COPPER CENTER - JUNE 15 - 18

Worthington Glacier 

Getting a late start, as well as stopping to gawk at cascading waterfalls, the Worthington Glacier, and delayed by road construction, we only got 100 miles from Valdez before we pulled into the tiny town of Copper Center on Thursday afternoon.  

THE SALMON ARE RUNNING!

The banks of Kultina River flowing through Copper Center were lined with fishermen and women casting their lines into the swift moving water.  This river is know for red Sockeye Salmon; so, with the salmon running and it being Father's Day Weekend,the campgrounds were packed to the gills (no pun intended) and we were lucky to get a campsite.

The manager of the campground squeezed us into a site next to Kathy and Steve, a great couple from Fairbanks.  The RV's were so close that if our awning was fully extended Kathy and Steve couldn't open their door.  With both of us having no kids and no pets, we were perfect close neighbors.

Like umbilical cords, electrical extension cords snaked under and around RV's to supply power.  We had to be careful not to trip over the wires.

Our neighbor Kathy was an avid fisherwoman and worked hard to catch her daily limit.

We had a freezer full of halibut and Kathy and Steve had a freezer full of salmon; a fish exchange was made and everybody was happy!

Before salmon roe could be used for bait, mounds of it were sprinkled with Borax and set out in the sun to dry.

LARGEST NATIONAL PARK IN THE U.S. - WRENGELL-ST. ELIAS

The fish camp was located near the largest national park in the U.S. and a perfect location for day trips to explore the surrounding area and Park.  Created in 1980, and covering 13.2 million acres, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is equal in size to 6 Yellowstone National Parks, and is larger than the country of Switzerland.  This enormous park is home to 4 major mountain ranges, 9 of the16 highest peaks in North America, and contains over 150 glaciers.  The mountains are volcanic in nature, although Mount Wrangell is the only active volcano with steam escaping near the summit. 

CHITNA - An almost ghost town.

The town of Chitna has seen better days.

The McCarthy Highway passes through the town of Chitna which ends 60 miles away at the towns of McCarthy and Kennecott, in the heart of Wrangell-St. Elias N.P. 

We stopped at the visitor center, where an enthusiastic N.P. employee told us about the area and gave us an audio tour CD for our 60 mile drive to end of the road at McCarthy.

Along the Copper River in Chitna, locals were dip-netting salmon.

KENNECOTT COPPER MINE
McCarthy Highway is a gravel, washboard, potholed road that follows an abandoned railway, with bridges spanning the rivers and mountainous terrain. The railroad was built in 1911 to transport copper out of Kennecott and was abandoned when mining stopped in 1938. In the 1960's, the railroad tracks were removed and the McCarthy Highway was born.

We arrived at the end of the road, parked the car, walked across the river on a foot bridge, and boarded a shuttle van for a 6 mile ride to Kennecott, an old mining town that is a National Historic Site.

Kennecott was built on the edge of a glacier.  While the glacier has shrunk about 200 feet in height over the past 80 years, the moraine covered glacial ice you see between the building and the mountain is about 300 feet thick.  

Between 1911 and 1938, over 200 million dollars worth of copper was mined and processed at Kennecott.

The McCarthy saloon and town residents provided a distraction for hard working miners.Kennecott was a self-contained company town and the mining company prohibited liquor, and encouraged wholesome activities.  Because the town was "dry", miners looking for a little excitement, would walk 5 miles down the train tracks to the town of McCarthy, where they could gamble, drink, and cavort with wild women.

VALDEZ - JUNE 11 - 14

The drive to the west coast town of Valdez on the Richardson Highway is incredibly beautiful with majestic snowy mountains, the Worthington Glacier and Bridal Vail Waterfall being highlights.

Bridal Vail Falls.
Across the highway we heard the thundering roar of the water,
and felt and the mist from the waterfall as it hit the ground and sprayed into the air.

