8-19-09: Jasper, Alberta

8-19-09: During our drive today, we saw a young coyote alongside the road. We made a detour to visit Jasper Nat'l Park in Alberta. We saw some female mountain sheep with their young; they stopped traffic since they were in the road. As we passed the town of Jasper, there was a small group of tourist fools standing 15 ft from a bull elk grazing on grass ( so much for keeping your distance from wildlife).

We camped at Whistlers Campground in the park.

8-18-09: Ft. St. John

8-18-09: We finally drove out of the rain and clouds upon reaching Ft. Nelson (yea sunshine!). As we left Muncho Lake though, we saw a male caribou alongside the road. Ironically, he was not far from a wildlife viewing signpost. We drove most of the day and stopped slightly north of Ft. St. John to camp at Charlie Lake Campground.

8-17-09 Muncho Lake, B.C.

8-17-09: We awoke to rain again; a rain cloud must be following the Paterson clan. A full day of driving took us from Whitehorse, past Watson Lake, to Muncho Lake, B.C. (about 3 hrs west of Ft. Nelson). We rented a cabin at Northern Rockies Lodge; good thing because the rain was still a constant companion.

P.S. During our drive on the Alaska hwy, we saw a sign to watch for buffalo on the road. We saw a total of 20-25 buffaloes or wood bison. Wood bison are a threatened species in B.C.; only 250 live in this area and 20 are killed in vehicle collisions yearly. We also were lucky to see a sow bear and 2 cubs cross the hwy today too.

8-16-09 Return to Whitehorse

8-16-09: Mostly a travel day today; we took the Alaska (AlCan) Hwy south instead of going north through Chicken and the Klondike Hwy (the way we came up) and got to see some new vistas. We took a stretch break at the Tetlin Nat’l Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center and could see the distant mountain peaks from Wrangell-St. Elais Nat’l Park and Preserve from the outside deck. In the Burwash Landing-Destruction Bay area, we gazed upon the beautiful, light blue-green color of Kluane Lake which had lots of whitecaps from the stiff wind blowing over it.

Our next stop was at Haines Junction for a late lunch-early dinner. We reached Whitehorse, Yukon around 7 pm and landed at the Robert Service Campground again.

8-15-09 Return trip on Glenn Hwy; a Japanese moment (pics of Cousin It with Sasha, Orca VW bug, Matanuska Glacier)

8-15-09: We packed up a very wet camp this morning and left the Kenai Peninsula. After leaving Anchorage we drove east on the Glenn Highway through spectacular mountains and past immense glaciers. When we stopped at a roadside pullout to cook up Raman noodles for lunch, I (Mike) dried out our tent next to the van. A most peculiar episode occurred during this interlude; a bus full of Japanese tourists stopped to view and photograph the nearby glacier (Matanuska glacier). They quickly migrated to us! Apparently we were more interesting with our drying tent, our dog Sasha tied up, Patty sweeping out the car mats, and a cook-stove boiling Raman noodles. Without a howdy do or a questioning glance, they commenced walking amongst our gear, around me as I cooked, taking pictures of Sasha and hand feeding her from the food in her dog bowl, and laughing and chattering between themselves. We felt like we were intriguing animals in a zoo, or perhaps like an aboriginal family during a colonial inspection- “You see Margaret they can use utensils too”, “They are soo cute Howard.”

Patty had to take a picture of someone’s VW bug that drove up to the same roadside pullout. It was a black and white bug decorated as a killer whale (the fins were a permanent part of the car!). Gaby and Sasha also had Dad take their picture where Gaby made herself look like Cousin It of the Addams Family.

Next we drove almost to Tok and set up camp for the night at the Eagle Trail campground. Before that, we saw a cow moose and her calf in a field below the highway.

8-14-09 Seward, AK (2 pics of Exit Glacier then mountain in Seward)

8-14-09: After raining all night, the day dawned cold and overcast with the clouds close to the base of the mountains. The kids and I visited the Alaska SeaLife Center while Dad hung out at a local café with Internet access. There were exhibits about the marine animals/seabirds, fishery, how they conduct research on sea lions, etc. We attended an interesting slideshow presentation on the endangered Stellar sea lion. They are conducting research to determine what is causing an 80% population decline since the mid-1970s. The kids found the underwater viewing area fascinating and saw the Center’s male sea lion, Woody, up close. Unfortunately, the camera’s battery pack died out just when I was going to take their picture with Woody resting underwater beside them.

