RV-Dreams Journal

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 75 - Shore Fishing & Beachcombing, Seward, Alaska

As planned, we all slept late and took it easy.

Eventually, Steve and I went out on a mission to learn about any fishing we could do without a boat.

We learned that we arrived right at the end of the run of Sockeye Salmon, and before the Silvers had started coming in. Figures. We always seem to be too early, too late, or in between.

But we were told where to go. Here in Resurrection Bay we could snag salmon in the saltwater and keep up to twelve per person right now.

We drove to the other side of the bay on Nash Road and turned at a sign that said "Mount Alice Harbor" which is better known to locals as "McDonald Beach" because the beach access to the mouth of the Resurrection River is owned by Tim McDonald who charges anglers $10 each to park. Actually, you can also dry camp there for $20/night.

We went in and talked to a local that just came off the beach. He gave us some hints and tips and said he and a buddy had been doing well snagging using a weighted treble hook. He showed us his set-up, and then said we should come back in the evening around 6:30 and get a spot. He confirmed that the action starts to get better around two hours before high tide and tonight that would be 9:00 p.m.

After thanking him, we continued down the road to another public beach access at Spring Creek Campground. It's $5 to park at the beach and $20 to stay in the gravel parking lot "campground". Again, we went in and talked to those fishing.

One guy had been there all day and was carrying out one fish. We watched as another guy caught three fish in about an hour. 

Neither Steve nor I had snagging hooks, so we drove back to town to get some. Then we returned to the beach at Spring Creek.

We watched others and their snagging technique. Cast, reel, jerk hard, reel, jerk hard, reel, etc. It's a lot of work. We tried it and were doing decent with technique but weren't having any luck.

Then I saw a young fellow hook into a nice salmon, and he eventually was able to reel it in while his girlfriend captured it all on video. They were excited, and I yelled "Nice job!" They said they didn't have a cooler or any way to clean it or prepare it, so they asked me if I wanted it. "Sure!"

It was a Sockeye. So I bonked it, ripped the gills to bleed it out, and put it on a stringer. We continued to fish with no luck, so I decided to clean the fish.

Steve got out his fish cleaning board, and we took some photos.

 

 

I knocked it out quickly, and we put the filets in a bag. I was ready to go, but Steve saw a couple eagles fly in and perch on a pole, so he walked down and cast below them a few times. He hooked into a salmon of his own. It was snagged in the back, so it was a fight to get it in, but he did it. Cool.

 

 

That turned out to be a Pink Salmon.

We fished for a while longer, but got nothing else. We got out the board and knives again, and I showed Steve how to filet it. Then we headed back to Miller's Landing.

At least we didn't go home empty-handed, and we hoped we might do better later tonight.

When we got back to the campground, the ladies were out beachcombing. Low tide was about an hour before. I had some of the salmon from last night for a very late lunch and added just a touch of sugar-free Vermont maple syrup to kick it up a bit. Yum.

Linda came in with a bag of treasures that included her first marble, a dark, iridescent marble with an orange glow when she held it up to the light. She was pretty excited about that.

We gathered over at Steve & Esther's place for Happy Hour.

 

 

 

I took a few more pics. These were a couple of the currently-vacant oceanfront RV sites.

 

 

Miller's Landing water taxis.

 

 

The beachcombing beach.

 

 

And though I didn't really want to pay for yet another charter, I told Steve I'd go with him on a half-day tomorrow if he wanted to go. He did; so we booked it.

After 6:00, we went back out to try to snag some fish. Optimistically, we stopped and filled a cooler with ice. We went to Mount Alice Harbor (McDonald Beach), paid our fee, and walked out where others were fishing. We arrived at the suggested time only to find several people leaving. Some had fish, some didn't.

While we were there, we saw only a couple fish caught and we didn't get a thing. One guy caught four fish in about an hour, and everyone else struggled more the higher the tide got.

I had my little waterproof camera, so I just took some pics of the spectacle.

 

 

 

Steve's in the blue in this photo.

 

 

Eventually, we gave up there and made the long walk back to the Jeep. Steve said their recent travels were catching up to him, and he was tired. But we went to the other beach just to see what was going on.

People were lined up, but everyone said it was slow.

 

 

We saw one fish caught and there were a couple more on stringers. We tried our luck for about a half hour or so, but we were both just too worn out to keep up the pace.

When nothing else is working, Steve and I take pictures. He got this one of me in my waders.

 

 

So we dragged ourselves back to the campground without any fish, as our attempts to snag salmon as newbies fell short. But we could go to bed and get rested up for tomorrow's charter. At least that will be less work, and we should catch something.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 74 - Fishing Charter & Reunion, Seward, Alaska

So, we met at the Miller's Landing office at 6:30 a.m. as we were supposed to do for our 7:00 a.m. half-day fishing trip with Capt. Dillon. We were the only ones scheduled for this trip but then employees Bree and Tucker decided to join us since it was their day off. 

Because we were all early, we climbed up on the old fishing boat .....

 

 

and got out on the water well ahead of schedule.

The winds were calm, but it was quite foggy and the sea was rolling. We couldn't see the scenery, so I took no photos on the way. Young Capt. Dillon had a spot picked out for us about an hour and fifteen minutes out.

This really isn't the usual "half day" charter since they are only four hours, and they do three of them a day. The "half day" charters we've been on thus far tend to go for five to six hours. With the long run out and back, we'd only be fishing a couple of hours, and we hoped that would be good enough.

Our trip was a "Silver Salmon and Black Bass" charter, and we started going after the rockfish. We had "fish on" quickly and pulled in some huge Black Rockfish (aka black sea bass).

In the first half hour, I caught my limit of four, and Linda had three of her four when she got seasick. Unfortunately, after purging, she didn't recover - she was done for the day. We've been on a lot of ocean trips and Linda hasn't gotten seasick in years, so it was a surprise to both of us. We have medication - Bonine - which has worked well for her in the past, but we just didn't think about it and we didn't expect to go out quite as far as we did.

Bree & Tucker (they are a couple from Massachusetts working here this summer), got their rockfish limit and one Silver Salmon, so we moved on.

Tucker then reeled in this nice Ling Cod.

 

 

At another spot where lots of boats were fishing for salmon Bree & Tucker each caught another salmon, but I got shut out the rest of the day and, of course, Linda never got her line back in the water.

