We left Anchorage amid fog and light snow along the Tok Cutoff. The weather improved as we drove, and we enjoyed more of what has become a continuous tour of mountains and fall colors. At higher elevations along the road there was quite a bit of snow and it was evident that the road had been snow packed earlier in the day. We passed 3 convoys of military vehicles, all traveling at 35mph with chains on the tires of their 4×4 and 6×6 vehicles. At the head of one convoy was a truck and trailer combination that had slid off the road and overturned.

More snow!

Later in the day we saw some great fall colors

We arrived in Tok late in the afternoon to find that all of the commercial campgrounds were closed for the season. We drove 5 miles out of town and camped at the same state parks campground that we stayed in some 3 weeks earlier. And what a difference three weeks makes! Where before Quinn spent the evening playing in the sand near the river and we ate at the picnic table, now Quinn and Jen played games making tracks in the snow while I cooked dinner. Needless to say we ate in the van with the heater on. The space heater is one of our appliances still working correctly, and we’re very thankful for it!

It got down to the low twenties over night and snowed a bit too. Since we’ve now turned south toward the coast, we’re hoping that it will start getting warmer.

A couple of hours’ drive brought us to the US – Canadian border for our entry back into the Yukon. We stopped to top off our fuel in the first town we arrived in on the Canadian side.

In the US, diesel fuel fillers always have a green handle. In Canada, I noticed on our way north, this isn’t always the case. Without thinking, I reached for the green handle. It wasn’t until I had topped off with 20 liters of fuel that I noticed the word “Unleaded” printed on the pump. My heart sank into my stomach like a rock. I had just put gasoline into our diesel van, and we had only 2 days left to make it to our ferry in Haines, still 500 miles away. As if we hadn’t had enough fuel-related problems already, now I was creating them myself.

There was a mechanic at a nearby repair shop who said that he could get me in to drain the tank the next afternoon. That was too late for us. The only alternative, he suggested, was to add 2 quarts of automatic transmission fluid to the tank and go on our way. He said it “probably wouldn’t cause too much damage.” No thanks.

I considered starting the van long enough to move it out from in front of the fuel pumps, but fortunately Jen talked me out of that idea. I had learned enough from our previous fuel mis-adventures to know that if you disconnect the fuel line, it seems to siphon out of the tank on its own. So, gathering as many containers and buckets as I could find, I unhooked the fuel line and started draining about 29 gallons of fuel from the full tank. It took over three hours to drain the fuel, with me telling my sad tale to every curious traveler who stopped in to fill up. It made me feel a little better that more than one told their own story of having done the same thing.

Once I got all of the fuel drained out, I then had the pleasure of filling up the empty tank with the most expensive fuel we’ve seen on the trip – around $7 per gallon. $200 later I was happy that I had at least noticed my mistake before we started down the highway.

It was 4pm when we finally got underway. Jen had made us all Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches so that we could make it to our next destination and get back on track toward meeting the ferry. At one point Quinn commented that, “It’s too bad they didn’t have the kind of gas written on a sign.” “They do,” I replied humbly, “Daddy just needs to learn to read them.”

Where earlier in our trip the Alaska Highway was heavily traveled by RVs, it was now largely deserted. That combined with the fact that the tiny population centers are few and far between gave us a real sense of wilderness.

The afternoon passed with more great fall scenery, and by 8pm we decided to pull off to bush camp along Kluane Lake. Quinn was brave enough to head outside in the cold and throw a few rocks in the lake while Jen prepared a quick meal from some leftovers we had in the fridge.

A US geological survey marker installed in the middle of Canada during construction of the AK Highway

Our campsite along Kluane Lake

Messages in the sand

Who turned the van upside down?

We stopped the next morning for fuel at Haines Junction (where Quinn reminded me to get the diesel kind) before turning south on the Haines Highway for the last leg of our marathon drive.

