Alaska - part the second

On the road back up to Anchorage I decided to turn left on a road to Hope, the guide book makes it sound nice, there is a road so, off I go. Around half way to Hope I came over the brow of a hill and could see 3 cars travelling in different directions all badly parked with their doors open, I thought there must have been an accident so went forward very slowly and carefully, then I realised everyone in the road had a camera and were all looking towards the trees on the right, it wasn’t a bear ‘cause you stay in the car for a bear, so clutching the camera I walked around the parked cars - it was a Moose with her baby, nonchalantly eating the trees, the baby was quite unperturbed by the audience and attention they were getting, both just carried on munching the baby getting quite near, there was then a rustling in the bushes, out popped a 2^nd baby they were twins!! Everyone got very excited, the little family were there ages and were still munching when all the spectators left, I am sure more followed us.

Hope itself was just beautiful, with a wonderful view of the Cook Inlet and surrounded by snow-capped mountains, the best historic “down town” with old and very quaint log homes, shops, restaurants even a library and post office. I am told again it is a gold rush town but here even more then Talkeetna very little has changed. I would love to have stayed here a couple of days, the RV Park is at the very edge of the water - people were fishing from the beach. Near the library, well in the same parking lot, there is a coffee/muffin stand (very old caravan) a second hand book shop and a local artist’s gift shop. First I went to the book shop and did a book swap had a chat with a really nice lady, then I went to the gift shop which was empty had a little wander round there were 3 rooms the door bell rang I thought there were more customers when I got back to the counter it was the same lady from the book shop, she ran all 4, the library which she had started herself for the local people, coffee shop, second hand book shop and the gift shop, she said it is a very short summer and long winter! She had been born in Hope and lived there all her life, still in the house she was born in and had raised her own family in the same house, I thought that was lovely. She also told me when she was a little girl she believed “Goldilocks” was written about her and that all children had bears in their yards/gardens. nice little story.

Back on the highway I spent the night near Portage Glacier, I never get tired of looking at glaciers they are so very beautiful the colours are amazing.

I arrived early on the 10^th July at Charlie and Martha’s Les had gone to a garage and would return later, Charlie fitted my reversing monitor and gave me home made Clam Chowder for my lunch, spent a couple hours chatting and left theirs around 3pm stopping out side a Laundrette in Palmer, after doing our washing we spent the night it was a good stop.

JULY 11^th 2008

We are heading for Valdez. To get there we must travel along some of Alaska’s most jaw-dropping drives, it has just been declared a National Scenic Highway, this is really our main reason for taking this route and going down as far as Valdez. We also plan to visit “Copper Centre” and “McCarthy and Kennecott” all of which sound most interesting.

Unfortunately there is a lot of low cloud particularly in the morning. We do get the amazing view of “Matanuska Glacier this is one of Alaskas' most accessible ice tongues nearly licking Glenn Highway, it stretches some 27 miles from its source in the Chugach Mountains. We had some really good views from the road and could very clearly see the ice below the moraine, I think it is the first time I have seen it so clearly, we still managed to have some amazing views of snowy summits, panoramic passes, gorgeous gorges and of course gigantic glaciers, we have to come back along the same road - with luck we will have less cloud, what we have seen so far is mind blowing!

Our first turn off is to Copper Centre a pretty little town situated on the sockeye-salmon rich Klutina River, this area was long used by the Ahtna Indians but at the turn of the last century was a pit stop for thousands of prospectors stampeding to the Klondike and Fairbanks goldfields. There are now only around 400 people living as permanent residents. There is a very interesting museum inside a couple of old log cabins with Russian religious artefacts, Alaskan native baskets, mining memorabilia from Kennecott and the gold rush, the lady attendant was a resident born and bred, she knew a lot of stuff and was very eager to share her knowledge, interesting little visit.

Once we turned left from the main high way toward McCarthy and Kennecott we had some spectacular views of the Chgach Mountains we also crossed the mighty Copper River where there are dozens of fish wheels working, we took a walk to get a little nearer to them, there had been a very bad flood a couple of nights before which had done a lot of damage to the wheels, one guy spoke to us who was really fed up. There were several guys, their wheel looked to us a total wreck, but he said they would repair it tomorrow! A lady came to look at hers she spoke to us for ages, it was a shared wheel from where she worked, there were 10 people, she said last year they had lots of fish to share, their wheel was ok but the walk way to it was broken down, she rang her husband to bring some waders.

To accommodate the hordes of people who come to look after the wheels and dip net for Red and King Salmon it is possible to camp free along the whole river bed there were loads of people camped looking after their wheels, so we just joined them! Some have boats and go out fishing I am not sure if they were dip netting, I watched a boat with 6 guys coming in with their catch, all had large freezer boxes they cut and divided up the fish at the side of the river, the gulls were going crazy!

July 11^th 2008

The road up to McCarthy and Kennecott is dirt and rough. As there are only 2 of us I suggested we both go in my truck. The road was not so bad apart from 1 spot where I hit a large hole which I did not see, but missed it on the way back.

The McCarthy Road starts at Chitina by passing through a single lane notch blasted through a granite out crop, from here we traced a 60 mile route along the Copper River and Northwest Railroad bed that was used to transport the copper from the mines, the dirt road has just been laid on top of the railroad bed in places the sleepers can be seen very clearly. Apart from the dust and pot holes the drive was very beautiful.

The road ends at a foot bridge from where you can either walk the mile or so to McCarthy and then the 4.5 miles to Kennecott or pick up a shuttle (5$) which will take you first to McCarthy and then on to Kennecott. We took the shuttle!

Kennecott was the biggest copper find in history at the beginning of the 1900’s, the prospector who found it had broken his leg and was looking for a place to lay up, looking up the mountain from the ice field he saw what he thought was a green meadow, when he and his mule got there is was the green copper rocks just laying on the surface, this mountain contained some of the richest copper deposits ever uncovered. The syndicate first built the railway 196 mile through wilderness it reached the mine in 1911. Then a company town was built, this included bunkhouses, very nice homes for the management, a school, company store, recreation hall and of course the Mill. Everything that belonged to the company was painted red; there was no alcohol or ladies! As in other boon towns hence McCarthy 4.5miles away where the guys would go if and when they had the time and the money, the mile was in operation 24x7x363 the only holiday the workers had was Christmas day and Independence day, July 4^th everyone went to McCarthy for a grand parade and party, this tradition is carried on to day 1000’s come for July 4^th in McCarthy.

From 1911 to 1938 591,000 tons of copper had been got out of the mines at a profit of more then $100million. In November of 1938 the mine was closed, the workers were given less then an hour to collect there belongings and catch the last train. In consequence the memorabilia left behind was colossal, a lot had been lost but there is still an awful lot of very interesting stuff to see.

At the very edge of the mine and other building is the Kennecott Glacier which has retreated a lot since 1938. There is also a smaller glacier higher up the mountain which we were able to see.

I wished we had our own trucks I would like to have stayed over night there were a couple of hikes I would like to have done.

We had a lovely meal in the hotel which was the bunkhouse for managers the walls are covered in interesting memorabilia.

Great day. Our drive back was good the views were stunning I missed most of the holes I hit in the morning. We spent a second night at the river bed.

JULY 13^th 2008

I go in Les’s truck for our trip to Valdez, the journey there just gets better and better with Spectacular views of the Chugach Mountains, Bridal Veil and Horsetail Falls to name just a couple of the stunning waters falls we passed along with what seems like glaciers at every turn a Magnificent drive.

