The Arctic Jeep Expedition

Pictures posted for the entire trip, Blog finished !

2011-08-03T23:20:00.000-07:00

With the exception of some final thoughts about the trip that I will post in a few days the daily blog should be now finished with pictures posted for every day now.

Over the next few weeks I might go in and edit each day, caption pictures and add more links to describe some of the places and things we saw.

It was an awesome trip but it's good to be home and in my own bed.

Enjoy reading and seeing what members of Jeep Expeditions experienced this summer in the great north.

Saturday, July 30 - Firebaugh, CA to Phoenix, AZ via L.A.

2011-08-03T23:16:00.000-07:00

Sunrise woke me shortly after 6am.    I had 650 miles to do today and the goal was to make Phoenix by sunset. Hit the road to the 1st McDonalds for a quick bite to eat and on the road again.    About 4 hours later I was on the northern outskirts of LA.    Traffic was heavy and got heavier as I got closer to the 210 freeway.   I got a good view of the LA skyline at one point but no time for pictures, I was on a mission and didn't have time to waste.

Traffic on the 210 was horrible for a Saturday late morning but perhaps that is the way it is. Some times it was just bumper to bumper. I would be glad to hit I-10 for the final stretch home. It would be a good 2 hours before that happened.

I-10 traffic was moving well and my next stop would be Palm Springs for lunch and fuel.   I ended up in Indio just east of Palm Springs and I needed a good rest.    Lunch at the Spot 29 Casino sounded like a good idea and it ended up being so.   Myself and the Jeep all fueled up it was a good 4 to 5 hours home and I was ready.

With Arizona being backwards and not observing Day Light Savings Time,   it was getting dark fast.   Instead of sunset being at 8:30, it was coming fast shortly after 7 and by 7:30 it was dark and I had another 40 miles to go.    There are two things I don't like about Arizona,   the summer heat and sunrise at 5am with sunset at 7:30.    I get cheated with shorter hours of daylight and in the winter, it's dark at 4:30.    I am missing the long days of the norther latitudes but still there is no place like home and I pulled in my driveway before 8:30. What a relief and the end of an awesome trip.

Sunrise today

They were cooking in McDonalds parking lot, right in front of the drive up window......scrambled eggs?

Almost home!

Friday July 29 - Klamath Falls, OR to Lava Beds, NM (CA), Mt Shasta (CA), Lassen Volcanic National Park (CA), Firebaugh, CA

2011-07-30T23:15:00.000-07:00

I actually got started earlier today than the last two days.   Russ and Ziggy are heading home, I am going to do the last three stops on the original itinerary today: Lava Beds National Monument, Mt Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Someone told me that once you saw a volcano, you've seen them all.    Don't believe it! Lava Beds were much different than Newberry yesterday and it had history.    I entered the park from the north entrance and I saw a sign that said "Canby's Cross" and "Captain Jack". Time to explore.    Canby's Cross was a cross that was a recreation of a cross placed at that site in the 1870's by an American soldier. It was to commemorate the death of General Canby, the only general ever to die in an Indian war.   The inscription was quite simple and said something to the effect that "General Canby was murdered by Modoc Indians at this place...." and the date. Ok, I get it now so who is Captain Jack?   He was the young leader of the Modoc Indians.   He had a real Indian name but the "whites" called him Capt. Jack.   So off to the south to the spot named after him.

The sign along the road a few miles from the cross said Captain Jack and behind it was a parking lot in front of a hill that was loaded with big piles of volcanic rock. Closer inspection revealed walls and fortifications made of lava. The Park Ranger on site told me these human made structures were built by Indian and Soldiers alike in the Modoc wars in the 1870s. None of them were rebuilt or recreated.    What you saw is exactly as it has been for 140 years. This was the site of Captain Jacks stronghold where 60 Modoc Indians held off over 600 Federal troops for a long time.      A short piece down the road was Hospital Rock where the soldiers had a hospital set up at that time. I am really getting into the history of this place.

I was told there was an area where the greatest concentration of petroglyphs in the NW could be found.   I couldn't find them so I was off to the visitors center over 16 miles away.   Along the way there were large lava fields, lava caves, cinder cones and other geologic features like chimneys and vents.

The visitors center was set up for the lava cave explorers and there are tons of caves for those who want to check them out.   They had free lantern rentals and there was no shortage of takers.   I found out that I was close to the petroglyphs but I really didn't have time to run back so I finished up there and headed off to see Mt Shasta.

It wasn't long I had some magnificent views of Mt Shasta and took no shortage of pictures from different angles and zooms.   I also saw a could of F18s that were flying wing to wing that disappeared in what looked to be a field.   They must have landed but I cannot find a base anywhere near there on Google.

In a small town that compares their coffee and Starbucks and the "Ony Frosty in Town" claiming a famous BBQ I stopped for a quick lunch.    They had 1/2 chickens and Tri-tip on the wood fired grill.   The guy told me I was about an hour early, I told him the Tri-tip was rare and cooked enough for me.   He said OK and said he would carve me off some slices and serve me now.    Some slices? How about 8 slices 1/4" thick.   Nearly a pound of meat for $5.   I was in heaven but had a date with Lassen National Park so it was time to hit the road again.

Next stop was Lassen Volcanic National Park.    Lassen erupted in 1914 and was a pretty significant event that they compare to Mt St Helens.    When I 1st got there I looked around and thought "I drove all the way here for this" and then I read on.   There is lots of cool stuff there like the Bumpass Hell area with steam vents, boiling water and more.   You would need a few days to fully explore here and it would be well worth it but that would be for another time maybe.    It was time for this cowboy to head home.

I came out on I-5 between Redding and Red Bluffs and drove until I got to Firebaugh, CA where I called it a night a little after 3am.    Not that I could not have gone further, pretty sure I could have but no sense on taking chances.............................

Along the way

Lava Beds National Monument

Canby's Cross

Captain Jack's Stronghold

Hospital Rock

Devils Homestead

Splatter Cone

Vent - Funnel

Lassen Volcanic National Park

Thursday July 28 - Bend, OR, Newberry Volcanic NM, Crater Lake, Klamath Falls, OR

2011-07-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

Our 1st stop today was Newberry Volcanic National Monument just south of Bend, OR.     Originally I thought by looking at the maps and info we had that this would be a one hour stop but instead it turned into a half day.   There was so much more to see and do there than we realized.    When we got to the visitors center we were seeing things like lava tubes, the big obsidian flow, water falls, lakes in the Newberry Caldera and a self guided driving tour to the top of the cinder cone.   We ended up doing most if not all of it.

The walk around the broken up lava at the base of the cinder cone followed by the drive to the top was the first course of business.    It was like a moonscape but the drive to the top of the cinder cone would be the icing on the cake.   What a view!   Well worth the wait and trip as they only allow ten cars at a time at 45 minute intervals to go to the top. Next stop, one of the water falls only to find out it was at least a 3/4 mile walk so we passed on that one and headed to the lava tube.    The tube was huge, about a mile long and the sign said the last 300 yards had to be crawled.    They rented Coleman propane lanterns at the concession stand but I decided to take my flashlight for a quick look.    The tube was huge and 42 degrees.   As you walked thru the opening, you could see your breath.    There were stairs that went up and down and I looked at the ceiling sometimes 40 or more feet above me.   As the opening with the light got a little smaller it was time to get out of Dodge and the warmth and safety of the outdoors.

The next stop at Newberry was the obsidian flow. Obsidian is typically black volcanic glass, the stuff Indians used to make arrowheads and knives out of.    Russ and Ziggy started up the trail but Zig decided he didn't like it much and the sign said that they didn't recommend dogs on the trail due to the sharp rocks.    I told Russ it must be 200 stairs to the very top, he told me the sign said 400.   I kept walking and lost count after 75 stairs.    There were black, shiny obsidian boulders everywhere and the flow looked to be about 100 feet high or higher.   While I expected a smooth black river of lava, it was a flow of big broken rocks, some of it obsidian and some a light tan or light gray pumice.     At the next level there were some people coming down from the top and I asked if it was worth the walk up, they said it looked just the same as it did here only bigger.   Good enough for me, back down the stairs so we could head to Crater Lake.

The road to Crater Lake climbed over 7600 feet.    There was snow everywhere, we had to walk thru some snow to get to the 1st overlook and what a view.     The picture in front of us was nothing less than overwhelming.   It was quite clear that this was a crater and a big one.   The water, 700 feet below was blue and off to the right was a big island.   Russ was ready for his swim in the lake below so we drove to the trailhead where he transferred Ziggys car seat to the ZJ and headed down the trail to the lake with his ham radio, a towel and some bottled water.    Russ would check in with me about every 15 minutes and me and Ziggy would travel the 33 miles around the rim.

The road around the rim was a treat.   Around every curve was another vantage point to take pictures. At one there were huge boulders of red striped obsidian at at another there were a couple of boats in the water (they had to airlift them).   Around the back side of the crater, melting snow created cascading waterfalls. One of the roads to an overlook was completely closed by snow at least 8 feet high, I took a picture of the ZJ against it and was amazed that that much snow could exist going into August.   Russ kept checking in on the radio and said he was ready for his swim.   I kept driving the rim and seeing more picture opportunities.   The next call from Russ said the swim was very refreshing and he was on his way back up the trail and should be back at his Jeep in about 45 minutes and then a short 20 minute drive to meet me at the Rim Village.

The Rim village had closed at 8pm so we changed the meeting place to the south entrance but before I got there it appeared.    A big gift shop and restaurant that was still open!    We got our souvenirs and decided to check out the buffet dinner as it was a long time from lunch at at least an hour to our stop for the night, Klamath Falls, OR.

