Dutch Duo Wildlife Photography
by Claudia and PJ Potgieser
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First time on this page? This journal is set up as a 'blog', so the most recent is on top. If you rather read it in chronological sequence just go to this link: Traveljournal Alaska.
October 2011 -
April 2012, The Netherlands
With an unreliable camper in Calgary we are just not looking
forward going back to Canada. PJ likes to invest his money 'in stones';
a house that we can rent out to foreign flex workers. Pretty soon we
find a nice house, close to the Rotterdam harbor. PJ buys the house and
we start working on it beginning of December. It takes longer than
expected (3 months) but when it is finished we are very pleased. We put
it on the rental market and within four days (!) it is rented and the
next evening the seven workers move in. We move to our other house that
has been rented for 14 years. This house is without renters at the
moment and needs some work. PJ wants to built a second bathroom on the
loft and two separate bedrooms. He is in the middle of the construction
when a real estate agent wants to come and have a look with a tenant.
The next day the broker called that his customer wants to rent it! We
now only have four weeks left to finish the house.
September 2011, Alaska & Canada
23 September 2011, Fairbanks Alaska
Yesterday the camper was fixed at the end of the afternoon, so we
kept the hotel room another night. The next morning it takes us a
while before we have everything that we have collected in eight days
hotel stay back on the right spot in the camper. We drive to the airport
to return our rental car, getting diesel, doing grocery shopping in
different supermarkets and finding a tap with drinking water to fill our
water tank. It is already 11am before we are ready to hit the road for a
test drive. We have chosen for Denali NP, because we know that road by
heart now and it has some nice test hills. But we have not yet left
Fairbanks, when the 'check engine' light goes on. "Go to your Ford
dealer immediately". We are close to the Diesel Doctor so we drive to
the doctor.
The owner says not to worry. The EGR cooler has been replaced by a
by-pass kit and the computer in the engine does not recognize this. He
checks the engine and sees that there is a bit of oil floating in the
coolant, so he flushes the system. We can be on our way. "No worries".
The light 'check engine' turns on immediately. Just outside Fairbanks PJ
looks under the hood and sees again oil floating in the coolant. It does
worry us.
After three hours we arrive in Denali National Park. Officially the
tourist season has ended and all the shops, the visitor center, the
mercantile store, the Laundromat and public showers are closed on
September 17th. The busses have stopped driving at September 15th. But
strangely enough the the only road into the park (85 miles) is
accessible now for every vehicle (weather permitted) till Mile 30.
Normally we can only drive 15 miles into the park with our camper, the
rest of the drive you have to take the bus, but now the park is 'closed'
we can drive much further!
It is weird to see everything boarded
up. It is looks spooky. We are the only ones with 'out-of-state' license
plates, the rest of the visitors are all from Alaska. It is late in the
season to still be in Alaska. Friday evening we drive up and down the
road, but did not see wildlife.
We can stay for free at the Riley Creek Campground and we do not get
less or more service than we got when we stayed here with Hannie and JP
and then had to pay 28 U$. It is getting colder and we take out our down winter
comforter. Officially fall has started today.
24 September 2011, Denali National Park
Just after sunrise we drive into the park. It is cloudy and above the
rivers is a dense fog. Nice for pictures. The fall colors has mostly
disappeared. After driving up and down a couple of times, we see a
larger bull moose running down a hill. He is steaming and sweating in
the cold morning air. What a great sight. And he picked the only place
where there is still some fall colors. I shoot a couple of pictures with
the 600mm lens through the open window.
We still are not confident about the oil in the coolant and drive back
to Fairbanks and spent the night at Walmart parking lot. We have made a
test drive of 500 miles and the the coolant is now milky from the
floating oil and the walls of the reservoir are black from oil clinging
to it.
25 September 2011, Fairbanks
it is Sunday so we have one more day to worry about it, before we can go
to the Diesel Doctor tomorrow. We book two more nights in the Wedgewood
Resort. 'Our room' is taken, so we get another one. One floor higher,
same interior, different view and this time with a large flat screen
television. The whole afternoon we watch episodes of Ice Road
Truckers. For our dinner I make a Sock-eye salmon in the oven.
| 26 September, Fairbanks At 8.30am we are parked in front of the Diesel Doctor. Also this time the owner is not impressed. "No worries", he just flushes the system again. When we blew the oil cooler so much oil has come into the system, so this is just some residue left in the engine. We did not expect to be on the road again within half a hour and we have one more night left in the Wedgewood Resort. Oh, well we just make the best of it. It is a beautiful fall day and we make another hike through the Wedgewood Wildlife Reserve. The two tundra swans are reflecting in the lake again. When I check the website of the Northern Lights, as I do daily, I see an enormous Aurora storm is hitting the earth right now! |
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But it will take at least seven hours before it gets dark here to see something of it. In the meantime clouds are slowly coming in. Finally darkness falls, but overcast too. I am getting very frustrated. One Internet site is talking about 'storm level', the other calls it 'extreme ++' and we are right in the middle of it, but we are not seeing anything! It is driving me nuts! I am also driving PJ nuts when I go outside every ten minutes, hoping to see something. At 11.30pm we go to bed and I set the alarm every hour. Maybe it will clear up any time...
27 September 2011, Fairbanks
Tired and frustrated I wake up. The first pictures of the Northern
Lights show are appearing on the Internet. It was spectacular...Sigh! A
man from Norway writes: "The strongest aurora I have ever seen, it even
came through the clouds". Well, not with us.
This aurora is called "the strongest magnetic storms in years". Aahggrr.
The Fairbanks morning news paper slides under the door and an article
says that also tonight the Aurora storm will reverberate. We have to get
out of this cloud cover.
| Today we have to leave. In between the
cities Fairbanks and Whitehorse (almost 700 miles)
are three settlements (Delta 884 inhabitants, Tok
1214 inhabitants and Haines Junction 811 inhabitants).
Normally we love the great emptiness of this continent, now it
scares us. If we break down, where do we get help? It is 28F and PJ scratches the ice from the front window. The engine starts up after one time glowing and purrs like a kitten. The 'check engine' light is on. Lets just go. We intent to visit the Ford dealership in Whitehorse tomorrow for a second opinion and of course another flush. In Delta I photograph a couple of signs, the coldest temperature measured in was in 1975 and was -72 degrees Fahrenheit. That is MINUS 57 degrees Celsius !!!!! We do not want to get stuck in Alaska in winter. The great emptiness seems overrated when we see a sign of a dog grooming salon in the middle of nowhere. Do you think they get a lot of customers? During a quick lunch break in Tok I check the Internet for the Aurora website: the storm is still going strong and will continue tonight.