On our way out of Seward, we checked out Exit Glacier. There were signposts with different years posted along the trail that marked how far the glacier had extended each year; it has been in retreat since about 1915.

We began our return journey home after this; we ended up setting up camp in the rain in Black Bear Campground; Portage Valley south of Anchorage (we previously stayed here on our drive to the Kenai Peninsula).

8-13-09 Seward, AK (pic of another sea otter encounter)

8-13-09: We left Homer en route to Seward, AK. We had some dinner downtown then rented a rustic cabin for the night at Miller's Landing. This was a welcome change since the weather was cold with drizzling rain.

Mike ran into town on an errand and happened upon a sea otter in the bay on his drive back to the cabin. He got some good close-ups of this cute guy!

8-12-09 Homer, AK (pics: Homer Spit beach, Homer visitor ctr, sea otters)

8-12-09: We explored the town of Homer more fully today. We went to Homer Spit (a spit of land extending into Kachemak Bay) and walked along the beach. The tide was out so we were able to observe some interesting critters from the depths. Sasha tried to drink the ocean water several times before she finally decided it wasn’t a good idea. Later after a latte for Mike and a caribou sausage dog for the kids, we went to the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center, a beautiful and informative center dedicated to understanding and conserving the marine environment.

We learned how the region’s Native peoples used the abundant marine life for all their daily needs (food, clothing, shelter). On the scene next were the Russian and American explorers, fur trappers, traders, and hunters. They introduced non-native artic fox to the islands which caused devastating declines in bird populations (this led to the creation of a Nat’l Wildlife Refuge). The exhibit about WWII battles on the Refuge during the Aleutian Campaign and how Cold War contaminants and even rats continue to plague Refuge islands was interesting. Amazingly, the Alaska Maritime Nat’l Wildlife Refuge extends from the Artic Ocean to the SE panhandle of Alaska.

After dinner, we rode our bikes along the Homer Spit and stopped at a small bay to make out what animal was swimming in it. It turned out we were watching 2 sea otters! They would disappear underwater, surface again, splash around, and swim on their backs while eating their dinner on their bellies. The kids were quite excited!

8-11-09 Portage Valley; Homer, AK (pic of Portage Glacier and Portage Lake)

8-11-09: We rode our bikes down the bike path by our camp to the Begich, Boggs Vistior Center in the Portage Valley. The center was built on the remnants of a terminal moraine (the pile of rocks that marks the maximal advance of a glacier) left by Portage Glacier. We had beautiful views of Portage Glacier and various glaciers with blue ice. The visitor center overlooks Portage Lake which had some ice chunks floating in it. We learned about glaciers, the Exxon Valdez oil spill and clean-up, the dangerous mudflats of Turnagain Arm (people can sink into it like quicksand and must be rescued before the tide comes back in), and even about the ice worm that eats algae from glacier surfaces (it's related to the earthworm).

We drove on to Soldatna then to Homer, AK. Homer is a scenic town (or per a bumper sticker "a quaint drinking village with a fishing problem") on southernmost tip of the Kenai Peninsula with a couple of volcanoes in the area.

8-10-09 Anchorage

8-10-09: The day started with a visit to the Imaginarium Science Discovery Center in Anchorage. It was a small science center comprised of a marine life/fisheries section, a galaxy room, a reptile viewing section (the 2 American alligators on display came from our neck of the woods-the Gator Farm in Mosca, CO lol!), a bubbles exhibit, and the main exhibit which focused on planes/the physics behind flight.

Afterwards we went to Kincaid Park for a ride on their bike trail; the kids continue to strengthen their biking legs. We left Anchorage and stopped to view Turnagain Arm (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean where Beluga whales tend to gather). The tide in this area was receding and leaving behind vast mudflats with channels of quick-moving, riptide water. We camped at Black Bear Campground and saw spawning sockeye (red) salmon in the creek by camp.

8-9-09 Arrive in Anchorage, AK

8-9-09: We left Denali Nat'l Park & Preserve in soggy condition. It had rained most of the previous night and we had to break camp in the drizzle. We drove to Anchorage, AK, found food and a motel, and hunkered down for the night (Patty got the blog updated 1st).

