Good-bye Southeast Alaska, Hello Yukon

After six wonderful weeks, it was finally time to end the first phase of our summer adventure and leave Southeast Alaska.  Our time here seemed to fly by, and we thoroughly enjoyed our extended stay.  I’m so glad we originally set aside a month to visit the many towns along the Inside Passage.  This area is very special and getting around by ferry has been a unique experience. 

On Tuesday morning we put the RV in gear and headed north on the Haines Highway.  Destination – the Yukon and the interior of Alaska.  Thus began the start of the second phase of our adventure.  This area is much more of an unknown to us as we’ve done only a bit of research on what there is to see.  We have no plans and only a general idea of the direction in which we are headed.  Southeast Alaska was much more scripted.  Now we’ll be flying by the seat of our pants.  I can’t wait!

After a quick stop at the grocery store, we were on the road by 10:30 am, which is pretty good for us.  We aren’t exactly morning people, although we’ve had our fair share of early mornings so far.  The skies were overcast, but no rain was forecast, and I was looking forward to getting back on the road.

The Haines Highway has been designated as a National Scenic Byway, and the road lived up to its reputation.  We followed the Chilkat and Klehini Rivers before reaching the Canadian border after just 40 miles.  Entering into Canada could not have been easier.  Just the few standard questions and a quick scan of our passports, and we were on our way.  Tim was happy he didn’t have to stop at Immigration this time.  After passing through the northern tip of British Columbia, we soon crossed into the Yukon. 

A Scenic Viewpoint along the Klehini River

No One at the Border

Welcome to British Columbia

And Then, Welcome to the Yukon

Despite the overcast skies, the drive was just as beautiful as I had hoped.  We climbed from the coastal forests to the alpine tundra and were treated to stunning glacier and mountain views in all directions.  As we climbed to the Chilkat Pass summit, the clouds were especially dramatic.

Climbing toward the Alpine Tundra

Clouds at Chilkat Pass, the Haines Highway Summit

A Wide Alpine Valley

We really felt as if we were in the middle of a vast wilderness.  For the most part we were alone on the highway.  We passed only a handful of cars and RVs heading south, but no one was going in our direction. 

One of a Handful of Other Vehicles on the Highway

The road was in great condition, except for a several-mile stretch that was under construction.  While we waited for the pilot car to guide us through the construction zone, we had a nice chat with the flagger.  I’m sure this road will spoil us for what we know to be ahead.  We’ve heard the warnings for the section of the Alaska Highway on which we will soon be driving.

Construction Zone

In addition to the dramatic scenery, the highlight of the day was seeing a large bear crossing the highway just in front of us.  Tim and I both spotted him at the same time, we and were able to stop and watch him for a short while before he disappeared into the woods.  That was very cool!  It’s also how I like to see bears – from the safe confines of the RV.

Stop, I Want to Take Your Photograph

Don't Hide from Me

We had thought we would drive about 240 miles today, but we forgot about losing an hour as we crossed into Canada, plus we hadn’t driven in quite a long time.  So, after only 135 miles we pulled into Kluane National Park and decided to stop for the day. 

Kluane contains the largest non-polar icefields in the world, as well as Canada’s highest mountain, Mount Logan.  Kluane National Park and Reserve, Wrangell-St. Elias and Glacier Bay National Parks in Alaska and Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in British Columbia form the largest internationally protected area in the world.  This enormous area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is recognized as a globally significant mountain wilderness.

Kathleen Lake is one of the very few developed areas within Kluane National Park, and that was our destination.  Because it was very windy and cold at the lake, we didn’t tarry.  Instead we headed directly to Kathleen Lake Campground and settled in for the evening.  Only a few campsites have a slight view of the lake through the trees, but it’s a beautiful campground, and it’s nice to be back in a more natural setting, with lots of privacy, once again.

A Prettier View of Kathleen Lake in Kluane National Park the Next Morning

Mountain Wildflowers along the Way

Arriving in Prince Rupert, BC

The drive west from Terrace toward Prince Rupert continued to be just as dramatic as the previous day’s journey.  I never seem to tire of beautiful, snow-capped peaks and swift-flowing rivers, even if they are muddy and overflowing their banks.  The mountains seemed to be even closer to the highway, and it was easy to spot the many waterfalls that were cascading down the rock faces.