HAPPY HOUR WITH THE EAGLES
We pulled into Bayside RV Park for a 2 night stay that turned into a 4 night stay.  With a campsite facing the rugged snowy mountains and overlooking a wildlife preserve, this prime piece of real estate couldn't be beat.  In addition to the surrounding stunning landscape, every day from May to mid-June, there is an "Eagle Show" right in front of our site.  At about 5:00 we would pour ourselves a cocktail and watch as spectators armed with cameras, and hungry eagles and seagulls started arriving for happy hour.  While it's illegal to feed wild eagles, the fellow who does this at our campground has been issued a permit every year for the past 20 to do so.  The eagles stop coming around mid-June when they start feeding on fresh herring that move into the area.

The eagles are masters at catching the herring with their beaks or talons as the fish are thrown into the air.

The sky was filled with swooping and gliding eagles.

A Golden Eagle and an adult Bald Eagle take a rest and wait for a herring to be tossed their way.

A FISH STORY - June 13
At 6:45 a.m. we boarded the Jamie Lynn for a 12 hour fishing trip.  There were 4 other fishermen in our group along with Captain Josh and Gary the deck hand.

After analyzing the currents, tide, weather, and bottom structure, Captain Josh picked a spot 110 miles out into Prince William Sound where he was confident we would catch big Halibut and several Rock Fish.  The day was sunny, the seas calm, and anticipations high for a great day of fishing.  Leaving Valdez Harbor, we approached the narrows and going against the in-coming tide the boat slammed waves while we bounced hard and wildly in our seats; thank God the Captain offered dramamine before we left the harbor.  Once through the narrows, it was pretty much smooth sailing.  On the way to the fishing grounds we saw seals, sea otters, sea lions, and porpoise.

These female sea lions found a resting place in the middle of the ocean.

It took about 4 hours to get to THE spot.  Once anchored, we started our day of fishing.

About 3 minutes after getting my line in the water, my pole bent and I yelled "FISH ON!".  The fish fought, I reeled, the fish fought, I reeled and reeled, my arms got tired, I kept on reeling and about 5 minutes later the first Halibut was in the boat.  What felt like a 150 pound monster at the end of my line turned to to be a nice sized 50 pounder.

Winner winner, fishy dinner!  

As the rest of the fishing party got their lines in the water, Black Rock Fish and Yellow Eyed Rock Fish were being pulled in one after the other.  As the tide and currents changed, the fish quit biting so Captain Josh moved the boat about a quarter mile to a better spot.  As soon as the boat was anchored, my fishing buddies started yelling "FISH ON!" and Halibut started landing in the boat.

Jim caught this 69 pound beauty.

It didn't take long for everyone in our boat to fill their daily limit of 1 Halibut and 4 Rock Fish. The largest Halibut caught was 79 pounds (which in these parts is not considered that big).

We arrived back at the dock at 6:30; Josh and Gary sorted and unloaded the day's catch.

Happy fishermen with our catch.
The Black Rock Fish are in the foreground, the orange colored fish are the Yellow Eyed Rock Fish,
and the big white bellied fish are the Halibut.

A fish cutter was waiting at the dock to quickly fillet our fish.
The seagulls stuffed themselves on the discarded remains.

The filleted fish were put in a wheel barrow, then we pushed it across the street to Easy Freeze.
They processed, vacuumed packed and froze our fish for pick up the next day.
With 74.6 pounds of processed fish, we stuffed our freezer and the remaining
17 pounds of Halibut that didn't fit in the freezer was shipped back to New Richmond.

A LITTLE DISASTER HISTORY - Visits to the Museums - June 14
REBUILDING VALDEZ
On the afternoon of March 27, 1964, the Great Alaskan Earthquake rocked and rolled the western coast of Alaska.  The powerful quake measured 9.9 and along with the tsunami it caused, Old Valdez was devastated with loss of life and property.  A few years later, the town was moved and rebuilt at it's present and safer location which is situated on bedrock.  One interesting fact about the move is that the 2 families who owned the land where new Valdez now sits, donated the land "because it was the right thing do".