I had rung a head for a boat tour we had decided on the Columbia Glacier Cruise this is a 7 hour trip leaving at 2pm and cruising through Prince William Sound we hope to see wild life, the Columbia Glacier is the last of Alaska’s tidewater glaciers to go into a retreat this retreat started in 1978, by 1983 had moved off the terminal moraine, there is approximately 18 miles to go before reaching bedrock on shore.

We get there in time for an enjoyable lunch before we needed to board the boat, there will be an evening meal served on board.

Valdez was and still is a fishing village, until 1977 when the first tanker of oil issued forth from the Tran Alaska Pipeline Terminal across the bay, Valdez became an oil town. It was here in March 1989 that the tanker Exxon Valdez against port regulations, with its captain tippled grounded on a reef spilling at least 11 million gallons of oil into the Sound! The residents still claim to be able to collect oil from that spill nearly 2 decades laterL

Our trip was awesome my very favourite the Sea Otters, they are so cute, when they are not eating they float on their backs grooming and resting with their front paws/hands crossed on their tummies. We also saw Orcas and Humpback Whales, Horned and Tufted Puffin they are so beautiful, Cormorant, Kittiwakes, Murre and Bald Eagle also Harbor Seal and Steller Sea Lion.

The company on the boat was good and interesting, our tea was lovely and I only felt a little bit sick! But I do have to sit down a lot; its looking through the binoculars I think makes it worse.

The Glacier was amazing as always there were lots of Iceberg’s I have not seen a Tide Water Glacier before, we did not see it calf, but you can’t have everything!

Our ride back to my truck was even more amazing going later in the day and in the opposite direction. Fabulous!

JULY 14^th 2008

We are now heading for Canada and leaving Alaska, I have loved it, it is so different and so very beautiful, we leave through Tok. The road is magnificent Snow capped Mountains, Raging Rivers, Terrific Trees Awesome.

By the time we get to Tok I discover I have a shock absorber broken from its bracket. I am able to get this fixed in Tok. Nice young lad who lives in Tok year round the coldest it gets is -70c can you imagine that, they do not go out when its that cold the schools close -50c he said -40 or -50 is ok but you must cover your face eyes will freeze your spit freezes and your snot UG!!!

Sadly I leave Alaska, may be I will come back some time!!

Alaska....

JUNE 26^TH 2008

ALASKA.

A thousand WOWS’ describes this amazing state.

The Yukon, North West Territories and Alaska are described as wilderness, Alaska is called the last frontier I do believe it is the last state in the US to be homesteaded, in the 1920’s when Oklahoma became a dust bowl “Okie’s”, as they were called, came to Alaska under a government scheme, to homestead, thereby cultivating some of this wilderness.

For me the wilderness of this whole area is truly magnificent there are hundreds of miles of tundra, forest, mountains, glaciers, rivers and creeks some of which I bet have never seen a human, there are of course flowers, birds and animals everywhere, To see all this wild life is just awesome, I thought if I saw 1 bear I would be ecstatic, now I have lots count of how many!!!! The flora here grows very quickly in the long 24 hour sunshine; I think some of the largest vegetables in the world have been grown in this state. It is just magnificent so read on, I hope I can do it justice … ……..

Our first drive into Alaska was lovely, mountains, forests and snow peaks, we stopped off in Tok, - everyone that drives into Alaska comes through Tok usually as we did twice - 2^nd time going out! We stopped at the visitors centre to collect brochures and had our lunch, then pushed on to Fairbanks, we drove into very large road works with very little to no signs, (remember we have lost our navigator this is our first big town,) On the diversion signs instead of putting towns or direction like North, South, East or West, which Americans are fond of doing, the signs that were there just had street namesL For tourists and strangers this definitely is not a good practice, Les used the GPS and followed that east, by the time we got sorted out away form the road works we had missed Fairbanks altogether L just done a complete bypass L well neither of us felt like going back, we were both a bit fed up so we just pushed on. I am sorry really because I wanted to go to Barrow the most northern town in the US; I also think in the world not to sure about that, does anyone know? In Barrow there is a very good chance of seeing Polar Bears; you have to stay in a hotel, not allowed to camp in case you get eaten! Apparently Polar Bears walk down the street looking for food in the early spring; they are very hungry at that time. Like all the bears they have to eat as much as they can before winter comes back! Any way I missed that trip silly me.

Also I need a supermarket I am very low on fresh food.

We went into a small town called Nenana looking for a grocers shop there was one but it did not have much of what I needed only fresh oranges so I got those! We found a nice park for the night free and just at the side of the river.

The village of Nenana is at the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana Rivers, the name was given by the native people who have lived on this land for generations and means “ a good place to camp between rivers” it was a good place for us. With its close proximity to the Alaska Railway and Tanana River which flows into the Yukon, what appeared to be a sleepy little town is in fact a bustling riverboat and railroad terminal, 2 barge lines are based here these handle all the freight bound for the many outlying villages.

Nenana is also famous for its Ice Classic; Since 1917, in late February, a 26 foot tall five legged black and white tripod is set in the ice of the Tanana river, tickets are sold throughout Alaska, (Les and I got one each) In April a cable is attached to the tripod from a clock on shore, when the ice moves and the tripod moves approximately 100 feet the cable then trips a mechanism which in turn stops a clock. So if your guess at the day, the hour and the minute is correct you get a split of the pot, which in recent years has been well over $300,000. This event announces spring’s arrival and a party I am told! So fingers crossed I get a share!

A further piece of local history. In January 1925 there was a possibility of a diphtheria epidemic in Nome which is on the North West coast of Alaska at the Bering Sea. Serum was rushed by rail to Nenana and from there was taken overland by dog slay, A relay of musher’s travelled in high winds and -60F temperatures. Today a 1,000 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race commemorates this lifesaving run.

We stayed later in the morning so we could have a good look around and a long chat with the guy in tourist information. This was a great night stop; there is also a very pretty log church with native paintings inside.

JUNE 28^TH 2008

DENALI PARK

Encompassing both the north and south flanks of the Alaska Mountain Range Denali Park is an immense subarctic wilderness centred on Mount McKinley North America’s highest mountain, this looks so impressive because it rises 18,000feet from the elevation of 2,000 feet we were very lucky; this mountain spends a lot of its time hidden by cloud but we had some very good views, once seen it is unmistakable, rising, covered in snow, way above its neighbours.

Denali is an almost perfect eco system which has not changed for 1,000’s of years, the park was enlarged to enable the animals to stay with in its bounds, therefore protected, there is only 1 small community that is allowed to hunt within the park, this they have been doing for generations, the community was cut off from the outside world therefore without their hunting they would not survive, it is now reached by air. So Denali lives and dies within its own boundaries just as it has done since time began. It was founded in the beginning to protect the Dall sheep which were being killed in huge numbers to feed the “Stampeders” during the gold rush.

Vehicles are only allowed a short distance into the park, the best way to visit is by shuttle bus or a tour bus depending on how long you have and what you want to see, we took 2 tour busses and 2 shuttle busses over 3 days this worked out very well we were able to see a lot.