We arrived in Haines in time to watch some bald eagles hanging out in the river bed plucking out the last of the season’s salmon. After a stop at the grocery store for some ferry snacks, we went to Chilkoot State Park to camp for the evening, having been told that we might be able to see bears fishing in the river. It wasn’t until our way back to the van that we saw two Grizzlies crossing the road near where we were parked. This was our first bear sighting on foot, and it’s definitely a different experience. The bears were more interested in going fishing than in us, and they crossed the road and headed down to the river and we were able to make it back to the van.

A bald eagle and two juveniles in the river bed

Bears near our campsite

The next morning we boarded the ferry. I’m sitting in the observation lounge as I write, watching the mountains under partly sunny skies. We’re all enjoying the relative luxury of our 10’x10’ cabin complete with its own bath and shower.

After changing to a BC Ferries boat in Prince Rupert, we’ll be arriving in Port Hardy, at the north end of Vancouver Island on Saturday morning.

Across the bow of our ferry

After our glorious experiences in and around Denali, we embarked on a whirlwind tour of Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. The tourist season is winding down and many attractions and campgrounds have already shut down in preparation for winter.

North of Anchorage we visited the Transportation Museum of Alaska which has an eclectic range of historical pieces, including trains, buses, heavy machinery, snowmobiles, ATVs, boats, planes, and helicopters. In addition, it had a collection of other odds and ends like old telephones, gasoline pumps, and radios. It was quite the assortment of items! Even though the museum was officially closed, a volunteer agreed to open it up for us and give us a private tour in exchange for a small donation to the museum. We all enjoyed walking around and seeing all the things that they had on offer. We were even able to climb up into the train cars!

At the wacky and eclectic Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry

Next we stopped in Anchorage to resupply before heading toward Whittier for a glacier cruise in Prince William Sound. On the way we passed several closed campgrounds before finding one that let us camp for free. We are definitely in the shoulder season!

The glacier cruise was spectacular. The day started out rainy and overcast, but the clouds lifted enough for us to enjoy the scenery. The cruise promises views of 26 glaciers. I lost track of the count, but that number seems to be about right. In addition, we saw sea lions, otters, bald eagles and kittiwake water birds. It was a good way to spend a rainy day!

The port at Whittier

A bald eagle leaves its perch

Glacier ice

On the way to and from the tiny coastal town of Whittier we got to go through one of the coolest tunnels we’ve ever experienced. It was a one-lane tunnel that is 6.5 miles in length. That ONE lane services road traffic in both directions as well as providing a thoroughfare for trains too! The traffic is controlled with an automatic metering system that only allows cars (and trucks and buses) to enter the tunnel going eastbound, for example, every 30 minutes. Then traffic going westbound gets their turn and somehow the trains get worked into the schedule. Quinn thought that it was great that we were allowed to drive on top of railroad tracks. It was pretty amazing.

We went back to the free campsite from the previous night and did some short glacier-view hikes nearby. We also were able to see some silver salmon spawning in the streams along the boardwalks and viewing platforms there.

Enroute to the western side of the Kenai Peninsula we had the opportunity to do a longer hike (~4.5 miles round trip). There were reports of lots of bear activity in the area so we were very aware of our surroundings as we walked. Indeed we saw bear droppings on at least 4 occasions along the way (and 2 of them were quite fresh). Fortunately we didn’t see any bears, and now Quinn knows how to identify bear scat (the abundance of cranberries is a fairly obvious hint).

The destination of the hike was near some waterfalls and they were lovely. Even better was seeing the salmon swimming and jumping UP the waterfalls on the way to their spawning grounds. That nature is amazing is nothing new, but for us witnessing this scene with the salmon was a special experience.

Salmon negotiating the rapids on the Russian River

Jen and Quinn on the viewing platform

When we finished our hike the skies had cleared and there was an abundance of blue over our heads. We’d read that the views from the town of Kenai were spectacular so we drove straight there to check it out.

