Chaos Leaves Town

Next morning, we head off down the road, south, into the vast stretches of mid-central British Columbia, Canada. On highway 37. Heading for Prince George.  Vast areas of treed mountains & valleys dotted with the occasional lake. Very few homes spotted along the way, in fact, didn’t see hardly any roads other then the one we were on nearly all day. In the early afternoon we came upon this road construction. There was 30-40 kilometers of ripped up road that was just graveled. At least they’d already graded the surface most of the way so it was somewhat smooth. Near the end, going no more then 30MPH, there was a huge bump followed by a dip that crossed the road. My RV went UP, then DOWN. Felt like a roller coaster ride. Lots of compression. Which is what I believe caused my tire to blow out a few hundred miles later.

Another long construction area.

This stretch was typical of the entire roadway in the construction zone. The road that wasn’t ripped up was in pretty bad shape so the work was certainly needed, it’s just I could have done without the bumpy ride. Our slow speed wasn’t a problem since I had no schedule and my brother had two weeks of vacation with more then a week left of it.

We pass a huge lake, didn't see a single house next to it.

You might notice that this area has lots of pine trees, but they’re not the size I’m use to in the Pacific Northwest. Stunted like.

Here's the same lake, only miles later.

The same lake, I believe it's Dease Lake, we stopped to do a hike up into the hills. There is a provincial park here.

Just off of the trail.

An hour later and it's back on the road. The park was a nice place to have lunch.

Dease Lake turned out to be 25 miles long. Not very wide though, a few miles at best. The rest of the day was uneventful. I don’t remember where we stayed that night and I don’t have a picture of my RV set up in a campground for the evening of the 5th. This area of BC is lightly populated and RV parks are few and far between but we must have found someplace to stay since I don’t remember boondocking it. Sometimes we could go for an hour without seeing a building, road, or another car for that matter.

The next morning we continued on south on highway 37 to Kitwanga and then east on highway 16. There were many small towns along this stretch of highway and we stopped occasionally to sample the local brews or do some tourist shopping. One time we passed some road construction in a small town, their equipment was making lots of noise and Dan makes a wise crack about how I should pull over and fix my flat. Sure enough, 25 miles later, I get a flat. He jinked me. I got the flat (blow out) on a two lane highway without shoulders so I backed the RV up to a farmers property and pulled in off the road. Went and talked to the farmer and got his permission to park there while we got the flat fixed.

Getting ready for the emergency road service guy to change my flat.

Getting pad ready for a manufactured home.

Turned out that the farmers son was getting married and several people were working on doing some fill work around the trailer pad shown above, which was to be their new home after the wedding. The kid was there with his fiance. Pretty cute the way they hung onto each other the whole time they were zipping around in a big farm loader scooping up gravel and dirt and filling in holes.

It was a beef farm of 1000 acres.

After 3 hours, the ERS (emergency road service) truck showed up and the guy put my spare on in short order and off we went. Cost us 4 hours overall and it was getting late so we stopped at a bar in a small town around 5:30 and had dinner. After dark we headed over to the local city park and set up for the night without services. I believe we were in Telkwa that night.

This part of the journey could be called a little boring and lonely as there was practically nothing other then the occasional tumbled down ancient business along the road. There was hardly any traffic. The day was gloomy and overcast but it was warm enough and scenic enough to make it a little interesting.

One of the numerous lakes along the way.

After driving 7-8 hours, I was in no mood to keep at it and when I saw this RV park along the road, even tho it was 4:30 in the afternoon, I pulled in and paid the fee for the night. The guy that took my money was Chinese and didn’t understand a word of English other then the amount of money he wanted. Every question I asked was answered with a yes, when I came back to complain of the outright lies he told me, like he said, “Yes” when I asked if they had 30 amp electric, he had (or pretended to have) no idea what I was talking about. They had nothing at the RV sites, no electric, no water, no sewer, and they certainly didn’t have Wi-Fi like he told me. They did have a dump station, but also a water source with a sign put up by the provincial government that said the water was undrinkable. The owner hires these people from China, they don’t speak English, then uses them as virtual slaves to run his business out here in the boondocks. Or so I surmised. It looked like there were 3 Chinese immigrants working here. Not that there’s anything wrong with all this, it’s just that the owner could have a printed sheet to pass out to campers telling them what’s up. The owner is a douche.

