Seward, B.C. & Hayder, AK joined by a bridge 2013

When we arrived in Seward we were pleased to be in a very pleasant full service Good Sam Park.  We are here for 2 evenings, we had a campfire ‘Happy Hour’ on the first night.  On Tuesday morning, Anne-Marie and I drove to the edge of town and crossed over into Hayder, AK.  Hayder is so small that it observers Pacific Time so as to be in concert with it’s big neighbor Seward, Rest Assure that the one room Post Office uses Alaska Time zone!.  I think I got a picture of the Mayor on his way to work!

 

 

 

Hyder is a  town of about 30, their claim to fame is the National Park that they border.  It has a long board walk onto which you can walk and overlook the Salmon Spawning.  Of course you can also watch the hungry bears eating, when we were there they were someplace else eating berries and tourists.

 

When we stopped into the Hayden General Store {Reminded me of a Win-Dixie, it’s so different!}  I was pleased to note that Santa Look a Like was in fact a Masonic Brother.  He was very pleased when I presented him with one of my Grand Master’s pins.

 

 

Just down the road we saw evidence of the rockslide that had all the folks talking in the General Store.  Seems that the town’s only backhoe is not up to the job of moving the big rock. They may be forced to ask for an international relief effort from Seward!

Back at the campground, we were very saddened to hear that our tail gunner had experience mechanical difficulties that will force him to leave our caravan.  It seem that he has holed his radiator yesterday and will have to be evacuated to a freightliner repair facility about 300 miles away.  We’re not talking a tow truck here, this is a $3000 lowboy move!  Thanks to Good Sam Road Insurance it will be covered 100%.  Radiator R&R probably $2000, I suggested he check his vehicle comprehensive as it was a collision.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stu & Sue will follow in their yellow jeep.  The coach will be dropped in the dealer’s yard where they will live in it while awaiting parts and have the repair done.  We wish then the best, they have been very dutiful in watching our backside for 6,000 miles!

This morning (Wednesday) we are on the road to Smithers, B.C. which is about 206 miles.  Friday is our last day.

Skagway,AK to Steward,B.C. various notes 2013

Some notes on the last 600 miles.  Other folks in our caravan have been tested by difficult problems that were lessoned by the fact that our group all pitch in during a time of need. 

Stu, our tail gunner lost a tire on the last few miles of the tortious hill ascending into town.  He limped in on one or 2 rear tires, in hindsight this could have been very costly as the ‘good’ tire was grossly overloaded.  The big pain in the butt was that there were no tire repair faculties in Skagway.  We dismounted the offending tire {thanks to Jim’s wrenches} and drove the 260 mile round-trip to Dawson City where $1400 purchased 2 new tires.  BTW, Stu had AAA and Good Sam insurance, neither was any help!

On Arrival at Seward, B.C., Scott discovered that his awning would not retract.  Again we are hundreds of miles from any repair facilities.  This is a fancy powered awning that had something broken in it’s mechanism.  Our solution this time was for Harold  and I to go up on ladders and force roll the awning up, we used large zip ties to hold it in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During these departures from driving 6,000 miles always trying to meet the 4:00 pm scheduled Happy Hours, we can always count on our faithful cheering section to be there to give up inspiration and support.

Have you ever driven over a road that is in the process of repaving and is made of rough gravel?  Well, we have traveled at least 3,000 miles on ‘Chip Seal’ which is just a slight amount better than that.  It is also unmarked by lines and very rarely has any side barriers.  The speed limit is 30 to 56 MPH and you will be passed by huge double tows, often in no passing areas.  All of this to take in views that only National Geographic can do justice to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I mentioned a few weeks ago the Anne-Marie and I are in the 30% Club.  Only 30% of the folks that come to Denali National Park get to actually see Mt McKinley.  Spending the past month in almost constant haze, we have come to appreciate that tour!   Not that our weather has been bad, it has just always had a haze that ruins pictures and makes you wonder if it will be raining in a few minutes.