We were not disappointed. In fact we found a commercial campground right on the bluff overlooking the Cook Inlet. From there we could see 4 snow-capped volcanos across the inlet from us. The view of the water below and the sunny skies above worked together to feed every nook and cranny of our souls in the way that only exceptional scenery can really do. In fact we loved it there so much that we decided to forgo a visit to Homer and the rest of the western side of the Kenai Peninsula and spend the whole next day just enjoying the view and the beach right in front of us.

Sunset from Kenai

That’s exactly what we did. In fact we sat on the beach for the entire afternoon that next day while Quinn played in the sand. Every once in awhile some otters would cruise by on the coastline on the their way in or out of the Kenai river. We didn’t see any whales, but apparently there is at least one pod of beluga whales in the area. We wrapped up the afternoon by watching the edge of the water get closer as the tide came in and washed down Quinn’s sandcastle. It was a perfect afternoon.

Not the warmest beach we’ve been to, but still fun!

Another great sunset from our bluff-top campground

The next day we drove to the southeastern side of the peninsula to Seward. There we did the short hike to see Exit Glacier. The visitor center there was closed for the season, but there were plenty of other people visiting the glacier that day. The glacier was beautiful and it was even more impressive that the length of it used to extend 7 miles closer to Seward as recently as 200 years ago!

Hiking near Exit Glacier

Afterwards we visited the home of Jason and Teresa and their family. We were introduced to them through DoGoodAsYouGo.org as enthusiastic supporters of overlanders and volunteers in the educational field. They both have years of experience teaching and living in communities in rural Alaska (aka “the bush”). We really enjoyed talking with them and Quinn was unexpectedly able to participate in their son’s birthday party so we all had a great time.

The next morning we’d hoped to meet up with someone from the Qutekcak youth center in Seward. Unfortunately the timing of our visit coincided with an enormous effort on the Qutekcak native tribe’s part to get official recognition from the U.S. government. It meant all hands on deck for that activity, which involves lawyers and lots of preparation for the big meeting where they will plead their case to the deciding body. That meeting is taking place THIS week and they are working very hard on their final preparations so they don’t have time to meet with us. Like I said, it was unfortunate timing. If we could stay around for another week we could probably find a better time to meet with them, but we are not able to do that as we have already purchased expensive tickets for a southbound ferry that prevents staying longer. We wish the Qutekcak tribe the best and hope that they are successful in this important endeavor.

To ease our disappointment, we went out to a really great breakfast at a restaurant housed in an old train dining car. The ambiance was wonderful and the food and service were top notch. The cold, pouring rain outside helped us to appreciate the warmth inside that little haven.

We drove north then back toward Anchorage and saw snow on the ground next to the road. Snow! Yikes! Winter is here already even though autumn just began. The locals have been talking about termination dust — the arrival of snow on the mountain tops that signifies the end of summer. We didn’t realize that it also meant the start of winter!

Brrr! Time to head south!

Also along the way we were treated to sightings of some beluga whales along Turnagain Arm. It’s amazing that they come that close to the shore (and the road). We parked in a turnout off the road and just sat in our van and watched them for awhile. Bliss!

Since Quinn hadn’t had any pool time in awhile, we opted to stop at a commercial waterpark in southern Anchorage. We’d been warned that the admission price was a bit expensive, but we still had a bit of sticker shock when we arrived. It cost us about 4 times the admission cost of the recreation centers that we visited throughout western Canada, and the offerings weren’t up to the same standard. Nevertheless we had a good time and Quinn enjoyed playing in the water.

We woke up this morning in Anchorage to snow on the ground and still falling from the sky. Time to head south! But first we have to drive east (and a bit north) some 770 miles to Haines, Alaska, where we plan to meet our southbound ferry for the Inside Passage.

In a very welcome change of weather, we’ve had three wonderful days of sunny skies. Our drive south on the Parks Highway afforded more fantastic views of Denali and the surrounding wilderness.