At 5pm we cross the border Alaska - Canada. The Canadian
immigration officer sees our passports and starts talking Dutch
with a thick accent. Funny. |
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| We dress warmly and PJ adjust the settings of the camera and let me push the button the rest of the night. It starts with a sort of green smoke signal in the North, but soon also the eastern sky joins in. The darker it gets, the intenser the color. It is so beautiful. |
PJ shows me how to light up the foreground by painting it with a flash light while the lens is open for a longer period. What a wonderful result this gives.
I experiment with the amount of seconds I leave the lens open; 10, 15, 20 or even 30 seconds. The camera needs another thirty seconds to write the picture on the memory card before I can take the next picture (and we have fast memory cards!). Maybe one minute per picture does not sound long, but I can assure you that it happens often that I am jumping around and encouraging the camera to hurry up. Sometimes I take a picture facing east and during that first 30 seconds the lights in the north are even better. As soon as I hear the camera click, I face the tripod the other way, aim the camera and then I have to wait these precious seconds before the camera is ready to take another picture. And the show is now going on for two hours! The reflection in the water is disappointing, I had forgotten that Kluane Lake is very large and when the wind gets hold of it, the water gets choppy. But the water reflects sometimes green, which is nice enough.
At 1am the strange clouds right ABOVE us start to turn green! The Northern Lights are now covering the northern sky, the east and above us to the west. That is almost the whole sky! At 1.30am the fireworks takes it one step up. The light is curling, dancing, waving and shoots through the air. We seen green stripes, white waves and red rims. Keeping the lens open for 30 seconds is now way too long, but in my enthusiasm seeing the show I forget to change the settings. But in my mind it will be stored forever. At 2am it starts to die down. We are dead tired (no wonder, driving for 11 hours with a knot in your stomach and four hours with your head in your neck) and cold and decide to go to bed. Tomorrow we have a long ride ahead. It almost feels disrespectful to go to bed when the show is still going on. It takes a long time under the covers before we are warm again.
picture right: This is the last picture I took (when it started to die
down). It is what you call dying down.
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28 September 2011, Kluane Lake Canada At 1pm we arrive in Whitehorse and go to the Ford dealership. What a bummer; this dealership only sells Ford cars and trucks, but does not have a shop. |
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We try to have the system flushed at Canadian Tire but they don't have time for us the coming three days. We do not have the time to wait that long, we have a plane to catch. We cannot think of anything else than keep on driving to the next civilization (500 miles south). In the township Teslin we spent the night. The Northern Lights storm is still reverberating, but we have overcast. This is going on for 48 hours now.
| 29 September 2011, Teslin Canada The whole day it rains. The shortest route back to civilization is by the 500 mile long Cassiar Highway. But one and a half month ago a large mudslide has covered a part of the road. The road workers are doing their best to get it fixed, the Cassiar is an important entry route to Alaska. At Bob Quinn Lake the road is open every two hours and we have to follow a pilot car for 25 miles. PJ is not too happy about that, he would rather drive in his own pace, because the engine heats up when he is driving too slow. We know we have missed the last pilot of 6pm and will have to catch the first one tomorrow morning at 8. But still we continue to Quinn Lake to see the pilot car situation. When we arrive at 7pm a long line of cars and trucks with idling engines are waiting. Hmmm, strange, so I walk up to the flagger and ask him if there is another pilot tonight. "No, no pilot, from 8pm the road is open all night and you can go as you please". |
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Great, we now can go through the construction in our own pace. I still have an hour to make dinner and ten minutes after the line is gone, we leave in the pitch dark. Fortunately a lot of reflectors are placed along the road and we do not notice the mud slide. We spent the night on the other side of the construction zone.
30 September 2011, Cassiar Highway Canada
We have arranged with our English friend Doug to meet at the corner of
Mezidian Junction. Doug emigrated three years ago to Canada and does not
have a problem with driving 220 miles (one way) to meet us again! The
last time we saw him was 2 1/2 years ago when we were 'hunting' Spirit
Bears together. That is a rare black bear with a white fur (no albino).
Estimated that there are less than 200 left, so when we saw two Spirit
bears - with a lot
of patience - in 2009 we were very pleased. Dougie is a sort of magnet
to these rare animals and has seen only this summer already four
different ones! One was in the back yard of his neighbor!!
We enjoying seeing Dougie again. On our way south this morning we have
seen two black
bears and I ask Dougie if he has seen anything on his way up.
"Yes, two black bears', he replies and almost nonchalant: "and one
white.."
I kick him on his arm: "You are kidding us!".
In the same pasture where we have seen one in 2009 he has seen one this
morning. That's number 5 for Dougie! After Hyder we will give it a try.
The dead end road to Stewart/Hyder is
60 kilometers long and we have spent many summers at the viewing
platform of Fish Creek to watch fishing grizzly bears.
Due to the heavy rainfall that lasted the whole summer, the river turned
into a swirling mass of water that took whole trees downstream and the
river flooded the shores. Because of this a bridge has washed away, the
road is crumbed till the center line on ten different places and there
was a rock slide that blocked the road. Our fossil friends Bob and
SueAnn had spent seven weeks of their summer there when the two towns
were blocked from the outside world. The road was officially declared as
disaster area and the Army came in with equipment and a Bailey Bridge.
Tourists who had come in cars were evacuated by plane, while their cars
were brought to Prince Rupert by barge. Bob and SueAnn's camper and
these of five other couples were to big for that, so they were stuck in
Hyder not knowing when they could leave the area.
I found these pictures on Facebook, do not
know who took them.
At the moment the road is open once a day. I can understand that you are
now wondering why the heck we want to go to Hyder voluntary. Well, this
is the story: While we were stuck in Healy, Alaska, Bob was stuck in
Hyder, Alaska and almost on daily basis we received e-mails from him
about fishing wolves at Fish Creek! Wolves catching life fish is rare
and unique and to see this from a viewing platform is something you
might see once in a lifetime. So when the road finally was open again
Bob and SueAnn did not join the group that escaped Stewart/Hyder. Bob
wrote: "This is too good to leave." Finally after another week also they
left the area.
We checked the weather forecast for Hyder and this weekend the
prediction is sun! This is rare anyway in a coastal rain forest so we
decided to give it a try. We might see the wolves too!
We arrived at the pilot one and a
half hour too early, but we have lots to talk about with Dougie.
Comfortable warm in our camper with coffee we have to catch up two and
half years.
At noon the pilotcar with the caravan of us and trucks starts driving.