Tomorrow the plan is to visit Lava Beds National Monument, Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Monument then start the couple day drive home.

Along the way

Newberry Volcanic National Monument - Lava Lands

Crater Lake

8 foot drift still blocks the road to an overlook

Wednesday July 27 - Seattle, WA to Mt Ranier, Mt St Helens, Mt Hood and Bend, OR

2011-07-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

We got a call from John and Tommy 1st thing this morning, they were about an hour away from us so we decided to wait.   Besides, there was a pretty heavy cloud cover which was forecast to lift as the day went on so we figured our chances would be better an hour or more from now.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen and Mt Ranier escaped our view and cameras.   After John and Tommy got there we talked about the next few days and stops and hit the road.    We were hoping for better luck from Mt Saint Helens and Mt Hood.   On the way to "Helens" we stopped at Tacoma in search for that special gift for loved ones back home and after a few tries, we found what we were looking for and hit the road again.

As we left the exit and drove the 5 miles to the visitors center there it was, Mount Saint Helens, probably the worst volcanic eruption in the lower 48 in modern history.    In the spring of 1980, the top of this dormant volcano literally slid down the side of the mountain and opened up sending ash, water, lava and mud for miles and miles in the air. Millions of trees were destroyed, new lakes were formed and the landscape was forever changed. Today the volcano sleeps and it is snow covered this late in July. When we reached the visitors center, the clouds covered the very top but we still got some good pictures.   The park service offered a good 15 minute movie about the eruption and there were very nice interpretive displays in the building.   After a few souvenirs, we hit the road towards Mt Hood where we would have to hurry to reach it before sunset.

Somewhere between Olympia, WA and Vancouver, WA we left I-5 and headed east on I-84 towards Portland. Going across the Columbia River from WA to OR there was Mt Hood, sticking out of the clouds and standing proud. Guess who pulled over on the bridge to take pictures? Not Russ ;-)

As we continued on I-84 for the exit to Mt Hood, there was Mt St Helens to our north, free of clouds and looking pretty.    As we headed towards Mt Hood, we could see that it was all but covered by thing clouds, not what we wanted to see as just 1/2 hour before it looked much different.   As we drove the winding roads to the summit of the town of Mt Hood, there she was no clouds and just begging to get photographed which Russ and I obliged.

I was sunset and now the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting darker faster.   With the sun setting at 2035 tonight it was pretty much dark by 2115.   We still had a good 90 minutes to our hotel in Bend, OR.    We reached the hotel by 2300, checked in and here we are trying update information and upload pictures.

Tomorrow we head to Newberry Volcanic National Monument, Crater Lake National Park (where Russ wants to jump in and swim).

The Day will end in Klamath Falls Oregon and then to Lava Beds National Monument, Mt Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Monument.

Along the way

Mount Saint Helens

Mount Hood

Tuesday July 26 - Fort Langley, BC Canada to Seattle Washington

2011-07-27T10:50:00.000-07:00

The problem with staying in a motel instead of camping is that you aren't as eager to rise at 6 am and today was no different.    I posted more pictures to the blog, watched some news then finally checked out of the motel around 0930.   My first stop was Tim Hortens for a tasty donut breakfast and then off to historic Fort Langley.

I don't know how old the restored fort is but the oldest building there is 171 years old and is the oldest building in western Canada. They say the Fort Langley was the birth place of British Columbia. The first thing that greets you is the massive log walls of the compound and the guard tower at the northwest corner. After entering the gates you get a glimpse of what life was like in the early 1800s.    Log buildings for craftsman like the blacksmith, barrel makers, basket makers and such. More buildings for lodging and a big house for the the military and civilian commanders and their families.   A garden for their food and a pen for livestock.   Everyone there was in period dress and were great actors.   They got you in the mood for your 200 year old journey. After spending way too much time there (no regrets) I worked my way to the US border where I waited over 1/2 hour to cross.

Got a call from Russ, his ferry from Victoria was coming into port in the next hour or so, that would put us both in Seattle about the same time.    Called John and Tommy, they are running about 4 hours behind and said they would stay in Bellingham, WA tonight and catch up to us the next morning.

Russ and I met up just north of Seattle and decided to do some exploring. We 1st went to Kerry Park which pretty much has a high up, unobstructed view of the city of Seattle, the Space Needle and the harbor/port area for some fantastic pictures.   It was time for dinner so we went to the world famous since 1938 Ivars "Acres of Clams" at Pier 54.   Russ got the salmon and I got the clams and we shared the appetizer trio and the blueberry cobbler a la mode.   Now I know why it is world famous.

After dinner it was back to Kerry Park for some night time shots of Seattle and we weren't disappointed with the views.     We then headed for our hotel just off I-5 near the airport.

Off to Mt Ranier, Mt Saint Helens, Mt Hood and spending the night in Bend, OR.

Fort Langley

On the way to the border

At the Border

Seattle

From Galbraith Lake to Galbraith Pier, reminders of Jim are everywhere

BACK IN THE USA !

2011-07-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

Crossed the Border north of Bellingham, WA about 45 min ago. Talked to Russ on the phone and he also had crossed the border on the ferry at Seattle. John just told me he and Tommy are about 3 hours from Vancouver.

Kevin is somewhere south of Seattle, Woody is due to catch the ferry in the next day or two from Anchorage to Seattle area.

While home is still a few thousand miles away, it is still good to be home and back to cheaper prices, especially gas! 1st gas station I passed in the US was $3.86 a gallon, wow, cheap gas again :-)

Monday July 25 - Prince George, BC to Fort Langley, BC

2011-07-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Got up early this morning with the plan of not wasting any time and getting to the Vancouver area before dark. So much for plans but I did make it to Vancouver/Fort Langley.

There was just so much to see again today and I made more than a few stops. Two cool places were Fort Alexandria, the remains of an 1800s British outpost during the gold rush and the Mile 130 Roadhouse which also had buildings from the late 1800s. I love history stuff.

Not much in the way of animals today other than horses and cows.    I did accidentally get a picture of a deer when zooming in on a small lake and saw some kind of wolverine looking thing (there was actually a highway sign warning of crossing and there it was about a mile after the sign).   No bears :-(

The landscape here in middle and lower BC is quite different than what it is in the north with meadows full of grazing livestock. Lumber is king here, I went through at least two towns with huge mills and lumber trucks constantly going up and down the highway.    The yards at the mills had literally acres of stacked 2X4's and stacks of raw tree trunks.

The road thru the Frasier Canyon with the river below was spectacular and one rapids section had waves that were higher than I have seen on the ocean on a cruise.    There were a number of tunnels cut, lots of narrow winding curves and there were trail tracks on both sides of the river and there was no shortage of trains going in either direction.    On the top of one summit I ran into the "Gates of Hell" sky tram and on another the "Elvis in the Canyon" Cafe.

After the trip thru the canyon which takes a few hours, I hit Canada Rte one and it was about 40 minutes to Fort Langley.

Talked to Russ and John tonight.    Russ in on Vancouver Island (Victoria, BC?) and John is about 575 miles behind me in Prince George.    Russ will be going to Seattle tomorrow and trying to hook up with me in Washington.   John plans to put it into high gear and make it to Bellingham, WA tomorrow.

My plans are to tour the Fort Langley National Historic Site in the morning then head to the border and Mt Saint Hellens and Mt Rainier in Washington then off to Oregon and Mt Hood and the lava fields before heading home.

Along the way.............

Fort Alexandria

Trains

The Lumber Industry is King here in BC

Sunday, July 24th - Dease Lake, British Columbia to Cluculz Lake, BC

2011-07-24T21:04:00.000-07:00

Sitting here at a McDonalds in Smithers British Columbia and taking advantage of the WifFi for a few minutes and giving Carol a break from having to post to the BLOG with my SAT phone updates.    There is a very cool glacier just west of town I spent a few minutes at. Not sure where I will end up tonight, the plan for tonight called for Lac La Hache but I will be lucky to make it to Prince George, a few hundred miles short. Blame it on the bears and moose.

Today the sun woke me up at 0515 as it rose into the sky.    The gas station wouldn't open until 9am so I decided to keep burning fuel until I got to a station that was open.   Found one about an hour later, got a quick meal at the restaurant and hit the road again.

Today was the day of the bear. I saw literally dozens of black bears, so many that I lost count but I am betting it was more than 50!    I did find out that if I turned off my headlights as I got close to the bears they would not run away and I took hundreds of pictures of what I consider a magnificent animal.   But it didn't stop at bears, the moose were loose and I found a number of them in lakes eating whatever they find tasty under the water.   I have some great pictures, can't wait to post them.

I wanted to take a side trip to Steward, Canada/Seward, Alaska to see the Bear Glacier but I decided that would be for another time.     Moving on I reached the intersection or Rt 37 and the Trans Canada Hwy later afternoon, fueled up and hit the road east bound towards Prince George.

That brings me to where I am now,   in Smithers, a large town by any Canadian standards for sure and the 1st McDonalds in about 500 miles.    Can you believe they have a double Big Mac with 4 patties on the menu???

Ok, hitting the road again. Will update this post when I have more.

Ok, update.........Ended up about 40 miles north of Prince George last night along the way there were signs warning of moose crossings and I saw two that got hit. One by a tractor trailer, there wasn't much left of the moose but the big rig didn't fair too well either.   The second moose, I would guess to be 700 lbs or more was hit by a Honda.    Neither made it.   It looked like the Honda might have hit it below the knees, the moose went into the roof and the windshield.    The roof was buckled back about half way into the car, the windshield was in the car, the passenger side roof pillar looked like it had been literally ripped from the car. Then it looked like the moose ended up on the trunk and trashed the whole rear too.   After that I decided to be a little lighter on the gas and more watchful of the road.