8-8-09 Denali Nat'l Park; Savage River Trail (pics of Savage River)

8-8-09: The day started with a visit to the Murie Science Center in Denali Park. Alous Murie was a famous biologist who performed important wolf research for the Park Service in the 1930s. Even though the Center was just 1 room, it had 5 interactive computers for self-directed learning and a kids' activity corner. Murie's wolf study was exhibited (he was commissioned to see if wolves were the reason for a 2-3 year decline in Dall sheep populations as was popularly believed but he showed that the decrease in sheep populations was due to severe winters rather than wolf predation). Other stations demonstrated how to identify different Alaskan animal tracks, showed a 5 minute video recording on how quickly a forest fire consumes an area of forest, and reproduced the calls of a variety of birds.

Then we headed to the Savage River trail loop; a 3 mile loop that is the last trail in the park accessible by private car. Otherwise you must purchase a park bus ticket to go further into the park. The bus trip to Wonder Lake which is the closest you can get to Mt. McKinley (Denali) other than climbing it (Mike climbed it in 1981 and it took him 36 days for ascent and descent) would have been an 8 hour, roundtrip bus ride thus we opted out. The kids enjoyed the Savage River trail and we all climbed up a large rock formation that gave us a nice view of the valley below. We saw pika and ptarmigans during our hike.

8-7-09 Museum of the North; Denali National Park, Alaska (pics from the museum: Dad & Luke, kids with gold exhibit, Blue Babe)

8-7-09: Before leaving Fairbanks, we explored the Museum of the North which is affiliated with the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks (it's on their campus). The museum was well worth the admission price! The room called the Gallery of Alsaka contained amazing exhibits focusing on the cultures, wildlife, geography, and history of Alaska's 5 major geographic regions. Highlights included a major display of gold, a video on science behind the aurora borealis, Alaska Native culture displays, and the Blue Babe exhibit; the world's only mummified Ice Age Steppe Bison. Another gallery displayed historical paintings from the late 1800s to mid-1900s including some works from Alaskan master painters.

Mike and I decided that turning south toward Denali Nat'l Park and Preserve would be a better option for the family at this point than continuing northward to see the Artic Sea (Mike was bummed but neither of us was looking forward to the added mileage). We camped within the park at Riley Creek Campground. The kids and I (Patty) attended a Ranger presentation on The Denali Fault (there is a major fault line below Mt. McKinley). The ranger gave an informative and amusing talk encompassing earthquakes, volcanoes, fault lines, plate tectonics, geophysics, and even dinosaurs. His funny touches included defining "subduction: (1 land mass sliding under another) using visual figures of a submarine and a duck!

8-6-09 Fairbanks, AK

8-6-09: During our drive, I (Patty) saw a female moose trotting out of the lodgepole pine toward the highway so I hit the brakes to allow her an uneventful crossing; it would have been more of an event to us and our van since colliding with a moose is never a good thing. We rode by North Pole, AK and made it to our destination of Fairbanks. The weather was wet, cloudy and smoky, and in the mid-50s (F degrees). We set up camp and Mike took the kids to a Pioneer Museum while I did laundry.

We had originally wanted to visit the University of Alaska-Fairbanks museum but decided to wait until tomorrow since it would be closing in a few hours.

8-5-09 Dawson City, B.C. then cross into Alaska (pics of Dawson City museum, Alaska customs, Moose)

8-5-09: A trip to the Dawson City Museum was on the agenda today. The museum is housed in the Old Territorial Administration Building; an elegant-looking building built in 1901. The museum featured exhibits on early mining, the native Tr'ondek Hwech'in who inhabit this area, the effects of the Gold Rush, and the actual life of early Dawson residents. Interestingly, this region wasn't covered by ice during the last glaciation thus mammoths and other ice age animals took refuge here from the advancing ice in other parts of their range. The tusks, bones, and teeth exhibited in the museum came from the remains of these animals found by Dawson City area miners working in the permafrost.

