July 15th, Rolling down the Road to Denali:

We left Fairbanks after getting Della's thyroid med's. Sam's Club FAILED, but with Tumbleweed and Mt McKinley Vet hospital they stepped up to the plate and we received the meds by 11:30. By 12 noon, we were at the Holiday Fuel station getting 26 gallons of Diesel (with a $5, saving) and taking on-board 10.5 gallons of propane for $2.99, awesome.

We hooked up and got on the road by 12:35 and headed south on Parks Highway. Our reservation in Denali is not until the 17^th, so we have a few days to kill, so we drove at about an average of about 50 mph. We're in no hurry, so we took it slow and easy. While we were traveling, Susan read about this City Park in Anderson. Anderson is about 80 miles south of Fairbanks and 50 miles from Denali, so this seems to be a  good place to sit quite for the 2 days. We made the turn around 3 pm and promptly stopped for a photo op but without Della or Tilly:

                          Sorry, Della and Tilly said No to this Photo Op

Continued on down the road for about 6 miles, came into the town. The first thing we notice was a sign showing "ICP". Now what does ICP mean and why is it here of all places? First, ICP stands for Incident Command Post, and is the command center for forest fires. Why is it here? Because of the Fish Fire, which is located about 35 miles east of Anderson. Along with the ICP, is a contingent of about 230 fire fighters. They work the fire about 12 hours a day. They are either bused in or some will be helicopter in. Once back, it is time for dinner and bed. So as you can see there has to be over 200 small tents all over the place that we can see and places where we cannot.

Once thru town we located the dump, took on a little bit of water, drove on into the campground and pulled into a nice spot. We were setup and done within 15 minutes. Now comes the fun part, remember we have a Winegard Trav'ler Automatic Satellite antenna which is connected to Dish. Well we have to remember this far north and west, the satellites are down near the horizon (14 degrees). So it was time to try the Winegard again. While we were in Fairbanks we had no signal, due to the Elks Lodge building next to us. So this time we have a clear sight of the horizon, and I switch to manual search, and set it for satellite 119.

Notice the Antenna is almost vertical.

Well after 15 minutes, it locked onto satellite 119, and next thing we know we have satellite and watching Fairbanks local channels. Amazing what technology can do for you. Next on the list is to go online with Dish support and have our service address changed to an Anchorage address.. Got online requested and 15 minutes later……..NO CHANGE, what happen? Well back to the online chat and request it again. Yep we now have Anchorage Locals and DISH network channels. We are all setup and in the camping mode.

By the way, close to Anderson is Clear Air Force Base, this base is on the Defense Early Warning System line.

Except from the Website

"The U.S. Air Force maintains five PAVE Phased Array Warning System (PAWS) Early Warning Radars (EWR). These radars are capable of detecting ballistic missile attacks and conducting general space surveillance and satellite tracking. The acronym PAVE is a military program identification code. 

They are able to detect and track both intercontinental and sea-launched missile threats. Early warning and attack characterization data is sent to the United States' Missile Warning and Space Control Centers, the U.S. National Military Command Center and U.S. Strategic Command. Satellite tracking data is sent to the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) for processing.

Three systems have been modified to Upgraded Early Warning Radar (UEWR) status. They are located at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., Thule Air Force Base, Greenland and Fylingdales, England. The Fylingdales system is operated by the British Royal Air Force. The UEWR systems have a co-primary mission to provide missile tracking data to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) GMD Fire Control Center (GFC/C).

The other two systems are located at Cape Cod Air Force Station, Mass., and Clear Air Force Base, Alaska. "

At about 9 pm 2 rigs rolled into the campground, just at the same time a very large complete rainbow appeared, Susan managed to capture a couple of shots, begin and end.

Thursday (July 16^th) awoke bright and early listening to the buses loading and leaving with the fire fighters for the day. Next thing I notice was the sun was hiding behind some clouds. Weather forecast was windy and good chance of rain later, followed by rain tomorrow. So what do you do with a forecast like that? ROAD TRIP.

Ok, another item I am looking for is Willow trees. Willow trees grow near a river of lake and guess what? There is a river within ¼ mile of Anderson and our campground spot. So be on the lookout for The Diamond Willow Tree.

By the way, a few shots of what we found in the Area:

One of the things you may see is bark removed from a Birch Tree:

People do this when making something from the bark.

I thought I throw this photo in because it looked cool with the Sun shinning thru.

As Susan Says SeeYa

Safe Travels and Journeys 

Della                     &                      Tilly

Jun 29 Klondike Loop Hwy 2 to Dawson City

Klondike Loop starts at the junction of Alaska Hwy 1 and Hwy 2. It meander's for a total of 323 miles. Basically just North of Whitehorse to Dawson City. Plan; what is our plan, well we have no plan except to be in Dawson City the day before provincial day, July 1.

We left Whitehorse about 10:30 am in the morning. Our trip would take us 330 miles or 531 Km on the Klondike Hwy. We had heard that the highway was in a rough condition all the way, but the first half was easy going.