The destruction of nature was shocking and devastating and it will probably take
months before the road is passable again on both sides. We see a
surprised looking black bear watching the caravan.
surprised black bear
The 'Bailey Bridge' is placed over the rubble
An hour later we arrive in Stewart. Dougie checks in in the King Edward Hotel and offers us lunch. We use the public laundry of the same hotel and we have a King Eddy burger. It takes hours before our laundry dries, so we talk for hours. Does not matter, it is raining anyway. The good weather is predicted for tomorrow.
At the end of the afternoon we check out the Fish Creek viewing platform. It has been three years since we were here last. The first thing we notice is that the platform is built so high. The tourist season has officially ended and the rangers stopped working. We may enter the platform on our own risk. The second thing we notice is that there is no fish in the creek! Due to the heavy rain fall all the spawned out salmon is washed away too and there is no reason for bears (or wolves) to check out the creek. This is a disappointment. We hang out the platform and a nice black bear with a cute spring cub shows up to eat the green grass along the creek.
1 October 2011, Hyder, Alaska
It stays dark long so we do not have to rise early. It is 8am when we
arrive at the platform. Dougie has discovered two Chum Salmon and named
them Claudia and PJ. Patiently we are waiting for what to show up. The
black bear with cub shows up at 9 and after that two more times that
day.
Two different black bears make their appearance. One bear balances on a fallen tree and falls into the lagoon. I have uploaded a Youtube movie about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdvKhFTwcng
There are not many tourists who visit
Hyder this late in the season, but we run into German world travelers in
a very cool camper. We chat and Martina and Lothar tell us that they are on
their way to South America. They have been there before for a four week
vacation and have met lots of travelers.
"One couple was already traveling for eight years and we were
inspired
to change our lives and spent our money for this camper and be on the
road for indefinite time."
Of course we tell them some stories of our trip to South America in 2005
- 2006. A couple of hours later they walk up to us and Martina asks us:
"Were you traveling previously in a red truck?"
"Yes..."
"Then we met you at the camping of Villarica in Chile in January 2006!
You are the couple that inspired us to travel the world!!"
We start to remember things now and when they show us a picture with
their rental and our red truck and camper in the background everything
comes back to us.
What a coincidence that we meet them again and we are proud that we
inspire people with our life style.
Unfortunately we do not see grizzly bears or wolves. Later we hear from
a rangers' son why. One of the most bravest wolves walked up to two boys
who were goose hunting in Hyder. They shot the wolf in the face with
bird shot! The animal tried to get away and after another five shots it
was finally dead. This wolf must have suffered horribly! What is wrong
with some people?
Fishing wolves would have been a wonderful tourist attraction, but maybe
certain people do not like that. In 2001 we have seen fishing wolves in
Fish Creek (we were all still shooting analog) and in the winter of 2001
- 2002 the whole pack was shot by locals. It took ten years for the
wolves to come back and we expect that the rest of the pack will not
survive winter.
| 2 October 2011, Hyder Alaska We spent half a morning at the platform and decide to catch the 11 o'clock pilotcar. I wanted to take a picture of the German couple with their cool vehicle, they said they would rise early to spent time on the platform, but at 9.30am they are still not there. I guess 'early' does not mean the same for everybody. Also Dougie leaves with us and we see three different black bears along the road. We have decided to bring the truck to the Ford dealership in Terrace (100 kilometers the wrong way) so we can also visit Dougie at his home in Kitimat (another 60 kilometers the wrong way). But today it is Sunday, so we are not in a hurry to get to Terrace today. |
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Here we come! (pictures taken by Dougie)
Dougie goes home and PJ parks the camper at the familiar pasture where we saw a Kermode for a split second in 2009. After three days of waiting we gave up on her, she did not came back. This is were Dougie saw a Kermode two days ago. It is still sunny and we read a book in our lawn chairs. After an hour waiting I spot a white bear! It is a fat healthy bear, but very far away. For one and a half hours we enjoy watching this rare and illusive creature until she disappears in the bushes.
According to a First Nations legend, the Raven
changed the earth from white snow to green forest.
But he wanted a reminder of how the world once was in the Ice age, when
glaciers and cold blanketed the planet so he made every tenth bear
white.
He declared they would forever live in peace and harmony.
Kermode bears, otherwise known as Spirit Bears or Ghost Bears, do exist, however. The scientific explanation for the white Kermode bear's coloring is a little different - two black bears with recessive white genes pass them to their offspring. They are not albino, and they are not related to polar bears.
The bears are rare, elusive and unique to the rainforests of northern British Columbia and range from the coast from Prince Rupert to Princess Royal Island. Inland, the Kermode Bear ranges all the way to Hazelton, BC. Biologists estimate a population of 1,200 Kermode bears, of which less than 200 are white phased. While the white bears are protected by law, the other ninety percent...the ones that carry the gene but don't show the coloration...are fair game. The Kermode bear faces extinction due to habitat loss as a result of logging and mismanagement; restricted range; low and declining population numbers and hybridization with mainland subspecies of black bear which do not carry the unique genetics that produce the rare white "spirit" bear.
Habitat of the Kermode Bear This is how a Kermode Bear comes to life (source: National Geographic)
The Ford dealer in Terrace can wait a bit and we spent the night at a turn out with a beautiful view at the 'Seven Sisters' mountains. Tomorrow morning we will go back to the field and see if the bear returns.
3 October 2011, British Columbia, Canada
Oh yeah, there she is. This time her company is a fat black bear and
this time closer. Two and a half years ago when we saw our first Spirit
Bear in this same field she also was together with a black bear. It was
June so we immediately assumed it was a mating couple. But now it is
October and again a white bear is together with a black bear. We compare
the pictures and we know for sure it is the same black bear (scars) and
we are pretty sure it is the same Spirit Bear (although she has grown a
lot). Very weird that these bears are hanging out together, a bear is a
solitaire animal that only comes together during mating season. We do not
have an explanation for it.
After an hour they go out of sight
and we continue to Terrace. A guy from the Ford dealer listens to
our story and tell us immediately that they do not have time for us
today. But he does not mind to check the coolant reservoir. The mechanic
is not impressed with the floating oil in the coolant, but the system
need a flush (that will take 5 hours not 20 minutes as with the Diesel
Doctor). But it can wait till Calgary. He explains the light 'check
engine' that is burning since Fairbanks. Because the Diesel Doctor
replaced the EGR cooler for a by pass kit the computer thinks something
is missing. After placing a 500 dollar chip the computer can be fooled.
Too expensive, so for now we will have to live with that. We are reassured and continue to Kitimiat to visit Dougie.
Just after we leave the Ford dealer a strange vibrating sound comes out
of the engine! We do not want look paranoid and ignore it.
Doug move three year ago from London
to Kitimat, a city with 9000 inhabitants, situated along a fjord and
surrounded by wilderness. His dream was to live between bears. No,
Doug is not another Timothy Tredwell, who liked that too and was eaten by
a grizzly.
