Alaska Adventure Part Five - Beat Up in Tok

The roads of the Yukon took their toll on us again. Somewhere between Haines Junction and Tok, Alaska, are three camp chairs in a nice navy Sunbrella cover on rack. Yep, something, I suspect the rack, malfunctioned over one of the atrocious bumps and we arrived in Tok (toke) sans chairs. Damn. We also suffered another busted shelf in the bunk area. The force of the bumps were sufficient enough to pull one of the wood screws through the 5/8" plywood. While we did countersink the screw, there was at least 3/8" thick wood where the screw pulled through. Our bathroom was a disaster zone. A rack on top of the medicine came off the wall and the contents landed on the floor. Also emptying out was a shoe bag style wall netting. We are starting to get better at packing the contents of the trailer to keep things more secure. Not only were the roads bumpy, they were very dusty in several places, too.

Dusty Alcan Highway

Lunch Break for Road Worker

On a positive note, we stopped at a neat little museum in Burwash Landing along Kluane Lake (Kloo-wah-nee). It was worth the $5 admission. There were many exhibits with the animals and birds found in the area. Moose, bears, bison, goats, eagles, owls and more. Plus displays about the native people who lived in the area. If you are passing by, stop and go visit the museum.

Kluane Lake from Destruction Bay

Museum in Burwash Landing

Soon after setting up camp at the Tok RV Village, the big rigs of a caravan started to roll in. You know, those 40 foot motorhomes that cost more than the average house. The sites were tight in the campground so it was a show watching them navigate the narrow roads and trees to get into their site. To top it all off, another caravan arrived. Between the two, there were at least 45 rigs. Whew! The people next to us, who were not part of a caravan, had a 45' Custom Coach motorhome. It was really nice and so were the people. They were from Louisiana and we enjoyed talking to them.

One other nice thing about Tok was having 3G cell service again. And we had about 8 cable TV channels. Woo hoo! We spent two days here restocking the frig and getting some fresh veggies and fruits again. Funny thing...we were told in advance to not bring fresh fruits and vegetables across the borders. So we haven't. Yet only at the Canadian border back in Osoyoos, BC, did the border agent ask if we had any. Which we didn't. We have been very careful to respect the rules, but geez, it hasn't been a problem at all. Knock on wood.

George wanted to have breakfast at a cafe somewhere near Tok where he could get reindeer sausage. He had dined at the Sourdough Cafe on a previous trip. Luckily, the cafe was still in business and still serving reindeer sausage. I ordered bacon but was shamed into trying the sausage. So I did. And I am glad! It was delicious. It was served link style along with two pancakes and two scrambled eggs. We will be sure to stop there on our way back through Tok. Who knows, we might even stay at their campground instead of the crowded Tok RV Village. We spotted a mama moose and two calves not too long after leaving the cafe.

Mama and Her Babies

After breakfast, we continued on our journey towards McCarthy. We had decided on looking for a campground near Chitina (CHIT-na) and not tow the trailer out the 60 miles of unpaved road to McCarthy. After further discussion during our drive, we decided to check out Kenny Lake RV Park and make that our base camp for three nights. This would allow us to do day trips to McCarthy and Valdez, both about 90 miles away in different directions.

Our campsite is nothing spectacular, just a back-in site in a gravel parking lot. But we do have electric hookup. The owners are very nice and are loaning us a couple of camp chairs to use while we are here. The gal who checked us in knew where Twisp was because she was born in Omak and lived in Okanogan, about 45 miles from our house. Small world!

Our Campsite at Kenny Lake

Alaska Adventure Part Four - Alaska Marine Highway

This part of our journey in Alaska took us on the Alaska Marine Highway, aka a ferry ride! We caught the M/V Columbia, AMH's largest ferry, out of Skagway to Haines for a one-hour ferry ride. Short ride but the wait to load was much longer. It took three-plus hours for them to unload the vessel upon arriving in Skagway and then load all of the waiting vehicles, mostly RVs. For those familiar with the Washington State ferry system, or other ferries where you drive on and off from the bow and stern, this ferry required us to load from the side. We drove down a ramp onto a concrete dock and then on to another ramp up into the vehicle area where we were squeezed into line on the car deck. That wasn't too bad. Uh-huh. Eek!

Waiting for the Ferry

Loading Dock for the M/V Columbia

Leaving Skagway

Heading to Haines

Cruise Ship Leaving Skagway

We ate dinner in the snack bar area of the boat since we figured it would be after 8 p.m. before we would arrive at our next destination. We had cold sandwiches, chips and a piece of pie. Yup, main course and dessert along with a beverage. If the ride would have been longer, we would have opted to eat in the main dining room, complete with real plates and silverware. And tablecloths to boot!