The Silver Salmon haven't arrived in big numbers yet, but people were catching them. I was disappointed that we didn't get any salmon on the "salmon" portion of our trip. Still, we had seven big rockfish, and I got my picture taken with all the fish from the morning.

 

 

It was a really nice mess of fish, so I couldn't say it was a bust.

 

 

Linda went straight to bed when we got back. She was cold and still feeling pretty bad. 

Dillon fileted our fish, and I gave him a nice tip. We ended up with 15 pounds of fresh rockfish. Plus, Bree gave us a salmon filet. She's a sweetheart.

Later, Linda got up and took a shower and felt better. She vacuum packed our catch.

 

 

I took it to Captain Jack's Seafood Locker in town where they froze it and stored it for us for a $1/pound. We could pick it up anytime within 10 days or add more to it.

Back at the rig, we learned that Seward had implemented a fire ban, so there could be no campfires. The original email we got said no "cooking fires" either, but they backed off that.

As I wandered around, I saw Steve & Esther's RV. They had just gotten in. I went and welcomed them, but they were exhausted and taking their time getting set up.

After getting back from Ottawa, they went from Whitehorse up to Dawson City and took the Dempster Highway up to dip their toes in the Arctic Ocean. Then they returned to Dawson City, crossed the Top Of The World Highway and crossed over into Alaska. They said the road from the border to the town of Chicken was horrendous and they made their way to Tok. From Tok, they landed in Anchorage, and then they came down to Seward. 

So, they've been doing lots of miles, their RV is filled with dust, and Esther just wanted to take time to relax, clean the inside of her rig, and recover a bit. We agreed to get together later after dinner.

For our evening meal, we prepared the salmon Bree gave us. I grilled it up on the Blackstone, and though Linda couldn't eat much, she immediately decided it wasn't as good as the Sockeye Salmon. I would have to agree as it was a bit more fishy, but I still thought it was pretty darn good. We have leftovers for tomorrow.

So, we had our after-dinner reunion with Steve & Esther at their site. They have that site for one night and then they move to the site next door tomorrow. They aren't on the ocean, but they have a view of the mountains over the top of the RVs in the waterfront sites.

Esther had been sick, and everyone was tired, so we called it a fairly early night with plans to sleep in tomorrow. It's good to have our friends back with us.

---

 

 

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 73 - Travel Day From Whittier To Seward, Alaska

Last night we heard what sounded like a pretty large explosion, but we couldn't see anything. This morning a neighbor told us one of the fishing boats at the commercial dock in Whittier exploded around midnight. Here's the link to the Anchorage Daily News story: Boat explosion and fire leaves part of Whittier dock unsafe and hundreds of pounds of fish in limbo.

After hearing about the tragedy, we slowly got ready to leave. We had about 90 miles to go to Seward, so we weren't in a big hurry. We just tried to time our departure so that we wouldn't have to wait in line at the tunnel for too long.

The traffic leaving Whittier goes through at the top of the hour, and we started through a little after noon.

 

 

 

In case you missed my prior discussion of the tunnel, it's a one-way dual purpose tunnel used by vehicles and trains. Vehicles line up and go through on a schedule with westbound traffic going through on the hour and eastbound traffic going through on the half hour. Of course, those schedules depend on the train schedules.

The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel (aka the Whittier Tunnel) is 2 1/2 miles and is the longest dual purpose tunnel in North America. It's the only road access to Whittier. So, if you book a tour in Whittier, you have to pay attention to the tunnel schedule or you may be delayed and miss your tour.

There is a toll to go through the tunnel from the Anchorage side going to Whittier, but there is no toll leaving Whittier. If you base in Whittier and then do things on the other side of the tunnel, you pay the toll each time you return.

Exiting the tunnel on either end, you have to quickly bare left. Otherwise, you'll continue driving right down the railroad tracks.

 

 

Oh, there is another, shorter, two-lane tunnel between the Seward Highway and the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel.

 

 

We weren't aware of that one on the way in, so it confused us a little the other day.

Unfortunately, the smoke from fires was thicker today, and the views along the scenic Seward Highway were marred. As we passed Tern Lake Junction where the Sterling Highway goes toward Cooper Landing, Soldotna, and Homer, the smoke was so thick we could barely see. We're scheduled to stay in Cooper Landing in a few days, and that's not looking good right now.

Entering Seward, we made a stop at Waterfront Park where there is a place to take on potable water and where there is a dump station ($5 fee). 

Seward has several city-run campgrounds right on Resurrection Bay. They are all first come, first served and most of them are dry camping for $20/night. Two campgrounds have water and electric for $40/night. One is for tents only, but all the others have parking for RVs, although the sites are all a little tight. The campgrounds are basically parking lots, but if you manage to snag a site in one of the rows right on the water, you don't mind the closeness so much.

However, we decided to go past town on the gravel Lowell Point Road and stay at Miller's Landing.

 

 

They have a beach for beachcombing, fishing charters on site, and electric sites for $37/night. They have a couple places to take on water, but no dump station. We made a reservation the day before, and we were assigned to campsite "Ellen" in the wooded section.

 

 

 

They have some oceanfront sites, but they are all really close together (much like the city campgrounds) and all the coaches there struggled to get level.

 

 

As you can see, the smoke created a haze all the way down here in Seward and across Resurrection Bay.

 

 

Staff preparing for a kayak tour.

 

 

Though we still had the smoke, it was much cooler here.

Between the oceanside campsites and the wooded campsites is a house containing bathrooms, showers ($1 per 2 minutes), and a coin laundry.

 

 

You can pay for internet at your site or use the Wi-Fi in the office/store for free. We got a serviceable Verizon signal at our campsite, but I went to the store to upload photos.

Now, the restrooms were old but clean. I can't say the same for the office/store. It looked like it hadn't had a good scouring for years.

This is a fish camp, and isn't nearly as nice or pristine as it may appear on the website.

Later in the day, our neighbors came back from their full day fishing charter, so I walked over to get a picture of their catch.

 

 

That was a nice haul of rockfish, halibut, and salmon. So, I signed Linda & I up for a half-day charter for in the morning. Hopefully, our fishing charter luck will change.

Check back tomorrow to see.

