Tripping with MikenJudy 2012: August 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Stewart, BC & Hyder, AK

We’ve spent the last three days in Stewart, BC (population 496) and Hyder, AK (population 87) which are only two miles apart. Hyder is recognized as the easternmost town in Alaska and is 1,241 miles from Fairbanks. It boomed with the discovery of gold and silver in 1917 and 1918. It became an access and supply point for the mines, while Stewart served as the port for Canadian mining activity. Gold mining continues today on the Canadian side of the area.

On the way to Stewart we passed Bear Glacier. The toe of the glacier is right by the road and there are many viewing areas. It was part of a scene in the film "Insomnia" with Al Pacino, Hilary Swank, and Robin Williams.

A favorite area to visit is the Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Site, an excellent place to view bears in their natural setting. It was opened up by the Wildlife and National Parks Service for people to be able to see bears in their natural daily living. You have to enter a boardwalk viewing area that provides safety for the people, as well as for the bears that come down to gather fresh fish from the creeks. We took off shortly before 6:00 without eating dinner. It was still drizzling, as it had most of the day. We stood around and took pictures of the many salmon spawning in the creek, and talking with people who were also waiting around. There were many professional photographers from outdoor life and sporting magazines hoping for great shots they could sell. At 7:45 we decided to call it quits and so did two other families we were talking with. Just then a pregnant female grizzly showed up and all the cameras started to click. Her preference was the freshly-dead fish. This way she wouldn’t have to work so hard, and there were many to choose from. She first skinned the one she decided on and then ate very little of the flesh. We could hear the crunch of the bones. Then she went on to the next. She stopped once and ate some berries (for dessert), and then crossed under the boardwalk to the other side.

Our jaunt the next day, in the rain again, took us to Salmon Glacier, which is the fifth largest glacier in North America. The eighteen mile road winds its way through some of the most spectacular and rugged scenery we have ever seen, with construction taking place in several areas. We passed through quite a few avalanche passes. The temperature was in the high fifties in Stewart when we left and by the time we reached the top of the mountain it was still raining, full of low clouds and in the forties. We were dressed for it, but it was still bone-chilling! Salmon Glacier is beautiful and we stopped at most of the pull-offs to take pictures and enjoy the beauty. The gravel road is very narrow in parts, but there wasn’t a whole lot of traffic, so we could just stop and take pictures. There were also many waterfalls to enjoy, most being fairly narrow but very long.

On the way we passed an active gold mine with old equipment left to rust by the roadside. Several companies have staked claims in the area, hoping to mine copper. In 1964 one company began its development and it was decided an 11 mile tunnel had to be driven under the mountain ridges and glaciers to get the ore from the camp to the concentrator site. The tunnel was completed in 1968 and was operated until 1978 when production costs and copper prices saw the closure of the mine.

Our next stop was the Hyder City dump! After driving around a while Judy spotted a mother bear with two cubs and while Mike drove closer they went in to the woods where it was too dark for us to get pictures of them. Mike decided to turn the truck around and this made the mother chase her babies up a tree where she joined them after she saw we weren’t leaving. We could see them all in the tree but it was too dark to get good pictures. Mike then noticed a bear by our car so we followed it back to where there were piles of garbage that had been burned. We got some great movies and pictures of him/her scavenging!

We’ll be spending eight days in the Canadian Rockies (Jasper, Lake Louise, & Banff) at Canadian National Park Campgrounds with no wi-fi so there will be a short hiatus.

Bear Glacier

Welcome to Hyder, Alaska

Here's Where the Action is

Salmon Spawning

Dinner Time

Good Fishing

Dinner Time

I'm Watching You

Salmon Glacier

Hot Meal at the Hyder City Dump

Hi There

Time to Dig In

A Mighty Big Bear

Friday, August 24, 2012

One Night Stands

Since leaving Kennicott, AK we have made one night stands at the tiny towns of Beaver Creek, Haines Junction, and Teslin, all in the Yukon. We then spent the next two nights at two of the most beautiful Provincial Parks in British Columbia.

Because of the drop in temperatures lately we saw the beginning of fall colors. The fireweed in many places has turned red, especially the leaves, with many of the flowers falling off. There were trees, and some grasses and bushes that had turned yellow, a few turning orange. It looked very pretty, but gave a warning of what’s ahead!

