Wood's Prairie Travels

A bit over 7,200 miles later, we rolled back into Wood’s Prairie about 1AM! It was a wonderful journey, but it sure felt great to be home! Although driving back down I-5 from I-90 was kind of a culture shock after being in remote places for over a month, it was familiar territory. As often happens with us, although we had planned to camp one more night when we got to Blewitt Pass, since we were only three hours from home we kept on driving. It turned out to be an 18 hour day, but once at home sitting on our deck, all the stress of the long day drained away. The stars were out! It is easy to take for granted the dark nights full of stars here in the lower 48. However, after a month without them, we enjoyed the sight. Trip Highlights: Watching the sun circle in the sky at Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Ocean. The people of the hamlet were so kind and friendly. Having the Fortymile caribou herd cross the Top of the World Highway in front of us. Statistics say that there are about 40,000 of

  This was our first time driving on British Columbia Highway 5. There is a rather short extension road toward the northern end of that highway that goes up the Clearwater River valley. The area has a reputation about the waterfalls that one may see throughout the valley. Although we just stayed one night this time, we definitely will go back when we can explore more of the trails to additional waterfalls. Here is a sampling of the falls that we did see on this trip. (Hipefully the video plays for you, because Dawson Falls was a pretty amazing waterfall)

You might ask, “What kind of vehicle do I need to travel up north? Well, we saw all kinds. Some vehicles we hadn’t seen on the our last trip up north.  There were some huge 6-wheel customized motorhomes that were shipped over from Europe. We thought they might be designed for travel in the African desert, but they camped in the same campgrounds that we did, and they wouldn’t have fit into some of the boondocks spots that we stayed in.  We saw lots of regular pickups with campers. Other campers were either homemade or customized.   We also saw some unique combinations like this camper on a trailer and a camper pulling a trailer. The Fairbanks Walmart was a virtual campground after 6PM with every type of vehicle you can imagine parked there. It was almost like an RV show, but without all the glitz and glamour of sparkly clean RV's. There were motorcycles laden with saddlebags and gear strapped on top and around the rider. In our opinion though, some of the craziest people up north

Watching for wildlife as we travel is another or our favorite activities, as the miles roll away. Bears are one of the animals that we, and most other travelers up north, are hoping to catch a glimpse of. While we didn’t have any close encounters this trip, other than in the truck, we did see twenty black bears and two grizzlies throughout the trip. I started to keep a tally sheet after the first day when we lost track. Most of those sightings were along the Cassiar and Yellowhead Highways in northern British Columbia. Sometimes the bears were sitting in the bushes alongside the road, other times they were crossing the road. And like we mentioned in an earlier post, bear poo piles alongside the road were indicators that they were in the area, so we'd watch carefully. Typically, the bears, whether black or grizzly, were eating leaves and grass, like this fella who just plopped down to munch on the tufts around him. One misconception about bears is that they mainly eat meat. Actu

Often when people ask us about our travels they wonder what food we eat along the way. Our years of backpacking, and canoeing 50 miler trips taught us that it is good to have meals you look forward to eating at the end of your travels. We have carried that over to our driving trips as well. For breakfast, we usually have something quick. Scrambled eggs, egg muffins, or breakfast burritos are typical fare. If we are at a place for a more leisurely breakfast, we might have pancakes, French toast, an omelet, or hashbrowns and sausage. Of course the occasional cinnamon roll from a local bakery was a nice change.  This trip we added a French press to make our coffee each day and that worked out really well. I have to ask, do you like your pancakes or French toast with or without peanut butter? Our lunches are also typically fast so we can get back on the road. So a salad or sandwich is usual. Sometimes, if the weather is cool or wet, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich or soup hit the spot.

One of the things that interest us as we travel is to learn about the native cultures of the past and present. Driving south from Kluane Lake, through Haines Junction, and then on to Haines we learned more about the Tlingit culture of the coastal southwest Canada. The visitor center at Haines Junction had a wonderful display of regalia traditionally worn by the members of the Southern Tutchone people. We talked with wood carver, Jay, who told us more about the traditions of his people. In contrast to the coastal tribes of western Washington, the Southern Tutchone have just two clans, the Crow Clan and the Wolf Clan. Traditionally, if you were born into one clan then you married into the other clan. There are close ties between the two clans and they rely upon each other for many tasks.  Jay showed us the canoe that he and one other tribal member carved. He described how it took two years to finish the boat and then a winter to paint it. So far, he said it has been on a lake voyage, but

Growing up in Seattle, I am very familiar with the open-ended ferries that regularly transport vehicles and passengers to different ports along the Puget Sound. However, ferry travel up north is a much different prospect. For example, the Yukon River (Well, all the rivers up there) freezes every year.  After it has frozen solid, they grade an “ice road” across the river to access the far shore all winter. In the spring, when the ice begins to soften, they must stop using the ice road and the ferry can’t begin to run until the river is completely open again. There is a similar situation in the fall after the river begins to freeze but is not solid enough for the road. During those intermediate times, to travel to the far shore people must go by air or land using snow mobiles, dog sleds, or sometimes a 4-wheel drive veh icle  can make the difficult journey on land . It is pretty restrictive for the folks who live on the far side of the river during fall and spring.   The ferry at Dawson

Skagway was a bit of a surprise for us. The rich history of the port as being the main starting point for the Klondike Gold Rush, has always intrigued us. Pat’s grandparents both went through Skagway on their way to the Klondike. His grandfather toiled up the White Pass trail that was also called “Dead Horse Pass” whereas Pat’s grandmother went north a few years later and took the train to the Klondike. The Skagway we encountered had the trappings of a turn of the century gold town, false front buildings, boardwalks, saloons, and stores. However, even as we arrived on the Alaskan State ferry, we could tell it was not a turn of the century port anymore. Three huge cruise ships were docked. (If you look carefully at the photo, you will see a commercial fishing boat dwarfed between them). As we walked into town the first afternoon, the streets were crowded with people going this way and that. They walked in the street because the boardwalks were full. They crossed the street in front of c

Pat spotted a brochure the first time we were at the Whitehorse visitors center for a Fjord Ferry trip to Juneau that left out of Skagway. It sounded interesting, so we hung onto the flyer as we journeyed up to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. Weeks later when we did make our way down to Haines and Skagway, that flyer came out again and Pat checked into it further. The Juneau Fjord Express is a day long adventure which we were able to catch a ride on. We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip and will definitely take another ride, if we get the opportunity! It was well worth the cost. We boarded the 65’ catamaran, Fjordland, in Skagway to travel the 90 miles on the Lynn Canal to Juneau. This waterway is part of the inside passage and  is at the base of the Chilkat Mountain range. This is a gorgeous mountain range that appears to rise right out of the sea. They dwarf the towns, boats and lighthouses at their base. There were views of eagles that our captain, Glen, pointed out. The captain