For dinner, Linda dug out some fish our friend, Darlene, in Sitka gave us when we were there. It was a package of Sablefish "tips". Sablefish, due to its appearance which resembles a cod, is also known as "black cod" although it's not a member of the cod family. And the tips "are a delicious nugget of meat nestled between the jaw and collar".

This oily fish is known for its rich, buttery flavor. I cooked it up on the Blackstone and ..... WOW! That's some delicious fish. We thought we'd have plenty for leftovers, but we ended up devouring all of it.

Linda quickly texted Darlene to thank her for this local delicacy.

We just chilled for the rest of the evening and went to bed reasonably early so we could get up for our 7:00 a.m. fishing trip.

Tomorrow afternoon, Esther & Steve will be re-joining us here, so we're looking forward to seeing them and catching up.

Until next time.

---

 

 

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 72 - Portage Pass Trail, Whittier, Alaska

As I mentioned in a previous post, Whittier is the wettest town in Alaska. But we woke up to yet another sunny day.

There was still a bit of a smoky haze from the fires on the west side of the mountains, but it was quite pleasant at the City Campground by the water.

 

 

And on this Sunday at the end of the Fourth of July weekend, there were more spaces available in the campground which is surrounded by mountains on three sides and the Passage Canal on the fourth.

 

 

Linda was content to relax with the view of the water out the front of the rig while I decided to hike the nearby Portage Pass Trail. It's known to have some great views as it rises up and goes through a pass that leads to Portage Glacier on the other side.

The trailhead is three quarters of a mile from the campground. From the Whittier tunnel, you take the first right and follow the signs. It's about a half mile from the tunnel.

However, the last quarter mile of gravel road is the worst I've seen in Alaska with its deep potholes. At least they were dry, so I could see how bad they were. I can only imagine the surprise of driving through them filled with water like they usually are.

Parking is along the gravel road, and I was lucky to find a nice spot at the end of the road near the trailhead.

 

 

Just beyond the sign above is this sign showing that the trail is a mile to the pass and another mile to Portage Lake, the terminus of Portage Glacier.

 

 

A four-mile round trip didn't seem too bad, but by the time I got on the trail, it was pretty hot with temps in the low 80s. And from the mileage sign, the trail goes straight up for 800 feet to the pass.

 

 

The flies were really bad, and I quickly realized that I forgot bug spray. They were less annoying as long as I kept moving.

The trail had a really steep section, and I saw a couple of people fall coming down the loose gravel. Though it's a relatively short trail at four miles round trip, I'd recommend hiking poles, especially if it's wet (which, again, it usually is).

I took a quick break to look behind me at the view of Passage Canal as another Princess cruise ship was arriving.

 

 

I zoomed in on our little campground by the water.

 

 

A young couple stopped on their way down which added some perspective.

 

 

It was a slow trudge, but I made it to the pass and the view of Portage Glacier on the other side.

 

 

Thankfully, I brought a lot of water as I was drenched in sweat. Many people, some from the cruise ships, just hike up to the pass and back. There are lots of informal "social" trails at the pass to nice viewpoints. Too bad it was hazy, but I suppose these views are often obscured by clouds so I was lucky to see what I could.

 

 

This is a partial view of Learnard Glacier which is in the gap to the left in the photo above.

 

 

Folks were lined up down on the road waiting for their turn to go through the tunnel at the top of the hour.

 

 

There were a couple of small ponds at the pass.

 

 

From this angle, I could barely see a portion of Portage Lake below the glacier.

 

 

After a few minutes wandering at the pass, I got back on the trail.

 

 

After descending a short, steep section, the trail goes to the left and then takes a sharp right turn that is easy to miss if you aren't paying attention ....

 

 

as the social trail continues straight and up another hill where several people were taking in different views.

From there, you just pretty much walk downhill toward Portage Glacier ... remembering that you have to come back up.

 

 

Eventually, the trail goes by the small, shallow lake with waterfalls coming down from above.

 

 

Then there is a sign showing that you've walked a quarter mile down from the pass with three quarters of a mile to go to the lake.

 

 

As I continued, I noticed another glacier and a huge waterfall off to the left. It was somewhat blocked from view from the trail by vegetation, but I found a resting bench that I stood on to take a couple photos.

 

 

 

Soon, the lake dotted with icebergs came into view.

 

 

And it still seemed like a long way down.

There is very little shade on this trail until you get closer to the lake. Of course, it gets cooler as the trail descends next to a small river and gets closer to the glacier.

 

 

 

The wildflowers were quite pretty as I made my way toward the lake.

 

 

Full glacier view from the edge of the lake.

 

 

 

There were lots of people at the lake, but I found a nice, quiet spot and hung out for about 45 minutes.

 

 

This shot is looking toward the Portage Glacier Begich-Boggs Visitor Center at the other end of the lake. 

 

 

Mountains faded into the smoky haze.

The Visitor Center gets great reviews, but due to the glacier's retreat, you can't see the glacier from the Visitor Center. However, for $39, you can take a one-hour cruise on the lake with Portage Glacier Cruises and get up close. 

While I was there, the mv Ptarmigan happened to be on one of its five daily tours.

 

 

They just missed some nice calving on the right side of the glacier as they cruised up to the left side for a close look.

 

 

 

It may have just been my perspective, but it seemed they got a lot closer to the face of the glacier than I expected.

 

 

They then moved over to the right side of the glacier where they stayed a bit longer.

If you don't have the time for a glacier cruise on the ocean or don't want to go to the expense of one of those tours, this is certainly a nice alternative to get up close to a glacier that terminates into the water and may offer some calving.

From where I sat along the shore, it looked like you might be able to walk to the left edge of the glacier, but it would require some walking in the water in a shallow area of the lake. Others that took on the challenge then told me there was a pretty wide, fast flowing river that prevented getting too close.

It was hot enough today that a few people were actually swimming in the icy lake. I don't think I mentioned it, but Anchorage hit a record 90 degrees on the Fourth of July and it's been unseasonably warm over the last few days.

After a nice rest, I started back taking more photos of the glacial ice ....

 

 

and the wildflowers.

 

 

Walking back along the shore, I came to an official trail marker, ....

 

 

and realized that's not where I came out when I arrived. But that path quickly intersected the part of the trail I came in on.