We crossed by ferry to continue our drive on the Top of the World Highway, crossed into Alaska, went south on Taylor Highway and camped at West Fork Campground. There was a small lake below our site which looked like perfect moose habitat and it was! We saw a cow moose twice; the 2nd time was late in the evening as she was swimming and tramping about the pond as she submerged her head underwater often to get her fill of pond grass.

FYI: The air in Alaska was thick with smoke thus visibility was greatly hampered. The camp host told us that there were 475 forest fires burning in Alaska.

8-4-09 Whitehorse, B.C. (pics of MacBride museum, camp at Klondike Creek)

8-4-09: Before leaving Whitehorse this morning, the family stopped by the MacBride Museum which explores Yukon's history. We saw a display of native animals, the history of mining & the impact of the Klondike gold rush, a display about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, etc. We were amused to see an old Pepsi labeling machine. As original Pepsi bottles were scarce up north, someone had the idea of recycling beer bottles and putting on the official Pepsi label (by machine). The construction of the Alaska-Canada Highway was also depicted as well as beautiful samples of beadwork on a variety of articles/clothing made by the First Nations people.

We drove onward and camped outside of Dawson City (Klondike Creek). We should cross into Alaska tomorrow. P.S. During our drive, Mike spotted a cow moose and her calf along the roadside.

8-3-09 Canoe trip down the Yukon River

8-3-09: We decided to stay in Whitehorse 1 more day to paddle down the Yukon River. Our canoe ride was about 11 miles long and took 4 hours to complete. We were lucky to see 16 bald eagles total during our paddle; both mature and immature eagles. We stopped at a small beach for lunch and Gaby & Luke enjoyed splashing along the river's edge and looking for pretty rocks. For the takeout, we had to veer of the Yukon River and go upstream a short distance on the Tahkini River. We loaded up and headed back to camp. Everyone is having a hard time going to bed on time due to the 20 hours of daylight we are experiencing daily.

8-2-09 Whitehorse, YT

8-2-09: We remained in Whitehorse for a day of relaxing. We rode our bikes downtown so the kids could enjoy the park. We also rode our bikes to the dam near the campground. They had a small visitor area where we could learn about the fish ladder beside the dam that helps migrating fish bypass the dam. There was a special viewing window looking into a fish holding pen; the fish were awaiting categorization by species, sex, etc. before being allowed to continue their journey.

8-1-09 Teslin, YT

8-1-09: We stopped at Teslin, YT to visit a wildlife museum that a local woman said we could not miss because it was fabulous. She was right! There were life-like mounts of moose, wolves, grizzlies, owls, falcons, deer, polar bear, beavers, mountain goats, Dall sheep, and a variety of native fish. The mounts were in dioramas; a natural environment setting behind a glass enclosure. Mike remarked that the taxidermist who made the mounts was top-notch since the animals were amazingly accurate in regard to their form and facial expressions. We made it to Whitehorse, YT in the afternoon, set up camp, then we went for a bike ride on the riverwalk that followed the beautiful azure-blue Yukon River.

7-31-09 Watson Lake, YT

7-31-09: As we were driving out of Stewart on highway 37a, the family was lucky enough to see a mountain goat trotting along the road and moments later, a wolf standing beside the roadway. We were unable to photograph them since they escaped into the brush shortly after spotting them. This was the highlight of our day since the rest was spent making our way to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory (YT).

The kids liked walking through The Signpost Forest where tourists can drop off a sign from their home area. Dad also took pictures of some forest fires that were burning in the general vicinity as well as along our route. We set up camp west of Watson Lake, made and ate dinner quickly, and retreated to our tent due to an assortment of pesky, biting, flying pests at our site.

7-30-09 Moricetown, Nass River, Bear Glacier, Fish Creek

7-30-09: Just past Smithers was a place called Moricetown where there is a world-renowned canyon where the Bulkey River narrows to only a few meters as it roars with white fury between solid rock walls. We watched the Wet’suwet’en people use traditional fishing methods to gather their winter’s supply of salmon. From the canyon rocks above the river, First Nations fishers use gaff poles and dip nets to harvest migrating salmon.

We branched off on highway 37N instead of continuing on 16W. This is an alternate scenic route to Alaska instead of the much more traveled Alaska-Canada highway. We drove across a single lane bridge over the Nass River which demonstrated powerful wicked waves, strong eddies, boils, and whirlpools. At the pullout by the river, Dad and Luke found tufts of cut fur that likely belonged to a grizzly bear whose hide was skinned by a hunter earlier.

