt claustrophobic after spending so much time in the great outdoors. What was a city doing in the middle of a wilderness? The rest of the group checked out the visitor center while landscaper Case & I checked out the Botanical Gardens.
This family of black bears was not familiar to the staff at the botanical gardens in Ancorage.
Borage Fly Amanita mushroom.
The perennial garden includes euim, blue poppy, peony, monkshood, phlox, primrose & catmint.
Lile's Garden
The Herb Garden
The Heritage Garden. Borial forests are adapted to short growing seasons and harsh cold winters. The trees have shallow root systems because the top layer of soil is warmer and not frozen as long.
I snuck in a photo of this photo shoot.
Fish and seaweed were used to enrich the soil by early pioneers.
Artsy Anne is still shopping for a camperized van. We thought this one suited her perfectly.
Stayed at Bird Creek campsite, south of Ancorage.
Aug. 14 we hiked by the Exit Glacier in Kania Fjords NP. Check my blog for Alaska - 3 day hikes.
After the hike we walked through Seward.
Spent the night in the 49th State campsite, close to the junction of Denali Park. We had a delicious dinner there in the Brewing Co. pub.
Aug. 15
Denali Mt. in the visitor center.
After doing a morning hike to the Mt. Healy Lookout, we did an afternoon 5-hour tundra bus tour. This tour is now only half as long as it used to be, taking you up to the Pretty Rocks landslide at Mile 45. The thawing of permafrost has destroyed this section of road.
The views of North America's highest peak: Denali Mt. or also known as Mt. McKinley (6155m) are better in Denali State Park, than in Denali National Park.
Cariboo like the open tundra and ridgetops, where they eat lichens and escape the bugs. Both male & female cariboo have antlers.
This grizzly ended up walking right in front of our bus! He was pawing for grubs as he made his way alongside the river on the gravel bars. They can weigh up to 600 lbs. and eat roots, berries, bulbs, tubers and fresh vegetation early in the season. They also eat ground squirrles, caribou, moose & sheep. They hibernate from October to April.
We stayed in the Salvage River campsite in Denali NP. This was the only campsite we had reserved.
Aug. 17- 18
We left the higher mountains behind and got better weather in Fairbanks where we did not linger long.
Chena Hotsprings was a 1 hour drive east of Fairbanks.
1952 DC6-A Charlie Brown aircraft. We ended up spending a relaxing two nights here.
The second day there we hiked the Angel Rocks trail.
Chena Hotsprings Resort was established in 1908 and soon became quite popular in the interior of Alaska. It felt so good to soak in this hot mineral water after the hike.
The Aurora Ice Museum.
Life size displays.
A part of the bar.
We got apple-tinies in ice glasses.
As we entered the ice museum, the guide told us not to touch or lick the ice. When she described the various sulptures to us, in particular this newest naked lady one, she reminded us of her earlier warning.
The last few nights we did potlucks in an effort to get rid of our produce before crossing the border. We all agreed we liked it better this way. Most of us being from big families, knew we had to dig in and eat quickly.
Aug. 19
We checked out the town of the North Pole (17 miles southeast of Fairbanks) where they have Christmas year round.
Stayed in Tok River campsite.
We woke to the sound of nuts hitting the roof of our van like bullets. Pesky squirrels.
From Tok we drove northeast on the Taylor Hwy 5 which is only open in the summer. This small cummunity of Chicken was the last town before driving through the most northern Canadian border crossing.
The Pedro Dredge.
Sparrow nest under the tip of the dredge. Shaggy Mane mushroom.
They had the most delicious cinnamon buns in the cafe here. They were the size of hamburgers!
The pub.
Views from the Top of the World highway. Right is the Little Gold/Poker Creek Canadian customs. We had a nice conversation with the agent. He said it had been awfully quiet the past four days because the Yukon ferry had broken down. So we were quite fortunate to have arrived when we did, as it had just started running again that morning.
Spent the next two nights in Dawson City RV park.
Aug. 21
More than 250 sternwheelers used the Yukon waters from 1896 to the 1950s, from mid May to Mid October. The 500 mile journey from Whitehorse to Dawson City took only 40 hours while it took up to four days the other way.
We took the 1 1/2 hour tour in the morning. I'd highly recommend it. This was the CIBC building. They covered the wood with tin and then painted it to look like concrete.
