Homer, Alaska

August 9, 2008 Saturday

We had 2 goals today; explore the City of Kenai and then drive to Homer. Kenai was a quaint town with a lot of history relating to Captain Cook and the Cook Inlet. The Visitor Center was nice with an informative museum…and a good WiFi hookup which we took advantage of in their parking lot. There is a self-guided walking tour of the city’s historical buildings.










Photo right: dilapidated log cabin, note dove-tailed corners.

After lunch we started toward Homer. Along the way, the city of Anchor Point boasts the "most westerly highway point" in North America but we could never find it. Supposedly there’s a sign stating that fact and I wanted a picture of us standing next to it. No luck. Since we have a picture of the most southern point in the United States at Key West I wanted this picture to add to the collection. Oh well, maybe on our way back through we’ll stop.


Closer to Homer is a park pull off that is a must stop. Great views from high up on a cliff. Homer itself is not a mountainous town but well situated with beautiful views of the Alaskan and Aleutian Mountain Range and the Cook Inlet. We stopped at the Wildlife Reserve Visitor Center and were glad we did. It’s an impressive high-tech museum and knowledgeable staff.


We decided to splurge and ate dinner at Crabbies. I had a halibut sandwich and Pat had 2 appetizers of Alaskan King Crab and Kodiak Island shrimp and our typical Corona and wine.


We were planning to camp on the Homer Spit but it was crowded and looked like party central so we opted for a quiet space at the city Karen Hornaday Campground. We caught a spectacular moon rise, it was ¾ full and orange, interestingly the ¼ that was shadowed out was vertical from the right. We both awoke to the tapping of the rain after darkness fell upon us.



Photo left: Homer spit/party central. There are at least 4 RV parks on the spit.

Seward, Alaska

August 8, 2008 Friday

After sleeping a little late we visited the Exit Glacier this morning and hiked to the Harding Ice Fields above the glacier. The weather was perfect today…sparse clouds, bright sunshine and pleasant temperatures. The 4.5 hour hike was to an area “above the cliffs” and was fairly strenuous rising from 550 ft to 2,600 feet in 2.3 miles. I would describe small sections as rock climbing in that you had to use your hands to help pull yourself up. The effort was well spent in that the views of the glacier and ice fields at the top were excellent. My opinion is this is the best hike we've ever done…ever. With all of the side trips we probably hiked 6 or 7 miles today. On our way down we passed hikers who said the park ranger had told them a bear was on the trail. We never saw the bear although its scat was on the trail that was not there on the way up.

After the hike we went back into Seward to take a $2 shower (the best ever-7 minutes of hot water) at the downtown marina and get on the internet (piggyback from Breezes hotel parking lot). Our next stop is Homer, Alaska so we started that way and stopped for the night at the Skilak Lake campground.

Anchorage to Seward

August 7, 2008 Thursday

So here’s the Borden Corollary: The closer a campground is to a large city the more likely it will be inhabited by ner-do-wells. Anyway, that’s the way it has shaken out so far and Anchorage’s Centennial Park campground was a shining example. I’m thinking that many of the “campers” are actually full-time residents. Anyway I used to consume mass quantities of beer in my younger years and would’ve fit in very well. ‘Nuff said.

We were hoping to meet up with Ali and Pat, globetrotting bums of Bumfuzzle.com, for lunch at La Cabana Mexican restaurant but it didn’t work out. We found out later that they were on the Denali Highway which is an unpaved road that looked very interesting that we decided to skip. We would have probably had a head-on collision in that we were thinking of going west to east and they were coming east to west. Lunch was excellent…especially the Corona, lime and no glass, por favor. We may hook up with the Bums on the Kenai Peninsula or in Anchorage on our way back through.

Before lunch we walked along the waterfront which was very pleasant. The city has a self-guided tour of the waterfront that talks about all kinds of interesting things like whisky, prostitutes, gold fever, etc. Very nice downtown also. Interestingly, Alaska and the Yukon seem to be very proud of their prostitutic(sp?) history taking every chance to mention the profession along with the names of the more famous “working girls”.