The Highway Continued to Follow the Mountains and River

We Were So Lucky to Drive this Route on a Sunny Day

The River Was Wider as We Got Closer to Prince Rupert

We were only 90 miles from Prince Rupert, so it was an easy day – perfect for our last push before boarding the ferry to Alaska.  Approximately 25 miles or so from our destination, we were traveling at sea level.  The Skeena River opened up even wider as it came closer to the sea.  We were somewhat amused when we saw a sign for a chain-up area.  That seemed odd – I thought we would remain at sea level for the rest of the way. 

There was one last hill to climb, however, although the Rainbow Summit topped out at just 525 feet.  Although we had passed numerous chain-up areas since leaving Prince George, there were very few steep climbs or descents.  Most were actually quite gradual and easy for any RV to negotiate.

Since we would be arriving in Prince Rupert early in the day, we decided to stop at the North Provincial Cannery, a National Historic Site, for a tour.  It had been quite some time since our last museum or historic site visit, and I was feeling the need for some culture!  The cannery is located in nearly Port Edward and is the area’s largest tourist attraction.

Established in 1889, the North Pacific Cannery is the oldest intact salmon cannery on the west coast of North America.  There were once hundreds of salmon canneries along the coast of British Columbia and Alaska, but only a few remain in operation today.  The remainder have been abandoned, burned or left to rot in the rain forest.  It is quite amazing that North Pacific Cannery was preserved before suffering a similar fate.

The North Pacific Cannery Is Built on Pilings

When we arrived, we were the only visitors.  We paid our entrance fee and had our own private tour of the cannery.  The salmon canning process was not just an industry, but a way of life.  Part of the tour explored the industrial buildings, workspaces and equipment, and we followed the evolution of the industry from the early days of manual labor to the mechanized process that was made possible with new technologies.  The entire cannery is built on pilings, and boardwalks connect the various buildings.

Machine Shop / First Nations Net Loft

Inside the Net Loft

Inside the Main Canning Building

Colorful Labels for the Canned Salmon

Because the cannery was so isolated, workers of First Nations, Japanese, Chinese and European descent lived on-site in separate ethnic enclaves.  Each group performed specific duties and had different styles of housing. This multicultural, but segregated, arrangement was characteristic of most of the early canneries in British Columbia.

These Small Houses Are Replicas of the Original First Nations Houses

Houses on the Upper Left Accommodated the Manager and European Employees

The Company Store Provided Everything that Employees Might Need

Our guide was a First Nations woman with a family connection to the site.  I especially loved hearing stories of her family, especially her grandfather, who was a commercial fisherman whose family lived in a house similar to the First Nations houses that we toured.  She personalized the tour, and that made it much more special for us.  I would highly recommend a visit.

Welcome to Prince Rupert

After the tour we drove into Prince Rupert and stopped at Tim Hortons for our Wi-Fi fix.  While we were there Tim opened an email from the Alaska Marine Highway System notifying him of a schedule change.  We have been closely following the news about cutbacks in ferry service, but hadn’t thought we would be affected since the reduction was scheduled to start on July 1.  Luckily, the change was not a big deal.  Instead of leaving Prince Rupert at 6:30 am, we would now depart at 11:00 am.  Much more civilized, since we have to arrive three hours before departure.

We checked into the only campground in Prince Rupert, the Prince Rupert RV Campground, and decided to stay for two nights.  We had originally planned to camp at the ferry dock prior to our early morning departure, but decided that would not be necessary anymore.  We have taken advantage of our extra time here to do laundry and catch up on a few odds and ends.  We have blazing fast Wi-Fi here (it’s not the campground’s, but we’re grateful to whatever entity is providing it!).  It’s actually been nice to just sit still after the long drive through British Columbia.  Tomorrow morning we board the ferry for Alaska.

