Yukon grizzly

Grizzly feeding on the "verge" Yukon Territory....get the camera!

June 28-30
We left Watson Lake,YT which is a small but somewhat interesting town. Once again not exactly what the pictures would imply. Headed to Whitehorse, YT a much larger town of 20 some thousand people. We plan to gas up and get food in Whitehorse. Bought some Yukon Gold beer in Whitehorse with a great picture of a native girl riding a husky dog on the can. Highlights outside of Whitehorse were the Kluane Icefield Ranges and the St Elias Mts. Nothing but huge, jagged white snowy mountains. We drive through bright sunshine, rain, clouds and almost snow, just to enter sun again. Certainly, a photographers wonderland. Our one disappointment was to see no wildlife...until...grizzly feeding on the "verge". Although we don't know this term, it seems to refer to the lush new green grass along the highway edge which entices the wildlife out to the road side. It was a great first grizzly sighting and made our day complete before setting up camp on the edge of a flowing brook. We have the road pretty much to ourselves except for other RV travelers.

June 29:
Incredible drive from Tok, Ak through Glennallen, AK, Palmer, and into Anchorage. I never anticipated the mountains of AK to be so impressive. Bucky followed on camera a glacier winding its way from its head to the Matanuska River, an interesting journey to follow. Now in Anchorage we're feeling our way around. To our surprise, there is no camping that you would want to stay at so we went to trusty Walmart, only to be kicked out!! We ended up across the street in a large lot by Mc Donalds. We need our Alaskan contact, Dave Vickaryous, who hasn't yet returned our call. Drove aimlously around seeing what Anchorage is about. Some seems very interesting. At at what seemed like a busy italian restaurant, Gallo's, which would be our first meal out and much anticipated as a celebration for reaching Anchorage. Gallo's turns out to be Mexican and our pasta turned into tortillas. Along with the food came a Spanish celebration of some sort in a party room. There were many young hispanic kids running around dressed up in fancy Spanish clothes all screaming and yelling, all this at 10:30 at night with full daylight and sunshine. I kind of like this no darkness thing. People are out walking around enjoying themselves, eating out, going to store.

June 30:
Just spoke to Dave V. and we'll move out to his place tonight and plug in. I can't wait for a shower and laundry. We'll spend a day with him getting the scoop on fishing and getting the camper ready for the Phinneys who arrive in two days. Anchorage is cool and overcast. We'll stop by Ship Creek outside the city and see what salmon are being caught and how they do it. Bucky saw from an overpass on the highway a man with a big fish, so we left the road and drove down on the gravel to the river. The glacial rivers have gravel banks which widen so you can drive along them in places. However, the water is the color of liquid cement and filled with silt travelling a high rate of speed. Nothing to get into. Anyway, the guy and his girlfriend had dip netted a 40 pound King Salmon which looked like good eating. They had their pick-up loaded with coolers, 4 wheeler fishing tackle and more. People around here have huge pick-ups loaded down with boats, generators, 4 wheelers, dogs anything imaginable to head into the bush.

Idaho to the AK highway

June 22-23
Arrived in Victor Idaho and spent a couple of days with Levi and his friend Mike. As the Snake River in Jackson was too high to fish we travelled into the hills and fished Flat Creek up high without much success but saw some beautiful scenery. The next day we put the boat in on the South Fork of the Snake in ID. and had a great time floating the day away. We all caught fish and enjoyed the blue skies and sunshine.

June 24
We left Victor and made the long drive through Montana and Alberta, arriving at Dawson Creek,BC on the 26th to begin our drive to Anchorage on the Alaska Highway.
The Highway was uneventful until Pink Mountain.

June 27
Today was phenomenal. We drove through the Northern Rockies all day with wildlife popping out all around us. We followed glacial rivers and came upon lakes as blue as the Carribbean. The mountains are sometimes rugged and snow covered and other times bald and smooth with rock. We saw bears, moose, caribou, stone sheep and an elk. After a time we almost hoped not to see another animal, as we needed to get to the Yukon. It was just a terrific day and one that we both hope will repeat itself tomorrow. We are camped at Watson Lake, YT which is certainly not what you might see in the travel brochures, but I suppose a somewhat typical Yukon town of hard working people. We feel so fortunate to have the support of our family making this trip possible.