Sights along the way today

Glacier

Animals of Rt 37

Double Big Mac ? 4 All Beef Patties.................

Signs, left and right logging trucks, dump truck speeding, COPs, slow down psychedelic, fire truck........

Saturday July 23 - Whitehorse, Yukon to Dease Lake, British Columbia

2011-07-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

The day started off with a visit to the Berengia Museum in Whitehorse.   Berengia is the name for the lands in Siberia, Alaska and Yukon Canada that were fertile plains of grass and untouched by glaciers.   All sorts of animals flourished there like wooly mammoths, horses, camels, bison, caribou, muskox, deer, dire wolves, sabre-tooth cats, dall sheep, saiga antelope, yak, moose, flying squirrels, lynx, lion, giant beavers, dogs, river otters, ferrets, huge short faced bears, jaguars, lemmings, mice and voles, fox, rabbits, and wolverines.    The museum had full skeletons of a Wooly Mammoth, Giant Sloth, Saber Tooth Cat, Giant Beaver and more.   The exhibit was well worth the $5 admission and they also had a number of interactive programs and a movie.

Would love to spend more time in Whitehorse as there is plenty to see and do but home is calling me. Eastward bound on the Alaska Highway towards Watson Lake and my turn south at Junction 37 just over 200 miles away.    It rained off and on all day but the drive was still nice.    I could really make good time if nature didn't put animals and landscapes in my face to take pictures of but it is what it is and I take a lot of pictures Over 20,000 since we left Phoenix July 1st and today will be no different as by the end of the day the count will be around 1000 for the day.

The Alaska Hwy part of the trip had me taking pictures of some of the same things on our way to Alaska, I realized that after I recognized some of the names.    After taking an easy afternoon driving I reached Junction 37 where I filled up with gas.   The lady at the station told me there were about 6 stops in the entire 400+ miles of Rte 37 and all of them would be closed by the time I got to the 1st one.    That meant that I could go about 250 miles or use my reserves on the roof and and go another 100+.     Not that it mattered much as I seemed to stop more that I was moving taking pictures of new things and bears, lots of bears!

Talked to John and Tommy on the SAT phone this afternoon, they had just made it to Whitehorse and were having dinner at the same place we ate on the way up, nice!    They are about a day behind me right now. Russ is on the ferry to Vancouver, Kevin is in Vancouver and Woody and Carol are still in Alaska and will be taking the ferry to Seattle later this week.

The sun set tonight around 2235hrs and it did get dark after a while, by 0030 I had made it to Dease Lake where everything was closed so a night in the Jeep was in order.

Am off of the original schedule now by a day or about 400 miles.     Will try to make up some of that on Sunday.

Hi Country Campground in Whitehorse, one of the nicest of the whole trip

A different menu than McDs in the US

Stopped for a re-supply at the supermarket in Whitehorse. Shopping carts are locked and it costs $1 for 1

Berengia Center in Whitehorse

This guy was moving on his roller contraptions and ski poles

A few last scenes from the Alaska Highway

Continental Divide along the Alaskan Highway

At Route 37 and the start of the next southern leg to the US

Scenes from along Rt 37

A quick dinner

Thursday & Friday July 21 & 22 - Inuvik, NWT Canada to Whitehorse, Yukon Canada

2011-07-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Putting two days on this one due to the lost 3/4 of a day on the 21st with the ferry problems and today was pretty much a travel day.   With the ferry incident yesterday we pretty much fell 1/2 day behind.   We had to stop for the night halfway down the Dempster Hwy because of not having enough fuel to make it to the end on the 21st. So here goes...............

The ride from the point where we crossed the Peel River on the ferry just after midnight was pretty much just a ride.    Due to the time of day or night as it might be we were pretty sure that we would not be seeing the Caribu herds everyone was talking about.   We stopped at the NWT/Yukon border anyway and checked out the endless fields and no sign of any life at all, including Caribu.

We saw the sun set last night at 0120am about 30 miles north of the Arctic Circle. And while it dipped below the horizon unlike last nights treat, it really never got dark all night. I've got some great shots of it.     At the Arctic Circle I stopped one last time for sentimental value and took a few pictures then off for a sleep in the Jeep at Eagle Plains as everything shut down there hours ago.

Today we woke up, filled our thirsty steeds and headed down the last 260 or so miles of the Dempster Hwy.   As usual, I stopped for lots of photo opportunities which slowed me down but John and Tommy were taking it easy due to the roughness of the road so they didn't really catch up to me until we were 40 miles from the end.

We reached the end of the Dempster early afternoon and both filled up with gas.     John and Tommy wanted to spend another day in Dawson City and I was eager to try to salvage the schedule to get back home by Aug 1st so I hit the road for Whitehorse.    John and Tommy would be working on catching up to me along the route.

The road to Whitehorse was 300 or so miles so today was going to be a 560 mile day for me. No time to was but as I headed down this new stretch of highway I found many new things to stop and take pictures of like the many beautiful lakes and rivers. Close to the end of my journey tonight I passed a sign that said "Montegue Roadhouse Historic Site" and had to stop.    It was full blown 2 story log building that was in operation as a road house from 1915 to the 1950s.    It is pretty much in disrepair right now with just the shell standing but it was very cool and I am glad I took the time to check it out.    With about 45 min to go to Whitehouse I passed the huge Fox Lake and the sun was coming down so I spent nearly 1/2 hour there taking pictures of the sunset. It was incredible. Onward to Whitehorse where it is not just after midnight. Campground has no WiFi so I am sitting here at Mickey D's at a picnic table. It's actually kinda dark here tonight, like 8pm in Phoenix this time of year. People are still milling around town but it's getting cold so I am about done for the night and back to my warm sleeping bag at the campground.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring.    Heading to Watson Lake then south to Vancouver.    With having lost the time on the 21st,   it would be a 750 mile day to get to where the plan was for tomorrow night so I am going to have to Jeep by the seat of my pants on this one.

Badly stuck WJ at the Inuvik City Limits.....deep ruts are from a failed recovery attempt

Fort McPherson street scene

Restored Cabin belonging to the Mad Trapper of Canadian Infamy

Historic Ft McPherson Cemetary

Gypsy Camps along the river

John passes the time waiting for the ferry by taking a nap, I fed seagulls

The NWT license plates are very cool

After being closed for 15 hours the ferry re-opens shortly after midnight and we were one of the 1st groups to cross............the new mud and rock ramps were more than wet and squishy.

Finally a sunset even if it is after 1am on the 22nd

Last time across the Arctic Circle, at least for this trip

Scenes from the Dempster Hwy

We cross the bridge to Mile 0 and the southern end of the Dempster Hwy

Here John and Tommy turn right and I turn left. They will catch up in a few days.

The Klondike Highway sign post

Canadian Highways are the cleanest I have seen anywhere, you just don't see litter

Beautiful Lake along the Klondike Highway

Along the Klondike Highway

Montague Roadhouse. Operated from 1906 until the 1950s

Fox Lake Campground......government campgrounds mostly along lakes and rivers with all the comforts of home, or just about. Located about every 50 miles along Canadian Highways

Sunset over Fox Lake

Finally at Whitehorse, the stop for the night

July 21 - Stranded at Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories

2011-07-21T16:44:00.000-07:00

Just got a call from Mike on his Iridium Satellite Phone. John, Tommy, and Mike are stranded at the ferry crossing at Fort MacPherson. The river is much higher than normal and is unsafe for the ferry to operate, so they are stuck till the river subsides. Not only that, the ferry cannot make it to either shore as it is hitting bottom maybe 20 feet shy.    They were advised that it could be possibly be running by tomorrow morning and worse case 3-4 days. The mounties were very understanding and told them they could pitch their tents behind their vehicles and they have a good weeks worth of food and water. It is currently 77°, 12 mph winds and no rain in the immediate forecast. That's a good thing!   Can you believe it 100 miles plus north of the Arctic Circle and its 77 degrees!

UPDATE!    15 hours after the shut down the ferry, we finally were able to take the trip across the Peel River around 12:15am this morning.    What they decided to do was to build up ramps and extend them into the water on both sides of the river so cars could get on the ferry and most importantly so the ferry could reach the ramps. They also had to do something with the cable we were told.    The good thing is that we were one of the 1st cars in line after they closed the ferry so we made the 3rd trip over to the other side.

Better than waiting a few days for sure.

The bad news is that the fuel, motel and restaurant at Eagle Plains, the half way point and a must fuel point closed at 10pm.    We made it that far and slept in our Jeeps until 8am when the gas station opened then continued back to civilization.

Pictures of them rebuilding the ramps so we can cross the river. It took 15 hours from the time they closed the ferry until they reopended it.

Taking a grader and dump truck to the other side to work over there

The grader works on the other side while the dump truck loads more gravel and dirt

Dumping tons of dirt and gravel

Ferry bottoms out and can't get any closer

Our side 90% complete the hoe cleans it up

After 15 hours of down time the ferry finally takes us across. The ramps are wet and soft but they work

Watching the Mid-Night Sun - The last 24 hour day in Inuvik for 2011

2011-07-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here after a long days ride watching the sun set at 11:55 PM local time.   It still has a way to go, think of the suns position in Phoenix, AZ around 5 pm or so and that will give you an idea of where the sun is in the sky.   Only, tonight is the last day of the midnight sun in Inuvik this year.     The sun sort of sets in the west, moves around to the north, then to the east and it starts rising again.    A full 24 hours of sun, something we missed in Alaska due to all the rain and clouds.