We took the free shuttle to Savage River (which is as far as visitors can drive) at the river we did a short hike, we met a Marmot which is bigger then a ground squirrel it was just playing around and let us watch and take photos for ages before it disappeared done a crack in the rock, it always amazes me how these little creatures slide down the smallest cracks. Further along the we were able to watch a Ptarmigan sitting on at least 5 chicks, there were also a number of Ptarmigan with their young running around, these birds turn pure white in the winter so they are not such easy prey in the snow. On that trip we also saw some Caribou and Dall sheep. We then took the next shuttle back to the car park and had lunch followed by a further shuttle to dog kennels, this was such an interesting visit, Denali has its own dog sled team that tours the park in the winter, delivering goods and generally checking that every thing is ok, also some hikers/campers are allowed in the winter months so they are checked on by the dogs as well. We toured the kennels where the dogs live most of them were standing on top of their houses. There were also 3 babies, a small museum, we had a demonstration by a ranger of how the dogs work this showed just how much they love working, once the sled came out the dogs went wild to get going, the ranger also told quite a history of working dogs in Alaska, they are still used for hunting and delivering, snowmobiles are taking over these everyday tasks, I guess racing will always be around, when you look at the map of Alaska there are very few roads, most of which are closed in summer!

We hiked back to the car park through the woods we did not meet a Moose I am very happy to say, apparently they are very unpredictable and will stomp you to death! Each tour guide we had said they are more frightened of a Moose then a Bear.

I think the main reason people come in droves to Denali Park is to get a view of Mount McKinley, the second highest peak in the US, the scenery and the wild life.

To get the best and most out of our visit we took 2 trips the first to the new Eielson Visitors centre which is built into the tundra slopes with the roof serving as an observation deck, providing an opportunity for viewing, wild life, the outstanding tundra landscape and on good clear days Mount McKinley. When we were there the weather was awful rain and cloudy so no view of the mountain, but we had had an earlier view, the wild life was all hiding from the rain while the mist shrouded the landscape. However I did see the most beautiful quilt I think I have ever seen! In the visitors centre at the far end on a very large wall is a magnificent picture of the 4 seasons in Denali, the picture is so lovely you feel the need to get closer as I drew closer I could see several ladies with their noses nearly touching the picture, I then realised that this was infact a quilt, it is stunning! The fabric is hand dyed, hand painted, hand painted using fabric dye, hand and machine quilting, which I think covers just about everything one could do on a quilt! This amazing picture all achieved by a local artist, by her name I think she is Native American, they had no information on the quilt or the artist and seemed unable to answer questions, I must have picked a bad day.

This is the whole quilt all 4 seasons

And 2 very small sections:-

This is truly exquisite art work!!

We were very disappointed not to be able to have a hike here at this centre, but the rain was very steady and heavy this would have been quite a problem sitting in wet things for 4 hours on the ride back.

The following day our tour, which was narrated, took us to the very end of the road Kantishna once a gold mining town is at the end of the 90 mile park road, here we met with a ranger for a walk and a talk about the area we had a visit to an old cabin, lived in by a lady who had spent her life in the north prospecting and keeping road houses, she had built this house with her 2^nd husband and lived here until she died, when they took her to Anchorage to be buried, I think that was awful she should have been laid to rest in her wilderness! This was also the only place where the mosquitoes were thick, very thick, our tour guide provided everyone with a hat net, I have my own, this is a mosquito net that just goes over your hat or just over your head, is big enough to cover your neck and tuck into your jacket, there were 1000’s of the little beasties all around each person head, they were horrid and even followed us back into the bus, I think we have been a little early for the mossie’s. We were told they were this bad in the north and although we have had some this is the only time we have been swarmed with them.

Over these 2 days our wild life sightings have been great, Moose, Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Dall Sheep, Fox, Marmot and Snowshoe Hare, Eagles

We watched a Bull Moose for ages in a large lake/pond dipping his whole head in to drink and eat water vegetation, we also saw a Cow Moose with her baby that was very exciting. We also watched a Grizzly (they are by the way blond here in Denali because they live mostly on vegetation and roots) digging for roots he was, of course, a long way off but with the binoculars easy to watch, he dug and dug pulling and pushing eventually getting a good length of root which he sat with and was eating when we left.

We also got 3 or 4 good sightings of Mount McKinley.

I went out for my tea and had Fish and Chips, Halibut it was very good !!

JULY 1^ST 2008

We are leaving Denali after 3 nights on our little bit of free gravel, Les went a head of me as he had a few jobs to do, just as I was getting ready to go a couple of workmen came along and measured up something in the scrub and banged a post in with a little pink flag on the top, then a couple more guys came along in a different vehicle with a sign in the back. They seemed to have trouble making a hole in the ground just where the little flag was, so after a bit they left leaving the sign on the ground it read “No Overnight Parking” phew we had had 3 good night and were leaving!

I followed Les to fill up with water and loo dump; whilst we were doing this another RV came in and the chap asked had we been on that bit of waste gravel as they had just put a sign up, we were glad our little stay was over, but this guy had only arrived the night before so was looking for a new spot, we told him of one we had spotted a little further along the road with no signsJ

Tonight we are stopping in the small old railroad town of Talkeetna this is where miners, prospectors and adventurers used to live, it is at the junction of the broad Talkeetna, Susitna and Chulitna Rivers, the word means 'where the rivers join'. The town was built along the rivers and the railroad track. Today this old town has evolved into a place where mountain climbers prepare for their trips to climb Mount McKinley and others.

This has kept this wonderful old place alive, my guide book says that in Talkeetna there is an old original road house still in operation which is what I wanted to see, we have seen lots of road house sights and ruins; a couple preserved but closed, they seemed to play such a large part in the development of the north I thought it would be good to see one open and maybe have a meal. The town was a great surprise. Talkteen has retained much of its Alaskan flavour, log cabins and geriatric clapboard shop fronts line the streets, there is a self guided tour of the oldest buildings each with a notice telling who lived there, who built the house and what method was used, also what the building was used for, this was interesting, most buildings had been built late 1890’s early 1900’s. The road house was open we had a good look around lots of old memorabilia, but the food was mountain size, plates were huge and full, this always puts me off, but what we did find was a pub selling good beer with live music. We decided to have a quick tea and go out for the evening J It was great the band was very - good mum on the old Joanna, her son on guitar and ukulele, with another guy on Bass and a nutty drummer who did not smile, they were playing good old “Eastend Songs” the singers had American accentsJ amazing we had a couple or three drinks and enjoyed the music and the fun great night out.

July 2^nd 2008

We go to Anchorage and meet up with some members of our Silkroute Club. Charlie and Martha, there followed an evening and 2 of the craziest days of the trip.

Charlie and Martha are lovely and made us so very welcome, Charlie had a huge UniMog/ UniCat brand new. It is beautiful, Charlie is a GP and drives this truck to work can you imagine, your doctor turning up in one of these things, Martha is “Yokon Yupiit Bering Sea Eskimo” they have 3 beautiful daughters and live overlooking the bay

We leave them the next morning and will meet up at a camp site on the Kenai Peninsula

The drive down was awesome, mountains to left river and trees to the right, it took us an age to reach the campsite. We did find a very good shop on the way, only had a look as we had already shopped; We also met up on the camp site with a couple from New Zealand we had met on the boat we had a nice visit with them and a long chat about were we had been and where we were going! All that travel stuffJ

It was very late by the time Charlie and Martha arrived and the campsite was full, well it was full when we got there our friends from NZ had the last spot (it is bank holiday weekend) But, we found a little hole for all of us and it was free!!

On July 4^th they took us clam digging we did not find any, but I did get to see one - I have never seen a clam, this of course was on the beach. Les egged me on to follow Charlie onto the beach, which I did and of course got stuck!!! Charlie pulled me out. I then nearly ran out of diesel because the gauge on my spare tank has failed, Charlie siphoned some from his tank. Phew! Then we drove countless miles to find a night camp ending up at the bottom of a gravel pit! We were going to Martha’s sisters for July 4^th feast, after the party we moved to a better campsite. The party was great I had some of the best fish I have ever tasted. The people were wonderful we were made so welcome. Great!

