Day 20 – Tuesday, May 31, 2022

This is our final day with the RV. We turn it in tomorrow morning. We had great views of the Chugach and Alaska Mountains along the way. 

Also had lots of roadwork; fortunately, it’s a short driving day. We are camped tonight at Big Bear RV Park; we’ve stayed here for the last night of each of our Alaska RV trips. After showers and laundry, we’ll do some packing up to get ready to check the RV in with Great Alaskan. We’re already discussing whether to have a 4^th Spring Adventure Package in a year or 2!

Don’t worry, the postings will continue as we finish our trip with a day of salmon fishing, a visit to Kay Pieringer on Vashon Island and a train trip back to DC. There might even be news of a second granddaughter somewhere in there.

 

Day 19 – Monday, May 30, 2022

Another sun-filled day for our drive to Delta Junction where we met our friend, Jake Kincaide, for lunch. Jake is a former staff singer at Christ Church Cathedral who is now in the U. S. Army stationed in Fairbanks. It was great to see him; he is a First Lieutenant and doing well. 

Norman and I headed on to Paxson Lake Campground for the night. There was still a lot of snow on the ground. We were the only campers on one loop, and the other loop only had three spots in use. Some of the snowmelt turned to ice overnight! 

Along the way, we had some fantastic mountain views. Our route followed along with the Alaska Pipeline.

 

Day 18 – Sunday, May 29, 2022

We awoke to the coldest morning of our trip, but the skies were clear, as beautiful without clouds as with. This is our second day without rain. 

We knew that our trip was early in the season, so we expected the cold rainy weather and icy lakes and streams. Another common thing this time of year is BAD roads. Many of the Yukon and Alaska roads are built on permafrost. In the summer, when the frozen ground under the roadway melts, the soil becomes very liquid and causes the surface to shift and give way. In the winter, the permafrost refreezes, expanding, to create frost heaves. The Yukon portion of today’s drive was like an old and broken-down rollercoaster. The first 50 or so miles of road in Alaska was an irregular collection of potholes – 6-24 inches in diameter, 4-6 inches deep. Difficult driving!

Today we crossed back into the United States – Alaska! I was remembering Alaska’s becoming our 49^th state. As an almost 8-year-old, I resented Texas losing her position as the largest state. I remember non-Texans teasing that we wouldn’t be the biggest anymore. Even the smarty comeback “wait ‘til the ice melts” was quickly dispelled by the realization that Alaska would still be way bigger. In my innocence, I thought I lived in the best state in the best country in the world. Now, in my later years, I know there is no such thing as the “best” state or maybe even “best” country. We arrived at the border and answered a few questions before the border patrol fellow wished us a good day and safe travels. As we drove away, I felt so emotional – to be back in the United States, to be home. My eyes filled with tears. We live in a difficult time, contentious and divided. But deep down, I believe we can be the country I thought we were when I was the young innocent. We can and must figure out how to be the place where everyone shares in liberty and justice and equality.

 

Day 16 – Friday, May 27, 2022

This morning there are many more ducks and loons on the lake. The little groups make me think it’s the adolescents getting life lessons from their parents. A family group of ducks practices taking off from the water and then practicing their landings. The ducks fly in tight formations; the loons perform water ballet as each one in the line dives deep.

Our early start got us to Faro before the office for the campground opened. It’s cold and overcast so we don another layer of clothes before we go out for our first hike of the day. The rain comes and goes as we hike to the Pelly River Falls. When the wind dies down and the sun shines for a few minutes, we are too warm in our layers.

Faro is a sad little city trying to revive. Once a mining city of 1,600, Faro’s population has shrunk to about 400. There are abandoned, boarded up housing complexes; there are others that look abandoned but with evidence that people might be living in the derelict buildings. Faro is trying to recreate itself as a center for eco-tourism.  The visitor information center is a new log building that houses an exhibit of local flora and fauna and a history of Faro and the mine. The charming woman working there offered us coffee and cookies. The town has a landing strip and nine-hole golf course and nice hiking trails. The campground where we stayed has water, electricity and dump facilities as well as hot showers and a laundry. That’s a good start, but Faro is hours from anything (unless you can fly in with your private plane). One might be tempted to think of starting a café or small restaurant; then you remember it goes down to -50F in the winter!

 

Day 17 – Saturday, May 28, 2022

Sunset last night was 11:18pm; sunrise this morning 4:23am. We get up early and have a hot breakfast since we have electricity. We pass a lovely small pond before we drive along and over the Yukon River.

 Two bear lumber away as we drive by. A couple of ground hog-like critters play chicken and narrowly escape our tires. Outside Carmacks, we stop for lunch at the ruins of the Montague House, a stage coach stop along the route to Dawson City. 

When we head more westward again along the Alaska Highway, more snow-covered mountains come into view. The clouds still play their part in the display, but it’s our first day with no rain. 

We are camped at Congdon Creek Campground on Kluane Lake. Along the lake we see 2 more bear and a family of mountain sheep (to go with the 2 moose and 1 deer we saw earlier). This is the only campground in the Yukon that has an electric fence surrounding the tent camping area to protect the campers from bears! We are safe in our hard-sided RV. I am reminded of 2 favorite cartoons. Gary Larson, I am pretty sure drew the one with the bears standing over the sleeping campers in their sleeping bags with one bear telling the other, “My favorite, sandwiches.” The other cartoon is two young men in their tent with a bear just outside. One guy says to the other, “Zip it, Chuck. Zip it!” I wish I could remember who created that one. Bears aside, the lake with the Kluane Range and Icefield in the background it breathtaking.

 

Day 15 – Thursday, May 26, 2022

After driving all morning to Carmacks, we took the Campbell Highway east to Lower Salmon Lake and the Drury Creek Campground. The campground is small but nice. We are one of 2 RVs parked here. The other, a fifth wheel, has its wheels locked together and its vehicle is absent. 

The setting is amazing with the ice on the lake breaking up and blowing toward the head of the lake. When we arrive, it is hovering in the mid-30s. We are surrounded by snowcapped mountains, and there is quite a bit of snow on the ground still. It’s beautiful and very cold with a significant breeze. We watched 2 pair of ducks swim to the edge of the approaching ice. After a brief duck chat, they flew to another part of the lake. We are watching some loons dive and finally resurface. 

When the wind stills, we can hear the ice compressing, tinkling like ice in crystal glasses at a cocktail party just a room away. The lake’s ice crystals are varied and clear, some long and knife-like, some look like grass mowed a day or so ago.

The wildlife sightings today are a beaver, a bear, a moose and a hare, and a squirrel to spoil the rhyme. The aspens are putting out their new leaves. As usual, the sky has gone from bright to cloudy and back again. I am searching for a word that means “something as beautiful as you could ever dream of.”