Atlin, BC

8-13-13  Dennis & Corkie McDonald suggested we stop in Atlin…. A small town south east of Whitehorse.  A delightful drive along the Little Atlin  and the Atlin Lakes – mostly chip seal / firm hard pack ~ 60 miles off the Alaskan Highway.

Am sure you have heard this before “Situation Normal All Fouled Up”

Or “Things Are Really Fouled Up”

Fireweed is finished blooming --- means winter is just 6 weeks away!

View of Atlin Lake

Several interesting looking cabins.

Whimsical trees upside down!

Colorful Atlin

Interesting Atlin

Atlin is in BC, so back to the Yukon!

Incredible views along Little Atlin Lake – storm clouds a brewing!

Whitehorse YK

8-11-2013  Enjoyed an early morning sky along Kluane Lake before heading to Whitehorse, YK.  Road had less heaves / mile than from Tok.Wal-Mart has nice hospitality!  Certainly busy with the comings and goings.  Enjoying the delightful sunny 80’s.   Enjoyed the Frantic Follies…..along with some corny humor!

A sunny Sunday just invites us to take a trolley ride along the Yukon River parkway.

Whitehorse has the longest wooden Fish Ladders.  The staff were very helpful and exciting sharing information about the 1800 mile Yukon River trip from the Artic Ocean.A Fish Art Project celebrating 50 yrs for fish ladder.

Never know what you’ll find along the way…… how is this for a bicycle rim art project?Denny is thrilled – able to reconnect with DirecTV for plenty of football.  Games and preseason talk galore!  He’s a Happy Camper!

Alaska in our Rear View Mirror

8-8 & 9-13  Ok we’re spoiled.  We have had a fabulous Alaskan summer.  The weather has been superb – best summer in years for Alaskans.  We enjoyed the Palmer area, Fairbanks, Denali, the Kenai.  Weather for Kenai area is forecasted for probably rain for the next 10 days.  So we have wimped out!  It’s time to head south to the lower 48 and perhaps see some of the things we missed coming north (many things were still closed due to the long winter).

So off we head along the picturesque Glenn Highway to Glen Allen to Tok……… oh my the frost heaves…..for miles and miles.  Time to take it slow.

Stopped to top off the diesel tank in Tok – prices were YIKES! $4.69/gal of diesel.  But only go up from here thru Yukon and Alberta.  The weather is sunny and delightfully warm on this side of the mountains.

We’re staying the night at an overlook for Midway Lake mm 1290.  Nice view – quiet spot!

Stopped at the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge --- Denny likes the sod roof!Headed to Destruction Bay on Friday morning.  What a rock and roll roller coaster ride the entire day.  ~30 mph is pushing it!  Lots of heaves, gravel and some pilot sections too.  The RV & Car are DIRTY!Time to relax – camping tonight at Congdon Creek Campground km1666 on Kluane Lake.  Great views of the lake.  It’s windy and the lake is choppy!  Fireweed is topped out (winter will be here in 6wks), berries are in bloom,Time to relax --- Whitehorse tomorrow!

Turnagain Arm

08-03-2013  Rain is forecasted for most all of the Kenai – but ventured back to Turnagain Arm- just south of Anchorage - to visit friends Francis and JoAnne Jackson – hosting at McHugh and enjoy the views.

We’re parked at Bird Creek --- fishing is still the Alaskan pass time.

Everything is still green and berries are ripening

Time to enjoy the tides --- tides at Turnagain are some of the largest in the world – they come and go – the mud flats show up in ribbons.  We’ll enjoy the day!

Palmer

7-31-13 Enjoying the Palmer area – weather continues delightful, but rain is coming.  Finger Lake views are enjoyable……

Enjoyed the wild flowers at Hatcher Pass

 

Was hoping to see parasailing up close, but just a tad too windy to fly

Ahhhhhh, evening at Finger Lake…….

Valdez

7-26-13 

The Fish Hatchery on Dayville Road is the place to see Salmon climbing fish ladders, Stellar Sea Lions waiting for lunch and Bears looking for dinner.

Bull Stellar Seal waiting for lunch! Yes, that’s a seal – looks like a rock!Momma and 4 – 1 yr old cubs out for dinner.  Low Tide…..in the fog – low tide – Valdez

And a boat cruise to Columbia Glacier ----- We did see a blurb of a humpback whale, the tail fins of an Orca and her baby as they dove deep, Dall Porpoise swimming in front of the boat, Stellar Sea Lions resting on shore, Horned Puffins diving , a pair of eagles, mountain goats, and more wild life.  The day began very cloudy – overcast…… but improved along the way.As we approached the glacier --- ice chunks floated everywhere.  Note the deep blue color of compacted snow and ice and the many shapes.Denny enjoyed looking for goats on the mountain side….It got very chilly near the glacier ---And the ice debris thickens as we get closer…. the mouth of the glacier is about 2 miles wide…..Not planning to sleep again in the car…… time to head for Palmer.  It was an enjoyable visit to Valdez.The Wrangell Mountains were covered in clouds on the way up, but a nice evening view on the return trip.  Mount Drum

Beautiful sunset along the wayAnd was it great to sleep in our own bed…… ahhh for a good night’s sleep.