We agree with him; what is better than sitting behind your laptop and
seeing a wolverine or Kermode in your neighbors back yard? Dougie drives
into the forest and along the rivers every night to watch his favorite
animals. He shows us his secret places and in the afternoon we hike
with a Yellow Lab Luke that Doug borrows three hours per day from a friend.
Just like in Hyder the rain has washed all the dead salmon away and we
do not see bears.
4 October 2011, Kitimat Canada
After lunch we drive toward the Spirit Bear again. Doug promise us to
come too tomorrow morning (more than one and a half hour drive). We turn
up the music so we won't hear that strange sound.
Arriving at the pasture we have to wait an hour before she shows up with
her black mate and this time only hundred yards away! We can make nice
pictures, even the light in her eyes. This is definitely not an albino
bear!
We spent another night at the 'Seven Sisters' and even pick up wireless Internet in the middle of nowhere. Here is al link to our Spirit Bear movie on You tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDc6rh36TuY (and don't forget to come back to read the rest of the story!)
5 October 2011, British Columbia Canada
The next morning Doug and the bears make their appearances. This time
far away so we don't make more pictures. After an hours the bears
disappear and we hug Dougie and take the Yellowhead Highway to
Prince George. At the end of the day the engine makes a loud screeching
sound. Will the problems ever stop? We spent the night in Burns Lake.
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6 October 2011, Burns Lake Canada 7 October 2011, Quesnel Canada |
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Half an hour before closing time we arrive at the Ford dealer in Kamloops and tell our endless story. This dealer does has time for us, although it will be Wednesday before they can start. And we are flying from Calgary on Tuesday! We will try to change our flight tickets to next week. Hopefully the repairs are just minor and we will soon be on our way. We visit our dear friends Bob and Charlotte in Kamloops and park next to their house. We can plug in and pick up wireless Internet. Their daughter Melissa and friend Sean invite us for a Thanksgiving dinner. We forget our problems and are having a wonderful time. |
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Bob and Char heading south for the winter on Monday
morning. We have changed our flight tickets to next week and Wednesday
we leave early for the Ford dealer. We have a 8 o'clock appointment, but
at 10 our camper is still parked outside. When I complain at the desk
they have a lousy excuse. Finally at 10.30am our truck is inside the
shop. The mechanic checks everything, but cannot find the coolant leak!
But where did that puddle of coolant came from? The dealership does not
have the cracked pipe in stock and all of a sudden it is a 300 dollar
pipe and replacing takes 5 hours. We will leave that for a USA Ford
dealership.
The mechanic is not very optimistic. "One of these days you will blow
the head gasket", he says, "I would sell it as soon as possible!"
"But will I make it to Calgary and then to Salt Lake City?"
"Good luck".
We are devastated. We have spent so much money on
repairs in Alaska and almost the whole engine is replaced by new parts
and now a Ford mechanic advises us to sell the truck!!!
Without any problems we drive to Calgary and park the camper at a RV
park. Three days later we park the camper in a storage in Calgary and
take a flight back to Amsterdam.
Within two weeks we will be back and we will see what we will do next.
We are not looking forward to this winter and spending winter in Mexico
is now not first on our list.
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| September 2011, Alaska I forget to set the alarm and wake up at 6.30 a.m. We should have stayed in bed, because with this day our truck problems are starting. At 7 we are driving the Denali park road and an hour later the engine overheats, we have no power steering and no breaks! PJ parks the camper at a turnout immediately and looks under the hood. "A broken serpentine belt". After a while PJ gets a ride to Healy, a small village 11 miles outside the park. He buys a new belt and meets Denis Schwahn, a mechanic who promise to come by at the end of the afternoon to replace the belt. After two hours PJ returns and we are parked in the middle of the park. After another two hours the laptop batteries are empty and also the batteries of the camper aren't working properly, so the heater has a hard time. |
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We should have filled the water tank yesterday, so we cannot take a shower. It stars to get a bit annoying by now. Fortunately Denis shows up as promised, but sees that also the pulley need to be replaced. He suggest to tow us to Healy, but coming out of the park with a hill of 10% PJ does not think that is a good idea. The pulley has to come out of Fairbanks, 120 miles from here and Denis has to go there tomorrow anyway. He will come back tomorrow with a new pulley and the belt. We have to camp illegally in the park and fortunately a ranger comes to check us before dark. We explain her what is going on and she is compassionate and has no problem with us camping here. At least we know now for sure that nobody is going to wake us up in the middle of the night.
| 1 September 2011, Denali National Park Well, there we are. With a beautiful view at the tundra, but after 36 hours even that gets boring! And without the heater it gets a bit chilly. Denis arrives at 5 p.m. from Fairbanks and works for two hours on the belt and pulley. He does not have the right tools and when we hear a curse and then it gets quiet, we know something is wrong. A hair crack in the pulley! Everything is working, we can drive again, but Denis is going to order a new pulley for us. We are on the road again and spent the night outside the park.
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| 2 September 2011, Denali National Park Up and down, up and down the Denali park road we shoot a couple of moose. But when PJ looks under the hood and sees that the hair crack is bigger, way bigger. So we drive to a RV park in Healy and while we are paying Denis comes along (yes, Healy is really very small). "The pulley has to come from the North pole and I think it will be here on Saturday evening". First we think Denis is joking, but Northpole is a place near Fairbanks. We make ourselves comfortable on the campground, with Internet, electricity and coin showers. If you in need of a mechanic around Denali NP in Alaska, call Denis Schwahn in Healy (907-491-3147). He does road side service. |
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4 September 2011, Denali National Park
Sunday morning (!) Denis comes to our spot to replace the trolley and we
can go back to the park.
But it doesn't take long because Sunday afternoon the engine overheats
and white steam is coming out of the hood! Beside coolant a gooey oil
substance is coming out of the coolant overflow!! We hardly make it back
to the RV park in Healy and Denis comes to take a look at 10.30 pm. This
is really a major break down and to large for our handy man Denis to
repair. We will have to had our camper towed to Fairbanks.
7 September 2011, Fairbanks $$$$$$
We pay Denis to give us a ride to Fairbanks and he drops us off at
the airport. We have reserved a rental car through the Internet (the
cheapest offer for the cheapest class). A brand new Toyota Corolla is
ready for us. Not bad!
We talk to Ron's Towing Company and he gives us a quote for the towing
from Healy to Fairbanks ($$). PJ ask if Ron knows some company besides
the Ford dealer that also can work on diesel engines. Ron recommend the
"Diesel Doctor", specialized in diesel engines. The people are friendly
and helpful, but they do not have time for us till September 15. That is
a week from now! We make a appointment with them (another quote $$$) and
arrange that Ron's Towing will pick up the camper on September 14.