Oh! I forgot I was also stopped once again by the police this time for going too slow and not yielding. I seriously struggled with this one and still do. We are on a very narrow 2 lane road much like we have at home, very twisty blind corners, very up and down blind summits, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend so traffic is very thick AND there are warning notices very regularly to say “Be careful MOOSE on the road.” 117 killed last year.

I was doing 50 m.p.h. in 55 m.p.h zone. This cop said I had 7 cars behind me and I am only allowed 5 and the side of the road was a drop, no shoulder. I could not believe my ears BUT I was very good and only said sorry I did not know it is against the law to have more then 5 cars behind you!!!!! Can you imagine going to Scarborough Bank Holiday Monday counting the cars behind you, apart from that how the hell do you get back into the line of traffic? I could really go on about this one…….

July 5^th 2008

We leave Charlie and Martha, we will visit them again as my reversing camera monitor has packed up, I have ordered a new one which will be delivered to their house and Charlie will fix it for me.

We are now driving down to Homer. The journey is wonderful, there is still a very big Russian influence here. We stopped at a Russian Orthodox Church for our morning coffee, the Church was closed but very pretty as Russian Churches usually are, the view over the bay was amazing with hundreds of people digging for clams.

We met Gail, Brian, Hook and their Uncle from Hawaii they have invited us to a party next Tuesday, unsure if we will go.

In my guide book I had found a Russian Village, Nikolaevsk. In 1968 with 640 acres and only tents for shelter Nikolaevsk’s 5 founding families carved this small community with the financial support and help of the Tolstoy Foundation of New York, the village roots date back to the early 1900’s when Old Believers sought a place to worship openly in the way of the Old Rite Russian Orthodox, their journey took them first to China then South America, Oregon and finally Alaska. In addition to the school there is a post office the beautiful Church of St Nicholas and this wonderful Russian Café named “Samovar” selling authentic Russian food, sounded good, so we went to find it. This turned out to be the craziest lunch we have had but very enjoyable. When we got there the café was open but no one was in. Whilst we were looking a Russian lady came hurrying over, her name is Nina, she rushed past saying 'come in, come in' - we kind of hovered. Nina came running out of the back room she had just rushed into with a very hot pan, very panicked and shouting someone’s name, she tipped what ever was in the pan on the ground just around the corner, then back into the shop saying 'come in, come in' many times whilst fastening the door back, I went in, then blink the kitchen was on fire! I mean really on fire, I laughed like you doJ she told me off! I said 'get some water'. I am jumping on this fire with plastic shoes (crocs) - not a good idea!! She starts waving a fire extinguisher at me saying This! This! But she did not know how to use the thing. Jocelyn all that fire training was not a waste of time!!!! I put the fire out.

Well Nina was so excited she hugged me kissed me by this time Les has arrived and another couple, 'she saved my life' she kept saying, getting more and more excited - of course we have no photo’s. What had happened? What ever was on the bottom of the pan was red hot and melting, dropped onto the carpet, when Nina opened the door and tied it back what do we have? Heat! Air! Fuel! Whoosh a fire.

It took ages to simmer her down to make our lunch, every time she looked at me she said 'she saved my life, she saved my life' everything she said twice, it was hilarious

THIS IS OUR CRAZY LUNCH NINA IN THE MIDDLE!!!!

We did manage to get our lunch which was very Russian, delicious and entertaining Nina was just so excited we had to keep reminding her we were waiting for our meal. A young man had arrived and was cleaning up the remains of the fire.

We shared our table with the other couple, before we could eat our sweet or have our tea we had to get dressed up in Russian traditional gear for photos, with Nina dressing us up at a huge rate if knots and taking pictures of everyone with everyone’s camera we were all in hysterics by this time, I did refuse to wear a head scarf makes one look a hundred and ten! :-) So I got the lovely pink headdress that Nina had had on, I did try and buy one for “The lovely Alex” but that was the only one so she then tried to sell me a blue one more hysterics whilst I explained there is only pink in Alex’s world. Once things calmed down a little, when we were settling the bill Nina realised just above the fire there is a statue of St Nicholas, off she went again with the excitement St Nicholas had helped me put the fire out, she kissed him, she kissed me and so it went on againJ

This is a real little piece of Russia in the middle of the US, Nina has only been in the US 10 years she came from very eastern Russia where she was an Electrical Engineer, since she has lived here she has helped raise the cash and to build the lovely little Church. She has also married her very Russian husband Dennis Fefelov.

A truly enjoyable experience one I will never forget. All things must come to an end we left this wonderful and fascinating lady finishing to finish our journey to Homer where we were able to park at the very edge of the sea.

July 6^th 2008

We walk around the headland here, hoping to be able to pick up a tour boat, in my guide book it says there is a ferry but we do not seem to be able to sort that out, the walk is nice lots of sea birds I am hoping for Puffin!

We find a trip going to Seldovia which takes in Bird Island and a general drive around the bay looking at sea mammals and birds with a narrator

I did get to see Horned Puffins - lots of them and very good views; we also saw Sea Otter, Harbour Seal, Loons, Cormorant’s and large selection of sea birds. Looking through the binoculars made me feel even more sick then normal! However I had a good time and enjoyed seeing the wild life. I had decided to have lunch in Seldovia, Les had got a pack up! The recommended restaurant was full, there was a large party in front of me, also very slow, another couple asked if we could share a table as this might speed things along, this I did it made for a very enjoyable lunch time, we all had the same “Daily Special” deep fried Salmon and chips (no tea bread and butter or mushy peas) All the people going out as we were waiting said the food was good and well worth the wait, they were not wrong, delicious, I had tea with the tea bag going in first, Lunch was a long time but very enjoyable. I then went for a walk around the town.

Seldovia goes back to a time when fishing was the mainstay of the region and was the busiest seaport on the Kenai Peninsula supporting a population of some 2,000 people working on fishing boats and in the town’s canneries. The 1964 earthquake destroyed most of the industry and today fewer then 300 residents live in Seldovia. Fishing sill plays a large part in the town’s economy along with tourism some annual festivals the biggest being July 4^th when 1000’s flock to this town, all giving a good financial boost.

It is a very pretty town some of the buildings have been lovingly restored, there are a lot of artists selling their work and living here, there were lots of flowers and memorabilia in yards on top and hanging on walls.

We watched the fishermen cleaning and gutting their catch. The fish, mostly Halibut, are huge! We spoke to a couple of guys at their cleaning table, as a family they had chartered a boat, 6 of them - all guys, have a jolly good day, share the catch, get it fast frozen and they have enough fish for all year!

I wish I could get these pictures to go side by side!!!!!!!!!!!!!

End of another awesome day!

From Homer we went to Seward. On the drive there a Moose and her baby crossed the road.

Gail and Bryan who we had met at the Russian Church were on their way back from Seward so they met up with us in a lay-by, at the side of a lake very pretty spot. Les made tea and we had a little visit, we were again invited to the party on Tuesday, I am thinking I may go. I am not very well today my chest is not good, see how I am tomorrow.

We go to see the Exit Glacier it was given its name by explorers crossing the Harding ice field who found the glacier a suitable way to exit the ice field and the mountain. Now only 3 miles long it is believed the river of ice once reached all the way to Seward!

I found this really interesting as we were able to walk to the glacier’s alluvial plain – a flat expanse of pulverized silt and gravel cut through by braids of grey meltwater, we were then able to take a steep climb to an overlook at the side of the glacier on this hike you could see very clearly the scrapings on the rock where the glacier had pushed its way down and so make this u shaped valley, the trail back to the visitor centre and car park took us down a nature trail through cottonwood forest, alder thickets and old glacier moraines. It was very clear to see that the further from the ice we were the land became more vegetated – the result of having had more time to recover from its glacier scouring.