Our Route through British Columbia

Beautiful British Columbia

If I could give just one piece of advice to anyone planning a trip to Alaska, it would be this, based solely on our first week in British Columbia:  Canada is a gorgeous country and should not be overlooked on the journey northward.  I believe it would be a mistake to simply rush through Canada and not take the time to appreciate all that the Canadian provinces have to offer.  We easily could have spent much more time exploring British Columbia on our way to Prince Rupert to catch the ferry.

Wednesday’s drive from Tyhee Lake Provincial Park offered a taste of what we will likely see as we journey farther north.  We were surrounded by gorgeous, snow-capped mountains throughout the day.  We started out with a view of the Hudson Bay Mountain glacier just west of Smithers, and then circled the Hazelton Mountains and the Seven Sisters peaks.

Glacier View - Hudson Bay Mountain

Seven Sisters Peaks

Except for the Seven Sisters, I’m not sure which mountain was which, but enjoyed seeing them all.  Unfortunately, the skies were overcast for most of the day, not ideal conditions for photographing snow-covered mountains.  It was hard to see where the snow ended and the sky began, but I did the best I could.

British Columbia has very nice rest areas along its highways, many with beautiful views, and we stopped at one where we met two local women who told us that the best scenery was yet to come.  Wow!  And to think that we were impressed with what we had already seen. 

We followed the Skeena River for most of the day, and we noted that it was overflowing its banks.  The river was muddy and moving very swiftly.  It appears that the warm temperatures have led to a rapid snow melt that is causing flooding.  We decided that it might not be wise to camp too close to the river.

Following the Skeena River

The River Was a Bit High

We stopped in Terrace for the evening at the Ferry Island Campground, a municipal park that reminded me of the provincial park where we stayed on Tuesday.  The park contains a nature trail, with a unique twist, that circles most of the island.  A local artist has carved figures into many of the trees, and a favorite pastime seems to be trying to find all of the figures.  I started out on the trail looking for large ones, and was disappointed not to find a single one.  Either I wasn’t looking in the right places or didn’t know what I was looking for.

I kept walking and finally spotted a gnome with its own bench.  Finally!  Just then, a couple walking their dog walked by, and I mentioned that I had not found any other carvings.  They informed me that the gnome was the exception and that most figures were only several inches in diameter.  No wonder I hadn’t seen them.  I was looking for the wrong thing.  I guess I should have read the sign I photographed more closely!

Spirits of the Forest

Lesson to Self:  Read the Sign Before Proceeding

With this new bit of knowledge, I started looking more carefully at each tree and surprised myself by finding quite a few carvings.  What fun!  For those who might be concerned that this artistic expression could be harming the trees, I don’t believe the carvings were deep enough to cause any damage.

With each passing day and mile, we have noticed that the days are getting considerably longer.  It is staying light until almost 10:00 pm, and the sun is up by 5:00 am.  Since we don’t have blackout shades in the RV, I have started donning an eye mask when the light wakes me long before it’s time to actually get up.  I hope that will work out with the even-longer days that are yet to come.  If not, we do have Reflectix sun shades for most of the windows that we could use, the eye mask would be a much simpler solution.  I’ll keep you posted.

We don’t have a satellite dish for TV reception and instead rely on our bat-wing antenna for over-the-air reception.  That has working out well, and Tim has always been surprised by the number of channels that he has been able to pull in, even in far-flung areas.  The pickings have been pretty slim in these remote areas of British Columbia, however, and if he does happen to receive a channel or two, it seems that each one is broadcasting hockey.  Granted, it is Stanley Cup playoff time, but you know you are in Canada when hockey reigns supreme!

Traveling Through British Columbia

From what we’ve seen so far, our RV fits right in in Canada.  Many of the rigs we’ve passed have been on the small size – quite a few Class Bs, like ours, or small Class Cs.  The opposite is true in the United States, where the large majority of rigs are rather large, and we sometimes feel like the odd-man-out.  Since our RV was produced in Canada, we feel doubly at home.

