Almost there

Our new best Friend

Friday 8-19-2011
At 6:00 a.m. 10 min west of Haines Junction, Gary spotted a young Barren Ground Grissly of the sub-adult size (still had the white ring around its neck) crossing the road. There was no traffic, so we stopped and had all the time in the world to photograph.  He was digging for roots and did not care we were there.  Under overcast sky and rain clouds, it paid absolutely no attention to the car, lights, flash of the camera, us making noises trying to get him to raise his head.  He was no more than 25 feet from the car.  We shut off the engine and sat along the side of the road.  At one point, we started the car and moved it and shut it down again.  Still no indication that the bear cared one iota we were there.




Grizzly scratching

Sub-adult Grizzly

About 40 minutes west of Haines Jct. is Kluane Lake.  Kluane Lake is fed by the A'ay Cha which is composed of meltwater from the Kaskawulsh Glacier located within Kluane National Park.  That is where its beautiful turquoise color comes from.  It drains into the Kluane River whose waters flow into the Donjek, White and Yukon Rivers and eventually the Bering Sea.  It is 150 sq miles and 43 miles long.  The drive offers spectacular views of the Lake and the mountains. The Yukon communities of Burwash Landing and Destruction Bay are located on the Southern shore.  The Lake is also known for its Whitefish and Lake Trout fishing.  There is a bridge at the end of the lake to get across it.  The perpetual construction that we encountered on our trips in 2005 and 2007 was finished.
We got gas in Destruction Bay about 7:00 a.m. and it was a brisk 9 degrees C or 48 degrees F.  The wind made it a bit chilly, whipping up white caps on Kluane Lake.  Next little burg... Burwash Landing.

Now we're getting into the first continuous frost heaves on the road, or as we like to call them "whoop-d-dooooos".

Snow capped mountain captured in the morning sun

Stunning view in the morning

We crossed the Donjek River - a wide, braided river with wing dames built to guide the water in.  There must be huge amounts of water that flow through there in the spring.

We are seeing numerous pairs of swans on the ponds.  Their bright white color was a stark contrast against the deep green of the evergreens.  It is slower going today with the rough road due to the frost heaves.  There are lots of big braided rivers,  When the snow melts in Spring, these rivers are swollen causing a forceful flow through the valley.

We are always looking for more Bullwinkles.  Must be out there somewhere, probably with Rocky playing hide and go seek.

Beaver Creek, Y.T. is the most western town in Canada.  We had breakfast there in a little cafe called Buckshot Betties - very good and as always plenty to eat.

The Canadian border crossing is at West edge of Beaver Creek.  U.S. border crossing is 30km or 18 mi west of that - unusal border crossings aren't together.   The foothills are striped with Aspens which will be in full color on our return trip.

We are back in the good 'ol U.S.A. and on now on Alaska time 201 miles from Haines Jct.  HELLLLLLL OOOOOOOOOOOO Alaska!  Yea!  The Wrangell Mtn. Range to our SW in coming into view. 

We stop in Tok at the Visitor center for a break. Here we pick up the Tok cut-off and continue down the highway to Glennallen. The road forks here and Rte 4 takes you to Valdez.  We continue on Rte 1 to Anchorage.  We are following the Wrangell Mountains.

The Matanuska River comes into view and we follow it getting some beautiful views.  Next we can see the Matanuska Glacier - more stunning views as the highway follows around the glacier.  Sometimes it doesn't feel real.

As we get closer to towns north of Anchorage, road is hilly and winding with a lot of traffic.  We had planned to stay in Palmer, but didn't see any motels right on the route so we continued on to Anchorage.

On the very north side of Anchorage, Gary spotted a cow moose and her calf.  I missed it as I was driving and the traffic was in full force... Friday night... I chuckled as construction speed limit signs read 65 MPH double fines.

Rte 1 follows right downtown Anchorage and we sit through stoplight after stoplight after stoplight sometimes sitting through the same one 3 or 4 times.  Three lanes packed with no hope of changing lanes if need be.  We finally found a place to stay & we were ready to call it a night - sandwiches from Schlotsky's and we were good to go.

We would get fishing license from Sportsman's Warehouse and groceries from WalMart in the morning.

Moose Pass, here we come!!!