But the asking price was low, I didn’t want to drive any further, the lake was beautiful, so we stayed. There were several nicely remodeled cabins there, and a very nice bathroom with showers. One problem was they only started the generator (genset) for electricity in the shower room or cabins in the evening or the morning on request, since it was late in a very slow season. That’s all they had for electricity at this large campground, a big diesel generator, which was kind of noisy. None of the cabins were occupied and only 3 of the RV spaces had vehicles in them. They did fire it up for themselves to watch TV after it got dark. Dan went over for a shower while it was still light out so they didn’t have to fire up the genset just for him.

The lake where we decided to stay the night.

And another view of the lake.

Here's a look back into the park after we got settled at our site.

Here's where we eventually parked for the night. A nice spot right on the lake.

Suddenly, it turned calm so I grabbed my camera and got these shots of the lake.

Nearing sunset and some actual sunshine peeking under the clouds. Didn't see any of that all day.

The gap...this was very cool in person, this shot doesn't do the view justice.

Although we didn’t have any services, it was a pleasant stay here. The owners have spent allot of money on rebuilding here, hope they have enough in the old bank account to hang on and weather this economic storm. I know up in Fairbanks, our RV traffic was down 40%. Can’t imagine these people doing better then us considering how far from any major town and how far off the beaten path they are.

We had arrived in Whitehorse in the dark the night before, found a provincial park and parked the rig for the night, without services. Next morning I find that the refer isn’t working. I remembered passing a RV repair shop the night before so off we went to get it fixed. But first I ran some tests and discovered that the burner had propane, it just wasn’t lighting. I could bypass the control board and get it to light but it wouldn’t stay lit. At the shop I told the tech what my tests had shown and he had the control board replaced in 45 minutes.

Then we headed into Whitehorse, and we wandered around town visiting bars and pubs trying to find one that had satellite TV and a comfortable place to watch the University of Oregon Ducks football game. Oh, and would turn on the game for us. After finding one, off we went to explore.

There is a very swift river that runs through town that forced a paddle wheel boat builder to invent a very low draft boat that was an innovation of its day.

Dan in front of the paddle wheel.

Here's that river. Very fast. Wide and deep too. The Frazer River maybe?

Very wide paddle with a large diameter...

Four stories, the Bridge, cabins, more cabins and the mess (dinning hall), then the storage bay. Another deck below that but not much room there since it was so shallow.

We did visit a small museum in downtown but there wasn’t much there so we didn’t stay long or take any pictures. The town of Whitehorse does have a colorful history, we just didn’t run into anything about it.

After the game, since it was late, we spent another night at the local provincial park and got back on the road the next morning.

The next morning, in Skagway, we get up to coolish weather. After a shower for Dan and breakfast, we button up the RV and head into town.

At the RV Park early the next morning.

Turned out this RV park is nice and big with lots of scenery. I could be happy staying here for weeks while wandering Skagway. It’s just all the cruise ship tourists that make that seem uncool. I know, I’m a tourist too. But, unlike them, if I find a place I like, I can stay there for months and get to know people if I want. If I do come back here to stay a spell, I’ll get here either early or late in the tourist season.

Here's one of the cruise ships near the RV park.

Our ferry parked at that same dock the night before. Shows you how close the RV park is to the ferry landing. Very handy when you’re tired and just want to go to bed without having to drive a big RV through a little town late at night looking for an RV park.

Another cruise ship just to the left of the first one I showed above.

We left the park around 10AM and found a nice large parking lot right on the edge of town big enough for the RV and just a mile from the park. Very handy. We wandered over to the train station, which was right across the street,  and bought our tickets for the train ride later that afternoon.