Now that we are heading south we are seeing a lot less changing colors. It was in the forties when we started out and climbed to the low sixties. We traveled the rough and tumblin’ road (a 200 mile section affected by PERMA-FROST) where there were many loose-gravel signs, dips, roller coaster highs and lows, with only one area where there was a pilot car and two where we had to wait a short while for construction vehicles to do their thing! The cabinets in the trailer stayed closed because we secured them with Velcro straps early in the trip after our first incident with things all over the floor. Today the boxes inside those cabinets opened and spilled the contents in the cabinets. Even the clock came off the wall and the glass shelf at the bottom of the refrigerator broke into zillions of pieces! That was a first. Where we were waiting for the construction equipment to finish we were told we had a 15 minute wait, which was nice to know ahead of time. Judy used the trailer bathroom and Mike talked with the young gal (18 years old who just graduated from high school). She was working as a flag gal and getting paid $28/hr for 8 hrs plus 4 hrs @ time and a half each day. The workers stay in a camp where all their meals are provided. Unfortunately they didn’t need any additional flaggers. After one more vehicle pulled up behind us a motorcycle pulled up in the line. The biker walked to where we were talking with the ‘flag girl’ and he was outfitted in leather pants, jacket, helmet, and face -protector. Judy turned to her and said he looked like something from outer space because of the way he walked with the boots and leather pants. She was talking with him and noticed his jacket was covered with bugs, just like our truck and trailer fronts. He was quick, and asked if she wanted a hug. Funny! Yuck, although he was good looking!!!! We had a delicious dinner that night of salad and halibut cheeks which you just boil in water for 5 minutes. As suggested, we dipped them in melted butter and, yes, they taste like lobster. YUM!

When we stopped at Boya Lake Provincial Park, a sign was posted on a piece of corrugated cardboard, “fire camp!” As we drove through looking for a site, we saw many small tents with lots of camping equipment in the sites. This is where the fire fighters stay when off duty. We lucked out and found a drive-through site along the lake…..and across the lake we could still see the smoke from a fire that has been burning for ten days. Even the clouds were encircled with brown from the smoke.

Next day’s stop was Kinaskan Lake Provincial Park. We were having a slight problem backing into the site and the camper next to us asked Judy if Mike would want him to help. She responded that he should ask Mike!

After finally setting up we met the whole family who are from Prince George. They were at the same campground we were in last night, but a different part of the park. His name is Godfried, and with his wife, they have two teenage daughters and a seven year old son. He is from Austria and she is from Germany. In the afternoon the kids and their dad went out in kayaks, three inflatable ones and one regular one. They had an extra that they offered to Mike, which he quickly accepted. He changed into swim trunks because his bum would get wet; put on his Tilley hat, and off he went. The hardest thing for Mike was getting out after finishing his afternoon surprise exercise. We joined our neighbors around their campfire after dinner, with the campground host and her husband. They all spoke English beautifully.

Fireweed Changing Colors

Here Comes Fall

Power Nap Time

Beautiful Scenery

Approaching Kluane Lake

Kluane Lake Lunch Stop

Historic 1904 Canyon Creek Bridge

Forest Fire in the Distance

Enjoying the Great Outdoors

Sunset at Boya Lake

Hard at Work

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Kennicott, AK

NOTE: YOU CAN LEFT CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO ENLARGE IT !!!

We left the campground at 6:15 am to catch the 7:00 am Kennicott Shuttle in Glenallen, a half hour drive from the campground. After picking up seven other passengers we were on our way. It is 125 miles to Kennicott along the infamous 60 mile windy gravel McCarthy Road with a 35 mph speed limit. The road originated in 1909 as a railway to support the copper mines. When mining operations ceased in 1938 the rails were salvaged. In 1971 a new bridge was constructed over the Copper River and the rail bed was covered with gravel. In places remnants of railroad ties and track surface through the gravel along with the occasional spike causing unexpected hazards. Soft shoulders and steep drop offs add more excitement to the journey. That’s why we elected to take the shuttle. Major road construction was going on so we had the added excitement of having to hug the shoulder when large gravel trucks and other construction equipment were passing.

We crossed the Kuskulana River Canyon and Bridge. The bridge was constructed during the winter of 1910 and is perched 238 feet above the raging Kuskulana River. The road to McCarthy ends at the foot bridge, half a mile from town. Kennecott is 4 miles up the road, so we started uphill to where we picked up a shuttle. Another interesting site was the Gilahina Trestle. This wooden structure is 890 feet long and 90 feet high. It was completed in eight days in the winter 0f 1911. Due to the rugged landscape, over 15% of the entire railway was built on trestles such as this.