Starting up the trail, I came to this sign which indicated it was two miles back to the trailhead.

 

 

Now that sign is about a quarter mile from the edge of the lake, so if it's accurate, the round trip hike is more like 4.5 miles rather than 4.

The return uphill trip to the pass is a bit more gentle with a few more ups and downs, but there is still a steep section near the beginning and another one closer to the pass.

Here's another shot of the mountainside filled with long, flowing waterfalls.

 

 

Whew. Made it back to the pass.

 

 

I stopped there again to rest and take more pictures. The sun was in a different position and the lighting was a little better looking down toward Passage Canal. It's a great view.

 

 

Moving on, this is one of the steep sections where people were slipping on the descent to the trailhead.

 

 

Though four miles doesn't seem too bad, this hike is tougher than it sounds, and I was worn out by the time I got back. Of course, the heat and lack of shade had something to do with it.

I felt sorry for some of the cruise passengers that were huffing and puffing up without much water and without more appropriate hiking shoes and attire. One older lady was moving slowly as she turned around and went back. I offered her a ride back to the cruise ship, but she didn't speak much English and she politely declined.

Back at the rig, I got some food and decided to go explore some more. I took my fishing gear to the little cove I went to on the night we arrived, but the tide was in and there were families swimming. It didn't seem as good a fishing spot as when the tide was out.

I considered hiking another popular trail to Horsetail Falls as I passed the sign for the trailhead, but I didn't remember the length or difficulty of the trail. So, I just drove back out to the end of the gravel road to the Emerald Cove trailhead.

 

 

I thought it would be a short hike to the water, and perhaps I'd do some fishing there.

As I walked along some of the boarded trail, a grouse chick flew up in front of me joining its mother in a tree. The hen flew off, but the chick stayed and gave me a good look. Very cute.

 

 

From the direction of the trail, I soon realized it was not going to be a short hike. I ran into a couple that told me it was three miles one way to the cove, and I certainly wasn't up for that after my earlier hike.

So, I went back to the parking area, took a photo of Passage Canal ....

 

 

and Billings Glacier across the water, ....

 

 

and headed home.

And that pretty much wrapped up our time in Whittier. It's an unusual little town with its funky road access through the dual purpose tunnel and its military background. But the surroundings are quite pretty and, apparently, we were fortunate to get some nice, sunny weather.

Tomorrow, we move farther south to Seward for a few days. See you from there.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 71 - Blackstone Glacier Tour, Whittier, Alaska

Well, we slept in later than we planned, and we missed our chance to get the oceanfront site we knew would be open this morning at the City Campground in Whittier. But, fortunately for us, the site next to it, Site 13, was open and it was better, so we moved in.

 

 

 

It was quite windy this morning, and we weren't really sure what we were going to do.

I met the neighbor, Winston from Michigan, who is traveling in his Class B with his wife, VJ. Turns out he is also a "sort of retired" attorney. But the most interesting thing is that he and VJ just completed their quest to visit every county in the U.S. - 3,142 counties (or county equivalents such as parishes in Louisiana, and boroughs in Alaska, etc.). They chartered a local pilot to knock out some of the remote Alaska boroughs to finish up.

I wondered if anyone else had done this, so I looked it up. There is a group called the Extra Miler Club that is made up of people that have or are working toward visiting all the counties. As of this writing, only 61 people have been recognized as accomplishing this amazing travel goal.

As we talked, I watched a guy down at the beach pulling in fish. So, after taking some time to get some lunch, I walked down. He was catching Pink Salmon with a basic spinner. They were jumping, and he tossed as close to the last jump as he could. 

He ended up with six fish before quitting as the tide was moving in rapidly. I moved quickly, put on my waders and gave it a shot, but I got nothing. Linda started my way as I started back to the rig.

 

 

Linda had been beachcombing, and she had some decent luck with some glass and rocks. No beach town has shut her out yet.

I could have fished longer, but Winston let me know that the campground host worked for one of the charter companies in Whittier, Epic Charters, and they were going out on an afternoon glacier cruise. We had decided not to do an all-day boat tour, but since Winston & VJ were going on this three-hour tour and it was a small group, we signed on.

Princess Cruises stops in Whittier and the Golden Princess was at the dock as we headed in that direction.

 

 

 

Princess operates one-way cruises that start or end in Whittier with ground transportation to and from Anchorage.

As we waited for our boat, I took this shot of the Inn At Whittier.

 

 

Our boat, the Fera Mare, arrived .....

 

 

and we loaded up. There were seven of us including a man and his two kids.

Capt. Eric pulled out the map of Prince William Sound and showed us where we were going. 

 

 

We pulled up onto a beach for our first stop.

 

 

Linda was off to beachcomb.

 

 

 

The family just wanted to swim in the cold water.

 

 

After the beach and the obligatory glacier cruise waterfall stop, ....

 

 

we continued on toward the glaciers.

 

 

As windy as it was, the water was surprisingly calm, and it was a beautiful afternoon.

Now this was an amazing waterfall coming off the side of Blackstone Glacier, ....

 

 

a massive glacier coming down from the Sargent Icefield.

 

 

Just as we were pulling up to Blackstone, there was some nice calving on the right side.

 

 

 

Here's a little GIF loop.

 

 

The sun was illuminating the left side of the glacier, .....

 

 

but we were focused on the right side where most of the calving was happening next to the really cool waterfalls.

 

 

 

I put down the camera and started to video with my cell phone. Good timing, as we got a really good calving event just as a small boat motored up to the face.

 

 

Linda was also videoing from inside the boat cabin and she was zoomed in.

 

 

Nice!! 

And the little boat realized it needed to vacate the area very quickly to avoid the wave.

We then went the short distance to Beloit Glacier which had been active earlier in the day.

 

 

In fact, it had been so active, there was too much ice for us to get close. So, since we had the nice calving at Blackstone, we didn't stay long.

 

 

Here's a wide shot of both glaciers.

 

 

Though Lawrence Glacier is no longer a tidewater glacier, it's still stunning.

 

 

We made our way back into Passage Canal where this waterfall bisects one of the largest Kittiwake rookeries in the north Pacific.

 

 

These are Black-legged Kittiwakes, small cliff-dwelling gulls.

 

 

 

Then we headed back to the harbor. Begich Towers, home to almost all the residents of Whittier, stands out at the foot of the mountains with a large waterfall above it.