Upon reaching Haines, the real experience of the ferry ride began. We would have to back up out of the lane we were parked in to get off of the boat! Yikes! Luckily the ferry workers know their stuff. There were about 5 lanes in our area and we were in lane 4 facing the stern. One by one, they emptied the five lanes behind us until it was our turn. Then the worker guided us backwards, telling George which way to turn the steering wheel and when to turn it hard to get the trailer to pivot. We were almost up against the outside wall of the boat with the back of the trailer. Then we were able to pull forward and out the side door of the ferry onto the ramp. Freedom!! It felt good to be out of there because I found the process very nerve wracking and I wasn't even the one driving. Good job, George!

We spent the night at Haines Hitch-up RV park. Very nicely kept, fairly wide grassy sites, and FREE hot showers. Oooh, that felt so good. I liked the town of Haines. It wasn't so tourist-y as Skagway and they had a much nicer grocery store.

The next morning we departed for Haines Junction back in the Yukon. The Haines highway is extremely scenic, especially once you cross back into Canada and are high up in the mountains. We saw one bear and I glimpsed my first cow moose in the trees up near Haines Junction. Mom and George say it doesn't count because they didn't see it. Well, I did so I'm counting it.

Haines Highway View from the Back Seat

Glacier

See-More on the Haines Highway

Panoramic View

Blurry Bear Pic Proof

We stayed at Pine Lake campground, a Yukon government park. Wow! That was camping. No hookups, but a huge wooded site with the biggest picnic table I have seen. It must have a been a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood with a fresh coat of green enamel paint. We were entertained by the squirrels chasing each other around the trees in our site. Trip sure enjoyed it. Yukon parks provide free firewood so we had a nice little campfire that night. It was a perfect ending to the day.

Our Giant Picnic Table

Nice Campfire

Squirrel Entertainment

More Entertainment

Another good thing of note is the revamped cat carrying area. We bought a piece of cut-to-size lumber in Skagway, and I covered it with non-skid shelf liner. It is working out great! The carriers are more stable and I think the kitties are happier.

Revised Cat Carrier Platform

Alaska Adventure Part Two

We liked the RV park in Telkwa so much, we stayed two nights there. With the Alaska Highway closed, we were not going to be able to have our two night stay at Liard River Hotsprings Provincial Park, so Fort Telkwa became our Liard replacement. The town of Smithers was 10 km away from Telkwa and we were able to restock groceries and hit up the Canadian Tire store for goodies.

I was concerned about the cats riding in their carriers in the trailer and the roughness of the ride. Things were getting tossed around back there and it was stressing me out. The carriers are too big to go up front in the truck cab so I needed to come up with another option. Hooray for Canadian Tire. I purchased two soft sided carriers and put them side by side on the top of the seat. Still room for the dog and me in the backseat to boot, so it was a win-win situation. It took two days of traveling to get out the duct tape and using my best MacGyver skills, taped together wheel leveling blocks to make a platform on top of the seat to better support the carriers. Now mama is less stressed with the kitties up front which makes my fellow travelers happier, too.

Pets in Motion

Mountain by New Hazelton, BC

The Cassiar highway is quite the road. Very bumpy, narrow and winding in many places. However, it is very scenic! Mom and George spotted their first bear in the brush along the roadside but I missed seeing it.

Our first night was spent at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park (Mezy-AD-in). Super nice park with friendly hosts and awesome views. We did not have a lakefront site, but still had a nice one. Met some fun people from Anchorage who were camped next to us.

Meziadin Lake

The next day we drove a few more hours north on the Cassiar to the town of Iskut, BC.

Rest stop north of Bell 2 Lodge

More along the Cassiar

 We spent the night at Mountain Shadow RV Park. It was nicely kept and the view was spectacular! A bear was spotted close to the campsites, but I never saw it. In fact, I haven't seen much wildlife at all. :-(

The view from our window

This morning we left Iskut and are parked for the night just west of Watson Lake, Yukon. Not much scenery but we have power, water and wi-fi again. Although last night's park had wi-fi, it was satellite based and we had a lot of trouble connecting. Couldn't upload or download pictures either.

The Cassiar up to the Alaska Highway was rough again and See-More, our fifth wheel, took another beating. This time the lower bunk window emergency escape latch was damaged and the window won't stay closed. Duct tape to the rescue. Also, the small pull-out pantry next to the kitchen sink had slid completely out. If it keeps up, I'll duct tape that sucker shut, too. For now, I hope the ottoman will keep it from coming off the tracks again.

Our generator basket hold down bracket also got bent over the course of travel up the highway. We've sent feedback to Torklift advising them of it, and have moved the generators back to the front of the truck where the forces of evil are less likely to affect the ride.

I also escaped from my holding cell in the truck today. The dog barrier folds down so I now have it in that position which allows me better views from the back seat. It will be fairly easy to put it back up should we need to contain Trip in the back seat. Nose prints on the windshield are not welcomed.

Scenic Valley

Watch for these signs!! It means bumpy road.

Unmarked, but Paved Highway

Finally! The Alaska Highway west of Watson Lake

Who? Me? Not today!

We will spend one night here near Watson Lake and tomorrow it is onto Teslin, Yukon and then into Skagway on Friday.