Now we have time to do some grocery shopping in Fairbanks, because
everything is so expensive in Healy.
It is 10pm when we get back to the RV park in Healy. PJ is wacked and goes to bed. I am on the contrary very hyper and bounce around the camper for hours. When I finally go to bed my teeth are chattering and it is not cold. Probably all the emotions of today. Man, what an amount of money!
8 september 2011, Healy
So we have another week in Healy, but at least with the rental car
we can go as we please into Denali NP. And a fridge full of fresh
produce, what a luxury. Besides hours in the park we read a lot, play
games on the computer. It is too cold to sit outside.
Because we don't rise that early (why bother?) and having boredom naps in the afternoon, PJ sees late at night the Northern Lights! It is cloudy, not that spectacular, but at least something we have something to brag about.
hmmm...
9 September 2011, Healy Alaska
With our rental we go into Denali National Park every day for
a couple of hours. The tundra fall colors are over their peak and the
red leaves are dropping. But the aspen are starting to color now with
yellow and orange. Every day we see bull moose and PJ makes this insane
picture lying on the ground!
I am pleasantly surprised when I find
out the the old school bus from the movie "Into the Wild" (2007)
is parked only 100 yards from the RV park in Healy. This
wonderful movie is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless who
abandons his possessions and hitchhikes as a vagabond through the United
States. On his journey McCandless (played believingly by actor Emile
Hirsch) meets one extraordinary personality after another. But
Christopher does not stays long, because his ultimate goal is to go to
Alaska and live in the wilderness. In April 1992 Christopher arrives in
a remote area of the Denali National Park and sets up camp in an
abandoned school bus. At first McCandless is content with the isolation, the
beauty of the nature around, and the thrill of living of the land. A
wonderful philosophic movie with a tragic end. I can recommend it.
The real bus is still parked in the wilderness, but filming at
the actual bus would have been too remote for the technical demands of a
movie shoot, so a copy of the bus was built from two other old buses of
similar type. This copy bus is parked in Healy at
the restaurant 49th State Brewing Company.
de binnenkant van de oude schoolbus
Christopher's last postcard to his parents
The real Christopher with some prey His
final words...
After a night of rain we drive into Denali park and see fresh snow on the mountains! The bull moose seem bigger every day. They even start sparring with each other.
Here is the link to our Youtube movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnaQEMSlaz0 of the two bull moose above. It is like a slow motion dance.
| Every day we keep our eyes
open for the Northern Lights forecast. The Northern Aurora is
like a huge donut on top of the world and is always there! But
of course only visible when it is dark and the storms in
space aren't always stongly. For September 9 a large aurora
storm is predicted, but in Healy we have overcast and drizzle.
We can see the aurora graph peaking.
We consider to drive to Anchorage but that is 5 hours south, so
not really an option. The next day we read that the Northern Lights were visible all the way to Montana and most of Scandinavia was covered with the green lights. Very frustrating, when you are in the middle of it but you cannot see it. But for the night of 11 to 12 September another storm is predicted. Not as strong as two days ago, but the night sky will be clear, so we will be ready for it. One disadvantage is the full moon, who might give too much light on the Aurora. |
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At 7.30 the full moon rises. Fairbanks
is in the middle of the range September
11 .....
At 10.15 pm a green 'rainbow appears in the sky. We first
take some pictures of our camper and then some with our own 'into the
wild' schoolbus.
Then we start driving around with the rental car to other spots, were the northern skies are visible. Mostly we only see the arch or a beam, the lights are not 'dancing'. Sometimes it is very quiet and we wonder if it is over already. But we are holding on.
Picture left: the Great Dipper is visible in the green
arch.
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We even drive to Denali park because the mountain
range will look neat on the foreground. But as we reach the highest
point of the road about ten photographers are waiting in their cars for
the Northern Lights. Oh no, lets get out of here, I will probably open
our car door and ruin somebody's picture with the indoor light. |
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At 3 am we still see some green stripes in the sky, but also the clouds are coming in. At the cemetery of Healy we take this last picture (we found the spot to late) which I think is very symbolic with the cross. At 3.30 am we go back to the RV park and tired but satisfied we go to bed.
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The next morning we sleep in and at the end of the
day we make another Denali round. This enormous bull moose is hiding
most of his antlers behind a tree. A way to estimate the size of a moose
rack is to count the brow tines of his brow palm (not the palm tines!). If a moose has 3 or 4 tines
than the spread of the antlers are about 50 inches. We counted six brow tines on
this guy! |
14 September 2011, Healy Alaska
Today the camper will be towed to Fairbanks. Ron's Towing sows up at
noon and and hour later our house is on its way. Ron brings the truck to
the 'Diesel Doctor' who is specialized in diesel engines. We hope our
house is in good hands.
The next morning half the engine is taken apart and Friday afternoon we hear that we did not blow the head gasket. The oil cooler has been replaced but the radiator is full of viscous oil and also the water pump needs replaced. It will take the mechanics a few more days before everything is running again.
15 September, Fairbanks
Alaska
In the meantime we have rented a apartment at Wedgewood Resort in Fairbanks.
The aspen are started to turn. Twice a day we hike through the "75 acre Wedgewood Wildlife Santuary", bought by the resort. It contains a lake with viewing platforms and a photo blind. In the summer there a lots of birds, but most of them have migrated south by now. In the blind we shoot beavers and two Tundra Swans.
There is also a
taiga forest and a enormous corn field ("Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl
Refuge") where in the summer the Sandhill Cranes rest and feed.
Also they have left, but there are still hundreds Canada geese grazing
at the field. The trails are all wheelchair accessible (PJ's first
question when we go hiking). On the property there is also a Antique Car
Museum, a Bird Observatory and a Alaska cabin display with wild flowers
on the roofs. There are still lots of flowers at the planted borders.
A really neat place if you have to stay here for a while.
Wild flowers growing on the roof of a Alaska cabin.
Intriguing leave patterns...
Besides hiking, shopping, watching television, reading, bull sh**ing on
Facebook we drive around. Moose hunting season has started and we find
out the hard way when we are driving the Chena Hot Springs Road (always
a nice place to be in other years). The bullets are flying around! Not
the best place to hang around.
22 September 2011,
Fairbanks
The Diesel Doctor takes his time on the operation, but finally after a
seven working days the truck is ready to leave the shop. Except for the
head gasket almost everything else has been replaced. We pay an arm and
a leg and are on the road again.
