Whitehorse to Tolsona

We went back up over White Pass but this time oh the highway pulling our 5th wheel. It was an overcast morning and the views were not as beautiful. The sub alpine terrain was interesting.

Whitehorse is about 25,000 people so it seemed like a bustling city to us compared to what we have been used to seeing. We are planning to comeback through Whitehorse when we leave Alaska so we just spent the night at a campground. We had some repairs to make on the water system so while I was out rounding up parts I ran into Russ and Judy Knanse from Thermopolis, Wyoming. Carolyn, Richard, Elaine and I Had a nice visit with them at their Camper that evening. The next morning we headed out of Canada for Tok, Alaska. Just before we crossed out of Canada we saw a pair of Trumpeter Swans with their newly born chicks. 

We stayed at Grizzly Lake Campground, a nice rustic campground. the next day we traveled to Tolsona and stayed at the Tolsona Wilderness Campground. This campground has all of it's 100 sites along the creek. It is very nice. We left the camper and took a day trip  to Valdez. The road to and from Valdez is very pretty and scenic drive.  

Off toward Anchorage!

Skagway

Arrived in Skagway. It is a small tourist town but very enjoyable. In the winter it has about 850 inhabitants by July it's population is 1500 with summer workers. Last year it had about 850,000 tourists. Around 800,000 of them were from the cruse liners that stop here daily. There are many people walking the streets and dock ways.

The National Park Service has purchased many of the old properties in Skagway and restored them. They also help residents with information and grants for restoration. The Alaskan State government also has historical restoration grants available. Still many of the shops you see are the same ones you see at the other stops along the inside passageway. The town does have a nice historical western flavor to it. There are a couple of places that have several daily performances each. The quality is very good and they usually have some audience participation segments.

We drove over to Dyea where the Chilkoot Trail to the Yukon started. The Park Service has a historical site at the Dyea town site which has all but disappeared but there is very informative signage. The tidal basin and estuary is very scenic. The road past there to the trail and beyond leads to a scenic view of a mountain glacier with spectacular views.  

 
The White Pass & Yukon  narrow gauge train ride to the top of White Pass following most of the trail the prospectors took up over the pass was awesome. The views were great and the train seemed to be meeting itself coming and going.

 
We also enjoyed strolling through Jewell Gardens and glass blowing.

Sitka

In Sitka I really enjoyed the Russan Orthodox Church and the Russian Bishop's House. These spoke to the Russian influence in Sitka and Alaska. The church ran it's own tour and had a priest available for information and reference.

The Bishop's House is run by the park service and has ranger guides through the house. they are resident guides and very informative.  The information given is on the construction of the house and the furniture. the bishop built some of it  himself. 


 

Whales, Icebergs, Seals, Bears Oh MY!

Well, we have made it to Juneau. As we were waiting to get on the ferry at Sitka we noticed a barge loaded for shipment with what we thought was a strange cargo. Later on our ride we passed it in the passage.

  We passed through another narrow passage way. We had gone through it once already on our way from Ketchikan to Sitka. This time we went through in daylight as the first time we traversed it at night.

In Juneau we have done some site seeing.  One of the places we went to was the Glacier Gardens. It is a 50 acre garden and temperate rain forest tour. Elaine and I really enjoyed this tour.

 

Saturday we took the Tracy Arm Adventure Tour to Sawyer Glacier. Carolyn, Richard, Elaine and I enjoyed one of the best trips of our lives on this excursion.

  The last 2 photos are of a gray whale lunge feeding. We also saw mountain goats and many different birds. Monday we take the ferry to Skagway. 

Getting Ready to go to Sitka

We are getting ready to head to Sitka, Ak Monday morning when we get on the ferry at 2 AM. We have a stateroom this time because the ride is 25 hours long. We spent the day here in Ketchikan site seeing and looking at the museums and historical sites. The totem pole museum was very interesting. The blue and pink totem is a modern day production.

The old red light district has been changed into little tourist shops along Creek Street. The bright colors and boardwalk make it stand out form the rest of Ketchikan. Much of the newer area of the waterfront has been built on rock fill placed on the shoreline. Many of the houses are built on the hillsides in alcoves cut into the surrounding rock and the streets are very steep and hilly in places. The rain forest makes trees and shrubs grow every where. The roads out of Ketchikan go east and west for about 10 miles and then end at the Tongas National Forest. If you travel any where out of Ketchikan you use a boat or an airplane.

     

Ketchikan

The 15 hour ferry ride from Prince Rupert, BC to Ketchikan, AK was long but enjoyable. There was a bout a twenty mile an hour breeze which made for some choppy waves and rollers. It wasn't very pleasant out on the decks so our time was sent visiting with other passengers, reading or sleeping.
                                                Elaine and the Port of Ketchikan

                                                  
Ketchikan is a pretty little town. It looks like there are 2 to 4 cruise ships in port most of the time. For a flat lander the site of that many large ships moored at one time is impressive. We are staying at the Clover Pass RV Park. It has it's own marina area and rentals. Richard and I rented one of the rentals and went out salmon fishing while Elaine and Carolyn did laundry. we had a couple of hookups but didn't get them boated. The weather was good until about 1 PM and  it started to shower off and on. By the time we got in at 3 PM a steady rain had settled in on the area. The famous Ketchikan rain has settled in and is forecast to last until we hop on the ferry to go to Sitka. This trip will be 25 hours on the ferry. Friday morning before we went fishing I took my camera down to the shore and got photos of the Bald Eagles that were gathered on the shore.

Almost Out of Canada

Well, we moved from Weir's Beach up the east side of Vancouver Island to Ripple Rock RV Resort from Victoria. Most of the coast is fairly well populated. The interior and west coast of the island is sparsely populated.



                                                   

      Campbell River wood carving.

The Canadian inside passage way narrows at Ripple Rock. In years past the ripple rock claimed many boats that tried to sail by it. In 1958 the rock was blown up so large ships could pass by. It was the largest man made explosion at the time other than atomic explosions. This is a vary beautiful view of the passage. The resort has a great overlook of the passage from the commons clubhouse for guest. If anyone is planning a camping trip to Vancouver Island Weir's Beach and Ripple rock are great places to spend some time. The area around Campbell River and Chemainus is great for site seeing especially the murals in Chemainus (40).

                                              






Where Ripple Rock once was.


We headed north up the coast of the island and camped at Port Hardy on the northern part of Vancouver Island. The facility we stayed at was not as nice as the others we have stayed at on Vancouver Island. The mountain site seeing was very enjoyable in the surrounding area. I did get some great photos here.
                                                     
                                                                One of 40 murals artists have painted on building walls.



                                               
                                                       

 

                                                          Northern Expedition ferry

On the 7th of June we boarded the ferry to Prince Rupert, B.C. after spending the night parked in line to board our vehicle on the ferry. We left Port Hardy at 8 AM and spent the next 15 hours sailing the passage way to Prince Rupert. We ate 3 meals on the ferry. We carried a lunch with so we bought breakfast and dinner on the Ferry.Were were able to spot 4 whales, a wolf and quite few bald eagles. We got to Prince Rupert about 10 PM and were in our campground and set up by 11 PM.