Eagle Alaska

Eagle Exploratory Expedition - our group of 14 Alaskan Airstreamers accompanied by local guide John Brog toured the remains of the Gold Rush town of Eagle on the Yukon River, population 86..... a time capsule and snapshot of a long ago pioneer life in a town that freezes to -40 (F or C degrees - it's the same!) for 6 or more months of the year! We visited alaska's first Federal Courthouse, Fort Egbert telegraph communications center, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Reserve HQ where we watched the video of the disastrous ice break-up of 2013 ice jam and consequent flooding of most of the downtown area.

Top of the World Highway

Alaska Highway Mile 1283 - Long mountain climb up the Top of the World Highway packed dirt road from Dawson City Yukon to Chicken Alaska. Airstream #13349 followed by #5591 leave a trail of dust as they summit the boundary mountain at 4,500 ft located on the West 141 degree meridian separating Canada from Alaska.  These roads are hard packed dirt with calcium chloride treatment to survive the deep freezing temperatures, and provide a really good surface that on good stretches you can drive up to 50 mph.

Mobile photo platform...

Mile 1280 on the Alaskan Highway - David Spahn, avid ornithologist and photographer uses his new FX4 mobile photo shoot platform to capture the scenery on the Top of the World Highway on the Yukon-Alaska border - approx location N65-W141....

Those Caribou revellers

It's been a long night out on the grassy mountain top and this Caribou family are meandering home to the lower altitude forest for a good sleep and rest! It's so darn difficult moving through the trees with these huge antlers stuck on your head.... This is the last road in this part of North America... the next road you encounter going north from here is over the pole in Scandinavia...

The Red Feather Saloon

Capturing a reflection in the saloon mirror at the Klondike heyday Red Feather Saloon bar in Dawson City with David and Diana Spahn.

Ferry across the Yukon

Left the main caravan tonight to go off on our own for a night in the woods. We found this wonderful Canadian Yukon provincial Park which is about 100 beautiful sites all buried in the forest so you can't even see the person next to you... this is so much joy since we've been in busy campgrounds since we left Vancouver Island...

The ferry across the Yukon has very limited capacity like only 2 Airstreams per run and it runs about three times an hour. Local cars and trucks get priority so it's more like one Airstream per crossing so count on three per hour or 10 hours to get all 35 rigs across! So a few renegades like us choose to leave the night before and pick a light traffic evening crossing! Sunset is around 11:07 tonight!

If we do this trip again will definitely organize it ourselves and make our own reservations and choose sites that are in beautiful locations and where we can just enjoy the beauty of the countryside we are traveling through.

Jack London's cabin in Dawson City, Yukon

Jack London turned his Klondike adventures into fame and fortune with his legendary stories and books. He did not strike it rich in the Gold Rush in Dawson City area but his cabin which was actually located 80 miles south of the city on Henderson Creek was found and dismantled, half went to Dawson City Yukon museum, the other half to Jack London Square in his home town of Oakland.

SS Klondike

Designed to cruise the Yukon River and carry miners in the gold rush along with their ton of supplies from Whitehorse to Dawson City they had a draft of 4 feet and navigated for 4 months of the summer before being pulled out over the winter. On the return trip they carries bags of ore and went upstream against the eight knot current which doubled the journey time! The wood fired boiler used a very large log every 40 seconds so numerous stops along the way to pick up more fuel felled from the forest! Amazing ingenuity of the 1800's!

Stuffed Bears!

Some of our furry friends are best met face to face in a museum rather than in real life. We carry anti bear spray but it's not a situation you ever want to be in! These are fast animals and can run faster that a cyclist, easily climb up trees and use their slicing claws to deadly effect. There has been an increase in bear activity this year that affects the safety of local communities with many bears having to be captured and relocated or eliminated....

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad

Over the White Pass close to 3,000 ft altitude by narrow 3 foot gauge railway built to enable the Klondike Gold Rush built in 1899 and 1900. Three diesel locomotives handle the 4% grade but take it very slowly. Over 450 tons of dynamite were used to blast their way over the mountain! The builder said "Give me enough dynamite and I'll build you a railroad to hell!"

Carcross, Yukon Territory

The morning stop at the halfway point on our bus/train journey from Whitehorse to Skagway. A little of everything, to the delight of the shoppers in the group. We enjoyed decaf lattes and macarons from the Caribou Coffee down the street! Who could have imagined it would be a sunny 70+ degrees all the way up here?

Emerald Lake

On our trip from Whitehorse Yukon to Skagway Alaska along the Klondike Highway we pass a beautiful multi color lake nestled in the Surprise Mountains. The intense green color comes from the light reflection from the deposits of calcium carbonate derived from glacial runoff from the ice age....

Skagway Arctic Brotherhood Hall

The Arctic Brotherhood Hall in Skagway is the most photographed building in Alaska. In times past, it was a fraternal hall; the local chapter of the Brotherhood first met here in August 1899. The letters "A.B." and the "1899" above the door, and "Camp Skagway No. 1" on the overhang. The organization's symbol, a gold pan and nuggets, is up near the roof line. The facade, which dates from 1900, has been called a prime example of Victorian Rustic Architecture. Charley Walker and his fellow lodge members collected over 8,800 driftwood sticks on the shores of Skagway Bay and nailed them to the front wall. The Brotherhood, which remained active into the 1920s, once entertained President Warren G. Harding.