Update: It is now 0030 hrs local time.    The sun stopped setting at about 2 or 3 telephone poles high. It is now moving clockwise to the north at the same height in the sky. I am trying to take pictures about every 15 minutes or so. Am thinking it could be a long night or is it day? This is so cool!

Update: 0100 hrs local time. Its dipped a little in the sky, but it is still going clockwise towards the north.     I think I will watch it until about 3 am before I call it a night

Update: Its 2am local time in Inuvik. The sun continues to move clockwise towards the north. Its about 20% across the sky. A direct view isn't possible now because of higher ground and tall buildings are obscuring it.    The coolest thing is that the moon is doing the same thing about 90 degrees to the right of the sun at almost the same height of the sun.

Final Update: 0300 hrs local time.    The sun is still above the horizon and moving towards the north. It is about 30-40% across the sky to the east where it will start rising again this morning some time.

Very cool indeed.   It was worth the trip up here just to see this phenomenon.

Update: 7am and just woke up.    The sun is on the other side of town and about as high at the 10am sun back home in Mesa, AZ. It never set last night or since mid May. Simply amazing!

See the sun go sideways across the landscape before it rises into the sky again

July 20 - Mile Post 0 Dempster Highway Yukon Territory to Inuvik, NWT "The Top of the World" and end of the road.

2011-07-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Breakfast is done, the Jeeps are fueled up and we are sitting at the Dempster Highway sign taking pictures.     From there its 450+ miles of dirt, gravel and washboard roads.   There is no radio service, no cell phone service and the warning sign says no emergency medical services past that point.   Makes you think twice.or perhaps not.

We hit the highway and within the 1st half hour I spotted a Grizzly Bear on the road. It was a small one, probably a two year old or so. At 90 kph my hammering on the brakes and the sound of the gravel scraping under the big Wrangler Kevlars must have scared him.    John and Tommy pulled up behind me, we could see the bear moving the the trees along the road. It started coming back out to the road and we were able to get a few pictures before a car pulled up behind us and scared it away again. Back on the road, our next stop was the Tombstone Territorial Visitors Center. We were surprised for such an elaborate and new building in the middle of nowhere running on solar and generators. The staff living in small 14x14 cabins on site. The had some great displays and we got lots of useful information as to why the mountains were called the Tombstone Mountains and where exactly we could see the mountain this area was named for .    Fortunately it wasn't far away, just 2kms up the road and there we headed.

The Tombstone Mountain overlook gave a fantastic view of the valley below complete with river with ice and snow. The clear skys made the entire range very visible and we got some great pictures. But our quest is for the Arctic Circle and Inuvik so we needed to hit the road.

Along the way we again passed hundreds of rivers, lakes and streams.   One caught my attention, it was called the red river and I knew why.    The water actually looked red and all of the white rocks in its path were colored red, obviously from iron deposits up stream somewhere.   We finally reached the 1/2 way point at Eagle Plains, Yukon where it was time to fuel up both the Jeeps and ourselves and look for memorabilia of our trip.

Back on the road we reached the Arctic Circle 30 miles later, made a few calls on our Iridium Satellite Phone to pass the word of our latest milestone. And of course, we took lots of pictures! Sixty miles past the Arctic Circle we reached the point where the Yukon Territory ends and the Northwest Territory begins and more pictures of course.. Just about 200 miles now to our final destination, Inuvik.

We had two ferries to take as there are no bridges over the Peel or the MacKenzie Rivers.    The ferries are free, you just have to be patient and wait sometimes.    The ferry rides were fun but short and we were back on dirt before you knew it.

Finally, 2200 local time (thats 10pm for you tenderfoots) we arrived in Inuvik.   This is the week of the world famous Northern Arts Festival which we would make a visit to. We drove around the small town of Inuvik and to the official end of the most northern highway (dirt and gravel road) in Canada. Around 11pm I staked my spot at the Happy Valley Territorial Campsite (government owned and a very nice and modern campground with all the amenities including WiFi) for a good view of the midnight and later sun.   John and Tommy were beat and wanted to hit the sack so here I am at 1am local time watching the path of the sun at it circles above the horizon to the north.   .

Tomorrow we head back down the Dempster to Mile Post 0 and then decide were to go from there.

Dempster Mile 0

Dempster Views

Canadian Dust Devil below

Wild Flowers

Red River runs red and stains the rocks along the way red too

Young Griz

Tombstone Park and Tombstone Mountain

Diesel pumps at Eagle Plains

Eagle Plains 1/2 way

Table Decoration at Eagle Plains

Arctic Circle

Northwest Territory Border

Peel river and Peel river ferry

MacKenzie River and River Ferry

Inuvik!

Look how the satellite TV dishes point down to the ground this high on the globe

The Great Northern Arts Festival

The end of the Dempster Highway in Inuvik

A WJ stuck deep in the permafrost just south of town. Deep wide ruts probably caused by a failed recovery attempt

Expedition Update 1610 local time Jeep Expedition Members Cross the Arctic Circle in Canada

2011-07-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

.At 1610 local time today, members of Jeep Expeditions made history by crossing the Arctic Circle on the Dempster Highway in the Yukon Territory, Canada.

The Dempster Highway is the only road (if you want to call it that as it is all dirt, gravel or a little of both for over 450 miles) in Canada that crosses the Arctic Circle.   It extends another 200 miles to Inuvik, NWT Canada sometimes referred to as the "Top of the World" and the end of the road, the most northern reaching road in Canada.

As far as we can tell by researching the internet, no other Jeep Club from the lower 48 has ever planned and completed a trip to the Arctic Circle, let along twice in one week in two different countries.     There is talk of Jeep club somewhere in the US doing the "1st Arctic Jeep Expedition" in August but we are clearly the 1st based on our research.

We crossed the Arctic Circle the 1st time on the Dalton Highway in Alaska on July 13 on the way to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean.    On July 14th we crossed it a second time on the way back to Fairbanks.

Today makes our third crossing and tomorrow will make our fourth and final crossing.

Jeep Expeditions is a non-profit club with 100 members based in Mesa, AZ and was formed 5 years ago.   It is open to anyone who owns a Jeep vehicle and wishes to join like minded Jeep owners for the best adventures anywhere.

www.jeepexpeditions.org

Tuesday July 19th - Boundry, Alaska to Dawson City, Canada, to Mile post Zero, Dempster Highway

2011-07-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

I awoke at 7am, it was cold and pouring down rain. I peered out the tent, and the visibility was next to nothing with the fog and cloud cover way down on the mountains. I decided to go back to sleep for another hour or two, hoping to give the weather a chance to break. Unfortunately, this would not be the case and at 10am, I was packing up in the pouring rain. Being unable to contact the rest of the group, we had made previous plans to meet up in Dawson City. One thing that came to my mind this morning, was that the road that came from Chicken to Dawson would be certain to be wet, slippery, and dangerous. Added to the fact that visibility was reduced down to 25 feet at times, so travel today is going to be very slow. After an easy border crossing into Canada, I started periodically calling for Woody and John on the Ham radio. By 11am, Woody answered me and said that they were leaving Eagle, but concerned about the conditions of the shelf road and would be about 4 hrs behind me. The amazing thing is that we were only about 80 miles apart and were able to keep in contact for the next hour or so. 3 hours later, I proceeded down the mountain at Dawson City, where a ferry boat takes you from one side of the river to the other. I spent about an hour in the tourist center and when I came back out, I was able to contact John who was only an hour behind me. We made plans to meet and have a very late lunch at Sour Dough Joe's. John and Tommy made it to Dawson City and we toured the town after lunch. Dawson City is another very cool town that will take you back to the turn of the century with genuine old buildings, old time signs, and modern day prices. If you saw my previous postings and pictures, you will understand what I mean by that. Prices here are quite a bit higher than what I have been used to. We left Dawson City to head to the Yukon River Lodge, just 26 miles away at mile post 0 of the Dempster Highway. We are looking forward to the trip tomorrow on the Dempster Highway, past the Arctic Circle, at the end of the road, at Inuvik, Canada.

Click on any picture to enlarge.

Saying goodbye to a cold, rainy, foggy, cloudy Alaska

The road to the border was muddy, rutted, wet and slick. Visibility was poor.

US Customs and Canadian Customs/Border Patrol on the "Top of the World Highway"

Top of the World Highway history

The Road to Dawson City 60 miles away was about as bad as it gets they told me

Ran out of gas a second time, this is my last can and its 30+ more miles to Dawson City

Finally, the sign that greets you to Dawson, but it is still 8-10 miles away

Dawson City from high above the west bank of the river

Yukon River View from high above

Scenes of and from the ferry including the dirt and rock ramp to the boat

Dawson City Pics

$189.00 for this fill up!