Although the scenery was not as dramatic as Fraser Canyon, the drive north continued to be a pleasant one.  Traffic was not heavy, the road was in very good condition and the weather was great.  We passed a string of lakes and eventually began to follow the Fraser River once again.  Unfortunately, I could barely find a clear spot on the windshield for photographs.  Those bugs have been vicious.

Tim Wasn't Able to Identify the Bug Species on the Windshield - Yuck!

Now That's a Somewhat Better View of Williams Lake

Williams Lake was one of the larger lakes we passed, and the town of Williams Lake is where we stopped for lunch on Monday.  While there, we also filled up with diesel for the first time since crossing the border.  I don’t even want to attempt to convert liters to gallons and try to figure out the price.  However, if the exchange rate is around $1.15 (at least that’s what it was when we got cash from an ATM), a table I looked at indicated the cost would be about $3.59 per gallon, which is about 50 cents higher than we paid on our last fill-up in Washington.  I knew the Canadian prices would be higher, and I’m ok with that price.

Although we sometimes have been able to connect to campground Wi-Fi, we have also started to make an almost-daily stop at Tim Hortons.  This Canadian chain seems to be a fixture in almost every town, and it offers super-fast Wi-Fi.  The coffee is also really good.  Despite what I said on previous posts, I really am not that dependent on internet access.  I can survive without it, although the lack thereof has made travel planning a bit more difficult.

Looking for Wi-Fi

As we were making our way north toward Prince George, we had our first wildlife sighting.  It wasn’t a deer, but instead a big, fat black bear!  He was on the side of the road and just looked at us as we drove by.  Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to capture the moment.  We certainly had not expected to see bears so soon into the journey.

Promises, Promises - We Only Saw a Few Deer on Tuesday

On Tuesday, we continued our trek northward, and made a turn to the west onto the Yellowhead Highway.  Despite the logging activity in the area, the scenery was lovely as we made our way through the valleys of the Nechako, Bulkley and Skeena Rivers.  Part of the drive passed through the Lake District, with more lakes than I could count.  Smoke from a two-day old wildfire along one of the lakes was visible from the highway, and it provided a sad reminder of the fires that hit Colorado several years ago.  Temperatures much warmer than usual were not helping the firefighters.

Smoke from the Wildfire at Bobtail Lake

One fun stop was the town of Houston, which proudly boasts the World’s Largest Fly Fishing Rod on display by the visitor center.  Tim is hoping to do some fly fishing in Alaska, but I don’t think he’ll use a rod quite that big.  After leaving Houston, the views became much more dramatic as the snow-capped peaks of the Babine Mountains and the Hudson Bay Range came into view.

The World's Largest Fly Fishing Rod

Approaching the Babine Mountains

Nice View!

We finally ended the day at Tyhee Lake Provincial Park in Telkwa.  This was our first visit to a provincial park, and we were impressed.  The campsites were set among trees with a ton of space between them.  It’s not the place if you need hookups, but we were just fine.  It’s good to test the solar and batteries.  There were only a couple of other campers in the park, and we claimed one of the few sites with a view of the lake through the trees.  We will definitely check out more of BCs parks on our travels.

Scenic Fraser Canyon

Our first full day in Canada was spent driving through the stunning Fraser Canyon, named for Simon Fraser who was the first European to descend the Fraser River in 1808.  Sheer granite walls line both sides of the highway, which winds its way through seven tunnels blasted through the rock.  The river roars through the canyon far below the highway, and we were able to catch glimpses from time to time.  Unfortunately, there just wasn't any turnout where we could get photographs.

  

Saddle Rock Tunnel

Two sets of railroad tracks parallel each side of the Fraser River, and I was excited to watch both Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway trains pass by.  Laying these tracks, as well as the early wagon road, was quite an engineering feat through this challenging terrain. 

A favorite stop in Fraser Canyon is Hell’s Gate, a section of the river described by Simon Fraser as a place “where no human being should ever venture, for surely we have encountered the gates of hell.”  Today, a private operator offers aerial gondola rides that descend to the river and offer a great view of the gorge.  Although it looked like fun, we decided to save our $42 for another adventure.

