“You ARE going to Valdez, aren’t you?”

 We have met so many people along our journey and folks who are traveling by RV or tenting always share their itineraries.  In a brief period of time once we started meeting our fellow Alaskan tourists we learned that our itinerary, though quite comprehensive, was lacking a gem that we clearly had not added.  “Wait, you’re NOT going to Valdez??!!” is what we were hearing.  So, we looked at our route and saw that by just adding a simple 120 mile (240 mile round trip) detour, we would be delighted with some of the most beautiful land/mountain scapes of our whole trip.  We were not disappointed!

We saw this glacier from miles away and stopped to get a closer look.  Weather for our trip to Valdez was rainy with temps in the 40s…(we aren’t in Florida anymore)

The mountains just kept getting bigger and bigger 

We stopped at an Alaska government campground up at the top of Thompson Pass, Blueberry Lakes Campground.  We had front row seats to the glorious mountains with glaciers all around us. 

This little campground was so idyllic even if it was pretty cold up there.  When I went to take the dogs for a walk along the road another camper stopped me and he said had just seen a “little” bear up in the road just a few minutes ago…I turned around, walk was shortened.  Next time, I brought bear spray. 

View from our campsite

A chilly evening for a campfire cooked dinner

This magpie stalked our dinner table until we finally took everything inside.  

A view along the road to our campsite 

 Next chilly, wet morning, we drove down the mountain to the coastal town of Valdez.  We came along some pretty awesome waterfalls along the road. 

We drove through the original lands where Valdez was once situated until a tsunami in 1964 wiped it out.  They moved the city further to be safe from this happening again.  The town is a fishing town and of course the terminal end of the pipeline for ships to carry the oil out.  Other than that, we didn’t find much else to do but walk around the town and harbor,  visit a local restaurant for pizza and darken the door of their local brewery. We did come across a black bear along the road that we got some great pics of.  Unless you are there to go fishing, there’s really not much else to do there on a cold rainy day. (I think if we were more hardened to the weather, we could have braved some mountain hikes, but we just don’t have the right gear)

After getting the video of the bear along the road, a local Valdez guy stopped and shooed the bear away.  It’s really dangerous for these bears to be waltzing through town.  They are encouraged to go back up the hillside and get on with their foraging up there. 

Dogs enjoyed the hike around town

This pretty much is what the day felt like 

The C Dory and Nordic Tug look right at home in these Alaskan waters

This boat reminded me of Forest Gump

We shared a flight 

When there’s not much else to do, go find some beers!

After we exhausted what the town could offer us, we headed back up the mountain for another night at our favorite campsite.  It’s was so cloudy and rainy this time we couldn’t see the mountains across the valley, so no more pictures of that gem. 

Our next stop was Wrangell-St.Elias National Park.  It was a short two hour drive back up the Richardson Highway.  Along the way, we came upon an abandoned railroad tunnel that was started as the first access from the coast to Fairbanks.  Sadly, this project didn’t quite get off the ground. 

Copper River, where the famed salmon swim up to spawn.  This is the furthest that salmon will swim to their spawning grounds, therefore they are heavier  in fat and thus flavor.  

That’s Mt Drumm in the clouds….

We visited the Visitor Center, took a quick hike with the dogs, purchased our National Park sticker and off we went.  Once again, we experienced the “parking lot” tourist agenda that almost all National Parks want us to have.  We have mixed feelings about this, and wish there was more access to the park that non-survivalists could enjoy.  Just my thoughts…

Now, we are heading out of Alaska, into Canada’s Yukon Territory to start making our way east and southward.  Another night spent at Congdon Creek Yukon Government campground was right on the way.  The ranger came by our campsite that night to tell us a grizzly was seen just outside the park and to be cautious.  With bear spray at the ready, we never saw the bear. Vic is proud we were complimented on our “clean campsite”, which helps to dissuade a bear to come into our area. 

We stopped into Whitehorse, YT the next day.  What a cool town!  We splurged and treated ourselves to a hot breakfast at one of their local cafes and then took a stroll through the town to see the sights.  There was an LGTBQ community rally where they gathered to have a moment of peace and hope at the city’s beautiful totem pole. Bodi was a supporter wearing one of the stickers that was passed out.

Fun to see the SS Klondike permanently on display on the Yukon River

Children playing in the water park on this glorious sunny day

Brunch at Burnt Toast, Whitehorse

Vic had the eggs Benedict and I had the chef skillet with maple chipotle sausage, so yummy!

A monument to the many prospectors that came through Whitehorse

  

Bodi showing his gay pride!

Whitehorse totem pole with symbols of healing, peace and hope

We truly enjoyed our day here in Whitehorse, Yukon 

Our plan was to stop for the night at another Yukon Government campground, but surprisingly to us, every site was full.  (That would explain the other truck camper trying to wave us out of driving through the campground as a warning there were no sites available….but we didn’t notice that until we came all the way out).  Unfortunately, there was not another campground for at least 100 miles.  So, we did what we have seen many other campers do: we stopped at a rest area right in the side of the Alaska highway.  We were joined throughout the night by truckers stopping for just a quick rest and then they’d drive off.  We expected to have neighbors around us in the morning, but we were the only ones.  It was a slightly eerie experience, one we don’t think we will seek out again, unless absolutely necessary. 

We stopped at the Continental Divide rest area for the night as there was no campsites available anywhere around us.  We killed time by a good scrabble game and watching the truckers come and go. 

This was our home for the night.

Next stop: Watson Lake, YT to get gas but more importantly to leave the classic momento that so many Alaska travelers leave at the “Sign Forrest”.  Our contribution was our license plate holder with the phrase “Mother Trucker and her Backpack” which had been beat up by the many miles, mud and bugs, and my worn out hiking shoes.  

It’s funny, how our second time through the Sign Forest in Watson Lake had more meaning for us than on our way up.  We had experienced so much in Alaska, that it felt like we were cementing our travels into a permanent memory. 

Our next stop was a special one where we got to soak our bodies in the Liard river Hot Springs.  There, we spent two glorious days/nights relaxing and visiting with other road travelers.  

The boardwalk that leads us from the “bear/moose safe campground” to the hot springs.  We were encouraged to carry bear spray with us just in case…a bear was spotted the second night waltzing across the boardwalk just before we got there…

The temperatures of the springs reach 127degrees Fahrenheit 

The pools were so nicely designed for easy in and out 

Our odometer has passed the 10,000 mile mark for this trip. We are now headed to Alberta where we will meet up with friends for a week of some fun in the Canadian Rockies!