It seems as if every small town has a Sears Catalog Store, Dawson is not different and its in the gas station

We were told that this raft was featured in a movie with James Coburn going down the Yukon near Dawson

Old mining equipment litters the landscape east of Dawson

Acres and acres, miles and miles of piles of rocks and gravel, the spoils of mechanical dredging of the river and creeks

Our 1st Fox sighting

Our nights motel

Monday July 18th - Tok to Chicken to Eagle to Boundry, Alaska

2011-07-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

After a short nights sleep, John, Tommy, and I met Woody and Carole for breakfast at Fast Eddie's in Tok Alaska. Oh by the way, it is raining and the forecast is for rain the entire day. The locals tell us that there has been more rain this year, than in many years past and the forecasts have been most inaccurate in predicting the rain. Oh joy! While leaving the restaurant we noticed a very nice, vintage Indian motorcycle near our Jeeps, which the guys had to inspect and take pictures. Bellies full, gas tanks topped off we headed for the town of Chicken. Chicken is an old, turn of the century mining town that got it's name quite by accident because the miners could not spell tparmigan. Chicken was settled by gold miners in the late 1800s and in 1902 the local post office was established requiring a community name. Due to the prevalence of tparmigan in the area that name was suggested as the official name for the new community. However, the spelling could not be agreed on and Chicken was used to avoid embarrassment. If anything is left of the original town, we certainly didn't see it. There are 4 distinct areas of Chicken, 1) the post office, 2) a group of buildings consisting of a bar, liquor store and souvenir shop, 3) just down the street from number 2 is the campground, general store, and their food concession, and the original gold dredge pedro, and 4) which sits at the bottom of a hill on the main road and consists of a gas station, a large souvenir store, another small camp ground, and a halibut shack. Chicken now exists for tourists, as there is not much going on there and they use the word "chicken" in every possible ways for souvenirs. For example, "Once you go Chicken, you will never go back" and "I got laid in Chicken". After some halibut tacos for lunch, we proceeded to the town of Eagle. Between Chicken and the road to Eagle we passed many people panning for gold. Everything from the snowbird that comes up for the summer in their motor home to the guy who has some serious dredging equipment. Do they find gold? Some do and some don't, but they say that people do this all summer long, year after year. We take the turn off to Eagle which is only 60 miles away, with an estimated travel time of over 3-1/2 hours and now we understand why. The road to Eagle is a dirt shelf road with only one lane at times and drops to the canyon floor below at several hundred feet. A mistake on this road could be your last mistake and with the addition of rain, it was a bit slippery. We got to Eagle and took a quick tour of the old fort that they were restoring and then stopped at the National Park visitors center to get more information. Eagle is another one of those old towns where many of the buildings could be a hundred years old, some in good repair and some falling down. In 2009, an ice jam in the Yukon river caused major flooding sending water and huge chunks of ice onto the low lying parts of town, damaging some of the buildings. Since then, many of those buildings have been rebuilt. Even so, Eagle is a tourist attraction that has a general store and gas station that close up promptly at 5 every night and no restaurant because it was not rebuilt. After touring the town, Woody and Carole, and John and Tommy decided to spend the night at a bed and breakfast along the river. I decided to go onto Boundry, to camp for the night because I wasn't sure of the conditions of the shelf road if I waited till morning. I arrived in Boundry, set up camp and was pleased to see that the rain had stopped momentarily. By evening, the temperatures had dropped to 34° and it was raining heavily throughout the night. Hopefully the weather will clear as we head to Dawson City tomorrow.

Coffee and Reindeer Hot Dogs and an Alaskan Jeep in Tok

Scenes from Chicken, AK

Choke this chicken and it will dance to the Chicken Dance

People staple their hats to the ceiling and walls of the Chicken Saloon and we left a few ourselves

And they also staple their business cards to the door and other wood areas, JE and JPFreek are now represented

On the way to the junction to Eagle, people stake out mining claims along the river for the summer

The Road to Eagle note the sink holes and cracks from the road getting ready to slide down the mountain in some pictures. 60 miles of wet, muddy shelf road each way to keep you tight in your seat!

Mud Slides starting along the road to Eagle

The town of Eagle where they roll up the carpet and close the shutters at 5 pm and if you want to eat, you have to drive 90 miles back to Chicken because they have no restaurants

The Pool Hall in Eagle now stores bales of straw

Has Woody been out posting political posters again ? :-)

Satellite Dishes point down to the horizon in this part of the country

These Alaskan mini cabins in stilts seem to be everywhere. Emergency shelter from deep snow maybe ?

Only in Alaska?

The top of the world highway from Chicken to Dawson, Yukon Canada

Sunday July 17th - Chitina to Kennicott Glacier & Mine to Tok

2011-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

One thing we were expecting was a 50+ mile drive to the Kennicott Glacier and Mine.   What we weren't expecting was a dirt/gravel road riddled with pot holes and washboard sections and RVs going 6 mph.   In any case we finally arrived at the McCarthy 2 1/2 hours later.   What we also didn't know was that you had to park your vehicle, walk across a foot bridge over the river and then catch a shuttle bus which ran every half hour.

Despite those few setbacks, once we got to the Kennicott Mine we were just amazed.    Another trip back into history.   This mine town from the early 1900s appeared as it did many years ago.   The National Park Service has been doing a great job in restoration but there is still a way to go, especially on the 14 story elevator building.
We walked thru the buildings and watched the NPS video working up an appetite that we satisfied with some really great food at the Kennicott Glacier Lodge, a vintage but well appointed hotel.

Along the south side of the mine property we had noticed what appeared to be endless piles of tailings, miles and miles of them. What we found out is that those miles of what looked to be crushed rock was miles of glacier with a layer of rock and sand on top. The main glacier, a huge sheet of ice 27 miles long was to our west and easily seen.    The views were just awesome.

After spending more than twice the time we allotted for Kennicott, we left very pleased and looking forward to coming back again in the future.

As we left the shuttle at the foot bridge, the clouds parted and revealed the face of the glacier to us again while a group of people were putting rafts into the water for a rapids trip.

Our destination was Tok, a couple of hundred miles north to meet up with Woody and Carole for the next days drive to Chicken and Eagle.

The group agreed that these past two days on the Denali Highway and Kennicott were now the highlights of the trip so far.

Downtown Main Street Chitina, AK

Chitina Fire Alarms on telephone poles

Salmon Fisherman at the Copper River

RVs camped right up to the Copper Rivers shore line

Views on the way to McCarthy

McCarthy town views

Seriously McCarthy?

Kennicott Mine Views (the actual mine is high in the mountains and ore was brought down by cable car)

Kennicott Lodge with view from Balcony

Kennicott Glaciers end is covered by sand and gravel and looks like miles of tailings piles

The ice of the glacier peeks thru the sand and gravel crust in many areas

Kennicott Glacier Views

Kennicott Glacier feeds this river and rapids

On the way to Tok

Grizzley Foot Prints

Saturday July 16 - Denali National Park to Chitina, Alaska via the Denali Highway

2011-07-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

We woke up at 6am to the steady beat of rain on our tents. Russ got on his SMART phone and found out that it was to clear at 9am for an hour, so we decided to sleep a little longer. Just as Russ said, the rain tapered off about 9 to merely sprinkles. We broke camp rolling up our soppy tents, hoping tomorrow that we could dry them out. As we traveled the Denali Highway, it rained on and off, mostly on, for the first part of the day. As we approached the halfway point, things started to clear and we began to see amazing sites. Another moose standing in a lake, snow capped mountains and glaciers. As we drove further, looking out the window, I saw a huge sheet of ice cascading through the mountains. We decided to stop at the Maclaren River Lodge for lunch. As we walked in the door, I asked the hostess, "Please don't ruin our day by telling us that is not a glacier over there." She said that that was indeed Macluren Glacier and their lodge and the river that runs past is is named for it. She said the glacier is only 10 miles away and their web cam is pointed at it all the time. The owner came over and said with our nicely set up Jeeps we could likely go see the glacier on the BLM road that went right up to it with just a few conditions. 1. We had to cross the river which is running a little high and a little fast today and 2. The beavers built a dam and we would have to break it down to continue on the trail. We decided to go see the glacier, along the way, we saw a number of beaver dams, beaver lodges and beavers swimming around watching us closely. After several miles of bumpy pot-holed road, we arrived at the river crossing and things didn't look good. There were 2 dirt bikers that came back to cross the river and decided to turn back because of the water level. The river looked to be about 2 feet high and would have to be crossed near a little island. Since my Grand Cherokee had the most lift and the highest ground clearance, I thought I should give it a try. Everybody got close to shore with their cameras in hand and at about at the half way point, the waters were rushing pretty good. After giving it a little gas, I started to feel it sink and decided I should abandon this quest. Unfortunately, a trip to the Maclaren glacier will have to wait till the next Arctic Expedition. We then got back on the Denali Highway and saw several more glaciers before we reached the end at Paxson. At Paxon we proceeded South to our final destination that night, the Hotel Chitna. The Hotel China was built in the early 1900's during the gold and copper boom and it has had some extensive remodeling, but maintained the charm of a vintage hotel with lots of antiques. We got there just before the dining room closed at 10 pm, where we had yak burgers, which was very good. We had seen those hairy beasts on a farm near the hotel. Afterward, everyone settled down for a good nights rest to prepare for our next days adventure to the Kennicott Mine and Glacier. Pictures to be posted as soon as internet is available.

The Denali Hwy the only road to Denali until 1971

Glaciers along he way

McLaren Glacier

McLaren River Lodge

Road to McLaren Glacier

Road crosses river to get to McLaren Glacier

Halfway across river, water up to bumper and current starting to push Jeep..................

Views along the Denali Hwy

Playing along the way

Another wooden bridge

Another Moose

Chitina Hotel since 1907

Friday July 15 - Fairbanks to Denali National Park

2011-07-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

We met at 9am in the morning for the short drive to Denali. Somewhere on the Ice Truckers Road, I had busted a bolt on my front sway bar. So, a quick trip to Lowes as in order, to get the bolts and washers needed to get it repaired and back on the road. The road to Denali was a good one compared to some of the other roads, having been built in the 1970's. With overcast skies, we were hopeful that things would clear so that we could see Mt McKinley. We got to Denali late afternoon, checked out the visitors center, watched their video and had a quick lunch at the cafe. The unfortunate thing about Denali is that private passenger vehicles, can only go the first 15 miles into the park. To go the last 90 miles you need to take a 12-1/2 hour bus tour. The bus tour operators tell you to bring water, food, snacks, and a pillow for the long ride. We opted not to take the bus tour and instead drove only the first 15 miles in. Mt McKinley was hidden by clouds, as it is every 2-3 days. We got a lot of great pictures and saw a caribou in the river before we went back to check into the campground. After setting up camp, the 5 of us met for dinner at Denali Salmon Bake. With another long day gone, we went back to the camp site where of course it started raining again and it rained heavily all night. The next morning we were to leave Denali and travel the famous Denali Hwy.