 

Relative size is hard to describe, let me try.  Imagine a basketball court, now place a dollar bill on it’s edge.  That dollar bill represents the Mendenhall Glacier that we toured last week.  The Basketball court represent the ice field that feeds it!  If there was a school bus parked on the tip of the base of this glacier picture, it would so insignificant that you would not see it!

We left Dease Lake, B.C. early on Monday morning.  We traveled 60 miles and than stopped at Tatogga Lake Resort for a coffee break which morphed into a great breakfast is the Lodge’s dinning room that had a whole bunch of local critters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We leave Seward on Wednesday to destination: Smithers, B.C.

Skagway, a rough road to the top 2013

There was only one reason to come to Skagway during the ‘90’s.  It was a ‘short cut’ to Dawson Creek and the Klondike gold rush boom towns, easy money beckons and fools will have about a 2% chance of making expenses.  A very few will become very rich!  It goes without saying that each of these fellows thinks he will be rich before the month is out. 

They have each landed with 1000 pounds of supplies as shown in this duplication.  Next task is to move it up to the top of White Hall mountain, about 2800 feet up a one lane footpath about 8 miles long.  So, you put about 100 pound on you back and trek up and back.  You will do that about 14 times as you have to eat some of the supplies.  This completed, you have to move about 400 miles to the real gold fields!  How much of your stake did you loose in the bars, gambling house or bordellos in Skagway?

 

 

 

 A daring group of business men rounded up $10 Million dollars and built the White Pass railroad up the pass and on to Dawson.  Its 20 mile climb to 2,800 feet was one of the steepest grades in the world.  The road bed clings to the mountain sides and provides dramatic views, or terrifying depending on your point of view!  There are 2 tunnels and several 125 year old bridges to be traversed.  Several times the track horseshoes’ back on itself giving memorable views of the train. 

The pictures below left to right; The Summit, return train passes us.  Border crossing, we travel into Yukon, CA but do not get off the train before return trip,  2 views showing the front of out rain as we go around a ‘Horseshoe Curve’.

 Tomorrow (Saturday) we will travel back up this hill, leave Alaska, go thru Canadian Customs and travel 308 miles to Northern Beaver Post, YT.  The is the longest road day on the tour, we are almost done.  Another couple left the tour today to attend to personnel business, we have shrunk to 17 rigs.

It is important that I should not take the wrong turn and attempt the eerie ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ about halfway up the pass!

Techno Message:  Dodge pulls 12,000 pound camper (truck & camper = 18,000 pounds) up this pass at 40mph at 2,200 rpm with no problem.  Up and downhill (Jake Brake) are both done with 3rd gear on our 6 speed auto tranny.

 

Posting this on Sunday Morning from The ‘Ore House……….

Skagway, a port and a railhead at the bottom of huge hill! 2013

 

Waking up in Destruction Bay after a long evening of party making, we were greeted with 38° weather.  In as much as I hadn’t unhooked all I had to do was slide it closed and unplug while the Big Blue Beasty warmed up.  The road was much better than yesterday, still several long sections of 45mph gravel which cover us with a gentle patina.  Several folks have given up washing their vehicles, even U.P.S. trucks are dirty up here!

Skagway is a pleasant little town at the base of a 2980’ 8% grade {7 miles of it).  They have a deep port which drove the economy in the early 1900’s due to the inland gold rush.  The Whitehorse Train was built (we ride it in 2 days) and the town prospered as a trading center.  During WW-ll  there was a resurgence of activity as The Alaskan highway was built.  In the early 50’s the town went to sleep again.

About 20 years ago the town rebounded as it prostrated itself to the various cruise lines.  Today there are 3 huge cruise ships in port, about 7,000 passenger over run the town.  There are very few restaurants, cruise passengers eat on board for ‘free’.  The town is a 12 square block of gift shops!

A novel name for a motel here.

       

 

This Gift shop was formerly a brothel, name is the same as a restaurant we frequent in South Windsor, CT.