EXXON VALDEZ
The trans-Alaskan Pipeline carries crude oil from the North Slope oil fields at Prudhoe Bay to the marine terminal in Valdez where it is loaded onto tankers and shipped out to refineries.  A series of unfortunate events on March 24,1989 caused one of the worst human caused oil spills in North America when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker got off course, ran onto a reef and spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound.  Hundreds of thousands of birds, seals, sea otters, whales, fish, and other wildlife perished as a result of being covered with the thick crude or eating contaminated food.  The clean-up effort took several years and while the wildlife has made a come back, the environmental damage is still present today.  As a result of this disaster, several safety measures have been put in place to reduce the chances of another spill incident.

DAWSON CITY, YT to ALASKA - June 7 - 10

GOLD RUSH
Dawson City was the epicenter of the Klondike Gold Rush when gold was discovered in 1886 on Bonanza Creek.  This historic town is at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers.  By the time the ice thawed on the Yukon River in May 1898, 30,000 prospectors and fortune hunters from around the world had arrived in Dawson turning it into the largest city north of Seattle and west of Winnipeg.  Today, historic Dawson is a small town with about 1,900 residents, 13 bars, several restaurants and hotels.  While gold mining is still a part of the Dawson area, most mining is done by individuals on small claims that have been passed down in families.

Gold seekers who survived the grueling trek over the Chilkoot Pass to Dawson found most of the claims had already been staked.  Although many were disappointed, fortunes were made by enterprising men and women who opened businesses to supply and entertain the prospectors coming in from the gold fields.

We spent a day exploring Dawson by driving around, taking a couple of tours, checking out a couple of restaurants and going to a show at Gold Tooth Gertie's.

Dredge #4, built in 1912, mined the Klondike River Valley until 1960.  It's the largest
wooden hulled bucket line gold dredge in North America.  Now a National Historic Site, it's open for tours.  

There's all kinds of stuff at Jimmy's Place.

Many of the buildings in Dawson have been restored or replaced with replicas. 

The unpaved streets and boardwalks add to the historic feel of Dawson.

During our walking tour, Arizona Charlie, a character from the 1890's, told us about
 his adventures and enterprises during his days living in Dawson during the Gold Rush.

Prospectors would bring their gold to the bank, where is was weighed and exchanged for paper money.

One of Arizona Charlie's "gold mines" was the Red Feather Saloon.

Dinner at Klondike Kate's was excellent.

Dome Mountain is the highest point above Dawson City.

It was a full house at Gold Tooth Gertie's where gambling, drinking, and can-can dancers entertain.

TOP OF THE WORLD HIGHWAY - HELL-o Alaska! - June 8 - 11
Leaving Dawson, we took the short-cut to Alaska via the Top of The World Highway.  We crossed the Yukon river on a ferry then started driving on Highway 9.  The Top of The World Highway is a wide gravel road winding it's way atop the mountain ridge.  The border station is at Poker Creek, Alaska where the gravel road turned into smooth as silk pavement; welcome to the United States!  After 9 miles of blissful driving conditions, the highway suddenly turned to SH...shall we say a horrible mess, making us slow down to 10 mph in the extremely scenic and dangerous Goat Trail section of the highway.  The Goat Trail (as the locals have named it) is mainly 1 lane with a 1,000 foot drop to the river valley.  With no guard rails and soft shoulders, I kept my eyes shut most of the time while clenching my jaw and other body parts.  Jim did an excellent job driving white knuckled and getting us safely to Chicken, Alaska where we stopped for lunch and to recover and unclench before getting back on the bumpy, bucking road out of Chicken to Tok, where we hooked back up with the Alaska Highway.

We got in line at the ferry at 8:45 a.m. with 12 RV's in front of us.

At 10:30 a.m. we boarded the ferry. 

We're on top of the world, eh!

The border crossing at Poker Creek, Alaska is the most northerly U.S. land border.

Ahh, beautiful smooth pavement.

Not really, just had lunch.