Another Fairbanks coffee shack, did I say they were everywhere will all kinds of catchy names

We stop along the highway for pictures

River water is a murky gray color

Old railroad bridge still being used along highway

World Famous?

Would Ben Cartright approve?

Denali City streetview

Views inside Denali National Park

Railroad bridge at Denali bring Cruise Ship passengers

Look carefully in the upper left corner for the Caribou along the river in Denali

Mount McKinley is hidden by clouds

Inside the Denali Salmon Bake restaurant

Thursday July 14 - Prudhoe Bay to Fairbanks

2011-07-18T21:18:00.000-07:00

After we left off last night, we spotted a small herd of caribou and of course got a lot of great pictures. We continued down the highway and the further down we got, the harder it rained. By the time we got to Atigun Pass, the cloud cover was already at the base of the pass and we ended up driving up and down in zero visibility. At 2:30 am Thursday morning, we arrived at Marion Creek campground where we called it a night. We decided a few hours sleep would do us good, before going on to Fairbanks. By 6am, the rain had stopped and it looked like things might be clearing up for the day. Our next stop was Coldfoot where we got a quick breakfast and topped off our fuel tanks. It was a relief that the weather broke because not only could we see, we were also in a better position to take pictures. We made it a point to stop by the Arctic Circle again, this time with the sun out, then continued on to the Yukon River where we had lunch again at the Hot Spot restaurant. After lunch, we crossed the Yukon River bridge and from there it seemed like it would be a short sprint to our next stop. Along the way we saw a number of moose, who seemed to be more camera shy than the bears were. Every time we stopped to snap a picture, they ran back into the tree cover. About 20 miles North of Fairbanks, 3 of us were running on fumes and desperately hoping for a gas station. We lucked out and found our gas station, where we filled up. An hour later, we arrived back in Fairbanks, cleaned up after the 3 day trip and had dinner at the Alaskan Salmon Bake, where we dinned on wood grilled salmon, prime rib, and beer battered cod, with all the fixin's. It was an all you can eat for the price of $31. I have to say, that was the best salmon I have ever tasted and well worth the price. Shortly after 9 pm everyone retired for the night. Tomorrow we head to Denali National Park.

Mr Ziggy all seat belted up and ready to go

Motel in Coldfoot is more like a bunch of old trailers parked side by side

Scores of heavy trucks like this tanker with 5 axles on the trailer travel the Dalton every day, more on the rest of Alaskas highways most likely adding to what I consider the worst roads in the country.

Pipeline makes its way across a river via a covered bridge

The two ZJs on the trip strut their stuff at a pipeline access point

At the Arctic Circle a second time

Fire Weed paints the landscape

Dalton mud is thick and everywhere on and in the Jeep

Road views from today

Pipeline views from today

A very nice trail along the way

These birds make their home on the pipeline support posts

Pump Station 5

The owner of the Hot Spot tells me "We are a respectable joint, you won't find A-1 or Gray Poupon for your burgers here

Woody washes his ZJ at an Artesian well that they say can fill a 55 gallon drum in under a minute

Finger Mountain with Woody and Tommy trying to climb it

A climb up the Yukon River Bridge on the way back

A moose on the run from my Jeep

The office at the campground looked like Hobbit house

Salmon, Cod and Prime Rib anyone?

slow internet and pictures

2011-07-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

posted pictures for July 11 just now. Slow or no internet is a problem here.

Will post more pictures tomorrow .

Also getting in too late to call the blog in last 3 nights, will catch up tomorrow (we got to our campground at 2:30 am one morning)

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 13 - Coldfoot Alaska to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean

2011-07-13T23:07:00.000-07:00

The day started at 6am and it was still raining. We broke camp in the rain and folded up soggy tents. After breaking camp we drove 3 miles to the only restaurant that we would see till we got to the end of the Dalton Hwy. We continued our journey in the rain and mud in our quest to get to the Arctic Ocean. Because of the weather, we didn't make many stops today. The dirt roads after being rained on for 2 days, had an icy coating over them. We did stop at Galbraith Lake, where we took a few pictures and hit the road again. During the day we passed a number of landmarks that we remembered from The Ice Roads Truckers TV show including the section of the road through Atigun Pass where we all commented that there was no way that we would consider driving on that road in the winter time, neither up nor down. We were surprised to find ice and snow near the top along the road. By 4pm, we arrived in Prudhoe Bay and we paid for our tickets for the refinery tour at the Arctic Ocean. Important to note: In order to enter Prudhoe Bay and reach the shore of the Arctic Ocean, you need to make reservation 24 hours in advance and pass a background check before you can buy tickets to the 2-1/2 hr tour. Before we boarded the bus, we got a 2 minute talk and saw a 17 minute video that give the history on Prudhoe Bay, the Alaskan Pipeline, and how committed BP is to the Alaskan environment. We boarded the tour bus and took a short ride to the security check point where we started our tour in the Prudhoe Bay oil fields. As our tour guide described things to us, we passed yard after yard of pipe casings and lot after lot of heavy equipment, many that had balloon tires or wide tracks. We finally reached the Arctic Ocean where we got off the bus and went wading. Russ was the only one brave enough to go wading up to his knees, I went in up to my ankles. The water felt icy cold and the temperature was in the 20's today. Tommy decided to go in, but kept his shoes on, getting his shoes full of icy water. There were a few brave souls from the bus that wore their bathing suits and went in up to their waists. I thought they were crazy. All that braved the water got a polar bear certificate. We then headed back on the bus to return to our Jeeps. After a short dinner break of reindeer chili, we headed South towards Fairbanks. It's currently raining lightly, but we feel we can make the campground at Galbraith Lake between midnight and 1am. As the sun never sets, we won't have a problem setting up camp in the bright daylight. As we leave Prudhoe Bay we see a small herd of Caribu in the distance and the group decides to push on further tonight to a point closer to Coldfoot. Going up Atigun Pass on the way back was interesting as it was completely immersed in cloud cover and visibility was near zero. After reaching the summit and beginning our descent, the clouds/fog disappeared but it still continued to rain. By 0230 we reached the BLM campsite just north of Coldfoot and called it a night or perhaps day.

The Alaskans are fond of Sourdough but naming a fuel brand after it ?

And how about $4.95 for a bag of ice? They don't have any trouble selling it. Milk $5.00 for a half gallon, gasoline $6.49 to $8.00+ per gallon and it doesn't stop there with bottled water at $5 a gallon.

Signs, Signs everywhere signs............

The northern most spruce tree (I think it might be dead)

Heating station to keep the oil above 100 degrees to prevent the formation of paraffin/wax

Galbraith Lake

Snow still remains even at lower elevations

Uh Oh !

Water cascades down the mountains just about everywhere

Road views today

Security chopper lands to check out something

More interesting pipeline views

Approaching Prudhoe Bay

Views of Prudhoe Bay

Arctic Ocean Shoreline

Russ dips his feet in the ice cold water

Sand dunes along the shoreline

Caribu, Canadian Geese, Tundra Swans

Atigun Pass on the way back

Tuesday, July 12 - Fairbanks, Alaska to Coldfoot , Alaska

2011-07-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

The group met at 8am at the Super 8 to start our journey Northward. Being slightly misled by the TV show Ice Road Truckers, we thought we were going to be on the Dalton Hwy in minutes, but it wouldn't be for another 100 miles. Our first stop was at the Arctic Circle "Wild Wood" General Store and while it was still 200 miles South of the Arctic Circle, it was one of the most interesting places to stop. The building was a log cabin with all kinds of antlers attached to it, antique barrels, and other misc things, along with a sign that said "Fresh Outhouses, This Way" with an arrow. Being the curious people we were, we thought we had to check out those outhouses. Unlike the usual outhouses, these were artfully decorated, but had the same fragrance that you normally associate with outhouses. There was even a station to clean your hands where alcohol gel and baby wipes sat on a barrel. As we walked back to the main building, we heard the hum of a generator, which had to be the source of their electricity. Walking inside, was like walking into Jed Clampet's cabin. There were all types of backwoods looking things, except that the guy there was surfing the internet. After spending too much time buying souvenirs, we hit the road and contended with the wind and rain. The Dalton Highway is a patchwork of road types. We found some black top that is in dire need of repair and then there is a few miles beyond Coldfoot, Alaska, that is like a nice smooth super highway. However, most of it is gravel and tightly packed dirt and the further we went, the more mud accumulated on our windows and every body panel of the Jeeps. Our next stop was the Yukon River where a very long bridge with wooden planks allowed us the honor of crossing and running right next to us was the Alaskan Pipeline. At the other end was a BLM visitors center where we picked up maps and brochures. Across the street, was what was advertised as a "truck stop" that was our last chance for gas, before we arrived at our destination for the night. We stopped at a place called the Hot Spot, which was another quite interesting assortment of buildings that was there mainly for the tourists and truckers and where the only burgers they serve were 1 pound burgers, which we were told was the best burger in the country. The truth to that statement remains to be seen. We headed out to our last stop of the day in Coldfoot, Alaska, where we filled our starving gas tanks and our bellies at the Truckers Buffet. We camped at the Marion Creek Campground where we set up our Coleman 10-man instant tent and watched a 90 minute movie about the building of the Alaskan Highway on Woody's big screen laptop. The movie was over by 11pm and we all tried to sleep with the sunlight streaming down just as strongly as it was at noon.