Meanwhile, we walked the streets of old Skagway. This place is unique in that the US Forest Service owns many of the old buildings and restores them. It’s a giant historical town. Nearly every building has a business in it and they pay rent to the US government. We did wander into a ‘going out of business sale’ so they don’t always do well.

Dan on the boardwalk in downtown Skagway.

The original builders of the town did it right. Notice how wide the streets are.

These are all original buildings. Even the side streets are being, or have been, restored for the tourist industry.

Here's the inside of the railroad station where we bought our tickets for the gold train ride.

A couple of the old time buses that move the tourists around town.

More of old downtown, near the train station.

Another shot of old downtown.

Carriage rides are available.

These buildings up the side streets are restored or maintained to keep that old gold rush character. The red building on the right is someone's home. The others are businesses, rooms for let, and rentals.

Another street, same kind of restoration.

The gals in the window was a hollerin' about the vaudeville show in the theater below. The one on the right has a thick NY accent and really belted out her spiel. You could hear her a block away. She attracted a crowd.

We find a nice pub around 10:30 AM.

The old building with the red roof below was being worked on by a Forest Service guy who filled us in on the kind of work he did as a carpenter. He was always busy here in Skagway, but this was his biggest project. He was restoring that old building so they could rent it out. He had the entire floor ripped out and lots of bracing holding the structure up. We talked to him for a half hour and got a good look at how they worked at getting some old buildings in town up to tourist standards. This building is a block off of the town center.

One of the side streets just a block from town center.

Note that this town still exists because of the tourists that come here by the 10’s of thousands in the summer. The population of the town is only 3500 during the cold and wet winter. All the workers we saw, with some exceptions, were young kids that come here for the summer and leave after the seasons over. We ran into one gal, probably 28 or so, who lives here all year. Interesting to talk to her and get her perspective on the town during the off season.

Later in the afternoon, it was time to board the train. This train was constructed during the gold rush to take advantage of all the miners traveling up the Chilkoot trail a hundred years ago. Cost was around $120 per person for us in 2009 and there were several cars so they are doing quite well.

On the train, ready to leave the station...

We cross a little creek shortly after leaving the station.

A couple miles up the rail...

There's the engine up ahead, dual engines actually.

And then a look back behind our car.

Everyone enjoying themselves. These cars are reproductions and restorations of the original rail cars employed here.

Off behind us, one of the numerous mountains.

We enter a canyon.

There's that creek again.

And an incredible mountain top nearby.

One of the many tight corners we passed.

Some of this trip passes verdant flora.

Oh, a railroad spur. Let's the trains pass each other when necessary.

Here's a view to remember. That's downhill from where we are headed.

I liked the fluffy clouds.

Sorry if I'm boring you folks but I loved this trip and there were many opportunities to take pictures, perhaps to many.

Glad I didn't have to walk this trail.

This really cool train bridge (no longer used), is touted as having as much steel in it as the Eiffel Tower.

There is the front of the train heading into the tunnel that made bypassing the old bridge possible. Now the train just goes over this small bridge, and through the tunnel.

Here's another shot of the old bridge.

And a closeup of the tunnel as we approach at 25 MPH or so.

Finally, we arrive at the lake. This was a huge rest stop for the miners. Some of them spent weeks here recuperating after the effort expended during their climb here (all before the train of course).

Here's where we stopped for, what, 30 minutes or so?

Ahh, another lake.

That's the actual trail the gold seekers used. Brutal.

More of the trail. Over 3,000 horses died on the trip up in one season.

And a view of the bridge on our return.

And closer. Interesting the way it was built.A nice valley.

See the plaque? Under that giant rock lies two men, a horse and two donkeys. That rock let go from the hill above while they were having lunch there 100 years ago and caught them before they could escape. I can't imagine them not hearing it crashing down the hillside but apparently they didn't until it was too late. Nasty way to die because they must have heard it or seen it just before it hit them.