Seward itself is so very scenic flanked by rugged mountains and sparkling Resurrection Bay it serves as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, we had decided not to take a boat from here but to see the “Alaska Sealife Centre” we were able to park right next to the sea, wonderful, I enjoyed a great walk around the very nice town with a number of amazing buildings and murals on each gable end depicting the history of the town.

Sealife Centre is fantastic (same as Scarborough different fish!) The most interesting for me was to be able follow the life of the Salmon with pictures and explanations, do you know they change completely when then come back into fresh water, colour and shape even their mouth and teeth (it may just be the jaw) change, when they are in fresh water again they do not feed, by the time they get to their spawning ground they are nearly dead once they have laid their eggs fertilised and covered over with pebbles, they die! Apparently the river stinks with all these 1000’s of dead fish; their nutrients keep the river bed healthy for their babies, the circle of life.

It is Tuesday 8^th July Les is trying to sort his home life out. So I leave him to go to a party!! We will met up again at Charlie

My hair needs washing and my colour needs doing, afternoon tea time I park in a nice lay-by at the side of the river by this time I have a tank full of nice hot water, I make the tea colour my hair have a shower and get ready to party!!!!

They live in Soldotna from the guide book “at the junction of the Sterling and Kenai Spur Hwys this would just be another ugly, over commercialized roadside service centre, save for one fact a river runs through it and is filled to bursting with the biggest salmon on the planet, the largest sport-caught king salmon was reeled here in 1985 weighing in at 97.2lb”

My friends live out in the forest but very near the river, Hook who is Gail’s brother came to meet me. The party was for Hooks birthday I found out when I got there. There were around 30 of their family and friends I feel so honoured and privileged to be so welcomed into the heart of people’s homes like this.

The party was lovely lots of very interesting people to chat to and the food was gorgeous, fresh caught fish, fabulous ribs, some Japanese dishes, AND homemade baked beans!!!! To name but a few of the dishes, people kept asking had I tasted this and that, I ate loads. Then a whole array of delicious sweets just to die for arrived on the table - all home made.

It was not a late party and when some people had gone home Gail took me to see the new house they are building, very big, very beautiful, with amazing views.

I parked the night in their yard, to me it’s a gardenJ in the middle of a forest so quiet and peaceful it was lovely. There were 2 other trucks stopping over, 1 was a huge 40-footer, the couple have sold up and live in their truck full time, it was lovely, plenty of room. We all went in together, when they came in mine they had to form an orderly queue coming in 2 at a timeJJ, the other truck was medium size also very nice with lots of room.

I was invited to breakfast next morning I had “grits” I’m not sure about that spelling, I had them with salt, pepper and butter on I really liked them.

I learnt loads about fishing at this time of year it is all hand catching fish, when I was there I think the “reds” were running after that come the Kings, as residents they are allowed to catch a certain number each family, but they are not allowed to sell them, so they get them smoked, speed frozen, and they can their own, I didn’t really understand that but it is what we called bottling exactly the same. I was pleased to find that out because a lot of people have talked about canning their own fish. So after an amazing and interesting 24 hours I said good bye to my new friends and headed towards Anchorage to meet up with Les…………………………………..

The Gold Rush 28th May - 10th June

I hope you are all having a great summer, at the moment I am as far north as I can drive in Canada with 24 hour sunshine!!! I do not like it, I kind of thought with 24hr sun the night would be like twilight forget it, it is bright midday sunshine, its really hard to get to sleep I am still wide awake at midnight just not tired I guess that could be something to do with all that goodness the sun gives us. NO winter blues here! but of course they then have 6 weeks with no sun!!! that I think must be worse.

May 28^th 2008

We have sailed along Alaska’s Inside Passage going between all the small islands just off the coast of Alaska. Our first stop is Ketchikan. There are very few roads but we drove them all, first travelling north stopping off at a variety of interesting stops one being the Bight Totem State Park this was a lovely walk through the forest, each Totem had a good information board with the story of that particular Totem - this included who had carved the Totem and the date also if it was a copy, a couple of the Totems were very old. Stopped at a wonderful old fashioned American Diner for lunch, the food was excellent all freshly cooked. I had fried chicken, mashed potato and corn, with gravy on the side, fresh home made coleslaw for starts, served with a biscuit, butter and honey, the biscuit is, in fact, what we would call a scone, fresh, home made and very lovely, I had mine for my pud yummy, I was very full the meal was American size. The service was brilliant our waitress was the owner/cooks mum and she was 80 years old (her name was not Edith an 'in' joke)

We had a lovely long walk in a temperate rain forest. I found a lovely little bay where I could have my “Airstream” but! Then I thought of mosquitoes in the summer and -40 in the winter decided not a good idea. We visited a couple of lakes which were still frozen over, just beginning to break up. Then we had a second night at Wal Mart!!

May 29^th 2008

We took the road south today, we only have the morning we leave on the boat this afternoon, our first stop was at the Totem park/village (cruise ships call in here so everything is very expensive) the tour around the totem village was $100 so we walked on our own and tagged on to listen when a guide was telling something of interest. We were lucky enough to get into the carving shed there was a guy working on a Totem and another working on a beautiful box; these boxes are made from Cedar in a continuous piece of wood with just one join they are then painted in the traditional colours of black and red in traditional patterns, they are truly beautiful. The chap carving the Totem told us he had a letter from someone in England wanting a Totem, but he said they wanted it yesterday so…. grump grump! (he was a bit grumpy) any way he found the letter and read it out to us it was from “Blue Peter” (program for children on BBC TV) We told him what a very good program it was and how long it had been on TV and that all our children had watched it! Also that it was a very educational program. Do not know if he was going to make the Totem, he got fed up with talking to us. But if any of you see this on Blue Peter let me know!!

On our little ride towards the south we passed a tree at the side of a very small bay with a river running into it, (this was a salmon run) on the tree were around 20 Bald Eagles full grown and some juvenile, they were feeding, we watched for ages, fascinating some times they would pick a small fish up with one claw then just pop it into its mouth! larger fish they took back to the tree, it was an amazing thing to watch.

From there we went to see the old town, this is preserved and very much for the cruise ship tourist I have never seen so many gold shops, well apart from the bazaar in Istanbul !

This is a collection of ancient frame houses and shops resting on pilings over the water, joined by board walks and bordering on Ketchikan Creek, this area was the red light district where most girls had a house to themselves because then it would not be classed as a brothel and the police left them alone, it was also the only place a miner could get an illegal drink. The most famous being “Dolly’s” this house is still there as a museum along with a DollyJ

From here we went back onto the boat, tonight we sleep on the boat, and it’s a change from Wal Mart …………

The Boat.

The boats were very comfortable, very nice observation deck where we were able to sit with our binoculars watching the shore’s for bears, the water for Whales, Seals and anything else we could see, and the sky for Bald Eagles and other birds, we did not see a Bear but lots of Orca Whales, Seals and Eagles. Each time someone saw a creature everyone on the deck crowded around the same window. There was also a quiet room with comfortable loungers, on our last morning before Skagway I slept there most of the morning!

It was also a good opportunity to meet some very interesting people who have been on some great travels, we met some ladies making beautiful native craft going to a conference, Cathy and Cub were on all the same boats as us, this was really nice its good to see a friendly face, there was also another great couple Brenda and Lee from Alabama.

