Back on The Alaska Highway

Coming north last month, I left the highway at Mile 1314 in Tok, Alaska so that I could head to Valdez and take the ferry to Whittier, then drive to Anchorage from the south. My first stop south out of Fairbanks was Delta Junction at mile 1422, which is the Highway's northern terminus.

Back on The Alaska Highway

They had these life-sized metal sculptures of the Alaska state bird: The Mosquitomous Humomgus. When I reached Tok from the north a few hours later, I completed a full circumnavigation of The Alaska Highway. 

Back on The Alaska Highway

From Tok, I'm backtracking to mile 1034, where I'll turn south on the Cassair Highway, which is an Alaska Highway alternative for those coming from the west coast. But that's tomorrow. Tonight, Im staying at the Congdon Creek Campground - the same place I stayed on my last night in Canada headed north last month. Augie and I spent the evening planning our route. She feigned interest.

The Cassair Highway

The guidebooks don't speak really highly of road conditions on The Cassair, so I was pleasantly surprised to find new, immaculate pavement. The road was twisty and included some incredible inclines - one sign warned of 13%, which I've never seen before - to be sure, but compared to the Alaska, it was smooth sailing. 

The Cassair Highway

I drove through a 20-kilometer scar from a 2017 fire. It went to the horizon in all directions. 

Jade City

Jade City isn't really a city. Rather, it's a quite extensive Jade gift store featuring anything that can be carved from jade. This store (and free RV park) are very near one of largest Jade mines on Earth. There were jade boulders the size of Gtavytrain lying around. 

Abundant Wildlife

Probably because The Cassair gets just a fraction of the traffic that The Alaska does, this was one of the best days of the whole trip for seeing roadside animals. Two black bears, one grizzly, a small herd of caribou and about a half-dozen of these Arctic red foxes - which reminded me of something out of Narnia. 

Abundant Wildlife

Also saw my first moose. She was about six feet tall and standing in the middle of the road when I approached, and didn't seem interested in altering her itinerary for me. When I moved forward, she started trotting dow  the road. The I tried to pass her, she stepped in front of me. After about ten minutes a car approached from the opposite direction. She didn't seem to like those odds, and hopped into the woods.

Dease Lake

This lake peaked through the trees at me for about 80km. It was lunchtime as I passed the town of Dease Lake, so stooped for gas, and then found this little beach and had lunch.

Stewart, British Columbia, Canada

As Augie and I planned our Cassair Highway trip, I noticed a little 50km side trip to Stewart. Right beside Stewart is the town of Heley. The weird thing about Heley is that it is in Alaska. Weirder still is that the only roads to get there are from Canada. Apparently, it was a concession during border negotiations, that gave US commercial fishermen an American port on the Salmon River. We also noticed that the Department of the Interior has a Wildlife Observation Center on the Fish Creek - a spot where bears come to catch fish. OK - gotta do that, right? So I booked two nights at the Bear River RV Park in Stewart, so I can spend the day tomorrow bear-watching.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

This was the second day they've been open this season because the salmon run is just barely started. They say that the best time to see bear is early so I was there when they opened at 6am.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

From 6 to 9, I saw four fish. Few fish = few bears, but there's a beaver pond on the back side of the platform so I had fun watching them work on a new dam. Ward and June (boomer reference) don't need to worry about the beaver.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

The new dam was out of site from the platform, but there Mr. and Mrs. beaver were making endless trips to the bank to pluck branches and swim them the length of the pond to deposit.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

Also keeping me company was the Alaskan State Bird: Mosquitomous Maximus. I've gotten pretty good at denying them my PBF (another boomer reference - hint: Dr Strangelove).

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

I wasn't the only one disappointed by the lack of fish. He stopped in a few times while I was there, but didn't stay long.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

It was about 9:45, and I was getting ready to pack it in, when I looked downstream and saw this big fella.

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

He splashed around a bit - maybe seeing a fish...

Fish Creek Wildlife Observation Center

... but he didn't seem to catch any, so he moved on after a few minutes. Anyway, I was happy he took the time to stop by. 

Stewart, British Columbia, Canada

Back in Stewart (population 450) with time to kill, I was anxious to try The Toaster Museum for supper. The manager at my RV park said I had to try it (probably gets a cut). Apparently, the it's a passion project of the chef/owner who also owns restaurants in Mexico City. The wandering rooster gave the place a bit of a "Key Westie" vibe. I had a $55 steak fajita meal. It was pretty good, but I don't see Michelin stars in their future. All in all tho, it was a pleasant surprise, and a great evening to sit on their patio watching the sun not set, and listen to the satisfying sound of the bug-zapper going off like someone making popcorn. Die MF skeeters!

Canyon Creek Campground, Hixon, British Columbia, Canada

Had an uneventful five-hour drive to Hixon. The previous day's high temperature in Stewart was 70. When I stepped out of Gravytrain in Hixon at around 3p the temp was 92! Yikes! this was the only the second time I've used the AC unit, but it worked, keeping GT's inside temp right around 75 - plenty comfortable to sleep.  

On to Whistler!