The Gondola Ride Into Hell's Gate

We learned that the area around Fraser Canyon is the dry forest region of British Columbia and that it can get very hot here in the summer.  It was a surprisingly warm 80˚ during much of the day, and we chuckled when we heard that it had been snowing in Colorado. 

The town of Lytton, where we stopped for lunch, is located at the confluence of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers, and from there the highway begins to follow the Thompson River.  The high canyon walls soon dropped away and were replaced with more gentle slopes.  The highway runs beside the river, and the views were more expansive. Although not as dramatic, this part of the drive was just as lovely.  The highway soon left the forest behind as well, and we entered what has been called the “Arizona of Canada,” a semi-arid desert.

The Highway Passes Under Railroad Bridges

A Bit of Color Along the River

I Love to Watch the Trains

A Scenic Drive on Our Second Day in Canada

Railroad Tunnels Cut Through the Hillside

Can You See the Train?

We stopped for the day in Clinton and checked into a funky campground with a decidedly quirky owner.  I didn’t quite get his sense of humor and was a bit annoyed when he refused to give me the password for the Wi-Fi.  “It’s not available for the first thirty minutes of your stay,” he said, “since we want you to relax and unwind.”  Huh?  Maybe having Wi-Fi would help me relax!  I’ve been without it and am in withdrawal!

The owner somewhat redeemed himself in my eyes with his BBQ buffet. Tim walked over without me and brought back a yummy plate of ribs for us to share.  He also was able to get the Wi-Fi password, which actually worked, and I was able to post today’s update to the blog.  Sometimes it doesn’t take much to make me happy.

Crossing the Border to Hope

Since we planned a short driving day, we took our time leaving our campground in Lynden, Washington, on May 9.  After filling the RV with diesel and propane in order to save a few dollars, it was time to make a run for the border into Canada.  We were relieved when we arrived at the Sumas border crossing to find the line of cars very manageable.  It was 11:51 am when we took our place in line.

  

Almost Our Turn

We were prepared for the border agent, and thought we had our ducks in a row.  We had finished eating all of the fresh fruit and vegetables that were prohibited, and we had only one bottle of wine on board.  Our passports were in hand, and Kitty’s proof of rabies vaccination was available.

After several cars in front of us zipped through, we thought we were going to luck out.  Instead, the agent proceeded to quiz us about where we were going, why it was taking us so long to get to Prince Rupert, whether we had any weapons, etc.  I was surprised that she didn’t ask us about what produce we were carrying.  We answered all of her questions and thought we were in the clear.  Oh no, not so fast.  She sent Tim to Immigration!  Because this was Tim’s first visit to Canada, she directed us to pull over and go into the building to talk with an agent.  Apparently, that’s the new procedure for first-time visitors.

We parked the RV, went inside and walked up to a very nice agent.  He said something like, “And why are you here in front of me?”  We explained, and he proceeded to check our passports in his computer.  I’m not sure what he saw in our records, but he asked us several more questions and then said we could go.  I then took the opportunity to ask him what we shouldn’t miss on our way to Prince Rupert.  “Hairpin curves” was his answer.  I do enjoy someone with a dry sense of humor!  He had never traveled that route before, so that was his only suggestion.

Although I wasn’t worried during our time at the border crossing, it was nevertheless a bit nerve-wracking.  It all ended well, however, and we were out of there by 12:20 pm.  Not too bad.

Welcome to British Columbia!

We picked up Trans-Canada Highway 1 and headed northeast to Hope, British Columbia.  Both Tim and I are metrically-challenged, so he had made a cheat sheet with the various conversions that we could refer to.  For some reason, the speedometer on the RV does not include both miles and kilometers per hour so we needed a quick way to determine his speed.  So far, so good.

Once we cleared the larger cities, the drive was lovely, and we arrived in Hope in no time.  After a nice lunch and a stop to replenish our fruit and vegetable bin, we checked into a local campground on the Coquihalla River.  We had neither Wi-Fi nor a TV signal, so we were feeling a bit deprived, but we’ll survive.  It was a good first day in Canada.

The Coquihalla River Adjacent to Our Campground

Tucked Into the Woods