JULY 2008
CANADA-Edmonton
Tuesday 1st was Canada Day a national
holiday. Art and Gerry went off to help in the festivities and we
stayed in the caravan. We spent the late afternoon and evening
with Art and Gerry. Wednesday
we started on our travels again, driving northwest to Whitecourt on our
way to Alaska. There was no one at the first camp so we continued
on to the next one where we had a cordial greeting. Thursday we continued on
from Whitecourt to Wembley just west of Grand Prairie to camp in
the Saskatoon Island Provincial Park, a nice site among trees.
Today was a fine, hot day. Friday we continued along
The Alaska Highway to reach Pink Mountain, where we camped. We
passed two Elk Farms with several Elk grazing in the fields.
During the afternoon we had a short, heavy rain shower. A Moose
was seen in the distance lying down. The area is covered with
trees as far as the eye can see. Unlike Sweden there is a thirty
to fifty yard clearance of trees from the road.
Saturday 5th was a continuation of
yesterday, cloudy with some rain and lots of trees. We arrived
just short of Fort Nelson at Truck Stop & RV Campsite in time for
lunch. Sunday more of the same, rain, low cloud which we drove
through and trees. We camped at Toad River just after
lunch. Our third attempt to use the net was a partial
success. In the evening we saw a Beaver swimming in the
lake. A late start Monday due to a leaking
valve extension on the back right inner wheel. We had it fixed,
then we left at 1100 after tea break. An uneventful morning was
followed by a wild life drive in the afternoon. Still travelling
along the Alaska Highway we were fortunate to see two Wood
Buffalo grazing next to the road, this was followed by a Black Bear,
the next in view was a young Mule Deer. Then a baby Black Bear, a
mile further on a herd of thirty Wood Buffalo slowly grazed the verge
and finally another baby Black Bear also grazed the verge. As we
filmed the Wood Buffalo herd a lorry stopped for the driver to tell us
of five Black Bear further up the road, unfortunately well beyond our
camp at Coal River. Tuesday
we continued northwest. 400 yards up the road from the camp we saw four
Wood Buffalo, later we saw a Black Bear and then a group of three Wood
Buffalo, two butting heads and the third (Female?) wandering off.
Just before elevenses we came upon a herd of fifty plus Wood Buffalo,
Males Females and Calves. After tea break we saw another
Black Bear and then a third Black Bear cantered out of the trees and
across the road to disappear into the 
woods. We reached Watson Lake in time for
lunch. The early sun disappeared behind clouds and there was a
brief rain shower. Wednesday
a rest day, Mervyn spent the morning on the net. Thursday as our suspect
tyre pressure was down, we went to a tyre dealer. The repairer
told us that the valve extension was faulty, $22-. This made a
late start for us. We did see a Moose cross the road, and the
rain was light and intermittent. Friday we left at a
reasonable time, but we detoured to the Tlingit Museum. It was
quite interesting, the best items being outside the building, a boat
and the Clan Totem Poles. The five clans being Raven, Frog, Wolf,
Beaver and Eagle. We continued on to Whitehorse on a fine sunny
day to camp at the Hi Country RV Park.
Saturday 12th we made another late start. We drove into Whitehorse to find a valve extension for the faulty
one. The first tyre shop was closed, the
second one was very helpful, fitting the new valve extension and giving
us a spare. Our next stop was the supermarket and then the
computer shop, they didn’t have the printer cartridges but recommended
Staples, who did. The printer refused to recognise the new colour
cartridge, and then didn’t recognise the old one which we had just
removed. The printer was now useless. Diesel was next on
the list and then we went to the Visitor Centre to ask about the
Klondike Highway. With a favourable reply we chose that
route. We left after lunch and started on the Klondike Highway,
we camped at Fox Lake. Sunday
we made another early start. We followed the Klondike Highway to
camp at Stewart Crossing just after lunch. The hill to the
northeast of the camp was superb, indescribable and
unphotographical. Monday
although we made an early start a group of three RVs was away
first. The drive with cloud and some rain was uneventful.