Leaving Denver 2008

We arrived in Denver on June 18th. Last night we saw the Rockies lose but had a terrific Rocky Dog and watched storm clouds and setting sun show off the Denver skyline and Coors Field. Colorado weather has not failed us with blue skies and sunshine. Dar and Barb have provided us with so much help and information to get us under way. It has been just what we needed before leaving family behind. We spent a fun night in Boulder with Ethan, Eli and Mystery. Boulder surely has a diverse population! Our days have been spent getting the camper ready for anything we might encounter; two spares mounted on rims, a inverter to switch ac to dc, battery charger,air compressor, jack, rear mounted cargo rack, cooler, cooking supplies, food and other items too numerous to mention. It's been great fun trying to put it all together. Today we head to WY/ID to meet up with Levi and spend a day fishing. We'll officially be on the road June 24th.

AK 2008

Memorial Day weekend provided a chance for us to get rid of some awkward gear including spin rods, another rifle, pack frames and rubber boots when Levi and Joanna paid us a surprise visit. We were able to stuff these items in a rubber tote to ride with them to Idaho in the back of Levi's pickup. Not having to fuss with a rifle at the airport will make traveling by airthat much easier. We had the pleasure of talking to Carlisle for the second time since her arrival at her new job on Lake Creek AK. Her job as a fishing guide there is much different than her experience last summer at Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park. She has been learning to operate a jet boat on the somewhat difficult water of Lake Creek. The lodge is providing training for all the newly hired guides which seems to be a smart idea. Carlisle at first felt out of her elements with boat operation and spin tackle, but she says that now it is feeling a little more comfortable. We did sense that fly fishing is more of a passion for her. There are several other lodges in the area and although the fishing is not in full swing, there are many float planes touching down during the day. It is a short 35 minute flight to Anchorage which means many day trippers. Carlisle said that before moving away from shore, they must be sure no plane is landing or takeing off. Evidently, when the King Salmon arrive, all heck breaks lose. As all the lodges have boats and guides, it is very competitive to get your clients over the fish. Big fish bring big tips! Carlisle is not particulary competitive and prefers to keep a low profile which doesn't seem possible in this job. When a King is hooked it's quite a scene as these fish can weigh as much as 60 lbs! Kings seem to have a short season, about a month long, but many other types of salmon are being fished also. Bucky and I hope to be able to fly in to visit Carlisle for the day. Only about 3 weeks to go.....

The planning stages..

As our departure date approaches, Bucky and I are getting our things together. We're trying to travel light since we'll have to fly into Denver, where we will pick up the RV. Levi will take our fishing gear, tent and sleeping pads to Idaho with him when he leaves Connecticut in the first week of June. We hope to be with him by June 23rd for a day of fishing on the Snake River. It would be nice to stay longer, but we need to hurry to meet the Phinneys in Anchorage by July 1st. It's a long 3,000 miles from Denver to Anchorage. We were able to find some decent inexpensive sleeping bags from Cabelas and a stove on sale at REI which are waiting for us at Dar and Barb Kuhlmann's in Englewood, CO. It has been nice to have a go-to location to send needed supplies to so as not to have to fly with them. Although we won't be doing too much backpacking, we're trying to stay as light as possible. The best purchase by far has been the survival 22. The rifle can be broken down into 3 pieces with two of these fitting into the plastic stock, all of which floats. We're hoping that we can take advantage of the subsistence hunting rule. The rifle won't handle a bear, but certainly some birds. There seem to be an endless list of things to do before we leave. These have included getting the house ready for our renters (professors from Princeton teaching at Bread Loaf School of English), making sure that Dad Kuhlmann is well taken care of, setting Xena up with Sutton, Val and Hana in Middlebury and Fisher and Pepper with Burke in So. Hero. We have gradually been setting up automatic bill paying. There seem to be many more bills paid each month than we had realized. We plan to travel with our laptop and Carlisle says there is WiFi access in most coffee shops in Anchorage. Since we have little or no itinerary it will be up to us to check in with family. It's our hope that this blog will keep folks informed of our whereabouts and activities.