Of the 100,000 people that set off for the Klondike 1897-1898, only about 30,000 made it. Gold seekers were required to haul one ton of goods 53 km, up the Chilkoot Pass and into Bennett. It took the average man at least 3 months and 40 trips in freezing harsh conditions to complete this task. What started out as a hastily built supply camp on a spruce bog, transformed into the stable territorial capital of Dawson City by 1902. Some years later the famous city began to decline due to corporate mining and large dredge companies taking over.
Gold is 19 times heavier than water. 88% of all gold mined in the Yukon came from the Dawson area.
In 1904 the Klondike was the largest gold producer in Canada and fourth largest in the world.
This cabin was home to the best selling poet of the 20th century, Robert Service.
They soon ran out of room for gravesites in the town of Dawson City so they buried the dead on top of the hill overlooking the town. Now nine graveyards are located there, side by side. This Hillside Protestant Cemetery was established in 1898.
The Police Cemetery holds 18 graves dating from 1896 to 1936 and is till maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Most of them died at a younger aft, in their 20s & 30s.
The St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery was the largest.
Aug. 23 - 27 we backpacked the Tombstones. Check out my Tombstone blog.
Aug. 28 - We dropped Terry, Cammy & Janice off at the Dawson City airport and began the long drive home. It took us three days.
As I was getting some food from the pantry in our van, Case suddenly hit the brakes, I went flying across the van and ended up with two good bruises. But I told him I forgave him because he saw a linx and I got these pics. The North American linx are a threatened species.
We boon-docked about half an hour east of Whitehorse.
Aug. 29
Watson Lake was the last town in the Yukon before we turned right off of Hwy 1 and onto Hwy 97 and crossed over into BC, staying on the Alaska Hwy.
The 24,100 km Alaska-Canadian (Alcan) Hwy starts in Dawson Creek and ends in Fairbanks. With the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, it was considered a military necessity to build this highway to defend North America against the Japanese. Construction started in 1942 and was completed only 8 months later. More than 11,000 American troops + 16,000 Canadians started at both ends, the Canadians providing most of the construction materials. They laid 13km of road a day, 7 days a week in horrific conditions, with 90 degree turns & 25% grades. Often hypothermia, fatigue & accidents would occur.
There are over 77,000 signs in this 'forest', the first one being nailed there in 1942, by a homesick US soldier working on the construction of the Alaskan highway. At that time Watson Lake was a military air base.
One of two herds of bison along the highway. Giving them the right-of-way was not an option.
This mama bear was warning me. Her cubs were in a pipe that ran under the highway where I was standing. Case was yelling at me to get back in the van. I just had to get these pics first.
At Liard Hotsprings: Water that flows in shallower areas, cools off and deposits calcium carbonate that is picked up from underground limestone. The harder algae called chara, gets coated with the sediment and eventually forms a lumpy rock called tufa.
The American army built the first boardwalk and pools facilities in 1942 during construction of the Alaska-Canadian highway.
The Liard Hotsprings are the second largest in Canada, with six springs feeding into different pools.
Rock flour grinded by glaciers, give Muncho Lake it's jade green color. It's 12 km long and is one of the largest lakes in the Canadian Rockies.
Muncho Lake Provincial Park.
We drove through Stone Mt. Provincial Park at dusk. That's when the animals tend to make their appearance. This cariboo was younger, with no antlers.
This male had a bit more antlers and was licking the salf off of the asphalt.
Mountain sheep.
And this third cariboo had a full set of antlers. The fuzzy coating on their antlers is actually hairy skin.
A reindeer is a cariboo.
Chetwynd is home to more than 150 detailed chainsaw sculptures. It has hosted 16 international annual chainsaw competitions.
Aug. 30 - boondocked just past Quesnel.
Aug. 31 - home at last
The Fraser Canyon.
We had to close all our vents in the van and cover our mouths as the acrid strong odour of smoke became overbearing near Lillooett. We'd timed our trip just right, avoiding the many forest fires in Yukon & Alaska in July.
A big thank you to our hiking family; Simon & Irene, Ingrid, Anne + Lorenz who made this trip as wonderful as it was. It was indeed the adventure of a lifetime!
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