We camped in Dawson City at the Goldrush RV Park. Tuesday a day of
rest. Mervyn took a stroll round town, where the roads are mud
and the sidewalks wood. Wednesday
a day of driving to Chicken across the border in Alaska. The day
started with an hour wait for the ferry across the Yukon River.
The distance of one hundred and ten miles took most of the day.
Eighty percent of the road was dirt/gravel, with pot holes
and corrugations. The average speed was twenty mph. Thursday we travelled on
from Chicken to Tok. Again fifty percent of the road was dirt, it
was sunny for most of the day. We moved about twenty miles west
of Tok to an advertised camp (in the book) in the garden of a
house. An extension cable was run out to us for
electricity. Friday
was a day of rain in which we drove
to Fairbanks. The
rain stopped just before we arrived. We had a restful afternoon.
Saturday 19th was a fine sunny day in which we drove into town to sort out tyres (there was no Costco for cheap tyres), for the printer there was no Best Buy but Office Max was very helpful, and we are thinking about their suggestions. Our next stop was at the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) where we saw Musk Oxen, Males, Females and new born Calves, also Caribou, a Male with a huge spread of antlers, Females and Young. Not ideal but they are only in the wild at this time in the far north. We returned to camp for lunch. Sunday was a relaxing day at the camp. Monday today we drove south to Denali National Park. The park camp was full so we drove back one mile north to camp at Rainbow Village RV Park. Tuesday we made another early start to catch the 0900 shuttle bus to the Visitor Access Centre to collect our tickets and catch the 0930 park shuttle bus for the six hour trip into the park. We passed through varied scenery and on the way we saw several Snowshoe Hares, a Red Fox, eight white dots on a mountain (Dall Sheep?), a Grizzly Bear with two Cubs, a Golden Eagle, a Gyr Falcon, a Weasel and separately two Male Caribou with large racks of antlers. We returned to the camp by 1700 and decided to eat out. Wednesday we drove in the rain from Denali to Wasilla arriving just after lunch. Thursday after we had visited the local repair firm we continued on south to Anchorage to their main repair shop. They resealed our leaking roof light. We tried for new tyres, but the only ones we could find cost $100 more than previous quotes, we decided to wait. We were back in the campsite by 1500. Friday the day started with a visit to Costco. It was closed. We left Anchorage to go south to Seward, this was the best scenery in Alaska, so far. We duly arrived in Seward and drove three miles along a dirt road where we found the disorganised camp full, they thought. A return journey of six miles took us to another camp with spaces.
Saturday 26th a day in which we drove from Seward to Palmer in the rain. Sunday we drove through interesting scenery from Palmer to Glennallen, some rain and some low cloud. Monday was the same as the last two days. We drove in constant rain from Glennallen to Tok, we arrived just after lunch. The rain stopped in time for us to settle in. Tuesday a day of chores, the washing but no driving. It was nice and sunny. Wednesday the journey continued in the rain, we drove from Tok into Canada to camp at White River Crossing (not on any map) sixty km. from the border. Thursday was a dry, cloudy and part sunny day. We continued along the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction where we camped.