 

 

Off to the left of town is the Buckner Building which I mentioned in yesterday's post. It's an abandoned building from World War II, and it was once the largest building in Alaska.

 

 

Approaching the dock.

 

 

Once docked, we watched as a crew member from a charter fishing boat fileted the day's catch.

 

 

Back at the campground, I grilled some burgers for dinner, and we watched as the cruise ship left, .....

 

 

and the train departed taking cruise passengers to Anchorage to catch their flights home or to continue their trip on a land tour.

 

 

So, though there was still some haze in the sky from the Kenai Peninsula fire, and it was quite windy, it turned out to be a very pleasant, worthwhile afternoon.

Tomorrow, I'm going to do one of the more scenic hikes in the area. Until next time.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 70 - Errands In Anchorage Then Travel To Whittier, Alaska

With only a 50-mile drive today, we had some things to take care of in the morning before leaving our spot at Cabela's and heading to Whittier. We're hoping Whittier will be less smoky since it's on the other side of the mountains, and we may do another glacier viewing boat tour into the western side of Prince William Sound from there.

I got up and out the door early while Linda slept in. It was much smokier today all around Anchorage than yesterday. We couldn't even see the nearby Chugach Mountains.

The first item on the list was to get our Jeep's windshield washers fixed. We had fluid in the reservoir, but it wasn't making it to the wipers when we tried to wash. The first three auto repair places I tried, were closed on this day after the Fourth of July. I finally ended up at Professional Automotive, and they took great care of me.

With towing the Jeep behind the motorhome, the wiper fluid nozzles get clogged with dirt. And the pressure build up when the fluid can't get released can cause the tiny hose to blow off or break. We had a broken hose. In about a half an hour, they diagnosed the problem, cleaned both nozzles, and fixed it at a very reasonable rate.

I also got a haircut, looked for a light fixture with LEDs and an external switch (with no luck), and returned the one Linda bought yesterday that didn't have an external switch.

And, I found a place where we could store our RV while we are gone to Katmai National Park and Brooks Falls July 15 - 19. We fly out of Anchorage and needed a short-term storage solution. Just up the road from Great Alaska Holidays is CJL RV Self Storage which is part of the Lyberger's Auto Dealership. They typically only rent spaces month-to-month, but they agreed to let us store our RV and Jeep there short-term for $80. It's a secure, gated lot and the only downside is you can't access your vehicles when the car dealership is closed as they lock the gates out front. But that shouldn't be an issue for us based on the timing of our flights.

After my morning of running around, I finally made it back to the RV where I picked up Linda and we made a grocery run. Sometime in the early afternoon, we were finally ready to go.

We made one last stop to fuel up the motorhome at a gas station that had propane. Topping off both tanks, we headed south on the Seward Highway.

The smoke was so bad from the Kenai Peninsula Sterling Highway fire, we couldn't enjoy the beautiful views of the drive, and taking photos was a waste of time. We'll be in the area a while, but we felt sorry for the folks that just have a few days in the Kenai.

Eventually, we turned left onto Portage Glacier Road. A few miles in, we passed by the highly regarded Williwaw Campground, a no hook-up National Forest campground with paved roads and paved sites that are suitable for big rigs. That was one of our choices and our back-up plan if the two campgrounds on the other side of the tunnel in Whittier were full.

You see, between the Begich Boggs Visitors Center at Portage Glacier and the town of Whittier is the two and a half mile, one-way Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the longest combined vehicle/railroad tunnel in North America. To get to Whittier by road, you have to go through this tunnel and pay a toll.

The toll is currently $13 for a passenger vehicle not towing and for motorhomes under 28 feet not towing; $22 for passenger vehicles (cars/trucks) towing trailers, and for motorhomes under 28 feet towing a car or trailer, and for motorhomes over 28 feet not towing anything; or $38 for motorhomes over 28 feet towing a car or a trailer. You only pay the toll going to Whittier - there is no charge for the return.

Also, there is a schedule of when you can go through, so you have to line up in various lanes as instructed and wait.

During this summer, those going through the tunnel to Whittier can do so on the half hour. Those leaving Whittier go through on the hour. But, because the tunnel is used by trains, you may be delayed more if a train is going through - it's either vehicles or trains, both can't go through at the same time.

Our timing wasn't all that good as we arrived a little after 3:00 p.m. and had to wait until 3:30. So we waited in our assigned lane behind boats and other RVs.

 

  

At least heading in that direction (east), the smoke wasn't quite as bad, and we had views of glaciers.

 

 

 

Right at 3:30, the car lanes got green lights and proceeded through the tunnel, and then we were green-lighted and allowed to go.

 

 

We approached the narrow tunnel ....

 

 

 

where Linda straddled the railroad tracks to go through.

 

 

Although there is a 25 mph speed limit, she didn't like that at all and was happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

 

Exiting the tunnel, to our left was this nice view of Learnard Glacier.

 

 

Once through the tunnel, there are two camping options, and it's confusing if you haven't done your homework.

If you take the first left after going through the tunnel, you will find the City of Whittier Campground, a gravel parking lot with designated sites right at the end of Passage Canal. A few of the sites overlook the ocean and the town of Whittier which is a five minute drive away. There are no hook-ups, but there are pit toilets, bear proof trash cans, and a small dumpster. There are a few picnic tables and firepits and there is a beach. Because it's a large, open gravel lot with no camping in the middle, you can pull in or back in any size rig to the outer ring "sites". It's first come, first served and is $20/night for RVs. To pay, you have to download an app (which you may not be able to do depending on your cell service provider) OR you can drive into town and pay at a self-pay kiosk with cash or credit card. Now, there is virtually nothing official online about this campground - the city's website doesn't mention it, so you sort of have to feel your way. But, in my opinion, it's definitely the better option of the two campgrounds unless you need to be near town so you can walk there.

The other campground is operated by Whittier Parking and Camping which is a private company that offers fee-based vehicle and boat trailer parking in town. And, behind the parking lots filled with boat trailers is their "Creekside Campground" along Whittier Creek. It's hidden back a gravel road, and it's the campground closest to town and to the harbor. None of the sites have hook-ups and most are pretty small, although there are a few for longer RVs. Though there is vegetation between sites, this campground feels claustrophobic and the road going through is horrible. The rate there is also $20/night, and it's also first come, first served.