Bible translation

Amazing work by the Anglican missionaries who worked in the Tlingit Indians community and learnt their language and then painstakingly translated the Bible into their never before written text! Here is Psalm 23....

The Last of the Tlingit Indians...

George Johnston was a prodigy amongst his Tlingit first Nation people and culture! The late 1800's fur trade made him quite wealthy and he brought the first car to his village in the wilderness and became a photographer of note and captured the way of life in the early 1900's. Unfortunately the well intentioned efforts by Anglican missionaries and the Catholic priests split the community asunder, then the building of the Alaska Highway went right through their traditional hunting ethnic area and disrupted his culture with diseases that the native Indians were not resistant to and then the ravages of alcohol and the incredibly destructive government action that took the children away from families. Lastly the market for furs dried up at the end of WWII. Very sad and moving story of circumstances that destroyed a unique culture which will never be remedied or live on!

Beautiful Tlingit boats

Just visiting the cultural center at the First Nations Tlingit Indian community and admired their beautifully decorated fishing boats on the Teslin Lake. A sad story - see separate post....

Sign forest

Leaving one of my old Virginia license plates "Tristar" in Watson Lake sign forest...

More of the Lake Watson sign forest...

Tens of thousand signs from travelers over 76 years.... from left: David, John, Victoria and Margaret.

Trusting gas station!

As we near the Yukon border the price of fuel increases to US$4.75 a gallon! Nice to have the trust of the cafe/gas owners that expect you tell them how much gas you pumped! Also the message of No Sniveling advises you not to complain about the high price as they are providing an essential service with the only gas for 50 or more miles up and down the Alaskan highway!

The Happy Reunion!

Oakley finally found safe and sleepy under the dinette seat in her home Airstream while 20+ friends and co-travelers search for 90 minutes the campground, adjoining woods and rustic village! Happy parents!!

Kiskatinaw Bridge - BC Canada

The last surviving timber bridge over the Kiskatinaw River on the way up the Alaskan Highway - about mile 16 - Margaret drives the truck and Airstream as I take photos...

Fields of Gold

I thought it was flax but it turns out to be Canola Oil fields... beautiful bright yellow fields of gold as far as the eye can see! This Day 1 at Dawson Creek in the north of British Columbia. Contrast this with black gold oil fields just across the province border in Alberta!

Mile ZERO on the Alaska Highway

We have smiles on our faces but it's only Day 1 at Mile Zero of the 5,000 mile trek! Let's check back in a month or two!

Northern Expedition cruise

Sunrise to sunset, we enjoyed the cruise that took us through a portion of the inside passage to Alaska. Dinner was a sumptuous buffet served in a white tablecloth dining room at the bow accompanied by views along the narrow Grenville Channel. We disembarked around midnight and were settled into our Prince Rupert campsite before 1 am. Thank goodness for all those naps!

Cruising the Alaska marine highway

Most of the land on the west coast of Canada is inaccessible by road or rail. Seaplanes and ships are the only way! The mountainous road from Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert is over 2,000 km so taking the Northern Expedition BC ferry was a nice way to view the splendor of this remote coastline and the stunning narrow passages between islands. All the connecting narrow passages make up a safe and protected marine highway that avoids the Pacific Ocean....

Waiting to board Northern Expedition

Ready at 5:30 am for loading for the 17 hour cruise to Prince Rupert. The RoRo stops in Bella-Bella half way so loading is split by destination. Propane is obligatory switched off and freezer contents transferred to the Arctic cooler and hope for best- otherwise lots of shrimp and bison to eat tomorrow! We have a cabin on board so showers and some catch-up sleep deferred till later.....

Catching up with friends

Robin and Marsha (and Cokie) drove up to Brown's Bay to join us for dinner and overnight in their super efficient VW Rialto camper.... last time we met up was at their (newly built by Robin) home on Lummi Island for the beautiful wedding of their daughter Cariad (SMS '04) to Chris last September. Many memories of St Barth's and Vieques together over the last 25 years!

MarineTraffic App

A great app to view and identify all the ships passing through the neighborhood! One click on the symbol reveals name, country, tonnage, from and to ports, and a myriad of other info! We monitor the Seymour Narrows so that we know when to start looking for the majestic ships as they come around the bend. Incidentally the passage was very dangerous due to high 14 knot currents and two large and treacherous underwater rocks partially blocking the waterway until the 1950's when the Canadian government tunneled under the rocks and set off the world's largest ever non-nuclear explosion to clear the passage for shipping.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_Rock

Sky on fire!

Sunset at Brown's Bay on the Discovery Passage that links Vancouver to the Alaskan seaway.... large cruise ships with fancy names like Celebrity, Carnival, Princess - a totally different and removed floating world - pass by from time to time!

Bald headed eagles

Feeding time on the beach at Comox with Amy's father throwing salmon heads in the air which initially attracted a lot of seagulls - they were so noisy that it attracted the bald headed eagles from afar who came to check out the frenzy and soon took over the scene. They swooped in and picked up salmon with such delightful skill and style, they were amazing to watch as this predator in his full hunt and attack mode had total mastery of his environment....