An Alaskan Political Statement north of Fairbanks

Wild Wood

JEO Starts the Dalton Highway made famous by the Ice Road Truckers TV show

Typical Highway Scene on the Dalton

The pipeline parallels the Dalton Highway for over 400 miles

Probably the best way to patrol 1000+ miles of pipeline

But if we can get this close......................makes you wonder

Yukon River Bridge and Crossing

$16 One Pound Mushroom and Swiss burger at the Hot Spot Cafe about 5 miles north of the bridge (and worth every penny) but don't ask for A-1 Steak Sauce or Gray Poupon for your burger!

It rained all day which made for a muddy and slippery road

We stopped to help this biker who already had 4 other tire repairs on the Dalton due to sharp rocks. He ran out of supplies so we loaned him my tire repair kit. We stopped when anyone was along the highway to help.

Heavy Truck Traffic 24 hours a day and the weather doesn't slow them down

Hundreds, perhaps thousands of rivers and streams along the Dalton Highway

Yes Ice Road Truckers fans there is a Carlile Trucking Company but we were told by the drivers we met that most of the stuff that Lisa and the other female trucker does is staged and not for real as it appears. They don't seem to have much respect for the program

Fireweed grows everywhere after a fire. The 2003 Alaskan Wildfire season burnt over 6 million acres

The FIRST ever Jeep Expedition at the Arctic Circle

The Arctic NPS Welcome Center

Cold Foot Truck Stop, the furthest north truck stop in the world

Cold Foot Camp building

Obscured by Clouds

Our camp for the night at Marion Creek Campground - Russ, Mr Ziggy and me slept in the Coleman Instant Tent kept warm by a Coleman Ceramic tent heater

Monday, July 11 - Tok to Fairbanks, Alaska

2011-07-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

The morning started off at the buffet at the Sour Dough Campground where the menu included reindeer sausage, elk sausage, biscuits and gravy, and sour dough pancakes. We hit the road with our next stop being Delta Junction and the official end of the Alaska Highway. After stopping at the visitors center and took advantage of the usual touristy things like taking pictures and buying souvenirs. With business done at Delta Junction, our next stop was North Pole, Alaska, to visit Santa. North Pole, Alaska, is a small town just east of Fairbanks where all the light poles look like candy canes and the street names were of a Christmas theme. The group stopped at Santa's house, took pictures of reindeer and shopped at the store. We finally said goodbye to Santa and his helpers and headed towards Fairbanks. Fairbanks just reminds me of an old midwest town with low buildings some of them 100 years old. The industrial part of Fairbanks isn't pretty and the short freeways can get you from one side of town to the other in 5 minutes with no traffic jams. Our stay in Fairbanks was mainly for some downtime and maintenance to the vehicles. After checking in to hotels and campgrounds, everyone went their separate ways getting oil changes, tire rotations, and to resupply. The plan is to meet at 8am tomorrow morning to start our trek to the Arctic Circle and Prudhoe Bay.

Breakfast with Reindeer sausage, Elk sausage and sourdough pancakes at the Sourdough Campground in Tok.

We saw our 1st Moose today ! Mother and babies

Just like Western Canada, there are lakes and rivers everywhere in Alaska

Some with ice still in them far south of the Arctic Circle

And still some with the majestic snow capped peaks of the Alaska Range in the background

Santa is working hard at his home at the North Pole

All of the street lights in North Pole Alaska are candy canes

A typical Alaska Road - note the only 4 lane streets we have seen so far are in the cities, nothing rural

Strange street signs dot the roads like this one

The end of the Alaska Highway, 1422 miles west of Dawson Creek, Canada in Delta Jct, Alaska

We saw our 1st totem pole today too!

Saw these strange birds in a farmers field outside of Fairbanks

These coffee shacks are everywhere in Fairbanks

The campground office looks like a Hobbit house, complete with a grass roof

At 0256 when it doesn't get any darker than this how does one sleep?

Sunday, July 10th - Haines Junction, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska

2011-07-11T02:35:00.000-07:00

Another short night (darkness wise) but we decided that since today was going to be a shorter drive at around 300 miles that we would sleep an extra hour and take off at 10 am today for Tok. The showers at the campground were coin operated and took over a minute to warm up. I loaded 10 quarters for 10 minutes and with 5 minutes left I put two more quarters in for some extra time. Bad move, the two new quarters reset the timer, gave me two minutes instead of 7 and my rinse was in freezing cold water. I wasn't the only one to make that mistake.

We had breakfast at the Cozy Hotel and Cafe. Good food, the biggest pancakes I ever saw (forgot to take a picture but they were nearly 1" thick and took up the whole dinner plate. Light, fluffy and tasty.

The road today was much as yesterday, when you see one pine tree you see them all but the mountains and a few glaciers made the trip more interesting. One thing about BC and Yukon Canada, they are not lacking for water. There are huge natural lakes everywhere and you can see more rivers and streams in a day here than you might see in a whole year back home. We had Russ and Carole giving us history about the area from the Mile Post books along the way. We also ran into the Google Guys a few more times today and some guys from Australia who were on a world wide expedition in a diesel 4x4 rig.

We stopped for lunch about 50 miles from the border at a restaurant with no name but the sign said "bakery, crepes, soups, sandwiches". What a good decision. It was owned by a French couple and we tried a little of everything and I have to recommend the "full" crepe (eggs, ham, cheese, tomato) and the bread pudding for desert.

Lots of big trucks and RVs on the highway today. Dust made visibility in places due to fast moving large vehicles nearly impossible. Only Russ was saved from windshield damage. So far from day 1, I have nearly a dozen hits on my windshield, nearly a constellation of stars. One of the hits started at the top middle, went down to about the tint line and started going to the left side. Thought about replacing in Fairbanks tomorrow but no doubt there will be more damage before we get home.

At 1540 Phx time we crossed the border into Alaska. The border patrol for the US was much more friendly but confused me when I handed him our US Passports and he asked me the reason for our visit and what we would be doing in Alaska. DUH, we are US citizens, what do you care. Anyway he waived us on as he did everyone else. I dread going thru the Canada border again in about 7 days if it is anywhere near what it was a few days ago.

So far what we have seen of Alaska (the 1st 90 miles) looks like where we just were in Canada, lots of skinny, scraggly pine trees and lakes. We arrived at our destination and the motel gang checked into the Golden Bear Hotel and the campers went to the Sourdough Campground down the road. After everyone got settled we had dinner at Fast Eddies, the best restaurant in town according to everyone. The food was indeed good and so was the service. The motel group said their rooms were really stinky, like musty. They were hoping that leaving their windows open might help by the time they got back. We decided to meet at 8am at the breakfast buffet at the campground.

Meanwhile back at the campground, the nightly entertainment was going strong about 25 yards from our site. It was an elderly gentleman who did Johnny Cash and other country greats. He was quite good. He played for nearly 4 hours and after they had a bon fire where everyone could toast complimentary marshmallows. Well here we are at midnight and it is lighter than it was last night. The deep woods Off has finally made the mosquitoes leave me along. Post up some pictures and watch the sunset in about an hour :-)

Tomorrow we head to Fairbanks to prepare for our Dalton Highway (made famous by the Ice Road Truckers) part of the trip.

How about this for sneaky? I smoked the tires trying to get to the speed limit for this real looking (from a distance) plywood "Mountie" car

Telephone/Electric poles are half the height we see in AZ, crooked and have glass insulators

Bikers carry SPOTs too

A memorial to an Indian

More Army Trucks

Grass Roofs ????

Little shacks like this dot the road side

Saturday July 9th - Watson Lake to Haines Junction via Whitehorse

2011-07-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

Finally a fast wifi.   Published more pictures to yesterdays blog.   It was a short night, at 1am it was bright enough to read at 4 am the sun was bright in the sky. The nights are only going to get shorter as we go north to the point there will be no night though there is little night now.

After brief visit to the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake and the posting of the JE decal on a post we set off for Whitehorse. It was pretty much an uneventful day but more scenic than yesterday with lots of lakes, rivers and more mountain snows. We ran into the Google guys again, they seem to be enjoying the trip to Alaska and are following the same itinerary we are until tomorrow.

Our first big stop for lunch was at the Yukon Motel and Cafe in Teslin. The food was reasonably priced but the service left much to be desired. There was a wildlife museum next to it that was pretty impressive and we spent a lot of time there.

Speaking of wildlife, we were disappointed that we didn't see much wildlife today.    Our route brought us thru lands and warnings about Bison, Antelope, Big Horn Sheep, Elk, Moose, Deer, Caribu and more. We saw two moose, but could only get a picture of the female as they were way off in the distance and the male kept hiding.    We also saw a large black bear with two brown cubs. The surprise of the day was at Swan Lake where we didn't see any swans but we did see a Bald Eagle dive in the lake for a fish and seagull chasing him for a short distance to try to grab it.

We stopped in Whitehorse and toured the historic part of town and at at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Restaurant.   A quaint place short on seating but long on service and quality.   A few of us got their special a Bison steak with lobster ravioli, roasted veggies and a fancy bread.    They also served an excellent fish and chips with Alaskan Halibut, Reindeer Stew and Antelope Stroganoff. Most excellent place.   We will be back for dinner on the way home. When we were leaving there was a line of people from a cruise ship waiting for tables to open up.

We changed the itinerary somewhat and instead of staying in Champagne at a campground there we decided to drive another 90 miles to Haines Jct which would give us two short days tomorrow.