After we arrived back in town, we got back on the road heading east into the mountains. Just a couple miles out of town we notice a brew pub along side the road. While on the train an hour before, Dan had been grousing about not having found some of the brew pubs that should have been there or he expected in Skagway. I saw an old mill across the river and pointed it out to him telling him it was a brew pub. Sure enough, as we passed that building, we found that it WAS a brew pub. Hah!

After having a brew, we head east and onto one of the steepest grades anywhere. It was suppose to be 11% and I worried that my old RV might blow a tranni or worse up on a steep hill. But we made it safely without problems except when the terrain flattened out and we stopped for a break, and to add antifreeze, I found tranni fluid leaking from one of the tranni cooler hoses. I had some spare tranni fluid to top off the reservoir so we continued on. A couple days, and several bottles of tranni fluid later, we found a shop in Prince George that replaced the bad hose for me.

We were headed for Whitehorse, British Columbia and after that steep grade, the road was relatively flat with lots of scenery.

Dan takes my picture.

One of the numerous lakes we drove by.

Dan convinced me to drive all the way to Whitehorse that day (two hour drive from Skagway), and we did, with no daylight left when we arrived. We roamed around for a bit looking for a bar where we could watch the Ducks game the next day but darkness cut that short and we decided to settle. Dan had selected a place to spend the night previously…at a provincial park…but since he’s a novice at this camping in an RV thing, he selected a campground, not an RV park so we settled in without electric and had no heat. I could have fired up the propane furnace but didn’t want to in such moderately mild temperatures. And the thick blankets I have helped with that. The next day we were going to be looking for a place to watch the Univ. of Oregon Ducks football game so after dinner and an hour or two of reading, it was off to sleep.

The next morning, we awoke in Haines, AK. The weather was cooperating and although a bit chilly, it wasn’t raining. I’d read about Haines and had friends tell me about the town several times so I was excited about being there and woke up at 7:15am. A little earlier then my normal 8:30-9:00.

Haines Harbor

A little to the right, more Haines harbor...

I’d planned on 3 days and 2 nights here in Haines while I waited for Dan to backpack the Chilkoot trail. He later canceled that trip so when we got to Haines, we had new plans which required we get on the ferry a couple days early. I’d already booked and paid for the ferry trip to Skagway. Changing our ticket took a little trip around 5 miles out of town to the ferry terminal and a visit to the ticket office. Not a problem and in 10 minutes we had changed our departure time and paid for it. Can’t remember how much it cost…$18 or so for the change? But even then, what with the 40% decrease in tourist traffic, we had no problem rescheduling our departure to that evening. Then we headed back to town to check out the bars and brew pubs. One of Dan’s favorite things to do.

Where I parked the RV for the night. A little seaside RV park. Low rates too.

Along the beach looking at some older Haines docks.

Looking down at the bay from the middle of the road in Haines. We had had dinner and played shuffle board in that building right down there at the end of the road. The RV park was just a 1/4 block to the left of that building.

After we wandered around town, visited the museum, found a brew pub and bought a growler of beer, hung out in three different bars while Dan sampled the local beers, we drove back to the ferry dock and staged. There were a few RV’s there but traffic was a little light. Downturn in the economy and all.

The ferry coming to pick us up.

Here we go, driving into the guts of the ship.

I did have to drive so I couldn’t get allot of pictures as we boarded.

Here's Dan, doesn't look like he's in a good mood for some reason.

Ahhh, the ocean. My favorite thing.

An interesting mountain.

More of them.

Sunset off in the distance. We still haven't left port, we're just loading people and vehicles. I wanted to get a few pixs while we still had light. The ferry didn't even leave port until 7pm and would take 2 hours to get to Skagway.

Nice dock, but it's the views that make the area interesting.

Some of the local boats. It's around 7:55PM so we still have pretty good daylight.

Here we go!

Here's one of the boats that will save our sorry asses if we hit an iceberg.