Back into the mountains! It was an intense drive up to the Iconic ski resort - the venue for the snow-sports in the 2010 Vancouver olympics. That's where redhead Shawn White (the Flying Tomato) burst onto the scene, winning US snowboard gold with his "Double McTwist 1260" trick.

Whistler

I knew I didn't have the time - or money - to play Jack's course here, but I thought maybe I would buy and towel, or a hat. Nope. It's a VERY private club, and security turned me away before I could even see the parking lot. 🤣

Whistler

I had a pleasant stay at the Whistler RV Park and Campgrounds. Just me and 300 packed campsites. (Go Lions!)

Whistler

This place really reminded me of Vail - except bigger. I happened to be there the day before a big international mountain bike event, so the place was absolutely packed. A woman that I met at a coffee shop told me that the cheapest room in the village was over three grand a night - "but that's Canadian dollars, right?" I said and laughed. She just walked away. I make friends wherever I go. 🤣 This shot was taken at about 7am. I stopped in the village on my way out of town to get a souvenir sticker for $6 - more in my price range.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

This is really a beautiful city with mountains on three sides and a glorious seaport on the fourth. This shot through my bug-stained windshield was the only shot I could take as the Friday rush-hour traffic was hell - especially since seeing two cars at once has been heavy traffic for me lately.
7/19/24

18 Pastures Golf Course

This HH was the poorest excuse for a golf course that I have ever seen (and I've seen plenty). Check out the tears in the upholstery! The cart paths were so rough I thought the cart was going to fall apart. I took to driving on the tee boxes and fairways exclusively, but they were nasty too. And It wasn't really that cheap either - $25 for 9 and a cart... but that's Canadian, right? 😉

Back in 'Mercia!

Had a 45 minute wait here in the middle of nowhere at Sumas, WA for some reason. Told the appropriate lies and glided through.
7/18/24

Chehalis, WA

Gravytrain got front row seating and even had shade for our HH overnight at Veterans Memorial Museum. Great displays and better air conditioning. They even ran an extension cord out to me in case I needed AC overnight. I didn't, but that was nice of them.

Chehalis, WA

Bonus! The next morning brought cool gray weather, and a Car Show. Also - food trucks! Which means fresh, hot breakfast.
7/19/24

Woodland, WA

A much nicer HH golf stay at The Lewis River Golf Club. A very classy joint - so much so, that Gravytrain faced scrutiny before she was allowed to litter their parking lot with her presence. She passed, and impressed the Pro. I guess they've had some bad experiences with Gypsy caravans showing up and scaring the members. 🤣

Albany, OR

A former DIRECTV friend of mine and his wife are living their dream. They've purchased an amazing property that was formerly a wedding venue, with an eye towards bringing it back to life. Gravytrain got to park in front of the event center/reception hall and bridal party suites. I got to stay in the bridal suite.
7/22/24

Albany, OR

There are two ponds, at least three spots for the ceremony - depending on size. The amount of work these two have taken on is quite impressive, but they're both smart, driven people, and I have no doubt they'll pull it off.

Albany, OR

They have a year-old Portuguese Water Dog, Millie. She and Augie had the run of the place, and I mean run. Which they did until being separated at bedtime.

Albany, OR

Finally, among the thousands of trees on the property, including plum, apple, and cherry trees, are three Giant Sequoia trees. I used my golf range finder to scope the top of this one: 51 yards. 12 feet in diameter at its base. I had a great time volunteering to help with a few projects, and getting my hands dirty. Fair warning guys: I'll be back to see the progress!
7/23/24

Crater Lake National Park

This is an absolutely amazing natural resource. I've seen photos, but the actual sighting actually took my breath away.
7/25/24

Crater Lake National Park

Deep, deep water makes it the bluest I've ever seen. Really a shocking sight in the middle of the high desert forrest.

Crater Lake National Park

I decided to take the boat ride around the lake. This meant hiking down from the rim to lake level, a mere 700 feet in 1.1 miles. This shot was taken about half way down. And remember... what goes down must come up.

Crater Lake National Park

The boat ride was actually pretty pedestrian. It's sort of like trying to look at a mountain while you're standing on it. The contrived features that we looked at on the crater walls were things like, a pipe organ, the face of an Indian chief, and the face of Alf. It was a lovely day for a boat ride tho, and it only cost $50 (Not Canadian 🤣). 

Crater Lake National Park

Watching people climbing back to the rim is a study in determination and fear. 1.1 miles at an average incline of 10% is pretty extreme. I noticed on the way down, that I had to be careful to watch my footing - it was that steep in places. I'm sure that 80% of the people who rolled down that path sorely (pun intended) underestimated the climb. I was happy for my OrangeTheory conditioning. I did the 1.1 miles in 25 minutes, only stopping once. OohRah! 

Diamond Lake, OR

This was the view from my RV park at Diamond lake north of Crater NP. Fires burning north and east of the park are going to send smoke with me all the way to Boise... and beyond.
7/26/24

John Day Golf Club

On the John Day River, in John Day, OR. Played nine holes here. For curious minds: John Day was a legendary Oregon mountain man. The view from the fourth tee included Gravytrain snuggled up beside the ninth fairway. This will be my last night in Oregon. On to Denver!