We arrived at our campground here in Haines Jct, set up camp and just about everyone now has gone to bed. It's too light out for me so here I am. Midnight and still very light out.    The view of the snow capped mountains and "glacier" is breathtaking from our campsite.

Tomorrow we will finally cross the border and will be at the Golden Bear in Tok, Alaska for the evening.

Sky at 1am last night

Sign Post Forest - Watson Lake, Yukon

Black Bear and cubs

Yukon Motel, Cafe, Museum

Moose in Lake

Eagle and Sea Gull at Swan Lake

Klondike Rib and Salmon and Bison Steak Dinner

The Midnight Sky from our campsite

Friday, July 8 - Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Watkins Lake, Yukon

2011-07-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

What a day! This was a day for breath taking scenery and LOTS of animal encounters.   The Google Street View vehicles were parked next to our Jeeps at the hotel.    They are going to Alaska for a project.    A number of construction workers were staying at our hotel last night also.   They told us that they came in late and if they had been any drunker they would have all tested out my Bumper Dumpers.......YUCK.

We started off the morning for breakfast at the "World Famous" Fort Nelson Inn. It rained on and off for about half the day, sometimes quite hard but the water brought to life the colors of nature and even cleaned all the mosquitoes off of my Hella lights. We saw what appeared to be a vintage military dump truck and wondered if it had anything to do with the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942.   We stopped at the Toad River Lodge because we heard that thousands of hats the people have given up over the years lined the ceiling.   They had a special place for military covers, boonie hats and berets that our troops have autographed. John added a hat of his to their collection.   In the early afternoon we came across a beautiful blue-green lake, Lake Muncho which means big lake in a native language. Shortly passed the lake we passed a modern day hippie protesting the war by walking from Whitehorse Canada to Vancouver Canada.   He has a long way to go and has been on the road a month now.   Let's see, we will be in Whitehorse tomorrow.   The group had lunch at Laird River hot springs, a volcanic heated pool with the strong smell of sulfur. Some of the brave ones took a dip, I was told it was nearly scalding in places.

The last 100km's today were some of the best.    We saw over a dozen black bears, a grizzly and her two clubs, a brown bear, dozens of bison, a brown bear and some free ranging horses.   All of them along the road and no more than 50 feet from our vehicles. Lots of good pictures.

The end of the day found us in the Yukon Territory and Watson Lake.   Some of the guys decided to hotel it and some of us camped.   At 12:20 am it is still not quite dark,   kinda like a Phoenix night at 7:45 pm.

Tomorrow we head to Whitehorse Canada and the next day we finally make Alaska.    Its hard to believe it was a week ago today that we began our journey.    P.S.   It is colder than............well you know what I mean.   Freezing up here now and we are still 1000 miles from Arctic Circle.   Enjoy the pictures!

Fort Nelson

Old Army Truck

It rained like cats and dogs part of the day

The clouds cover the mountain peaks

Muncho Lake

The Hippie (Could this have been Lance in the 60's :-)

Laird River Hot Springs

Mamma Griz and one of her cubs - we were about 30 feet away in the safety of our ZJ

More of Mamma Griz

Bison along road

More Bears

Free ranging ponies

Hats on ceiling of Toad River Lodge

Finally in Yukon Territory

Thursday, July 7th - Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson

2011-07-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

Today was an easy day it seemed with just about 300 miles of driving.   There are 5 vehicles left. Kevin is still in Montana after his axle problems and Sam had to leave us at Jasper. We left Dawson Creek at Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway around 9am.

Within an hour we found ourselves on the "old Alaskan Highway" at the historic curved bridge.    This wooden structure from the 1940s still stands and is made entirely of wood. The floor of the bridge is big wood planks that appear to have been bent using steam and then placed on the bridge. Not sure how thick they are but the sign at the bridge says "Limit 20 Tons" to give you an idea of how strong this wooden bridge is and yes, it is curved.

Along the way the road and country side was covered in tall scraggly pine forests as it was the day before.   Signs of logging and the oil/gas industry were everywhere.    We saw many signs that warned of moose, deer and other wildlife but today we saw just a few deer, a black bear and some wild turkeys as we drove. Seeing wildlife is easy along the highway as the forest has been cleared for 25-30 yards on either side of the highway and is planted in grass.

Lunchtime found us at the Buffalo Inn at the summit of Pink Mountain.    The sign at the door said "Please Remove Your Muddy Boots" and just inside the door were rows of muddy boots and shoes lined up on what looked to be rubber car floor mats. A couple of us ordered the Buffalo Burger: 2 six ounce burgers, cheese, a fried egg, slice of ham, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato and mayo on a kaiser roll.    A big burger and actually quite tasty but the winner of the day were the fries. They were hand cut and reminded me of the great fries on the boardwalk of Ocean City, MD. Woody bought a DVD there that tells about the construction of the Alaska Highway.

We encountered rain for the 1st time today, heavy rain at times and the forecast wasn't encouraging.   Things cleared up and we decided to explore a dirt road which ended up a dead end about 1/2 mile into the forest. A few hours later we arrived at Fort Nelson and none too soon. A couple of us were on the "E" on our fuel gauges.    A quick fill up at over $5 a gallon, my bill came to $106! Because of the weather forecast we all decided to spend the night at the Ramada Inn.   After dinner at a local pub with the sun still in the sky at 10pm, we decided it was time to hit the sack and rest up for another day on the road Friday.

Mile 0 Alaska Highway

The Curved Bridge

Endless forests of pine

The dirt road to nowhere

Wednesday, July 6th - Jasper, Canada to Dawson Creek Canada

2011-07-06T23:54:00.000-07:00

At last, WiFi at our campground! Posted a few pictures to the Icefields Parkway posting from yesterday. Woke up this morning freezing! You move a little slow when your breath frosts but after a bit we forced ourselves from the tent so we can continue with our journey. At 9am our group left Jasper, Canada for Dawson Creek, the beginning of the famed Alaska Highway. One of the 1st things we saw were Mule Deer and Elk grazing next to the highway. I was no less than 10 feet from the one buck when I took his picture. The landscape along the way was different from what we had seen so far. The hills were lined with very thin and tall pines that were so thick they reminded me of the Black Forest. Light in many places did not penetrate the dense canopy and the floor of the forest was dark. We saw a number of areas that were clear cut for lumber and as we got close to Grand Prarie we saw numerous lumber processing companies with brand names we have all heard of. Finally this afternoon and 526km later, we arrived in Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway. We set up camp in Mile Marker 0 Campground and went to town for dinner and some pictures. Tomorrow we have an easy day with under 300 miles to Fort Nelson.

Mule Deer and Elk along Canada Highway 40

Thick Pine forests for as far as the eye can see

Tuesday, July 5th - The Icefields Parkway

2011-07-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

The sun arose again at 3:30am and interrupted the few hours of sleep we were able to get. At 4am we were on the road. We drove to fuel up in Banff, where gas was $4.50 a gallon. At 5am not much is open but we did find a family restaurant and sat down for breakfast. By 6 we were on the road again with full bellies and fuel tanks to meet up with the rest of the group. We met the group at Lake Louise, which is similar to a typical ski resort that you would find in like Vail, CO. After a short drivers meeting, we went to see Lake Louise and the surrounding area. With the morning quickly disappearing, it was time to hit the Icefields Parkway. The Icefields Parkway is 230km long and is loaded with breath taking views of what remains of 10,000 year old glaciers. The crystal clear blue lakes remind you of Caribbean waters and we found an abundance of wildlife including moose and deer. I took no less than 1000 pictures today, to give you an idea of the beauty of the area. By 6pm we reached the end of the Icefields Parkway, in Jasper, BC. We set up camp, reorganized the Jeep and headed to town to scout things out. At 11pm, we filled up with gas and went back to camp, still in bright daylight. Now, it is midnight and darkness is finally falling. Tomorrow at 3:30am I'm sure the sun will rise again and we will be on our way to Dawson Creek and the beginning of the Trans Alaskan Highway.

Lake Moraine

Bow Lake

Athebasca Glacier

ZJ at Bow Glacier

Mountain Goats on Icefields Parkway

Athebasca Falls

Monday, July 4th - Glacier National Park to Baff, AB Canada

2011-07-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

Montana is certainly a beautiful state with some of the most friendly people that I have encountered. We woke up at 4am at our campground in Glacier National Park to bright sunlit skies. One thing about this time of year is that the sun rises at 3:30am in Montana and seems to set at 10pm. In fact at 11pm, there is still a little bit of lightness in the Western sky. We broke camp at 7am and had a good ole fashioned country breakfast. We explored as much of the park as we could due to the current road closures. Glacier lake with its reflection of the nearby glaciers and mountains, made for some spectacular photos. On our way to East Glacier, my Grand Cherokee blew a radiator hose. It was an easy fix as the break occurred just above the hose clamp. The bad news was the holiday and the closest parts store was 40 miles away. Luckily we found a Napa store in Canada that had the part and would be open for a few more minutes. So John and Tommy headed to Canada to Napa and 2 hours later it was fixed and we were on the road again. We finally reached Canada and found the Canadian boarder guards to be extremely unfriendly. They singled out a couple of us and brought us to an interrogation room, where we were drilled with a number of questions. After they tired of that, they took our passports and said that they would run criminal background checks on us and we were not to leave. As we stared at the one way mirror with video cameras on the other side, we wondered what we did to get singled out and given this treatment. 20 minutes later, the border agent returned, brusquely handed us our passports and said we could go. We left scratching our heads but went on to re-join the group. By now it was getting late and we didn't think we could make it to the planned campground. By 1am we decided to stop at Banff for the night and rest up and continue to the Icefields campground tomorrow.

Banff, AB Canada