The history of Kennicott is very interesting. In 1900 two prospectors spotted a large green spot on the mountainside between the Kennicott Glacier and McCarthy Creek. What appeared to be a patch of green grass turned out to be one of the richest deposits of copper ore ever found. In 1906 Kennicott Mines was formed with the backing of J.P. Morgan and the Guggenheim Brothers. The next hurdle was constructing the railroad to transport the ore from the mines to the coastal town of Cordova, AK where it was shipped to Tacoma, WA for smelting. At its peak it had 500 employees. The mine was abruptly closed and the last train left in 1938 due to the falling prices of copper. Employees were given two hours to pack up and catch the last train, leaving many of their personal belongings behind. Kennicott had five mines at its peak in 1916. They produced $32 million worth of ore. Women and liquor were not permitted in Kennicott so McCarthy was established not too far away.

We were able to step back into history touring many of the buildings. On our return trip we stopped to see the many fish wheels that the native Alaskans are allowed to use for catching salmon.

It was a tiring but interesting 15 hour day. Everyone enjoyed the warm sunshine, especially since rain was forecast.

McCarthy Road

Eat My Dust

Kuskulana River Bridge

Kuskulana River Canyon

Gilahina Trestle

Kennicott Glacier

Welcome to the Mill Town

Concentration Mill

Worker's Bunkhouse

Power Plant

Power Plant Interior

Enjoying the Beautiful Weather

Modern Day Fish Wheel

(Not Made of Saplings)

Valdez, AK

Our next adventure took us to Valdez, AK. We spotted a mother moose and her little one crossing the highway in front of us, but they were way tooooo fast for any picture taking! Our first stop was Matanuska Glacier (again). It looked different than our first visit since the sun was shining directly on it and the ice was glistening. Our next stop was the visitor’s center at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest one in the system, 13.2 million acres in size. It is as big as six Yellowstones and contains nine of the highest peaks in the United States. We viewed a movie and saw many exhibits. For many, many miles we saw a beautiful mountain ahead of us, which we found out was Mt. Drum.

On the way to Valdez we stopped at the Worthington Glacier viewing area where we walked to a viewpoint to see the glacier and waterfalls. The one problem you have in Alaska is realizing how large everything is since most of the times there is nothing for size comparison. Thank goodness a tourist wearing a red shirt, whose elevator did not go to the top floor, hiked out to the edge of the waterfalls where it is posted not to go to and we got him in our picture. The glacier is so large that he appears as a tiny red dot.

Several times from the road as we traveled, we saw the Alaska pipeline. It goes from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez and is 800 miles in length.

After setting up at the campground and having dinner we took off to Solomon Gulch Hatchery where we watched a bear scooping salmon from the river. Most of his catches were discarded since they were male and didn’t have any eggs. A true gourmet diner! There were many dead fish in the water since they were trapped there at low tide. There was a smelly odor in the air! Yuck! Heading back to the rig we stopped at a water fall and a salmon viewing area where we saw salmon laying their eggs at the edge of the water.

At 11:00 a.m. the next day we were picked up at the campground office by a little bus to take us to Stan Stephens Glacier and Wildlife Cruise at noon. Traveling Prince William Sound, our destination was the Columbia Glacier. In Port Valdez we went by the Trans Alaska Pipeline Terminal where there were many storage tanks for the oil piped in from the North Slope and put into tankers for delivery to the “Lower 48”. An average of 52 tankers dock in Valdez every month.

We saw glaciers of all sizes along the way. We also saw Black-Legged Kittiwakes, Tufted Puffins, a Bald Eagle, Steller Sea Lions, Sea Otters, Harbor Seals, and Orca tails. The scenery was unbelievably beautiful. Our route took us around Heather Island into Columbia Bay and there we went through the broken off ice ‘sculptures’ and finally arrived to see the last of Alaska’s tidewater glaciers to retreat. In 2002 it had retreated for a distance of 7.5 miles, leaving approximately 18 miles to go before reaching bedrock on shore. We were lucky to be able to get as close to the glacier as we did.

Before leaving Valdez we purchased some more fresh sockeye salmon and halibut.