#radicalsabbatical: March 2013

About a month ago I looked into flights for my big Alaska trip. To my surprise, they were not as economical as I was hoping for, so I started to consider the alternate option(s) – drive to Bellingham then catch the four day ferry, North to Haines. In crunching the numbers it all (almost) started to make sense. Unfortunately, I was late to the game. Apparently it’s a popular time to load the rig and head North, to get up early for the commercial fishing season. Ferries were booked for cars – so, somehow, someway, I was convinced/convinced myself to drive. To Alaska. From California. Right, what was I thinking? So, I now find myself in the middle of a trans Canada drive; North, from Washington to Alaska. Today I passed the halfway point miles-wise, but unfortunately not time-wise. Just wrapping up day three on the road, I have four left before I arrive in Haines, AK, where I will spend three weeks with Alaska Heli to see if I can’t ‘get mine.’

Days 1-3:

The drive from SF to the boarder was uneventful, as expected. At the boarder crossing the Canadians made me sweat it just a touch before letting me in, but in the end, Silvia and I slithered past customs and into BC, heading North and East making our way to the Log Cabin Pub at Spence Bridge where I called it a night. The drive along the Fraser river was just stunning. Rivers up here are big, not Mississippi big, but big like some of our larger Western rivers like The Snake.

On day three I finally found winter, and ended up driving about 150 miles on a snow packed road from Prince George to where I now find myself in Chetwynd. Two lanes, and many hours of white knuckle driving that I think are pretty indicative of what the next few days will be.

After 31 hours in the drivers seat, I’m happy to take a few beers down and numb up a bit before the first of my cold nights. It’s currently dumping outside of “The Pub,” and the forecast is for 3 Fahrenheit this evening. I anticipate that this will be the real indicator of what the next few nights will be like sleeping in the back of good ‘ol Silvia where I’m expecting down to -18 temps once I venture into the Yukon.

The first of many Northbound milestones

Jessie, David & Wilco took great care of me in Portland – showed me a good Monday night, with good food, convo & a nice flat spot for Slivia

Made it through

A narrow spot in the grand Fraser River

Serious fuel-up in the AM in Cache Creek, BC

My first (of hopefully many) Northern Exposure moments

Fueled up & about half way to Haines

Slowed down about 1,000 miles from AK when winter is found

Day 4:

I woke up this morning to some chilly temps outside (low single digits), but was plenty warm in the cab thanks to the -20 bag Steve lent me. I have a feeling I will give that bag a run for it’s money this evening here in Toad River, BC.

The day’s driving went better than expected as blue sky was out by about 10AM, and the roads were more or less free of deep snow for the majority of my day. By mid-morning I made it into the town of Dawson Creek and found the beginning of the Alaskan Highway, a road that was cut in the ‘40’s to connect the contiguous US with Alaska. Some of the towns I passed through today were unreachable by any modern transport other than plane until that road was created. Before I ventured over the Rocky Mountains, I was so far North and East that I passed by rivers that find their end in the Arctic Ocean. Pretty mind blowing to me. I made such good progress that I pushed past my goal of Fort Nelson and up into the Rocky Mountains over the highest pass on the Alaskan Highway to Toad River where I settled in for the evening.

Some chilly AM temps when I fired up the truck

Home sweet home

Sun rises late in Northern BC

Silvia and I finally made it to the ALCAN – after 1,700 miles on the road

Working our way into the Rocky Mountains

Found some Stone Sheep blocking the road

As well as a large heard of Elk grazing along the ALCAN

Sun starts to dip along with the temps

Day 5:

Burr, burr. I woke up to very cold, -13 F temps. I think I need to repeat, burr.

My morning ritual at this point is to start & warm the truck and start to thaw everything out – everything is frozen. I stuck my toothpaste, water bottles and face wash on the floorboards under high heat while I went into Toad River Lodge for a bite before hitting the road. With just a little protest this morning, Silvia (more or less) started right away.

The sun slowly rose behind me as I headed West to start what I thought might be the best part of my drive, with anticipation of a mid-day dip in Laird hot springs, and had heard chatter of some enormous bison on the side of the road past Muncho Lake. The sun hit the Rocky Mountain peaks and reflections off the Toad River were electric orange. As the sun rose more, peaks turned yellow, sky deep blue and the shadows in the valleys a dark purple. It was really a gorgeous, crisp morning.

I arrived at Laird hot springs mid-morning to a balmy -3 F and made the walk out the elevated walkway a half mile or so to what is definitely the most amazing and tastefully built natural hot springs I’ve ever seen. I’ve been to my fair share of public pool inspired hot springs in the US and Canada only to be disappointed. Here, there were two pools, with natural rocky bottoms, all wood changing areas and platforms, and the best part was, other than two very nice Quebecois women, I had it to myself. At the downstream end of the lower pool a cold river entered, and snaked its way away from the warm water. It started about three feet wide, and was shoulder width at it’s narrowest. The condensation from the steam rising out of the pools had covered the surrounding foliage with a thin layer of frost, and traveling up the river was like venturing into a fairytale – it felt like being transported to Alice in Wonderland.

As I got further in the day’s drive, miniature Alaskan style peaks starter slowly popping up with big slabbed faces, and long fluted spines – I definitely started to get excited for my next few weeks.

Today I got to see a gigantic moose, a couple herd of caribou and just tons of bison – definitely more than 50. All in all, just an incredible day on the road. I made it further than expected and treated myself to a hotel room in the buzzing metropolis of Whitehorse – at 23,000 people, it holds around 70% of the total population of The Yukon.

Just a 5 to 6 hour drive tomorrow and I should arrive in Haines mid day, a full day early.

Was a pretty cold night in the rig

Gorgeous AM light as I poke my way West

Mountains start to look a little more interesting in The Rockies

Elevated path on the way out to Laird Hot Springs

Shed the cold weather gear and take a dip

Just the most incredible hot springs

Air was so cold that the trunks froze up almost immediately as soon as I changed out of them – so much so, that they could stand on their own – one final look back down at the pools

These guys are even huge on the road signs

My first of many Bison

They hang by the road, and root down to the ground to graze

Made it to They Yukon

In every herd there is always one that is inquisitive – you know you are North when you type the word Caribou

Day 6:

The road West from Whitehorse was considerably less traveled than the Alaskan Highway that I had seen so far, and even more so for the turnoff South at Haines Junction towards the US border for Haines. The drive itself was pretty uneventful – as I neared the coast the clouds socked in and the views were fairly inconsistent. About 20 miles from the border, the mountains started to look a little more impressive, though it will be really telling when this storm breaks. As I pulled into Haines it started to snow heavily, and when I got to Alaska Heli, I was informed that they just came off 6 out of 7, and the weather would be sticking around for a few days. Fortunately I have some time here this go around and the reset will be good for the overall trip. I cruised into town this evening for provisions (read beer & booze) and saw more than a dozen Bald Eagles along the way. I’m just getting settled into 35-mile house (the plywood palace), and expect some downtime; hopefully we’ll get out by Tuesday or Wednesday.

2,800 miles and I’ve made it to Alaska. It was never on my bucket list, but it sure is a cool feeling to have driven from SF, up through The Yukon all the way to Alaska. During the six days it took to make it here, I almost completely forgot the end goal of travel for three weeks of heli skiing in AK – definitely has potential to be one of the biggest trips of my. I just got into the drive, it was just an adventure in itself just to be on the road through all this country. It definitely gives me an appreciation for just how big North America is, and how uninhabited and untouched Canada is. I’m looking forward to the day that I get to repeat the drive in an RV during the warmer months of the year.