The Cassier Highway (08-29-14)

There are two basic routes to get to Alaska- the Alaskan Highway (the Al-Can) or the Stewart Cassier Highway.  We took the Alaskan Highway on the way up, so we took the Cassier on the way out.  Part of the reason for that order is that the Cassier passes by Hyder, AK where the grizzlies are very active- but only in the late summer.  So, in order to see the grizzlies, we waited to travel that road later in the year. We waited a little too late in the year but it was worth delaying to see the Aurora Borealis.

The drive to Hyder took several days.  On the second day, we started looking for a place to spend the night a little early in the day since we were tired from staying up late every night.  The first place we checked out was Kinaskan Provincial Park, and we looked no further. The site we got was gorgeous, and right on the water.

Dozer enjoyed the lake as well.  There was plenty of fresh water to drink and wildlife to chase.  We sat outside for a long time, since for once, it wasn’t raining. The next morning we were up and on the road again.

Hyder Alaska and Stewart, British Columbia, are sister cities with Stewart being the larger of the two, with a population of 500. The road to get to them brings you through Bear Canyon and past Bear Glacier.

Hyder has the distinction of being the only entrance into the U.S. that does not have a customs station. It’s on the water, and I guess they figure there is no where you can get to from there.  When you cross back into Canada, you have to go through their customs checkpoint.

There are two main attractions in Hyder- the bears, as I mentioned, and Salmon Glacier. The road to get to Salmon Glacier is a scenic 22 mile trip, up and around some “hills”.
When we started the trek, the views were pretty awesome.

The clouds added a mysteriousness to the mountains and glaciers.

Once we got near the end of the road, we could see Salmon Glacier.  It’s unusual to see a glacier from this angle.  It looked like a gorgeous river of blue.

By the time we reached the end of the road, we were in the clouds and the rain again, but we went for a short hike anyway.

It was worth getting wet to hike through this beautiful area!













So, did we see the bears?   Stay tuned…….

Alaska! (06-13-14)

Our last day of travel through the Yukon and British Columbia (we crossed the border about 7 times that last day) took us through some good wildlife viewing areas.

We saw mama black bear with two cubs…

And numerous buffalo along the side of the highway.










 

My favorite was this guy though.  He was munching the dandelions and grass, right next to the road, and there were no  other cars, so we could stop and get a good look.

He was only about 20 feet from the truck.

We also passed through Carcross (short for Caribou Crossing) and stopped at the local bakery, where we had heard that the cinnamon rolls are the best ever.  After missing out at the last place we tried to get them, we were hoping this place would be open. Well, not only was it open, this place had the best cinnamon rolls we’ve ever had!

 
As we approached the Alaskan border, I swear the mountains got bigger and bigger.








 

The scenery is incredible along this road.

The border crossing was uneventful, except I had to give up the tomato we had.  Apparently no tomatoes, green peppers or citrus fruits are allowed into the U.S.


Soon enough, we were in Skagway, Alaska!

Dawson Creek- *Mile 0* (06-07-14)

We could have bypassed Dawson Creek, British Columbia, but we wanted to start our trek to Alaska at Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway.

  We arrived early enough in the day to visit two museums and still have time to head to Dairy Queen.  We parked the camper and walked the two miles into town ( had to justify the ice cream!). That gave us the opportunity to walk past many of the murals that are scattered around town.

The main focus of this town is it’s history with regards to the building of the Al-Can, the Alaska-Canada Highway- now just called the Alaskan Highway.  As early as 1930 the United States government was toying with the idea of building a road through Canada to the Alaska Territory.  The idea stayed on the back burner until World War II. 

In 1942 the U.S. was, of course aware that Alaska was vulnerable to attack because of it’s proximity to Japan. To drive that point home, the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands and apparently weren’t planning on stopping there. 



The U.S. Military needed to get troops up to Alaska as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, 1500 miles of wilderness lay between Alaska and the closest major town in Canada. Initially, the U.S. tried to use its existing Canadian airstrips to “funnel” U.S. planes to Alaska, but most of the planes didn’t survive the trip.



 

In the end, the order was given to the Army Engineers-build a road from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks Alaska- through 1500 miles of wilderness that had never been mapped, and over some of the tallest mountains in North America.  Never mind the temperatures that range from 60 below zero to 90 degrees. And do it in less than a year.

 

11,000 troops and 16,000 civilians worked feverishly to build this road and 9 months after they started, the final stretch of road was completed. The Alaska Highway House Museum did a great job of telling the story of the men who built this road and the tremendous obstacles they faced.





In 1948 the road was opened to the public and immediately,  adventurous souls began making the trek to the beautiful, but still wild, Alaskan Territory.



  The ride north was more challenging than a typical vacation, with services, including fuel, few and far between.  So, in 1949 a guidebook, called the MILEPOST, was published.  It literally lists,  mile by mile, what you can expect to find along this ( and now, many other) roads in and around Alaska. Paul and I have the 66th edition with us.










I’m really glad we stopped in Dawson Creek and got a better understanding of this road, why it was important, and the tremendous accomplishment it was to get it built.

Across British Columbia (06-04-14)

Crossing the border into Canada was a non-event, although we did get asked a bunch of questions.  I try to cross with no produce because it seems impossible to figure out what produce is ok and what isn’t.  Once again we were asked about guns quite a few different ways, but in the end he just told us to have a nice trip.



 

Our first stop in BC was Monck Provincial Park, where friends of ours are the camp hosts.  Toni and Doug are also fulltimers, but they summer in their home country of Canada and winter in the U.S.

After a great dinner at the Laird’s, we were going to have a camp fire, but the sky kept spitting out rain, so we stayed inside.  The bonus to the rain was a spectacular double rainbow.




 

After only one night we were on the road again.  Leaving this area we eventually started nearing the Canadian Rockies.  We stopped to stretch our legs at a rest area at Eagle Pass and happened to pick one named The Last Spike.  This is where the last spike was put in place that finished the trans Canada railway, running 3000 miles, from sea to sea.

As we approached Glacier National Park in BC (NOT Waterton) the weather got colder and the sky occasionally spewed some rain, but at least it wasn’t that white stuff.  Actually the temperature dropped from the 70s to the 50s.

Our plan was to stay in one of the National Park campgrounds but apparently they don’t open until next week. This is prime avalanche area and many areas have tunnels to protect travelers from that possibility.  Several times we passed evidence of recent landslides or avalanches and in one spot the crew was still clearing the road of 

downed trees and debris.

This morning the sun was shining and this was the view out our window.  Not too shabby. Actually, since we couldn't do the National Park campground, we chose one with full hookup, laundry, and WI-FI.
The next few days we’ll be traveling the Ice Fields Parkway in the Rockies.  I have no idea what our WIFI situation will be, so I wanted to get this posted before I forget what we did!