TOK - June 9 & 10
We arrived at the Sourdough Campground and had to ask ourselves "is this Alaska?"; the temperature was 92 degrees!  Everything was very dry and Smokey the Bear was telling us the fire danger was Extremely High and there was suspension on all burning.

Alaska recently legalized marijuana and the joke is: The capitol of Alaska will be moved from Juneau to Tok.  Ha Ha.  

June 10th we celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary by cleaning the Jeep and RV inside and out as the dirt and dust from the roads had put a gritty layer of dirt over everything.  After working all day, we got our sweaty bodies cleaned up and went out to celebrate our anniversary at Fast Eddies restaurant, which was 1 of 3 restaurants (including a food truck) in Tok.  The halibut and salmon we ordered were delicious.

June 11 we woke up to pouring rain and cooler temperatures.  Packing up in the rain, we got on the Tok Cut-Off Highway and headed for our next adventure in Valdez.

ALBERTA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, YUKON TERRITORY

THE ROADS - June 3-8

Our camping neighbors at Pocahontas were from Edmonton and assured us we would have no problem taking the scenic Big Horn route highway 40 to Dawson Creek.  Highway 40 was a 2 lane paved road winding through the mountain wilderness of eastern Alberta.  We spotted serval black bears, caribou, a moose with a calf, and even a grizzly bear!

THE ALASKA HIGHWAY 

On September 28, 1996, a ceremony in Dawson Creek designated the Alaska Highway
 as the 16th International Historical Civil Engineering Landmark.

The Alaska Highway starts at Mile "0" in Dawson Creek, BC and ends at Mile 1523 in Fairbanks, Alaska.

A LITTLE HISTORY
Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, there was no road to link Alaska with the Lower 48.  With the start of WW II, Canada and the U.S. agreed it was a military necessity to construct a supply road to defend North America against the Japanese.  The two countries reached a formal agreement that stipulated that the U.S. pay for construction and turn over the Canadian portion of the highway to the Canadian government after the war ended.  Canada furnished the right-of-way, waived import duties, sales tax, income tax and immigration regulations, and provided construction materials along the route. 

Construction of the highway began on March 8, 1942 and was completed just eight months later.  It took the efforts of 11,000 American troops and engineers, 16,000 civilian workmen from Canada and the U.S., and 7,000 pieces of equipment to penetrate the 1,500 miles of wild mountain terrain.  Living in primitive mobile camps, the men worked 7 day a  week in temperatures as low as -70 in the winter and summer heat in the 90's, as well as enduring relentless mosquitoes, mud, dust, and little food as they bulldozed thorough the wilderness laying down eight miles of road per day.

Since taking over their portion of the highway, Canada has replaced the bridges and hastily constructed road.  The brutal climate causes frost heaves, and potholes.  Constant maintenance is required to keep the highway open year round.
  

Summer road and bridge work along the Alcan never ends.

Where the pavement is torn up, dust and mud make quite a mess.

The caked on mud was about a 1/2 inch thick.

Most of the campgrounds have pressure wash stations to clean up after a day on the road.

MILE 635 - WATSON LAKE, YT - Sign Post Forest
Watson Lake was an important point during the construction of the Alaska Highway. The airport, built in 1941, was a major refueling stop along the Northwest Staging Route.

The tradition of putting up a sign was started by a U.S. soldier working on the Alaska Highway.  A personal sign can be dropped off at the Visitors Center where it will be added to the growing collection.  We saw signs from all over the world.

At the end of every September, the number of signs in the "forest" is updated.
As of September 2016, there were 83,885 signs.

Road building equipment from the 1942 road construction project is on display at the Sign Forest.

MILE 918 - WHITEHORSE, YT
Like the Klondike gold rush stampeders of the the late 1800's who landed in Whitehorse to repack their supplies, we did the same with a visit to the grocery store.  Leaving the Alaska Highway we averaged 45 MPH as we bounced along the scenic, potholed, frost heaved Klondike Highway on our way to historic Dawson City, Yukon Territory.

Our campsite view at Toad River.

Watch out for Stone Sheep on the highway!

Wood Bison graze next to the highway.