Talkeetna, Alaska, is home to the National Parks Ranger Station where would-be Denali climbers must register for their climbing permits. Thus it has become the staging area for trips to the mountain with numerous companies offering flights to the base camp. Hoping that the nice weather would hold out for one more day, we decided to book an aerial tour of the mountain for Sunday.

Talkeetna calls itself, at least according to bumper stickers, “A quaint little drinking village with a climbing problem.” When we arrived on Friday evening we immediately sensed a laid back hippy vibe in the town. We headed for the Denali Brewing Company for dinner, which turned out to be the best restaurant meal we’ve had on the road in a couple of months. The beer was good too, and we left for our camp site full and happy.

The next morning dawned clear, and we headed for the airport for our flight. Words can’t really do it justice, so we put together a little video to give you a glimpse of what we saw. It’s in HD, so be patient while it loads! Our trip included a landing on the glacier in our ski-equipped plane. Landing in the foot of fresh snow felt a lot like powder skiing! We got about 15 minutes to tromp around in the snow before it was time to board the plane for the flight back to Talkeetna.

A cat basks in the morning sun on the tail of a plane

Quinn enjoying the plane ride

On the glacier

Two ski planes ready to take off

We liked the town so much that we decided to spend another night. That afternoon we did a jet boat tour up the Susitna River, and enjoyed another good meal at the brewery. On Monday, before leaving town to head toward Anchorage we stopped at the playground to let Quinn run around. The park was entirely funded by the local community and is one of the best we’ve seen!

The Talkeetna community playground

After coming out to civilization again we decided to spend another night in Riley Creek Campground near the park entrance so we could take care of some laundry, catch up on email, and take much-needed showers.

Laundry – the mundane of overland travel

Denali has the only working sled dog team in the National Parks system, and Quinn decided that he wanted to stick around until 2pm to see a demo of the dogs. That left us with lots of time, so we indulged in a pancake breakfast in the van, then visited the Murie Science Center for fun with stuffed toy birds and a dinosaur puzzle on the floor.

Making pancakes in the van

The sled dog demo was definitely worth waiting around for. The park’s first superintendant back in the early 1900s was given a budget of $8000 (about $110,000 in today’s money) to manage the park’s 1.6 million acres. Oh, and he had to pay himself out of that budget. He was an expert musher, so he figured the best thing to do would be to buy a team of sled dogs. The park has used dog teams exclusively for all winter work (supporting researchers and patrolling the park) except search and rescue almost continuously since its inception. The only exceptions were during WWII when their dog teams were appropriated for combat duty. They were replaced briefly with tracked vehicles, which “although they can travel farther in a day than the best dog teams, have far more trouble with carburetors.”

The demo itself consisted of 5 dogs being hooked to a sled which they very enthusiastically towed around a short gravel track. All of the dogs went absolutely nuts when it was time to get hooked up. The theory is that whoever barks the loudest gets to be on the team. The dogs clearly loved to run, pull, and work. In other places dogs are trained and exercised in the summer by getting hooked to an ATV and pulling that along. We saw a team pulling an ATV along the Denali Highway a few days ago. I don’t have the bandwidth right now to upload the video I took of the dogs in the park, but someone else already did.

Looks hard on the dog, but the park personnel explained that the dogs are so strong that picking their forelegs up by their collar is the only way to prevent injuries to the handlers.

At the end of their careers the dogs are put up for adoption. The only requirement is that the adopters live an active lifestyle in a northern climate. Skijoring anyone?

In case you haven’t had enough doggie cuteness today, check out the Denali Sled Dog Center’s puppy-cam.

Who wouldn’t love to adopt this guy?

Thanks Witt and Jen for letting us post these old pictures. Of course, Witt was checking out the rocks at the entrance to the park – saving a few to throw in the next river. This was in July – note the clothes and boots! Oh my, I wish I would have had a camera like W&Js, ah technology –  We did see the mountain, but not nearly as clear as Witt, Jen and Quinn.You guys are very lucky and keep the pictures coming!