woods. We reached Watson Lake in time for
lunch. The early sun disappeared behind clouds and there was a
brief rain shower. Wednesday
a rest day, Mervyn spent the morning on the net. Thursday as our suspect
tyre pressure was down, we went to a tyre dealer. The repairer
told us that the valve extension was faulty, $22-. This made a
late start for us. We did see a Moose cross the road, and the
rain was light and intermittent. Friday we left at a
reasonable time, but we detoured to the Tlingit Museum. It was
quite interesting, the best items being outside the building, a boat
and the Clan Totem Poles. The five clans being Raven, Frog, Wolf,
Beaver and Eagle. We continued on to Whitehorse on a fine sunny
day to camp at the Hi Country RV Park.Saturday 12th we made another late start. We drove into Whitehorse to find a valve extension for the faulty
one. The first tyre shop was closed, the
second one was very helpful, fitting the new valve extension and giving
us a spare. Our next stop was the supermarket and then the
computer shop, they didn’t have the printer cartridges but recommended
Staples, who did. The printer refused to recognise the new colour
cartridge, and then didn’t recognise the old one which we had just
removed. The printer was now useless. Diesel was next on
the list and then we went to the Visitor Centre to ask about the
Klondike Highway. With a favourable reply we chose that
route. We left after lunch and started on the Klondike Highway,
we camped at Fox Lake. Sunday
we made another early start. We followed the Klondike Highway to
camp at Stewart Crossing just after lunch. The hill to the
northeast of the camp was superb, indescribable and
unphotographical. Monday
although we made an early start a group of three RVs was away
first. The drive with cloud and some rain was uneventful.
We camped in Dawson City at the Goldrush RV Park. Tuesday a day of
rest. Mervyn took a stroll round town, where the roads are mud
and the sidewalks wood. Wednesday
a day of driving to Chicken across the border in Alaska. The day
started with an hour wait for the ferry across the Yukon River.
The distance of one hundred and ten miles took most of the day.
Eighty percent of the road was dirt/gravel, with pot holes
and corrugations. The average speed was twenty mph. Thursday we travelled on
from Chicken to Tok. Again fifty percent of the road was dirt, it
was sunny for most of the day. We moved about twenty miles west
of Tok to an advertised camp (in the book) in the garden of a
house. An extension cable was run out to us for
electricity. Friday
was a day of rain in which we drove to Fairbanks. The
rain stopped just before we arrived. We had a restful afternoon.Saturday 19th was a fine sunny day in which we drove into town to sort out tyres (there was no Costco for cheap tyres), for the printer there was no Best Buy but Office Max was very helpful, and we are thinking about their suggestions. Our next stop was at the Large Animal Research Station (LARS) where we saw Musk Oxen, Males, Females and new born Calves, also Caribou, a Male with a huge spread of antlers, Females and Young. Not ideal but they are only in the wild at this time in the far north. We returned to camp for lunch. Sunday was a relaxing day at the camp. Monday today we drove south to Denali National Park. The park camp was full so we drove back one mile north to camp at Rainbow Village RV Park. Tuesday we made another early start to catch the 0900 shuttle bus to the Visitor Access Centre to collect our tickets and catch the 0930 park shuttle bus for the six hour trip into the park. We passed through varied scenery and on the way we saw several Snowshoe Hares, a Red Fox, eight white dots on a mountain (Dall Sheep?), a Grizzly Bear with two Cubs, a Golden Eagle, a Gyr Falcon, a Weasel and separately two Male Caribou with large racks of antlers. We returned to the camp by 1700 and decided to eat out. Wednesday we drove in the rain from Denali to Wasilla arriving just after lunch. Thursday after we had visited the local repair firm we continued on south to Anchorage to their main repair shop. They resealed our leaking roof light. We tried for new tyres, but the only ones we could find cost $100 more than previous quotes, we decided to wait. We were back in the campsite by 1500. Friday the day started with a visit to Costco. It was closed. We left Anchorage to go south to Seward, this was the best scenery in Alaska, so far. We duly arrived in Seward and drove three miles along a dirt road where we found the disorganised camp full, they thought. A return journey of six miles took us to another camp with spaces.
Saturday 26th a day in which we drove from Seward to Palmer in the rain. Sunday we drove through interesting scenery from Palmer to Glennallen, some rain and some low cloud. Monday was the same as the last two days. We drove in constant rain from Glennallen to Tok, we arrived just after lunch. The rain stopped in time for us to settle in. Tuesday a day of chores, the washing but no driving. It was nice and sunny. Wednesday the journey continued in the rain, we drove from Tok into Canada to camp at White River Crossing (not on any map) sixty km. from the border. Thursday was a dry, cloudy and part sunny day. We continued along the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction where we camped.
CANADA-Haines Junction