May 31^st 2008

Yesterday we landed at Juneau. Booked a boat trip for today, We then went to see the Mendenhall Glacier, like all glaciers this is an awesome and beautiful sight the colours are amazing so many shades of blue but sadly this glacier is shrinking at a very fast speed, although it is moving there is more being lost at the front then being gained at the rear (hope that’s right!)

We did not see it calf. We have seen that in Patagonia

Spent the night at our favourite campsite Wal Mart!

Early start for a full day cruise to Tracy Arm a large Fjord where the sea is jade green, Icebergs redefine the colour blue, deep colours come with the rain and the brilliance of the sun. Granite walls reach for heavens. We cruise along in the chill air watching for bears, seals, mountain goats and of course Eagles.

We spotted a bear, lots of seals and their pups resting on ice flows, some seals very heavy about to give birth. One baby goat trapped on a ledge, the guys on the boat think the mother must have fallen off they have been watching this goat for around 3 weeks the mum was there in the beginning, the guys threw ice up to the ledge also some lettuce just to be sure the goat had water and something to eat, they told us they would let the rangers know, no one is allowed to touch wild animals. We saw lots of Bald Eagles swooping the skies, the whole day was terrific wonderful waters, beautiful icebergs, and 2 breathtaking Glaciers, we could not get very close because of the ice flow (shades of TitanicJ) however we got close enough to see the beauty of the whole thing, shape and colour awesome!

A truly memorable day which ended with a Mongolian banquet (Diane and Carol we recommend both of the above) this was followed by a sleep at Wal MartJ

June 2^nd 2008

We leave our little cruise along the Alaska Marine Highway at Skagway made famous by the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 the biggest gold rush in history and the last great adventure that griped the world, 10’s of 1000’s of “Stampeders” came up the inside passage on anything that would float from Seattle to Skagway (which had been a native trading crossroad) to get to the Klondike River.

Skagway is the Klondike Gold Nation Historical Park the shops and houses have been renovated to the late 1800’s

We watched the video at the visitors centre; we walked the self guided tour of the town which was very interesting the little booklet had lots of “gold rush” stories. This is also called the Garden City of Alaska at the height of the Gold Rush people began growing vegetables, a combination of good soil, adequate moisture and long summer days translate into good crop with very large vegetables , they grow a huge amount of rhubarb!

My friend Cathy told me of a quilt in the museum made from duck necks! I could not imagine this, so off I went to the Skagway Museum, it was the first thing I saw just inside the door, beautiful.

I also purchased “Quilts of Alaska” so this is from the book about the quilt. “The lady who made it was named Jenny she came from Sweden, Jenny loved the colours of the neck feathers of Mallard, Canvasbacks, Pintails, Bluebills, Teals and others, Jenny was shown how to preserve the skins by Tlingit Indians (who used them for their ceremoniel capes and head dresses) this was done salting them and then sewing them together, she lined the quilt with peppercorns to keep away the moths, the backing of the quilt is made of old cloth, it appears Jenny used muslin to support the skins. “ A lady in the museum told me she had handled the quilt it was so very light and very warm. I have to tell you it is the most interesting and beautiful quilt, I will bring the book home so you can read and look at the picture and listen to the lovely song Cathy sings about it.

June 3^rd 2008

We leave Skagway and head along the Klondike trail over the mountains and into Canada, the weather is much cooler, the drive is stunning up there with the best! We climb and twist and turn over these mountains with the river below, we see some of the trail that was used before the railway was built, wow! The people who took this trail had to carry 1 ton of goods enough to last 1 whole year, if they did not have a ton of goods the Canadian Mountie’s would not let them into Canada - you had to prove that you had enough provisions to be able to live for a year in this harsh country, can you imagine climbing over a snowy mountain pass with a ton of kit! Oh, nearly forgot they had to pay a tax on the ton of goods as wellL Well I drove over these not very snowy mountains; the Mountie asked me if I had any alcohol! That was all but it was very cold.

June 4^th 2008

I left my lights on all night, flat battery this morning Les gave me a tow startJ

We drive into Whitehorse take the wrong road at a roundabout and ran (not literally) into Mary’s (from Vancouver) sister and brother-in-law, we knew they were going to Alaska but did not expect to find them so easy, they told us about Whitehorse a good place to eat and a campsite*

We had a lovely meal at their recommendation I had Halibut yummy! Then Margaret and I went to see “The Frantic Follies” good old time music hall it was great, very good infact. Then we went to sleep at *Wal MartJ

June 5^th 2008

Les repaired the drain pipe on my hand wash basin!

We visited the “Old Log Church Museum” built in 1900, is still an active church showing Yukon mission activities, First Nation interacting with newcomers from 1861 to present day. We heard stories of early missionaries such as why Bishop Isaac Stringer ate his boots. While out visiting his “parish” he and his companion got lost in the winter time with a snow storm, all their supplies ran out his boots were made from seal skin so they cooked the skin up and ate it!! Saved his life!! It was a very interesting museum.

Next came S.S.Klondike. This sternwheeler represents a time when Whitehorse served a major function in transport taking miners, their families and those who wanted to take advantage of the gold rush.

This vessel was employed primarily as a cargo vessel taking mainly 1^st class passengers it could carry in excess of 272 tonnes of cargo, Whitehorse to Dawson took 36 hours with one or two stops for wood; she would consume two cords of wood per hour, wood stops were provided along the river. From Dawson to Whitehorse her cargo was mostly silver or gold, the work for deckhands was so heavy/hard they seldom came back for a second season. If you could not afford the 1^st class fare your bed would be down stairs with the cargo, but women had to sleep in a tiny cabin on the 1^st class deck because a woman could not sleep where the men were!

We then did laundry and paid a visit to a small farmers market, this is new, just getting started we were too late for the food!

Then we slept at…….Wal MartJ

June 6^th 2008.

We leave Whitehorse continuing along the Klondike Highway to Dawson City.

Driving a very beautiful road with forest on each side, we go up hill and down dale whilst we twist and turn along the Klondike River this is very high and fast flowing not as much snow on the mountains as we have been seeing. There are markers at the side of the road telling of the forest fires 1953, 1958, 1965 and 1995 its very interesting to see how each area is recovering. The seeds for new trees need fire; they are stored for decades in a pod that is sealed with resin the heat of the forest fire opens the pod enabling the seeds to drop onto the new revitalised soil, sprouting new trees, there’s clever and interesting.

There are several “Road Houses” most of which are derelict, in a small town “Carmack” the Road House has been restored, not much to see a 2 story log cabin we could not go inside, there are also a couple of old prospectors log cabins. These Road Houses were used in the winter when the river was frozen and the Sternwheelers were laid up in Whitehorse. Horses pulled carts/sledge carrying mail, goods and people from Whitehorse to Dawson City, the conditions must have been terrible, with huge snow drifts in temperatures well below zero, this is real wilderness country,

In the summer months the sternwheeler we visited yesterday took its cargo up and down the Klondike River between Whitehorse and Dawson City, as well as mail, goods and people the boats take gold and silver from the mines, she carried these cargos until 1952, when the train line was finished (I hope I have got that right) from then until 1955 the Klondike Sternwheeler was a cruise ship up and down the river.

Surprise, Surprise today we met with our friend “J” (from Moab folk festival and a couple of weeks ago) we thought he was in Alaska did not expect to see him again, he had come from Alaska to Dawson City over the “Top of the World Highway” We parked in a lay-by (pull in) for a hug and a chat but again we were nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes so into Les and Margaret for a nice cup of tea! It was lovely to see him again; we have the offer of leaving our trucks at his place in Reno, Nevada when we come home later in the year.