After lunch we decided that we had enough of the big city and set our sites on reaching Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula, before dark. Which is no big deal since the sun stays up until 11 pm and Seward is only 140 miles south. The drive was worth the trip and we were very glad that we went to Seward. We walked the downtown city marina and watched the fishing boats come in and display their catches for the day. What a neat city and the surrounding mountains are spectacular. I highly recommend a visit here.


We found a campground close to the city, no vagrants here, which also had a tennis court, much to Pat’s glee. We had a marathon tennis match, as we always do, and I prevailed (I usually lose) with my power dink game against Pat’s flawlessly executed forehands and two-handed backhands and power serves.


We were tired after that and since we were still full from the Mexican enchiladas at lunch we went to bed early and read.

View from Forest Acres Camp & Tennis Court.

Denali: Where is Mt. McKinley?

August 6, 2008 Wednesday

This is our first “national park” visit on this trip and different than previous NP experiences. The park has refurbished and new buildings, well maintained campsites and streamlined inner park transport. The park system is set up to transport people by buses to see the part of the park. It cost $20/vehicle to enter the park, $20/night to camp, then $30-50/pp/per day to get on a bus so they can drive you through scenic areas. You can be dropped off at primitive campgrounds along the way and a bus will pick you up later in the day, otherwise pay another bus fee as passes are only good for one day.


As for day hiking we’re informed this is one park (maybe the only one) that allows “open access hiking”. For day hikers that have been conditioned, especially in national parks, to “do not get off the trail!” it was a different concept (most ppl don’t carry a compass). You are also warned about bears and that Denali is the “wilderness” and they want to keep it that way.


There is one road for shuttle buses going a bit further into the park and they allot 400 cars per day to enter, you have to sign up for a lottery. They have a small store, lodging, a Laundromat and $4 showers.


So, if you are real outdoorsy backpacker and can be gone for days and don’t mind bushwhacking your trail this is the place but wait for drier weather. If you’re someone who likes to be shuttled around with large groups of people this is also the place. For day hikers, they have 6 marked trails near the visitor center, 4 are kiddy trails and 1 moderate near the main road and one strenuous up to a peak. We did the latter and it was a steady incline to 4100 ft starting at 1700 ft. The views were spectacular and we appreciated the exercise. It is at this point we’re wondering where is Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in N. America.


Looking at the park map the main Visitor Center is not even near Mt. McKinley, it’s about 50 miles away. We didn’t realize this until we left and kept searching for it. We did find a pull out view point but the clouds kept McKinley obscured. The foot hills and the surrounding areas are beautiful. We also discovered that there are state parks on the south end closer to McKinley than the NP visitor center. We’re paying for our lack of research, will we ever learn?



Years ago a former visitor to Denali told me you can’t get into the park, you can only drive around it. This is still true with the exception of the prepared backpacker and the passenger on a park bus. I don’t think the park profits from its busing excursions, Laundromat and showers, but this helps to maintain their visitor center and educate the masses about the park.

Behind those foothills lies Mt. McKinley, N. America's tallest mountain at 20320 ft.

We drove on to Anchorage arriving around 9 pm. Bruce’s driving stamina amazes me. I was wiped out after the hike and napped as he drove 217miles to Anchorage.

Fairbanks 2008: The Summer That Never Was.

August 5, 2008 Tuesday

It rained all night and in the morning. After a leisurely morning we headed to Denali National Park. The skies broke up a bit on the way but you can tell this area had a lot of rain over the last few weeks. The Chena River was swollen and the town of Nenana was flooded. A local told us this is “the summer that never was”.

The town of Nenana, Alaska is flooded.

By the time we made it to Denali it was raining and of course, chilly. After finding our campsite we walked a trail to the Visitor Center and after dinner attended a talk given by a paleontologist about recent discoveries of trace fossils (foot prints) here in Denali. This was exciting for them as this may be evidence of “polar dinosaurs”. Although no bones found yet, they are hopeful. In northern Alaska there are trace fossils near the Coville River as well. These trace fossils are from the final era of dinosaurs.

No campfire tonight, just the soft patter of heavy drizzle.