The description of Bear Glacier Park on a local map caused us to take the side road (37a) toward Stewart, B.C. Bear Glacier did not disappoint us; it is a large, beautiful glacier that descends to Strohn Lake (easily seen from the road). Then we ended up in the neighboring communities of Stewart, B.C.-Hyder, AK. The 90 mile long Portland Canal forms a natural boundary between Canada and Alaska. There were steeply sloped coastal mountains all around with snow and glaciers on them.

We crossed over into Hyder to visit Fish Creek Observation Station. Chum salmon were spawning and moving upstream which made it an ideal time to look for bears from the wooden walkway above the creek. We saw 2 grizzlies and 1 black bear. The size of some of the salmon was amazing and their behavior (splashing and jostling around in the creek) during the spawn was interesting. We then returned to Stewart to camp for the night.

7-29-09 Telkwa and Smithers, B.C.

7-29-09: We drove for several hours and came upon the little town of Telkwa, B.C. The kids saw a museum which had a picture-taking spot depicting early settlers and they wanted to check it out. Mom, Gaby, And Luke stepped behind the painted façade while Dad snapped the picture. The small museum contained antique farming implements, antique items of daily life, an old-fashioned classroom, and some First Nations artifacts. We savored an ice cream cone from the booth set up next to the museum before continuing our journey.
The next town was Smithers, B.C. and we decided to find a pet-friendly motel and stop for the day. The town had a pool with a fitness room that we took advantage of for a couple of hours. Our family went out to a restaurant for dinner (a nice treat!) and Mom gave Sasha a little walk about town before retiring for the evening.

7-28 Prince George, BC

7-28-09: We reached Prince George, B.C. and looked for The Exploration Place Science Centre and Museum. The museum housed historical items from Canada’s past, a Canadian sports hall of fame, Canadian Indian artifacts, and a hands-on nature area. The kids saw a variety of animals/insects/reptiles. Luke’s favorite was the red-eared sliding turtle since he’s partial to turtles. Gaby and Luke also enjoyed the play area that had a replica of a showboat along with dress-up clothes as well as a sand pit where you could ‘dig’ for dinosaur bones.

We continued our drive west on Highway 16 to camp at Beaumont Provincial Park which is on the southeastern shores of Lake Fraser. The park occupies the site of historic Ft. Fraser, established by explorer Simon Fraser in 1806.

7-27-09 River where bear encounter occurred

7-27-09: A rather long day started out auspiciously enough with our first bear encounter. As we were packing up camp, I (Mike) noticed a flash of black out of the corner of my eye streaking between some trees. I briefly thought that it could be a black bear but more likely was a raven flitting between branches. As it went toward the river, I ambled on over to the beach overlook to check it out and was surprised to see a large black bear struggling against the current attempting to come back to our bank of the river. I hollered for Patty and the kids to come over and look and I grabbed Sasha’s collar to prevent her from tangling with it. Patty made it over to the overlook, about 10-15 ft above the beach, just as the bear reached shore directly under her. As it clambered out of the river and started to ascend the bank directly toward her, I noticed a particularly swift retreat by my aforementioned spouse. Having never before seen such a rapid movement by her, I correctly deduced that she felt the bear to be an imminent threat to her health and future well-being. As I have enough trouble raising our progeny with her sometimes reluctant but always available assistance, I quickly calculated the rapidly approaching increase in my workload if something happened to her. I therefore stood up above the bear off to Patty’s side and told the four-legged brute that was fast approaching the ‘love of my life’ to “GIT”. This poor half-drowned bear that a short time before had been minding its own business wandering through the peaceful forest looking perhaps for a jar of honey, glanced up at this half-man half-dog apparition standing on the riverbank it had just recently acquired through no insignificant effort. Puzzled by this alien creature it decided the near-drowning experience it had just survived was after all not such a traumatic experience and was in fact a rather pleasant swim on this hot day, so he elected to go for another dip, thus ending our first bear encounter.
We drove back down to Whistler to enjoy the numerous bike trails in town then we loaded up into the van and headed N toward Prince George. We found a campground in Quesnal and settled in for the night. What a day!