FAIRBANKS, AK.  Mailing address here at the RV park is North Pole, the next town over.  Fairbanks is the northernmost town in Alaska fit to live in.  There are oil fields, etc farther north, but no decent stores, roads, doctors, hospitals, clinics, etc.  There are two Walgreens in this town, the first we have found since leaving the lower 48, and we are headed there tomorrow to address things Walgreens has texted us about for weeks, but we could not text back or reach them by phone. Verison has been a giant flop on this trip.  There is even a Costco here.  We went shopping tonight at a very nice Safeway, which had the first gallon jugs of spring water, cherries, and blueberries we could get since leaving the lower 48.  I had heard that this is a hard place to live due to harsh winters, but it looks better than everything else we have seen in Alaska.  We are able to connect via WIFI now, and we shall be here another three days, so I hope to get this blog caught up.  It has been very frustrating taking photos but unable to share them.

The last couple days we have had to drive on roads with frost heaves.  These are roads built in areas overlying permafrost layers many feet thick.  Permafrost never completely thaws but will get soft on top when black highways are over them attracting summer heat.  They sometimes partially liquefy on top, turning the ground to a muddy mess.  Old photos of when the army built the Alaska Highway attest to this.  When it refreezes in winter, the ice crystal expands, lifting the highway and splitting open the paving.  Then a quicky patching job is done, leaving bumps.  There also is a rise and fall in the road, rendering it a sort of roller coaster ride.  All this makes for interesting, and sometimes scary, driving with a motorhome.

It is nice to have full hookups here, with 50 amps of power.  It is actually very hot most of the time, and I am glad to have both AC units running during the day.  It is hard to know when it is nighttime here, since it can be late and still light.  This trip has mostly been hot, with brief interludes of cool to cold weather.  Sometimes it rains, but rarely, totally different from what we had been told. 

Once we got near Alaska a few days ago as we approached Skagway, the sky became hazy.  We were accustomed to occasional dusty conditions in British Columbia and (especially) Yukon Territory, but constant haze spoiled all efforts at good photography.  Later the smoke from the numerous Alaska fires compounded the problem.  We are hoping for some clear skies and good photographic light, since we drove by what could have been gorgeous sights on our way to Skagway from Whitehorse, YT, and our drive the last couple days could have produced some wonderful photos if the sky were clear.

Anything within a quarter mile could be photographed carefully, as the scenes below attest.  The haze generally blocked the landscape at a greater distance.

ROAD TO TOK, AK  Because the ferry from Skagway to Haines was not operating while we were there, we had to return to the Yukon to re-route to Tok, AK.  On the way back to Alaska from the Yukon, we stopped for lunch at Buckshot Betty's, the main eatery along this stretch of road in Yukon Territory.  The road is in better condition than most of what we have driven up until now in this part of Canada.  Apparently Buckshot Betty, who is the proprietor, has mellowed a bit over time, based upon the photos of her hanging on the wall of her restaurant, which depict a sort of wild west Calamity Jane.

Buckshot Betty and My Betty Now

Buckshot Betty Back Then

ROAD TO SKAGWAY, AK.  What could have been one of the most beautiful drives of the trip was again spoiled by smoke and dust haze in the air.  Anything over 100 feet away was not worth photographing.  It was plain, however, that in good light, this would have been a wonderful time to get landscape photos.

There were lakes just before Carcross Desert in Yukon Territory that could not be successfully photographed due to poor lighting.  Carcross Desert is another desert like the one in Oregon that is produced by strong winds that drive sand from the west into a conifer forest.

Betty Poses Beside Carcross Desert Sign

Carcross Desert

 Moving into Alaska the road borders waterways and mountains that would make outstanding photos in good light.  Betty got this one from her seat that is pretty nice.

Betty Took This Shot Along the Road to Skagway

Pitchfork Falls Along Highway

Skagway is a tourist town now.  There is a large harbor that can dock as many as five huge cruise ships at once.  When the ships release their passengers, the town is mobbed with a herd of humanity. 

Skagway was first famous for dropping off fools from around the world who wanted to go to the gold fields in the Yukon to get rich quick.  The Canadian Mounties required them to bring a year's supply of food and equipment, so most had to take several trips hauling freight many miles up to Dawson City, then returning for the next load, mostly on foot.  That pathway was littered with the carcasses of dead animals and humans, along with discarded supplies that could no longer be carried.

The town of Skagway has its own Gold Rush Cemetery outside town.  Below is an image of the sign out front of it.

Skagway Gold Rush Cemetery

A commemorative stamp of this gold rush was created by the U. S. Post Office, and a large exhibit of it is displayed in the Skagway Post Office (see below).

Commemorative Klondike Gold Rush Stamp

Skagway was the first taste of Alaska we had, but had absolutely no phone or internet connectivity. They would sell you some WIFI downtown for a high price, as if it were gold, which so much of Alaska historically has been all about. Gold rush this and Klondike that. We visited the only grocery store in Skagway, and it had no produce to sell. They complained that the barge did not have anything when it arrived that week. Little else to sell us. A couple days later we walked in to get something else and they had bananas and some sorry looking strawberries that another barge had brought in. But there were very many crowded stores downtown, all 6 or 7 blocks of it, all selling things to tourists. The sounds of horns from cruise ships in the harbor and White Pass railway trains taking tourists on the gold rush train route can be heard all the time. A town for tourists. Would not want to live there.