Top of the World Road

August 4, 2008

By 8 am we’re on Top of the World Road: Dawson City, Yukon to Tok, Alaska, 184 miles. The reason these “main” roads have names is because there are so few, it’s the same in Alaska. This particular road is about 80% gravel up until it gets to the Canadian/US Border. Then the road is worse on the US side: compressed dirt with areas of washboard texture dotted with potholes. It did improve to somewhat smooth gravel towards the end of the road. It took 6 hours to travel 184 miles.

The views from the road were spectacular. At one time tens of thousands of caribou herd would cross this open area before the gold rush. Many caribou were killed for their meat and hide for the miners. Their population is making a comeback and we saw several along the road or in the distanced.

We arrived at the Can/US Border two hours after leaving Dawson City. This is the most northern border crossing and the security guards are vigilant in their duties. It is so quiet on this road. The population of this border crossing town is 2, both guards.



On the way to Fairbanks police stopped traffic near the airport. When we drove by we notice the US Presidential plane was on the runway. Dubya was giving a speech to the military in the area. We fellow Texans were not invited.

After dinner and stocking up on supplies we called it a day at an in-city RV park (showers, laundry, free wifi). Set for the evening.

Tomorrow Denali National Park and Preserve…..no rain please.

A Day in Dawson City, Yukon

August 3, 2008

Dawson City did not exist until 1896 when gold was discovered nearby. This sparked the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-8. In August 1896 a prospector found a flake of gold in Rabbit Creek (this drained into the Klondike River that drained into the large Yukon River). Three hunters in the area ran in to him about the time it happened but didn't seem too interested, they thought gold prospecting was a waste of time. A month later the three hunters found a large nugget in a creek and were soon struck with Gold Fever. They staked their claims and the other independent prospectors in the area followed suit.

Original building sinking due to permafrost (ground underneath) melting.

Tour guide in Red Feather Saloon, this is identical replica.

The area where the gold was found is so isolated and locked in due to the severe winter weather the news of what was to be the biggest gold find in history did not get out to the rest of the world until May 1897. Boats that delivered the gold with their rightful owners to the ports in Portland and Seattle were met with masses of people wanting to see the lode. The Klondike Gold Rush was on!

Below is original mortuary, ppl that died in the winter were kept on ice until spring thaw.

One hundred thousand people dreamed and took action to go to the Klondike area and dig for gold. Most of them traveled up the Inside Passage to Skagway, then hiked 109 miles to Whitehorse (this hike is a book within itself), then made their boats and floated down the Yukon River to Dawson City (~400 miles by river): the rapidly made city popped up where the Klondike and Yukon rivers met. By the time they arrived, June 1898 (almost 2 years after gold was found), all the claims were staked. As you can imagine, 50000 made it to Dawson, 7000 made it to the fields and a handfull made it rich.

This bank was built 1899 or 1900 and is well perserved.

Dawson City an out-of-the-way place to visit to learn every nuance about the Klondike Gold Rush, from the pan sifting miner to larger corporate mining, as well as the First Nations peoples that lived in the area. This city seems to mainly be supported by tourism and residual mining. Canada Parks offers a variety of tours throughout a day and the city is maintained (best they can) in the flavor of what this gold rush city was like in the late 19th century. Lots of room to roam and no crowds.

SS Keno one of last steamwheelers to operate.

We took a city tour given by an enthusiastic young lady, Jill. Then sat for a 10 minute one woman show of a character of one of the Klondikers. In the early afternoon we went to Dredge #4, this was an eye-opener. The tour guide, Sue, was intense, enthusiastic and deeply knowledgeable about all types of mining. She could spout out material type, values, densities, geography, and water pressure usage necessary for every step of mining. She could not be stumped! Afterwards, we went to the Keno, a steamship paddler that once used to travel along the Yukon River again given by Jill. The Canada Parks system does an outstanding job preserving this part of Canadian history. We had signed up for the 3 tour package ($13.60/pp)and it took all day with 1-1.5 hour breaks between. We were too pooped to do all the tours! One could easily spend two days here.

Dredges are enormous efficient mining machines that churn up riverbeds extracting gold. Right Bruce inside Dredge #4, below Bruce is standing on outside.

I have only told a snipet of the history of the Klondike Gold Rush. By the end of the day I was supersaturated with information and my brain was full. We sat at our campsite along the Yukon and wondered what it was like to live before the rush came and how difficult the winters must be with the river frozen over.