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August 2011, USA, Canada en Alaska
20 - 24 August 2011, Dempster Highway
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 The Dempster Highway is a dead-end road that goes from Dawson City to Inuvik (see circle map above) and is about 450 miles long. Map left: Tuktoyaktuk is only reachable in winter by the so called iceroads. In 1958 the Canadian government made the decision to built this gravel road through the arctic wilderness. Nowadays it is still gravel but it goes through a fantastic variety of nature, so it is worth the trip.
Much of the highway follows an old
dog sled trail. The highway is
named after
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Inspector William Dempster, who, as a young constable,
frequently ran the dog sled trail from Dawson City to
Fort McPherson. Inspector
Dempster and two other constables were sent out on a rescue
patrol in March of 1911, to find Inspector Fitzgerald and his
three men who never made it to Dawson City. They had become
lost on the trail, and subsequently died of exposure and
starvation. They had traveled without a native guide, who not
only knows the route, but also can smell moose, so they would
not run out of food. Fitzgerald kept a logbook and their trip
could be reconstructed. The four men first ate their sled dogs
to survive and then they cooked their leather pants to have
something to chew on. Inspector Dempster found them 3 months
after they left Dawson City. They are known as the Lost Patrol.
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| We have driven this
spectacular road three times and we cannot get enough of it. In 2001 we wanted to see the summer solstice, but we ended in a snow storm! In 2007 we drove the Dempster in August looking for caribou and we liked it so much that we did it again that same year in September. Also this time we are looking for caribou. These animals look like reindeer, but reindeer are half domesticated (tame) animals that live in Scandinavia and Greenland, while the caribou are wild animals that roam the barren grounds of North-America and Siberia. The caribou has longer legs and is bigger and heavier. The 'Porcupine' caribou herd members 123.000 animals and on the drawing right you can see their migration territory, all the way to Alaska. The herd is named after the Porcupine River not the critter. Of course the caribous aren't traveling with one hundred twentythousand at the same time, they migrate in groups of 20 - 30 animals. Some of the caribou are wearing radio collars and are kept at close bay by biologists in airplanes. |
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In former times their migration was posted on the Internet, but that made it too easy for the hunters who could just sit and wait at the spot. So unfortunately for us we can only guess where the caribou are and if they are still around the Dempster.
A reindeer from Scandinavia
A Caribou that we photographed in 2008 in Alaska
I know they look alike, but as a wildlife photographer of course we are
not going to shoot tame animals!
| We start the Dempster in the fog, but
soon it cleared, the sun peeks around the clouds and the scenery
unfolds. The road is unpaved and makes roller coaster dips into the river bed. At around six p.m. we stop for dinner and as I walk around the camper some fresh bear prints make me jump. It start raining and a complete rainbow appears above the camper.
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When after dinner the sun reappears we decide to make another run for
wildlife. Till around ten p.m. it is light enough to photograph. Soon a
nice fat silver colored grizzly is seen in the distance and we wait for
two hours for him to come to the road.
After the bear crosses the road, he moves slowly but steadily to a couple in a tiny tent trailer who had found a neat spot to spent the night. It is already 10.30 p.m., but we better warn these tourists that a grizzly is coming their way. The couple thanks us and we leave them with the bear that is getting closer and closer to their camp.
We also find a nice free camp spot just a few
miles from the bear and the next morning we rise early. It is still
dusky and when we get to the bear, he is just walking OUT of the
couple's camp! I swear that he has been napping under their tent trailer
next to the camp fire!! From the truck we can see the bear clearly at
only 20 yards, but it is still too dark to make pictures.
We drive the Dempster north to km 450 to find caribou, but we cannot
find one. So we decide to drive back to the Silvertip grizzly from this morning. We
do not have to drive that far, because we run into a gorgeous blond sow
grizzly, walking the road towards us.
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While we stop a road constructor guy
parks next to us and when he sees the bear he says: "That's
Scruffy". "One of your girlfriends?" PJ ask him. The man grins. "That bear does not give shit, she won't move over when I pass her with the scraper". What a nasty name for such a beautiful animal and I rename her Goldilocks. Goldilocks does indeed not pay attention to us and we follow her for 3 miles along the road. What a photogenic animal! The rest of day we don't see wildlife. We find another nice camping spot and I set the alarm every hour, but no Northern Lights. . |
24 August 2011, Dempster Highway
Another early rise, it is in the low forties and a little foggy. We find a
pile of fresh bear poop on the road at our camp! We can see the bear
went north, so do we. After half a mile there is another pile and half a
mile further another. It must have been a bad Chinese dinner last
night...
We cannot find the bear, but 'Silvertip' is in his regular place. He is
posing in a tundra field and relishing the ripe berries, constantly
keeping an eye on us.
Later we see Goldilocks again, she walked quite
another stretch along the road. We give up the search of the
caribou and drive back to the beginning of the Dempster. Along the way
we are enjoying the beautiful reddish-yellow scenery.
But now the camper really needs a clean up.
In the meantime we received an e-mail from the
Dutch couple JP and Hannie that they are in Denali.
"JP en Hannie?", I can hear you thinking, "never heard of
them".
Funny that you mention it, we don't know them either! JP and Hannie are
beginners in world traveling who found our website and we have been having
e-mail contact for months now. We would love to meet them in person and
so we start our trip to Alaska.
| 25 - 31 August 2011, Alaska Via the Top of the World Highway (another unpaved road that is called highway) we arrive in Alaska. Immediately we see the hunting camps and we wonder what they are hunting for. Probably moose and caribou. Well, we don't see them. We continue north following the rest of the paved Alaska Highway to Fairbanks, where we do grocery shopping and top up with diesel (every tank and jerry can available). Then south to Denali National Park. We have just arrived when a very sturdy vehicle is 'blocking' our way. JP and Hannie! Man, they have found us quick. Because we have been e-mailing for such a long time, we feel that we already know each other. JP (short for Jean Pierre) and Hannie are staying at Riley Creek RV park, so we also book a night there. We can get along right away and we have a companionable evening together. I bake Dutch pancakes with real Dutch sugar cane syrup. |
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JP (45) and Hannie (43) have sold their house, quit their jobs and with a Landrover and a 'Safari' tent trailer (never went camping in their lives!) they left Holland on July 2010. In the USA they decided that the travel trailer wasn't their thing and they had this camper on a Ford chassis built in the USA.
We passionately tell them about wildlife photography and when I say
that I want to start at 6 a.m. Hannie turns pale. But loyal
as they are they will also rise at 5 and join our hunting for moose. It
gets late with lots of red wine and entertaining stories.