Our first encounter was just leaving the city, a small bit of road construction. However once we passed this section it was clear sailing. We must have traveled for Km, before we really started to encounter frost heaves which we needed to be on the lookout for. We watched the highway for any changes in the color of the road or visible orange cones or markers alongside the highway. This allowed us enough time to switch lanes if necessary. We were able to keep our speed close to the limit. All this time we were on the lookout for wildlife, it wasn't until Susan was driving that I spotted a small brown bear on the passenger side of the road. It was small and extremely hard to see, so be careful when driving and keep a visible eye ahead and don't look side to side too much.

Our really first stop was at the Braeburn lodge, located at Km 55.2 from the junction or 280.8 Km from Skagway; their claim to fame is an official checkpoint for the 1,000 mile Yukon Quest International Sled-dog race. And, yes there is a yes, Cinnamon buns/rolls. You get to choose your 3 lbs. cinnamon bun or 1,360 grams Yikes. The cost of the bun along with 2 coffees was around $14.50 CA. This was the first really good cinnamon bun we purchased. We split it up and froze some for later.

Additional Notes on Road Conditions

There was some loose gravel and construction through Whitehorse.

Marker 238 on Klondike N is first road construction.  Posted at speed of 70 K- we did 50  to begin, loose gravel on shoulders, hard packed on main portion of road.  Not dusty, some potholes after 240 and washboard at 244.  Slow down and move to right as cars approach.   Ends at 248.  There is a pull over near the end to let traffic from the rear pass, sloping, best to just pull to side, not off and let others pass.

Still rougher after 248, maintained speed in 70 km range.  Orange flags at road level denote rougher areas.

MM 304 or 99 km from Junction look for pine tree with Xmas ornaments and take a photo for us, please.

When signs say Construction  - usually no workers, but loose gravel on roadway.  Slow to 40/45 mph  -one at 137Km from Whitehorse Junction for several k, another near 141 for 5 Km (extreme dust here).  More all the way to Dawson

Just past 5 fingers rec area Construction – 1 BIG Dip and gravel at bridge on both ends

Our second stop was at Pelly Crossing, located at Km 270 from the junction or 286 Km from Skagway, we wanted to get our books stamped, but instead spent time talking to the museum attendant. Along the highways, are many of the First Nation Tribe heritage sites/culture centres. You may tell yourself once you have seen one, you have seen them all, but you haven't heard the stories at each location. How they came about and how they are surviving today, and the culture difference between then and now.

Flagman at 452 KM – pilot car just past Stewart Crossing for several miles.

As we can up to Stewart crossing it was decision time, drum roll please, to proceed or stop for the night. Easy decision, Susan was driving and was very refresh, so off we went. Need you ask, to Dawson of course 1 day early.

544 km  - gravel Lots of potholes, mostly patched, just bumpy.

We switched drivers about 30 miles from Dawson and I resumed the rest of the way. We arrived and then drove thru town looking at refueling stations and then drove back out to Bonanza RV and quickly landed in the RV wash rack. Susan quickly signed us in and came back with change for the wash machine. The best time to spray and clean your radiator, is when you come in off the road and the radiator is nice and hot.

I had just sprayed the radiator a few days ago, but this time it was hot and the power sprayer did an excellent job. I cleaned the Charge Air Cooler while doing the radiator. I do believe I can tell by how the water flows whether or not the radiator and CAC is dirty.

We arrived at the Bonanza Gold CG just outside the city. Oh, by the way, when they say Wi-Fi, HA, their concept of free Wi-Fi is 1 hr. for every 24 hrs. They say it is because of costs. Baloney, it is all about raping the customer for all they can get. The cost of internet service especially in a camp ground that has a high speed system, is not based on data usage.

Anyway, back to our story. Once we got setup and arranged everything, it was after 8pm, and it was still DAYLIGHT. So, off we went for adventures. First stop, the ferry crossing to see how it works. Pretty simple, you wait in-line and when they are ready for you, they give a signal for you to proceed.

Our goal was to be in Dawson for Provincial Days July 1, well we made it with time to spare. So off we went in search of adventures.

My first impression, once we arrived was the massive destruction in the landscape and hill side. You have to remember, this was Gold Rush Country. Where massive dredges like #4 and other ones, Earth movers that just tore up the country side for pay-dirt. There were no laws stating put the area back the way you found it. So you have hillsides, stripped and recent growth sprouting up.

Anyway, we went in search of Dredge #4, trails, free gold panning just to name a few. We spent fun time in Dawson, including July 1^st watching the parade even though it rained, the parade still went on. Then onto the museum where special events were taking place. I dare say, if it was sunny, many more people would have come out to see everything.

July 1st Provincial Day in Canada "Happy Canada Day"

So we Leave you with this "Happy Canada Day".