Here is a map of the town showing the general locations of the campgrounds - The City Campground is on the far left near the tunnel and the Creekside Campground is the "Whittier Parking & Camping" to the right of Whittier Creek. You can click on the map for a larger image.

 

 

 

We turned left out of the tunnel to check out the city campground first. On this Friday afternoon of the long holiday weekend, were were lucky to find two spots available. So we picked one and quickly backed in.

 

 

Sites are close together and it's definitely not an "it" factor type campground, but the surrounding views were pretty darn good.

 

 

 

 

I chatted with the guy in the Jamboree in an ocean-front site on the far right next to the Camp Host, and he said he was leaving early in the morning, so we made a plan to snag his site.

 

 

As I mentioned before, you can either pay for your site via an app or drive into town and pay at the self-pay kiosk at the Harbormaster's office.

 

 

There is no place at the campground itself to make payment.

Of course, Linda liked the fact that there was a rocky beach for beachcombing.

 

 

A little later, Linda & I drove into Whittier to pay for our camping and check out the town. We're planning three nights, but only paid for one since we're probably changing sites tomorrow. As it turns out, you don't even give a site number, you just pay for a spot, so we could have paid for all three nights.

As for the town, there's not much to it.

There is a harbor area with tour companies and a few stores and restaurants to cater to the cruise ships that might come into the port. It's not a major cruise destination, but it's the closest port to Anchorage and it's a transfer spot for people doing a "land and sea" combo trip.

Some cruises end in Whittier and then passengers transfer to buses or get on the train to complete the "land" part of their adventure. Or it's done in reverse when people do the land portion first and then take buses or the train to Whittier for the cruise portion. 

Whittier, named after the nearby Whittier Glacier which was named after American poet John Greenleaf Whittier, came to prominence during World War II when the army built a military facility in the deep water, ice free port. And though you wouldn't know it from today's photos, Whittier is the wettest city in Alaska and the United States with average annual rainfall of about 200 inches and average annual snowfall of about 250 inches. The wetness and usual low lying clouds were actually a natural defense from enemy bombers.

Two main buildings dominate the landscape. The 14-story Begich Towers (formerly known as the Hodge Building) was built after World War II to house military and civil service personnel. Now it is a condominium complex that houses almost all of the town residents.

The other gray, depressing building is the Buckner Building which was constructed about the same time for the same purpose. It was once the largest building in Alaska and was known as the "city under one roof". It's abandoned and it has been looted over the years. It's a historical eyesore above the harbor, and only recently has the city taken steps to keep people out of it.

It took us all of about 15 minutes to drive around town, and then we returned to the campground. At the campground, we had 3G phone service, but no usable data.

Later in the evening after dinner, I drove into town to see if there was a library or someplace that had some decent Wi-Fi. The Inn At Whittier and a couple restaurants have Wi-Fi for guests, but I couldn't locate any public Wi-Fi anywhere.

So, I drove up a gravel road behind the Buckner Building to explore. I passed the road leading to the Horsetail Falls trailhead, and then I briefly stopped at a lovely picnic area. The tide was out and I took a couple of photos of the cove.

 

 

 

This photo is at the mouth of the cove looking across Passage Canal to Billings Glacier.

 

 

The dusty gravel road was quite scenic, and a great departure from the town of Whittier itself. At the end of the road is the Emerald Cove trailhead where there is a parking are and viewpoint. This photo is from the viewpoint and a higher-up perspective of Billings Glacier.

 

 

While we're in Whittier, these places may be good spots for further exploration.

Tomorrow, I have no idea what we might get into. Stay tuned to see.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 69 - RV Repairs & Lovely Dinner With Another New Friend, Anchorage, Alaska

Happy Fourth of July!

Around 8:30 a.m., we drove over to Great Alaska Holidays to drop off our rig and ask them to take care of a small punch list of items besides replacing our Automatic Transfer Switch.

 

 

We then went to breakfast at the nearby IHOP. The pancakes and french toast and crepes were tempting, but we stuck with our eggs and bacon (they gave us extra bacon instead of the usually included has browns and toast). And at IHOP we can now both order off the 55+ menu.

Back at the RV rental place/dealership, I set up shop in the waiting room while the activity buzzed all around. No wonder they were open today - it was crazy busy.

Linda went for a pedicure, and many of the things I had on my list to do I couldn't do because of the holiday. But I uploaded photos and chatted with a nice couple on their honeymoon.

It was afternoon when I decided to go check on our rig. The transfer switch was installed, but they were having trouble with getting power. If they would have come and asked us, we could have saved them a lot of time. With our solar/inverter installation, our system is a bit quirky. So, we showed them how it works and "voila" the system was operating as it should.

But the big news of the day, the thing that the entire service department was talking about, was the stowaway we apparently brought from the lower 48. While poking around in our old battery compartment, that I haven't had any reason to get into (due to the placement of our AGM sealed batteries), they found this.

 

 

Yep, that's a huge Black Widow spider. It was by far the biggest one I'd ever seen, and it was camped out in the dark recesses of that old battery compartment. As we walked through the service bays, all the technicians were looking at us - "There's the spider people!".

They were all fascinated as Black Widows are rarely found in Alaska, and when they are, they've hitchhiked from somewhere else.

What fascinated us was that they were passing it around and it was still alive. "What? Are you taking it to the zoo? Got a kid that needs something for show-n-tell?"

I guess we should be more terrified than we were, but at least we know to fumigate that compartment and to look closely in all the others.

Anyway, our electrical issue is fixed. And we can now plug the coach into an electrical pedestal and run our generator. It's been three weeks since we've been able to do either, but we've gotten by okay.

We headed back to Cabela's and got set up for one more night.

Eventually, we drove to Renee's house where she welcomed us and made us feel at home. In addition to inviting us for dinner, she graciously allowed us to have some mail and packages sent to her address. So, when we arrived, she gave us our mail which included the custom ring Linda had made by a Pueblo artisan back in Arizona this past winter. He finally finished it and mailed it to Alaska.

Renee grilled some filet mignon and prepared a wonderful salad and cauliflower casserole. We were concerned about our keto restrictions, but she started keto about a month ago, so we were all on the same page.