The next morning we rise as promised and are amazed by the radiating
fall colors on the taiga and tundra. We have never seen it this pretty.
| Traveling in Denali National Park is
limited to tour and shuttle busses, but the first 15 miles is
available for personal vehicles. From that stretch a small part
is interesting for us because of the moose rut. JP and Hannie
drive the stretch ones with us and then say goodbye. We cannot
convince them that it is REALLY REALLY FUN to drive the same ten
miles over and over again. We can't blame them, they have their own ways of finding wildlife as you can see on their website: http://www.jphannieontour.nl/. We hope to meet them again in Mexico or so.
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We keep on driving and 5 minutes after our goodbyes a cow moose with calf crosses the road. When she walks through the colorful tundra I can make nice pictures of them. The rest of the day we spent at the bedded down bull moose with nice size rack and after he stands he poses in front of an ugly background. It is hard to believe his antlers grow this big in only 4-5 months.
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After an afternoon nap we
drive the park road up and down and up and down and up until we
see some photographers packing up.
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 http://www.free-predator-pics.com/Download/Lynx_Wallpaper_Free |
freezing nights will cause the red colors, but it is
chilly in the morning!
The next morning we rise early again and go through the same routine. We have clear skies again and Mount McKinley is visible! This is pretty rare, it is easier to see a grizzly than the highest mountain of North America. De snow cap is glaring in pretty pink. There is some mysterious fog floating over the red tundra. And as the sun rises the tundra gets even redder.
The rest of the day we continue to
have clear skies and we have the experience that if you see
Mt McKinley, you won't see wildlife. Yeah, that's correct.
30 August 2011, Denali National Park
Another early day and we immediately see four bull moose, two cows and a
cow with calf!! But there is hardly any light. We give it a try and
shoot with an extreme high ISO (3200!) and the pictures turn out pretty
good.
When the sun rises, we see more moose.
It is so gorgeous here, but driving the road up and down is deadly boring too.
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| August 2011, USA and Canada 1 August 2011 Utah We are back in the USA. The trip from Amsterdam to Dallas, Texas was a long one (9 1/2 hours). Immigration in Texas was kind to us and gave us another 90 days visa. We had an overlay of 5 hours, so we thought it was a good idea to go outside for some fresh air. Well, it must have been at least 105 F, and with the pollution of the aircrafts fresh air was hard to find. Breathing in burned our lungs! The rest of the five hours we spent relaxing on leather couches. PJ went through his back a week ago and needs to take it easy. With the time difference it was already 2am for us, and we can't remember the flight Dallas to Salt Lake City. My cousin Diana came to pick us up from the airport and although it was only 10pm we went straight to bed. |
 our camper in front of the house of Randy & Diana in Plain City, Utah |
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2 August 2011
Costumers come and go, so we were not
surprised when a guy parked in front of us and was having a
conversation on his mobile phone. It got excited when a police
car arrived from the other side and blocked his vehicle, grabbed
the guy, took away his telephone and hand cuffed him! It got
strange when the police officer picked up the boy's phone and
continued the conversation! |
 These American camper fridges are huge!
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print board
In the meantime it is almost 5
o'clock when we are told that even with the newly installed print board
the outside lights of the fridge were still not working.
"The not working outside lights was why I wanted you fix my fridge in
the first place", was PJ's chagrined remark. Sierra RV needs some more
time, so PJ asked if he could take the camper with him and bring it back
tomorrow morning. The guy beeped somebody to get the camper out of the
shop and PJ's had to pay the bill. Their hour rate is U$130,- and we
were here already six hours. Fortunately the bill is 'only' U$230,-. Now
we were waiting for the camper. Another 30 minutes passed by. PJ went
inside the store to ask where his camper was. Without an apologize the
guy beeped again for the kid. After ten minutes the kid came outside to
tell us that the keys were in the truck and the doors were locked.
"Do we have spare keys?"
Can you believe that? Seven hours later we leave Sierra RV with still a
not working fridge and 230 dollar lighter. We have never been treated so
costumer unfriendly in the States.
| 3 Augustus 2011 The next day we arrived at Sierra RV at 8am and ten minutes later the camper is back in the shop. This time we came prepared and beside the chairs, we brought a thermos coffee, PJ's painkillers and breakfast (and lunch). To our surprise, after only 30 minutes, we heard a familiar engine sound and the camper was parked in front of us. "There was only a loose wire", said the guy. "You do not have to pay more". "So there was nothing wrong with the print board?" PJ asked immediately. "Oh, yeah, the print board was also toast". We have our doubts, but what can you do about it? It is only 8.45am and we still had all day to do our shopping list. We bought more stuff for our 'project flatbed' (the extra diesel tank has to be installed) and we took Diana and Randy out for a Mexican dinner. |
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4 August 2011 Wyoming
We drove 300 miles north to Grand Teton National Park. Never
before we were here mid summer and we did not expect to see wildlife. We
were not disappointed because we also saw mosquitoes and a bull moose in
velvet.
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But we came here especially to
see our Jackson Hole friends and we saw a few. We spent an evening
around the camp fire drinking Margarita's.
Picture taken by Mike Cavaron |
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After two days we have enough mosquito bites to last a week, so we continued north. Straight through Yellowstone National Park, where we only saw wild tourists. We drove to Helena, where we spent the night. The next day we are going to cross the border of Canada. We picked a border crossing at Glacier National Park, just because that is where lots of tourists cross.
9 August 2011 Canada
From the window of our truck the immigration officer asked us some
questions like: How much booze did you bring, cigarettes and do we carry
weapons. We answer them all without lying.
"Do you know anybody in Canada?"
"Yes, we are going to visit friends in Kamloops".
Immediately we have to park the camper to the side and have to come into
the office. Two cute lady customer officers, armed to the teeth, would
like to have a look inside the camper. The blond one asked us: "Why do
you know people in Kamloops"
Funny that customs always thinks of a question that you do not expect
(and that make no sense).
"Why?....Uh, maybe because they are nice people?"
PJ is ready for a strip search, but he is dismissed by the ladies. We
really have to go into the office now.
While we are questioned, the camper is searched from top to bottom. When
the ladies are assured that we did not bring drugs, weapons or child
pornography we can go. Just south of Calgary we spent the night.
| The next day we check out the
storage company in Calgary where we want to store our camper in
October. It is just a grassy lot with a fence around it, but it
looks okay. It is at least not expensive and really close to the
airport.
We continue west to Kamloops, where our
friends Bob and Charlotte live. We met them 4 years ago in
Mexico. |
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Four days we camp in Kamloops. We give
Bob & Char a hand with moving their new dining set from the
store and installing it. PJ works on project flatbed and Bob give him good ideas. The extra diesel tank has to be connected and I paint the doors in front of it. We cook, eat and drink a lot and Melissa and Sean are always present.