As Susan Says SeeYa

Safe Travels and Journeys 

Della                     &                      Tilly

Cassiar Highway 37

Our journey started on June 18^th, on the Yellowhead Hwy 16, at the Junction, where Hwy 16 meets with Hwy 37. The name for this is the Yellowhead Hwy Junction and continues to the junction of Cassiar Hwy 37 & Alaska Hwy 1. The name for that one is the Alaska Hwy Junction. From junction to junction covers 450 miles or 724 Km long.

Once on the road and heading west on the Yellowhead Hwy, we were very lucky, as we spotted a bear crossing the road. Darn it, no cameras were near or ready for picture taking. The bear was not ready either.  But we had spotted signs of life on the Hwy.

We refueled at the Yellowhead junction with diesel, and then headed north to Steward, BC. Our total for the day was 203 miles. As we were getting closer to Steward, we stopped for a breathtaking view. The Bear Glacier as it is called and on the south side of the Hwy.

As we pulled into Steward, we headed to check out the visitor's center and the 2 local campgrounds. Darn it  the visitor center closes at 4pm, but between the municipal and Bear River CG we choose Bear River. Only because of the larger lot size.

Once settled in, we headed out to seek adventure, even crossing into the USA, Hyder, AK. Funny, there are no border agents crossing in USA, only coming back into Canada. I mean where else are you going to go, it's not as if there are many roads in and out of Hyder.

But once in the USA we headed up the road to seek out wildlife. Once at the national forest catwalk, we scouted but alas, no wildlife was to be seen. After walking around, we slowly made our way back to town and what did we spot crossing the road? Why, doesn't that look like a small black bear cub? Yes it does. Eureka  we had spotted another black bear.

As we continue to seek out wildlife we spotted this one just outside the town of Hyder.

 

But wait, is this another bear in the Woods?

Happily, we headed back to Steward, but only to stop in at the Glacier Inn. Elijah had recommended that we should stop in to get Hyderized, whatever that was. Well we found out it was drinking 150 proof ever-clear without throwing it back out. Thanks Elijah, but both Susan & I will pass on that adventure. But we did have a glass of wine and an Alaska Beer along with a bowl of soup.

Once done, it was time to return to DaGirls Rv and check on the gang and see what was happening. We did manage to get out and head up to Salmon Glacier for photo ops and continue our search for wildlife.

This is where we came across a man who calls himself the Bear Man. He has been coming here for over 20 years and lives in a tent for the summer. His specialty is what else, Bears. 

If you end up at the Salmon Glacier Summit, stop and talk to him. He makes his living off of selling DVD's, photos and other items.

If you do go to Steward, stop and check out the museum. Spend the 45 minutes watching a video on Steward and the surrounding area. You will be amazed at the history in that small town. While we were there, they were having a garage sale along with lunch - chili and a bun complete with homemade desserts - yum.

Another side trip was going around town and checking out all the old buildings. Most of them on the historical society list in BC.  Too many to post all the photos here, but Beth, we found you and David a new place to restore;

Beth, David check it out, and it is for sale and all it needs is a little TLC.

On the 21^st, we headed out to continue our journey on the Cassiar Hwy, today's stop was going to be Dease Lake, BC, where we refueled and grabbed a small bite of lunch. While we were enjoying ourselves, we decided to go the extra 93 miles to Boya Lake Provincial Campground. Originally we had planned on only going 240 miles,, but something was telling us to continue on. So onward we drove, in all today's journey was a little over 333 miles.

Funny, as we were traveling, we spied an Rv that we saw in Smithers, BC. It was Jim, Barb & Sundown, from where of all places? Prescott, AZ. They too had decided to make the Alaska journey.

As we traveled northward, we ended the last few miles in a rain shower. Once we pulled into the campground, we knew we had found our spot, we were home.

We ended up staying at Boya Lake for 2 additional nights, sitting back, relaxing and enjoying our new Yukon Legend Propane Camp Fire. Again many thanks to Irene for locating this in Alberta CA. 

Della's Seal of Approval

We awoke knowing that we had to leave Boya Lake. Our time spent here was blissful. Hiking, walking around and meeting other Alaska bound Rv'ers. So today, June 24^th, is our travel day, and where was DaGirls Rv heading today? To Watson Lake, Yukon, located just east of the Alaska Hwy Junction on the Alaska Hwy. Our distance today was 70 miles from Boya Lake CG. Wow what a very long drive. So here we sit for a few days, waiting to surprise Wayne and Kathy when they arrive on the 27^th.

So there you have it, DaGirls journey on the Cassiar Hwy, Hwy 37 as it is numbered. DaGirls Rv first really excursion into British Columbia. I hope you enjoyed this little update on DaGirls Blog, check back later when you have time.

 Leaving Beautiful British Columbia

And Entering

The Yukon Territory

So, Bye from Susan & Dale Traveling the Highways and Byways in DaGirls Rv.

Boya Lake & the Surrounding Area

As Susan Says SeeYa

Safe Travels and Journeys 

Della                     &                      Tilly