8^th / 9^th June 2008

Dawson!

This is were it all started the Klondike Gold Rush. August 1896 3 “Sourdoughs” (so called because they have seen the ice freeze and melt on the Klondike River thereby becoming old timers, a newcomer is called “Cheechakos”) found gold in Rabbit Creek, later renamed Bonanza Creek. It was a whole year before it reached the out side world it was July 1897 when a steam ship carrying scruffy miners and thousands of dollars in gold reached Seattle.

By 1898/99 Dawson became a city of tents, shanties and log cabins with a floating population of some 20,000 people, this was a wild town but the mounted police kept order, no guns were allowed, nothing was open on a Sunday and the “girls” were allowed to be there but had to behave J the red light district was on the other side of the river. We were told that it was from Dawson that the Mountie’s got their tag “They always get their man” there is only one way out not only of Dawson but Canada to take another route would mean certain death.

This is a huge gold field which is still being worked, (we didn’t find any) we did go visit Bonanza Creek. For 60 years the ground was dredged by huge machines the same machine that dredges a river bed or harbour, there is one that tourist can visit it is huge worked 24 hours times 7 times 52 extracting gold from the ground, there were numerous of these machine that worked the valleys of the goldfields, around Dawson today are 100’s of mounds containing rock and stone left by the machines

When the Sternwheeler started to cruise the Klondike River in the 1950’s bringing tourists to Dawson they were greeted by a small groups of locals dressed in 1890s costumes “The Klondike Tourist Bureau” wanted to give people a feel of the old “Gold Rush Town” this is still done today all the tours we went on the guides were dressed as 1890s they work hard at tourism which makes it great fun.

10^th June 2008

Spent the morning doing chores including emails left Dawson City after lunch for the Dempster Highway which will take us to the town of Inuvik on the east channel that leads into the Beaufort Sea…………………………….

Please Note - not having the tech know how to send my own photos my daughter has used images from the web to illustrate some posts, check out this web site for more amazing pics
Hicker's animal and travel photography

24 hours sunshine....

At last I have managed to get this off to you all, I hope you enjoy the reading as much as I enjoyed the doing.

I have had a really bad day to day we are back in Whitehorse, Yukon. the truck has been making a very strange noise no one seemed to be able to fix it, then after spending a little time and laugh with a lady in a shop she sent me to a large truck stop, they knew what it was but could not fix it - too busy, so they sent me to another work shop, Hey presto he could fix it, it was a stone stuck in the wheel/brake workings. I really thought it was something very bad and that I would be here weeks, but now all is well :-)

so love and hugs to you all,

INUVIK in the NORTH WEST TERRIOTRY

We arrived in Inuvik Sunday 15^th June 2008, having had a safe and successful journey up the infamous Dempster Highway, well that is the truck has had no major problems it is incredibly dirty, so the first job was a car wash, the wash machine only uses water, no detergent so the truck now has a biscuit colour tinge! We parked on the campsite “Happy Valley” which is in the centre of town most shops etc. are within walking distant, lots of fellow travellers on the camp. Margaret has taken up residence in a very nice hotel, things are a little stressed!

Inuvik is a very new town 50 years old this year, it was built to replace the hamlet of Aklavik which was in the Mackenzie Delta and subject to flooding and offered limited space for expansion, this of course makes Inuvik a very modern town with brightly painted houses which they call “Smartie Boxes” all the buildings are on pilings which go down into the permafrost and have a crawl through to prevent the warmth from the buildings melting the permafrost, then falling over! There is also a snake like tube running all over the town behind and between the buildings this is an “Utilidor System” which carries all the utilities including hot water for the whole town , apparently the hot water is included to stop the rest from freezing in winters of under -40c

I saw this in Mongolia where temperatures reach the same horrific sub zero’s, there the whole town received free central heating from this system.

For 56 days each year Inuvik has 24 hour sunshine, with the sun shining at midnight just as if it were noon, the sun is just on the other side of the sky ! The first snow falls in September. In early December the sun sets and does not rise until January, I will tell you now that these long sunshine days are bizarre, I have so much energy, I am wide awake from 6am everyday until midnight even when I feel tired it does not last long, Am I hyperactive? 24 hours of night must be awful. The population here is equally divided between Inuit, Dene and non-aboriginal; the Aboriginal people are what we would call Eskimo (which means eaters of raw meat) I asked if it was ok to use the word Eskimo because it is a name we know, I was told that for us to use this was ok, but amongst the tribes it is not.

There is an amazing church built like an Igloo which used very unique methods of construction in its building, I cannot describe these but they were fascinating to see.

The town also has a Community Greenhouse, this is the most northern greenhouse in North America and the only Community Greenhouse in the world, the purpose of the greenhouse is to ensure a more successful harvest and allow production of a greater variety of crops in an area where fresh economical produce is unavailable. 4,000sq.ft. is for commercial use the remaining area is for the community to use as garden plots like an allotment undercover.

I spent a very strange week trying to helping Les and Margaret, I ate at the hotel each evening with Margaret which was jolly nice,

I also spent time in the little town and their shops chatting to folk and trying to get a feel for this most northern town with 24-hour sunshine!

On Tuesday Les and I went to Tuktoyaktuk, don’t even try and say it the locals call it “Tuk” this is the land of “pingos” these huge ice covered hills, provide a startling backdrop to the community. They are formed by a combination of frost and abundant water, which freezes and expands pushing the excess frozen water upward. We were told it is like water freezing in a bottle when the ice expands rising up and popping the cork.

Tuk was the original home of the whale hunting Inuit, It now is home to oil and gas explorations also home to an early warning system for the US back to the cold war days. (Looks just like the early warning system at Goathland)

The Aboriginal peoples here have had a land agreement with the Canadian government which includes all their old hunting ground in the sea and on land, the guide we had was a hunter and gatherer, gathering berries, roots and plants for the traditional diet these folk eat, they live a subsistence life style; hunting and fishing like their forefathers, each hunter shares his catch with the elders and single families. He told us that they will take a meal to the elders and eat with them spending time and listening to their stories, this is how the traditions are handed down from generation to generation, they will also go and catch fish in an elders favourite lake or river then taking the meal to the elder get more stories, with memories. Care in the community surely works here!

Our guide had just returned from a hunt which takes him away from home for weeks and even months at a time. When we were there the harbour was still frozen shut but once the ice thaws enough the Beluga Whales come in to calf and some get killed, the whole community share the proceeds of the kill, every single part of the whale is used.

Our tour took us to see Lady of Lourdes a Catholic mission ship that transported supplies from 1931 – 1957 also children too residential schools so that they would forget there birthright and learn to be white! This was also the habit of the Anglican Church.

We saw houses made from drift wood and sods these are traditional Inuvialuit dwellings

The very best of the day was the community Ice House, from the outside this looked like an old outside toilet (at the bottom of the garden) once inside there was a trapdoor when opened revelled a 30ft hole into the permafrost, we climbed down the ladder the rungs of which half way down were frozen, that was a bit scary I had no gloves the cold hurt my hands, once down at the bottom there were 3 passages leading from this central point in each passage were several rooms all cut out of the permafrost. Down here the hunters would keep their meat, like a whole whale!! But our guide who does still use this ice house said most folk like their freezer in their back kitchen, he says they find this easier then getting out the snowmobile driving to the ice house climbing down the ladder, walking in the freezing passage to their “room” collecting what ever meat they wanted then hoisting it up the 30foot ladder before taking the meat home, cant say I blame them that seems harder then having the freezer in the cellarJJ The rooms and passages have amazing crystals on their roofs, the whole place has to be cleaned and fresh snow fetched in once a year, I expect this is done in something like -40c. I will never mind cleaning my freezer again.