We had a lovely meal and chatted into the night not realizing how late it was. We probably overstayed our welcome as Renee had to work the next day. With thanks and hugs, we departed and headed back to our spot at Cabela's.

Tomorrow, I have several errands to run and then we're heading to Whittier for a few days. It's only about an hour to an hour and a half away, so we can take our time, finish up some things in Anchorage, and then move on. Hopefully, we'll find a place to camp on this Fourth of July weekend. Stay tuned to see if we did.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 68 - Travel Day From Copper Center To Anchorage, Alaska

Today we had a 200-mile drive to Anchorage from Copper Center.

But I got up early enough to see if I could get another fish or two before we left. No luck, but I met Dan McDowell of TheLastFrontiersman.com guide service.

Dan specializes in guiding disabled travelers (especially disabled veterans) and their families on fishing trips on the Kenai River. He's on vacation now and doing some fishing across the state himself, but I got some good information and a couple of tips on guides from him.

Soon, we were packed up and ready to go. We said goodbye to all our Salmon Grove friends - Kory & Sara & Kyleigh, Steve & Kathy, Lee & Claudia, and Dan. They were all so helpful and welcoming, and they got more excited when I caught a fish than when they did. And, coincidentally, Kory & Sara and Steve & Kathy were leaving today as well.

I had filled our fresh water tank last night, and we dumped tanks on the way out this morning. It was another sunny day and I took this shot from the road as we went north toward Glennallen.

 

 

As we turned west, we could see the peaks of the mountains that we couldn't see last time we traveled the route, but there was a smokey haze from the large fire in the Kenai Peninsula.

 

 

 

Kory & Sara were going in the same direction, and this is their motorhome going over the hill as we continued toward Anchorage.

 

 

Once again, about five miles east of Sutton, the road improved and we breathed a sigh of relief. We have a new noise in the motorhome when we go over wavy sections of the road, and our refrigerator door has gone wonky. While the rig is in for service tomorrow, we'll have them adjust the door, although who knows how long that might last.

In the late afternoon, we pulled into our stopover Anchorage home at Cabela's. There weren't nearly as many RVs as the last time we were here. We pulled into the same spot we had before and set up for the night.

The first thing we wanted to do was get our cooler full of frozen fish shipped. However, there was a problem. Because tomorrow is a holiday, FedEx and other shippers wouldn't ship anything today for fear of not being able to deliver it the Fourth of July. The earliest anything would go out would be Friday and then only if there was guaranteed Saturday delivery to the package destination. And we didn't have a way of keeping the fish frozen until Friday.

Then I found Alaska Luggage & Seafood Shipping. Their policy is to never ship fish on Friday to avoid frozen fish possibly sitting unclaimed over the weekend, so if we went with them, our shipment wouldn't go out until Monday. However, they have freezer storage service, and since we were shipping with them, they stored the fish without charge. The guy I talked to on the phone was reassuring, but the new clerk where I dropped the fish off didn't instill much confidence.

It was a valuable package and it's extremely expensive to overnight frozen seafood, so I called the boss back and asked him to personally supervise our shipment. He assured me he would and everything would be fine. So, Linda's Mom is supposed to get the fish by noon on Tuesday. Fingers crossed.

After that, we went into Cabela's to look for some fishing tackle and a heavy duty fly rod for Linda to use for Sockeye Salmon on the Kenai River. They were out of a lot of supplies, and we couldn't get anyone to wait on us. So we left.

I later drove over to the Bass Pro Shop on the other side of town. Same thing. I had questions but was completely ignored, and they were out of some of the items I wanted. So I left.

I ended up at Sportsman's Warehouse not far from Cabela's and a very nice, knowledgeable guy helped me. We found a heavy duty fly rod outfit - Redington Path - for Linda, and he showed me what he uses on the Kenai and Russian Rivers. He told me what items he thought were junk and worked with me on finding the best gear for the price. He even showed me some knots, and he tied the lines and leaders together on Linda's new rod. Now that's the customer service I was looking for.

Back at the rig, Linda determined she hadn't had enough protein, so I went got us both burgers at the Smashburger in front of Cabela's. After that, we settled in with our excellent Verizon internet service and eventually called it a night.

Tomorrow, we take the rig the mile over to Great Alaskan Holidays and, hopefully, we'll leave with our electrical system working again. In the evening, we're having dinner at Renee's place. She is an Anchorage resident that attended our Spring Rally in April in Nevada, and she has graciously invited us for a Fourth of July meal. So, we won't be celebrating Independence Day completely in a customer waiting room and parking lot.

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2019 Alaska Trip - Day 67 - Just Fishin' & Hangin' At Salmon Grove Campground, Copper Center, Alaska

As expected, after last night's 2:30 a.m. bedtime, we slept in.

And it's been so hot here the last few days, we were in no hurry to get too active.

Eventually, Linda got crafty and showed some of the ladies T-shirt braiding.

I really wanted to get three more salmon before we head out tomorrow morning. In the afternoon, it took awhile, but I finally caught a Sockeye for dinner. And then I managed to get another.

So, I've caught twelve Sockeyes since we've been here, and we were given two more. We ran out of room in our freezer and had to put a bunch in the camper freezer. Tomorrow, when we go to Anchorage, we'll ship a load of fish to Linda's Mom in Florida. 

For tonight, Linda prepared the fish just like last night, but we added a little more parmesan cheese as I grilled it.

 

 

That's half a fish. And, again it was fantastic!

After dinner, I noticed there was a clear view of Mt. Drum, and I don't think I've mentioned that we could see it from the Salmon Grove Campground here. So, I took a couple photos.

Mt. Drum is a 12,000-foot peak in the Wrangell Mountains.

 

 

 

We can even see Mt. Wrangell in the distance from the campground as well.

A little later, we were invited to go to a bar to shoot some pool. We walked up to the Copper Rail Depot Saloon and joined Kory & Sara and Jack and Steve for some pool and refreshments. Campground Manager, Dan, joined us a little later.

It was still Kory's birthday, so we bought a round and enjoyed listening to music, playing pool, watching the model trains, and chatting with Ron, the bartender. We closed down the little bar, and walked back home where we called it an early night for a change.

Tomorrow, we say goodbye to the Klutina River and all our new friends as we make our way back to Anchorage to have our RV electrical issue fixed on the Fourth of July.