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14 August 2011 Kamloops
We left Kamloops and I immediately fell asleep. Five hours later PJ
cannot keep his eyes open and parked the camper next to the road for an
afternoon nap! We only made it to Quesnel that day and spent the
night on a parking lot of Staples with free wireless internet. We
watched some television on the laptop.
15 August 2011 Quesnel
We stopped in Prince George for grocery
shopping and follow the John Hart Highway 97 to Dawson Creek.
There is a lot of road construction
going on and at one point we had to wait more than half an hour for the
pilot car. At the next waiting point I decide to go for a quick pee. I
skipped closing the camper door and while I am in the bathroom (OMG TMI)
PJ started the engine and started driving! The pilot car had arrived and
the row of cars followed. Someone behind us saw the open camper door and
warned one of the flaggers. He radioed the pilot car and everything
stopped.
"Do you know that your door is wide open?"
"Do you know my wife is inside using the bathroom?"
The flagger did not think this was funny and while I climb back into the
truck the row of cars can start driving again. Embarrassing! While we
are following the pilot car I saw a black bear with cub eating on the
side of the road! Unfortunately we cannot stop to watch, we have been
into trouble enough with these people.
| After the road construction
is over, we can speed up, but suddenly we ran into three
'Mexican speed bumps'! Too late to hit the breaks and the camper
flies a couple of millimeters and hit the back glass of the
truck. This cracks like a spider web. Shoot! Only the middle
part (moveable part) is still okay.
It is still 50 miles to the next civilization, so we continue.
At every little bump in the road we can hear the window moaning
and we leave a trail of little squares of glass! |
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At 7 pm we reach the town Chetwynd and went looking for a place to spent the night. In the middle of the village is a truck stop were RV-ers are welcome too. We are surrounded by small hotels, but we cannot pick up Wireless Internet. Why bother staying on this noisy spot when we cannot use Internet? PJ drives around looking for a quiet place to spent the night. He finds it next to a cemetery. While I am cooking dinner, PJ starts up the laptop to play a game and to our big surprise he picks up Internet! I don't know which higher realms PJ is connected, but we can check our email.
16 August 2011 Chetwynd, Canada
The next morning we looked for a place to replace our truck back
window and they have one in the small town! It is going to plexus glass
and we have to move the camper a feet or two for the boys to be able to
work. With our project flatbed we do not have much to spare and
it takes us an our to get the camper back. The boys also need an hour
and than we need an hour to get the camper back. Believe me, PJ did not
get his nickname 'Grumpy' for nothing!
| After three hours we are back
on the road and spent the night along the Alaska Highway. This highway was built during the second World War to protect the United States from Japan. It was built in only nine months right through the wilderness of Alaska and Canada. Before it was paved, fifteen years ago, the highway was loved by travelers who wanted some excitement. Despite its name only 350 kilometer of the total of 2500 kilometers are in Alaska. The rest of the Alaska Highway is in Canada.
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17 August 2011 Alaska Highway, Canada If we mention in the lower 48 that we are going to Alaska Americans react with admiration: "Cool, you are going to take the Alaska Highway?" They are probably thinking of the seventies when this road was a big adventure and you needed at least two spare tires and you were guaranteed to loose a windshield. Now the road is paved, smooth, with wide paved shoulders, almost boring! After Fort Nelson it starts to turn interesting nature wise and by then we have already drive 450 kilometers of the Alaska Highway. |
| Fort Nelson was in the
fifties a community without electricity, telephone, tap water,
fridges or doctors. Nowadays it is still nothing much, but when
we stop in front of a hotel we have high speed Internet and I am
able to upload my website. We continue the Alaska Highway. We see coyote following a hare, a cow moose with calf, two cranes and a black bear. When we are driving through the Stone Mountain Park we see wood bison (smaller than their big brother in Yellowstone) and caribous (bigger than their cousins the reindeer). |
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Black Bear
watch out for crossing caribous
there the are; but without the impressive antlers
young
caribou
watch out for wood
bison
and there is the first one
the camper and a
wood bison
Folded Mountain in Stone Mountain Park
Nature is beautiful, with turquoise colored rivers and rough mountains. Weather is changing rapidly: one moment the sun is shining, the next moment we are in a hail storm.
| Just before Muncho Lake Park
we see a black bear. He does not wink an eye and keeps on
grazing. Around the next corner we see a black bear with triplets! They also don't do anything else than grazing and grazing. But they are cute! After 15 minutes we give up and go to Liard Hot Springs.
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We have been twice to these hot springs in a beautiful natural setting. A wooden boardwalk brings you through a fern forest to the hot river. The path to the second spring (a pond) is closed because of a problem bear. While we slowly turn red as lobsters it starts to rain.
A floating river, the water is really boiling hot!
Grumpy: I hate rain!
The campground is full, so we park for free across
the road. A black bear is grazing in the shoulder. While a cook a quick
pasta meal (it is rather late now) we see another black bear trying to
climb into a dumpster. The hotel personal is not too happy about it and
tries to scare the bear away with fire crackers. This is what you would
call a problem bear.
The next day we see a black bear that has been hit by car on the road in
front of the hotel. What a waste!
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18 August 2011, Alaska Highway Canada We start the day with a hot bath, that dead black bear, a life black bear, another dead black bear and a dead wood bison. In tne years traveling through North America we have seen a dead black bear only once and now two on one day! The rest of the day we do not see wildlife. In
Watson Lake we wanted to do our laundry but there is no Laundromat
in WL. I am telling you this because there are not a lot of towns along
this road and WL seemed a bit larger. It is so hard to imagine for us
living in highly populated Holland. We are having a good pace and from
Liard Hot Springs we drive 700 kilometers north to Whitehorse. |
| PJ gives a beggar with a good
story 5 dollars and we check the weather forecast in Alaska.
Next week rain everywhere! That sucks. We do our laundry and
outside a Swiss guy admires the pictures on our camper. We ask
him where he is going. "When my car is fixed I am going to drive the Dempster Highway" "Is the weather okay there?" we do another weather check and it looks like that the north part of Canada will be fine. We immediately change our plans and go north to the Dempster Highway.
Although we love to have travel company (mostly we travel to
Alaska with photography couples) it is really nice to be able to
change your plans without having to consult your fellow
travelers. |
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 a gravel parking lot claims to be a RV park |
19 August 2011, Klondike Highway We leave early and at 9.30am we are already at the beginning of the Dempster Highway. We decide to stay a day on an expensive RV park but with electricity, hot showers and Internet. We charge up all the batteries, reorganize the truck and I wash the back of the camper a bit: it is our front door you know. Mid afternoon the sun starts to shine. At the gas station you can immediately see which vehicle came from the Dempster; mud until the roof! We ask them if the have seen caribou, but they are only there sparsely. It would be a pity if we are too early to see the migrating caribou. |