On Wednesday evening we went to a fun Monte Carlo Night and than another stage production, it was a good evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Thursday we cruised about 80 miles to Juneau.   Juneau is the only sate capitol the you cannot drive to, they have no roads leading into it!  They can however dock up to 7 cruise ships, there were 6 in while we were there.  We saw a bunch of wild life on the trip; dozens of Whales, one breached while my camera was recharging ;-(.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One advantage to more expensive cameras have is they are able to take bursts of pictures and catch the right moment, with mine it like a blind man throwing darts!  This fellow stuck his tail up about 3 seconds too fast for me.  Anne-Marie and I both saw him (?) breach, that is burned into our memory as she (?) was the size of a bus!

White Horse Lodge #1 meets on the second floor of this building.

When in Juneau I bought a fairly expensive piece of jewelry, the manager of the store came over and instructed to clerk to give me a rather deep discount.  After the sale I went over and thanked him,  He shook my hand in a familiar manner which won him the M.W.G.M. pin I was wearing.

 

Tomorrow is day 55 of our 61 day adventure.  Unfortunately we will part with some great folks who we have lived with for 2 months.  Tomorrow (Friday) Jack, Bettey and Amanda Dostie are departing early to meet a family commitment in Hawaii.  Jack helped me with R&R of my jacks and Mandy was our guest passenger for a day.  We wish them the best and hope to visit them in Ohio at a later date.

Today, White Pass Railroad trip into the mountains, wish you were here!…..

The Road to Destruction 2013

Readers of this blog will note that we have been over some challenging roads these past 6 weeks.  The Top of The World Road was a dirt & gravel monster that often causes thousands of dollars of damage to those who challenge it.  Running the full length of The Alaskan Highway earns the party a certificate of accomplishment.  Considering all of this, The 224 mile road from Tok, AK to Destruction Bay, YK was a nightmare!  The problem was these little orange flags, they are used to bring attention to pot holes and frost heaves by the highway folks.  On this trip there were thousands of them, we could usually see several in our line of sight at any time. 

Immediately after leaving the Alaska Border, we went over an unmarked frost heave that seemed to take the trailers wheels off the ground.  I stopped before Canadian customs to discover this mess.  Several dishes and crockery broken, no real damage.  When we arrived at Customs we ‘won’ the lucky lottery and were picked to be inspected.  It was not pleasant.  We spend the rest of the next 150 miles dodging orange flags, frost heaves and pot holes.  Did I mention it rained about 1/2 of the time?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Destruction Bay is a very small community located on the sooth shore of Kiuane Lake in the Yukon Territory.  The lake is about 60 miles long and used as a frozen road for winter truck convoys.  Route 1 {AKA The Alaskan Highway} skirts the southern shore.  During the hurried construction on that road in 1942, this site was a massive supply dump and tent city for workers.  A freak 100 mile an hoour wind storm destroyed that base.  Hence the name Destruction Bay. 

.The owner of The Destruction Bay Lodge & RV Park built this lodge 40 years ago in this beautiful but difficult location.  They are true ‘Sourdoughs’ , living here year round.  They use 15 cords of wood to heat their small home!  The permafrost is 600’ feet thick and the ground is constantly moving, the building is often 1 foot out of square after spring melt in Mid-May!

They entertained us with a great acoustical guitarist, who came up from White Horse, 160 miles.  The owner plays drums, as well as cooking the nice beef dinner with all the fixings.  The major revenue source here in the 30+ caravans that arrive every year.  At $40/rig X 20 + Bar Service of about $300. he is not getting rich.

The show was over at 9:00, most folks drifted away as it had been a tiring day.  One of the few non convoy members was Brother William Richardson from the U.N.G.L. of England.  He was over here on holiday and visiting the owner.   I presented him with one of M.W.G.M. Laplace’s pins, he was pleased to the point that he produced a bottle of fine scotch which was enjoyed by all.  The music resumed until 12:00 when we all carefully returned to our rigs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow will be another long day, taking us into Scagway, AK where we will shutdown for 4 days.