We then went to someone’s home for lunch there was caribou soup which was to die for with a homemade doughnut. Then caribou meat, potato and rice with trout this was lovely, the bones from the meat were fed to the dog that lived outside all the time, even in winter. There was tea to drink which was good. We also had a taste of whale, it was ok!

A great and very informative day we were able to learn a lot about the people, their way of life and how hard they are trying to preserve their old customs.

Margaret left on Thursday I had a nice lunch with her then drove both Les and Margaret to the airport, I really did not believe she would go, but she did. We are now just 2!!!

There are 2 big UniMogs on our campsite; one of them has been on the road for 9 years! There is also an 814D this is the same as mine, it was very interesting to see the different layout, they liked the cosiness of mine I liked their big bathroom!! It’s really good speaking to other crazy folk like us! Sharing their notes finding out good free camping, also good places to go.

Saturday 21^st June Mid summer’s day

Festival Day.

We have a program of events, so Les and I take ourselves to the start of the parade, thinking there will be a lot going on, fancy dress to see, finishing touches to floats to watch with everyone having fun.

Nothing was happening, BUT 2 Canadian Mounties in full dress uniform but no horses were waiting outside the hall, and this however made my day all the Mounties we have seen so far just look like policeman, very boring, lots of photos were taken and a long chat about being a Mountie and explanations of their badges and stripes.

The starting time for the parade came and went, we had a chat with a lady I had spoken to in one of the shops she was with her husband a Scot who is now mayor of Inuvik he was driving a very large White ATV which was the main prize in the draw, he also led the parade, the Mounties walked followed by the Police Chief and the Fire trucks all had their lights flashing and sirens at full volume, one float bringing up the rear that just had a tent pitched on the back of a lorry with a bunch of children throwing sweets. Les and I followed this parade to the field outside the school were a stage and seating had been erected.

Once at the field the Master of Ceremonies took to the stage and discussed the day’s program, he then discussed it again, and again everything was going to happen in a short while, he just kept talking and making jokes, we were sat in the sun it was a lovely day, then a 3 piece band played some very good music and some couples got up to dance around noon our very over worked M.C announced the food was ready (which was free) Beef burgers, Hot dogs both with all the trimmings and grilled fish huge lump! A fish I had never had but it was gorgeous (I had 2 pieces) and the MC just kept talking none of the events had taken place, the band kept playing and folk kept dancing, it was all very relaxed, sunny and pleasant. Then came the only event that did take place awarding the children their school prizes this was just a shambles, no one had got the children in any kind of order or I don’t think anyone even told them what to do, some came forward to collect their prize some did not, some ran on and ran off twice as fast, some came so slowly the next child would push them out of the way, I sat and watched clapped and enjoyed, the children were all lovely. We are by this time well into the afternoon when our MC says please eat up the remaining food Burgers, Fish and Hot dogs because the people have worked so hard and are now packing away, because the feast is about to start!!! At the end of the stage there was a line of tables groaning with food all prepared by local folk, all arrived in pick ups and cars.

Our MC announced the start of the feast, reminding everyone to look after the elders and any one who needed help; this was all done by young people who did not have to queue or get in line J they just went to the front loaded plates and took the plates to all the oldies there, food was also taken to girls with babies in buggies as some were their own, this was very nice to see, there were some old folks sat near me, they were well looked after. The food was very traditional, meat, fish, salads and some rice and pasta salad, bread and cake. Les had some Muskrat (this is a water/riverbank rodent, which in the winter lives under the snow making little runs and stacking up twigs to make air holes!) which is smoked with very little meat, not that I could see any way, Les was going to have a go (I passed) when he came to eat the thing he broke it in 2 it was full of maggots YUCK which of course were nicely smokedJ this caused much interest amongst our German friends all of whom came to inspect, Les did not eat it!!!!

Our MC then told us that the program would continue at 9.30pm, we had been waiting since noon for the program to start J I had my truck parked across the road, there were no toilets at this event J So decided to take it back to the campsite and was not really up for coming back, but then when Les said he was going back I though “don’t want to miss anything” so I joined him, so pleased here was a long program of local drum dancing in their National costume, this was brilliant, a lot of hard work had gone into this the costumes were all home made the boots and slippers were amazing, lots of the children who were not part of the troupe just got on the stage and joined in it was really great, I so enjoyed this and was very pleased I had not chickened out.

I think the star of the day was the MC he worked so hard with good humour all day.

For me this was a great end to a very interesting day mostly spent just people watching, but what interesting people with customs and habits so different from my own. This day is what the travel I so love to do is all about, being apart of this amazing world not the tourist part (although that is fun as well) just real folk doing what they do………..…..

Tomorrow we head back down the Dempster…………………………………….

If anything the drive back down the Dempster Highway was more beautiful then the drive up! There was not as much dust, but still plenty!

We spent the night at Eagle Park and had “Liver and Bacon” for our tea, yummy! We met up with the Unimogs spending quite a time watching Dall sheep, coming down the mountain side across the road to the small river/creek most were mums with babies wonderful. We also saw a Golden Eagle

I also meet up with a couple I had met in Argentina, it was lunch time I had to go and tell them they had a punctureL it was great to have a chat about were we had been since last meeting, they asked about Olwyn’s leg

It was a wonderful drive back; the most amazing thing is that we are in true wilderness, just to see the trees, animals, rivers and mountains that have been untouched since time began just brings a lump to ones throat, nature has even hidden the oil pipe that runs through this area it can be seen as a lighter and straight line meandering across the landscape, lets hope it never changes.

Tuesday 24^th June

We spent 2 days on a campsite cleaning the trucks doing laundry and email

Thursday 26^th June

We leave Dawson City to drive the “Top of the World Highway” and into Alaska, I have had several different stories about this road most of which are not good, dust, pot holes, with the road hanging off the mountain there was nothing good about this road, the alternative was a huge detour back the way we had come so with a deep breath off we go!

There certainly was dust (we had just cleaned the Dempster off the trucks) lots of snow on the mountains, I kept expecting around ever corner and over ever hill this terrible road to appear, it did not, I have certainly driven on much worse pot holes and driven roads hanging off much higher mountains, I remember driven across the Himalayas in my right hand vehicle and being unable to see the bottom of the drop off, on my left hand side was a Tibetan lorry, parked and waiting for all of us to pass I snuggled up close and friendly getting a tear/rip in the side of my van, this had a temporary repair with “gaffer” tape writing “wounded by a Tibetan lorry” J this repair lasted until I got home. The top of the “World Highway” was dusty and beautiful with the smallest USA boarder crossing where the custom officers get a very good bonus, so they told me!

My girls will be very pleased to know I did not leave my knickers in “Chicken” neither did I get laid in “Chicken” I did not therefore buy a T shirt stating either of these factsJJ

We found a lovely lake for a night camp, but were very worried about mosquitoes. I put all my mosquito killer devices in to action including a “Citronella” candle which horror of horrors burnt 3 holes in the mosquito blind above the kitchen sinkLL I have this window open more then any other, I have to repair the blind a.s.a.p I tried with “Gaffer” tape but this did not work when the blind closed the tape came unstuck, some deep thinking is needed!! I have a very large mosquito net I cut one corner from the net; in my sewing box I have a circular needle (I knew this would come in handy) so I make a very neat patch on each side of the blind ! result……………………………..

We are now in Alaska again …………………………………………