We're heading almost due West.

Started getting cold and dark as we sailed so we retired to the lounge. I tried to leave a tip later but the guy took exception to that, saying there was no tipping required or expected. Well, so? Still, he seemed offended by the tip so I picked it up.

About an hour later we passed this cruise ship on it's way out to sea.

And here is where we docked. It's too dark to really take any shots so this will have to do. We landed here in Skagway around 2 hours after we left Haines. Cost $240 or so for the trip, 37' RV. No toad.

After leaving the ferry, we just went a couple miles and drove into an RV park that is right close to the docks. Hooked up and turned on the electric heaters right away. It was close to 45°F there. Not too bad but a little chilly. Next, we explore Skagway and take a train trip.

The next morning, we leave the lake we’d parked by, Kulane Lake, and head down the road. We had crossed the border into Canada the day before and the border crossing is so remote with such few crossings that it wasn’t a problem. Took us all of 60 seconds. It was a fine day with sunshine the entire day. No breeze to speak of and the temperature was mild. Just my kind of travel. The rig was showing some annoyances but nothing that would stop our journey. We headed for Haines, Alaska via Highway 3 and would have to cross the border again to get back into the USA. Again that wasn’t a problem at the remote post we went through. We arrived at Haines in the around 7:30 pm and found a nice RV park right along the seashore with a view of the harbor and the one cruise ship that was in port. After setting up we wandered over to the local bar and had a good time playing shuffle board. In my regular fashion, without thinking about it, and no reason for it, demolished my brother 2 games to zip, with the score in the second game around 15 to 2 or so.

8:57 AM on down the road to Haines.

Some of the spectacular mountains that are all over the place!

What scenery...

Whoa, a whole bunch of them...mountains that is. Oh, and it's looking crowded to me, to many RV's around.

Here we go, snow!

Just keeps on and on...See the fluffy clouds there?

One of the lakes we passed, stopped for a break at this one. Took a 7 kilometer hike around the area.

This is a view from the hiking trail around 3 KM in.

Here's Dan pretending he's not tired.

Back at the picnic area. Dan continued on up the trail for a few more kilometers.

The trail went up and over this area, that's why I didn't go.

This was my favorite cove.

And then we get back on the road. At's around 3:30pm.

Wasssupppppp?

Some more of the spectacular scenery up here in Alaska/Canada.

You'd think they would clean these things...

Whoa.

We went for hours at a time without seeing another vehicle.

Fluffy clouds up there.

Another lake.

I just love pictures of the open road, no traffic in sight.

Finally, we arrive in Haines and park at a local RV park on the coast line. Off in the distance is one of the cruise liners that hangs out here. We arrived around 8pm but as you can see, still had plenty of light.

Ahh, just relaxing along the shoreline.

Off in the distance...

After parking and hooking up to services, we wandered over to the nearby bar (as mentioned earlier) and had dinner. The evening and night was uneventful.

We left Fairbanks, Sunday Aug. 30th, around 8 AM. It had rained a good portion of the night and on into the day. Traveling again made me feel pretty happy, even the rain didn’t dampen my spirits. After 6-7 hours on the road, I knew I wouldn’t be seeing them that night and was missing my friends in Fairbanks allot, vowing to return the next spring.

Rain follows us out of Fairbanks, Alaska.

The Tanana River around 100 miles out of Fairbanks.

Hope it's not like this all the way home.

Dan enjoys a nap late in the afternoon.

A look at the countryside.

The first night of our long trip, or rather the first afternoon, we stopped at a restaurant & campground where the RV sites are right on the lake. We had dinner at the restaurant and enjoyed lake trout caught by our waitress. She didn’t say when she caught it but I suspect the year before. Still, it tasted good and was well prepared as were the side dishes. This was around 2 hours after it stopped raining on us and a glance off into the distance didn’t reveal any oncoming storms that I could see.

An old fishing boat along side the lake.

The lake outside the RV.

Sundown on the lake...

The old boat in the dark.