State Street in Skagway

Skagway, Tourist Town

Outside of town many bald eagles can be seen.

Bald Eagle in Flight

Bald Eagle on Perch

Bald Eagles Eating Along River Bank

WHITEHORSE, YT.  Got an access key from the park office that I am trying for WIFI.  Seems to be working better than the Verison jetpack.

On the 5th we went to a place where they keep 130 sled dogs for tourists to pet.  The owner takes tourists on sled dog rides in the winter and on canoe rides in the summer.  He used to race dogs, but has given that up for the tourist trade.  We also were served a dinner of tough bison steak and elk sausage.  Not that great, but the owner spoke for 1 1/2 hours with a well-honed monologue that was quite entertaining about dog racing and all the racers he has known.

Betty Holds a Racing Dog Puppy

Stage on Which Owner Delivered His Monologue

WHITEHORSE, YT.  It is late morning on Saturday in the Yukon.  This is the first time in days that we have been able to connect on the internet via WIFI using our Version Jetpack.  I have no idea why I have access today, but hope to make good use of it while I am on.

This part of Canada is a frontier.  There are very few roads once you are 100 miles north of the lower 48.  The main road is the Alaskan Highway, which is a portion of Highway 97 that leads northward and westward from near the US/Canada border.  Few places have internet or cell phone services.  Some places have no electricity unless they have a generator or are "off the grid" with solar panels.  Some places truck their water in and store it in large containers.  The roads are often gravel and very dusty, with large pot holes.  Slow bumpy travel, taking a lot longer to get anywhere than you would expect.  If you have ever seen TV shows about Alaska and how desolate much of it is, you have a good idea of mid to upper BC and the Yukon.

I had read that most Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border; I now see what this means in terms of civilization.  I have no idea why anyone would want to live up here except to work mines, oil, or hunt fish and game.  All this surprises me, since we have seen Alberta to the east, and it is much better, even farther north.  Once this tour is over, I do not think we shall ever drive anything here again, especially our motorhome.  If you want to see Alaska, I recommend flying in and renting your transportation.

All of the aforesaid notwithstanding, there are indeed beautiful scenes (in good weather and good light), and one can see wildlife in large quantity, especially if you get up early enough.

We are in an RV park that has got to be among the worst in the world.  We are parked so close together that we had to be careful how to open our slide-outs.  Very dirty and full of loose gravel.  Not a good place for a motorhome.  30 amps maximum, which is typical in this part of Canada.  We actually had only 20 amps a few nights ago.

Pioneer RV Park

We got the car washed last night while it was still light around 10 pm.  Very light.  Like mid-afternoon.  I hear the sun sets at 3 am, though I have not sat up to see for myself.  It was a dollar for 3 minutes of wash time, do it yourself with a spray gun.  You insert a "loonie" coin (one Canadian dollar).  Even two dollars are in coin form (a "toonie").  Much of the change you get is in coins as a result.  Thus, I have a pocket full of Canadian coins.

We ventured into Whitehorse, the largest city in the Yukon, to see the sites there.  We stopped to see The Klondike, a preserved river boat from the gold rush era, ventured into town to see historic sites, then made our way to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.  

The Klondike River Boat

Old Log Church Downtown Whitehorse

Inside Old Log Church

Ram Skull Inside Preserve Office

Elk Cow at Preserve

Bull Moose at Preserve

Distant Musk Ox at Preserve

Mountain Goat at Preserve

Female Dall Sheep

Ram Dall Sheep

  

Reindeer Shedding Winter Coat

ALASKA HIGHWAY, YT.  Traveling along the Alaska Highway and/or Highway 97 in British Columbia or Yukon Territory, one finds road signs proudly announcing a grand Canadian motel a few kilometers down the road.  The signs are pretty nice and offer the weary traveler hope of a good night's sleep in comfort.  What one eventually finds is shown below.

WATSON LAKE, YT.  Made it to the Yukon Territory.  I am using a free computer at a Northern Lights theatre to access the internet, since even though I can make occasional phone calls with Verison, I still cannot use it to access the internet via WIFI. Hard to believe how difficult it is to do anything electronically in this part of Canada unless you use a land line, as I am doing now.  I am limited in how much time I can use, so I shall keep this short.

Betty and I am doing fine.  Will be glad to reach Alaska and the USA again.  May just kiss the ground.

Just below BC's border with Yukon Territory, we saw a herd of wood buffalo alongside the road.  We pulled over and got some good shots.

Wood Buffalo Herd

It is in Watson Lake that a GI long ago planted a road sign pointing to his home town with the mileage to get there. People from the world over have since added signs with mileage to their hometown. It is the tourist cool thing to do to add a sign. The tour master will had a group sign for our group after we have our photo taken there.

Replica of Original Signpost Made by GI

How the Sign Post Forest Has Grown

Closeup Of One Section of Sign Post Forest