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2019 Alaska Trip Post Index

Here are links to the individual posts for our 2019 Alaska trip from the day we crossed the Canadian border on April 27. We'll update this index as we go. At the time of this posting, we are updated through June 30.

These links take you to that specific post and then you can go forward or backward a day at a time by clicking on the links at the top of the post above the post title and date.

 

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 1 - April 27 - Entering Canada & Welcomed By A Blizzard, Calgary, Alberta

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 2 - April 28 - Safe & Sound With Friends, Cochrane, Alberta

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 3 - April 29 - Visit With An Old Friend & Resting Up, Cochrane, Alberta

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 4 - April 30 - Beautiful Drive Though Banff National Park & Jasper National Park (Icefields Parkway), Valemount, British Columbia

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 5 - May 1 - Short Trip From Valemount to the Beaver River Recreation Site, McBride, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 6 - May 2 - Hanging Out At Beaver River Recreation Site, McBride, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 7 - May 3 - Moving From Beaver River Rec Site to Cobb Lake Rec Site With Lots of Bear Sightings, Vanderhoof, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 8 - May 4 - Relaxing, Paddling, Bird Watching, and Eating Well At Cobb Lake Rec Site, Vanderhoof, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 9 - May 5 - Peaceful Morning At Cobb Lake, Then Continuing West With A Stop At Sunset Lake Rec Site, Topley, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 10 - May 6 - Change of Plans, Short Move To An RV Park, Houston, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 11 - May 7 - RV Service in Houston, And A Move to Ksan Historical Village, Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 12 - May 8 - Beautiful Day At Ksan Campground Ends With Pork Fest, Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 13 - May 9 - From Hazelton to Terrace, British Columbia, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 14 - May 10 - From Terrace to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada & Taking the Ferry to Ketchikan, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 15 - May 11 - Getting Logistics Squared Away in Ketchikan, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 16 - May 12 - Morning Boat Tour Then Ferry Ride to Prince of Wales Island, Craig, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 17 - May 13 - Boat Tour, Beach Combing, & Evening Search For Fishing Spots, Craig, Prince of Wales Island, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 18 - May 14 - Island Tour & A Little Fishing, Prince of Wales Island, Craig, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 19 - May 15 - Boys Do A Charter Fishing Trip & Girls Do A Beach Combing Trip By Boat & Then We Moved, Prince of Wales Island, Hollis, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 20 - May 16 - Kayaking & Crabbing, Prince of Wales Island, Hollis, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 21 - May 17 - Ferry Back To Ketchikan & Signal Creek Campground, Ketchikan, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 22 - May 18 - Misty Fjords Boat Tour, Ketchikan, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 23 - May 19 - Fishing Ward Creek & Ferry To Wrangell, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 24 - May 20 - Morning Beach Combing & Afternoon Boat Tour To LeConte Glacier, Wrangell, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 25 - May 21 - More Beach Combing, Fishing, & Ferry To Petersburg, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 26 - May 22 - Laundry & Catch-Up Day, Petersburg, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 27 - May 23 - Morning Rain, Afternoon Beach Combing & Fishing, Petersburg, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 28 - May 24 - Three Lakes Loop Hike & First Moose, Petersburg, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 29 - May 25 - All Day Ferry Ride From Petersburg To Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 30 - May 26 - Intro To Sitka & Starrigavan Recreation Area, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 31 - May 27 - Harbor Mountain, Blue Lake, Beaver Lake Hike, & Beach Combing, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 32 - May 28 - Charter Fishing, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 33 - May 29 - Library, Totem Park, & First Brown Bear Sighting, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 34 - May 30 - Impromptu Fly Fishing, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 35 - May 31 - Rainy Day Move & Keto-fying Our RV, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 36 - Rainy Daytime Beach Camping, Evening Fishing, & Late Night Ferry Boarding, Sitka, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 37 - Ferry From Sitka To Juneau, Mendenhall Campground, & Wildlife, Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 38 - Ferry From Juneau To Gustavus & Bartlett Cove, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 39 - Glacier Bay National Park Boat Tour & Evening Ranger Program, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 40 - Bartlett Cove & Ferry To Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 41 - Beach Combing On Douglas Island & More Wildlife, Including Bears, At Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 42 - Anniversary Kayaking To Mendenhall Glacier & Ice Cave Exploring, Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 43 - Ladies Beach Comb & Guys Hang Around Camp, Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 44 - Going Solo On Tracy Arm Fjord Tour - Bears, Seals, Whales, & A Major Glacier Calving Event, Juneau, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 45 - Ferry From Juneau To Haines & Getting Our Bearings In Haines, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 46 - Chores & An RV Electrical Problem, Haines, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 47 - Figuring Out RV Repair Options, Then Linda Beach Combs, Haines, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 48 - Fishing Charter In Haines, Haines Highway, & Day Ends With Bears, Yukon Territory, Canada

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 49 - Completing The Haines Highway & First Time On The Alaska Highway As We Made Our Way Back Into Alaska Staying At Deadman Lake Campground

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 50 - Horrible Alaska Roads & Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glenallen, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 51 - Glenn Highway To Anchorage & Cabela's, Anchorage, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 52 - RV Electrical Verdict & Backtracking, Anchorage to Eureka Summit, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 53 - On To Valdez For A Few Nights, Valdez Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 54 - Prince William Sound Glacier & Wildlife Tour, Valdez, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 55 - Paddling Valdez Glacier Lake, Valdez, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 56 - Valdez To Chitina, Worthington Glacier & Moose Sightings, Chitina, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 57 - Copper River Fish Wheels, Chitina, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 58 - Chitina To McCarthy & Root Glacier Hike, McCarthy, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 59 - Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark, Kennecott, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 60 - Packrafting On Kennicott Glacier Lake & Trip Back To Chitina, Chitina, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 61 - Moving To Copper Center For Some Salmon Fishing, Copper Center, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 62 - Salmon Fishing Success On The Klutina River, Copper Center, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 63 - Town Run, Business Stuff, & Late Night Salmon Fishing, Copper Center, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 64 - More Klutina River Salmon Fishing, Copper Center, Alaska

2019 Alaska Trip - Day 65 - Chores & More Klutina River Salmon Fishing, Copper Center, Alaska

 

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