Oh Canada! British Columbia on the Return and A Bit of Alberta

After the AlCan I headed east on Highway 16 toward Jasper National Park in Alberta. Beautiful drive! The scenery in most of British Columbia is a tantalizing green with such clean waters in their rivers and lakes!

The weather cleared through Prince George, but the further east it started raining. The mosquitoes were relentless. Still, all this rain makes for a very green landscape!

I saw another bear and a lot of very graceful deer. The deer here look almost like gazelles. Then I rounded a corner on the highway and came face to face with a deer with a huge rack of antlers! I really couldn't linger or take my eyes off the highway since there was a semi-truck in front of me. God, he was beautiful, a honey colored coat of fur and his antlers were fuzzy. He was like something from a dream just standing there on the side of the road!

British Columbia has signs for "Artisans". I always notice them because their decorative capital A looks like a tent. Underneath the A is what media they practice. I love it they honor their artisans. I don't know if this is done for the whole of Canada or just B.C. and I wonder what the process is for the artists to obtain a street sign?

I stopped in McBride. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to continue to Jasper and Banff National Parks. First, I don't have a Canadian pass so the cost might be too much. Second, it's raining. How much am I really going to see? Maybe I should just detour to Kamloops? But Kamloops is ugly. These are the decisions I'm faced with everyday and they often change my plans on the spur of the moment.

The McBride visitor centre had two lovely and very helpful women. They said, "Yes! Go see the icefields!" Yes, I'd have to pay but it's so worth it. Hmmm...a local woman who I met at the hot springs said she didn't think this park was very impressive.

I found a camping spot at Belle Mountain, a recreation site on a logging road only I'm tired of the dirt and parked at the base which gave me internet. It rained all night and in the morning I decided I'd drive to the intersection and decide then my plan of action. I started driving at 4am! I love driving in the morning when there is no traffic and often wildlife milling about.

I get 87 kilometers from Jasper which is about the same mileage back to McBride and I realize I forgot to get gas! There is a sign post that says the next gas station is 87 kilometers away. So I pull in to the gas station that is right there...they are closed! Most gas stations in Canada have 24 hour access and you just use a credit card. I'm in a panic. I only have 1/4th tank left. Will I make it? This was stressful watching the needle move. I did make it!

Jasper, the town, is delightful. Lots of really cute architecture and shops of all kinds, some gluten-free advertising, but I couldn't find food for the life of me. I walked around, got more Canadian cash, and then headed out on Highway 93 through Jasper National Park.

At the park entrance booth, the woman said, "There is no fee! They aren't charging until September 2nd." REALLY? She spoke French so her English accent was really hard to understand when she explained why, but I just thanked her and went on.

The first hour of the drive was through wildfire destruction, but it soon opened to greenery and the most beautiful lakes I've seen! Bow Lake, for instance, is turquoise! Some of the lakes and many of the rivers were various shades of aqua. Dazzling! When I got to the ice fields, I though the river was just dried up. Not very impressive. There was a Skywalk one could view over the cliff, but the parking lots were so crowded. The traffic at the beginning and then at the end in the lane coming into the park were bumper to bumper. I hate crowds! Every time there was a traffic jam, I assumed there was wildlife. I saw my tenth bear right on the side of the road as I slowly passed all the vehicles stopped to look. I hate tourists!

Alberta has really cool wildlife corridors over their highways.

I didn't do a lot of getting out because of the traffic. There is no guarantee I'd be able to get back on the highway! There was one pull-out with cars trying to cross to get in the opposite lane and they were stopped in my incoming traffic lane! Idiots! I didn't want to be one of those idiots so I just drove. I also didn't want to get out in the rain, and more importantly I hated opening my doors and letting mosquitoes in the van. I've been eaten alive! Canadian mosquitoes are worse than Alaskan!

I drove to the Radium Hot Springs because the visitors centre girls said they were wonderful, not crowded, and free. No, no, no. The parking lot was packed, the price was $15, and way too many people. It was a big tourist draw as was the hot springs down the road at Fairview. The drive to and from Radium was gorgeous.

I kept driving and driving through southeastern British Columbia at Cranbrook, over the U.S. Border, and back into Idaho. I was exhausted from such a long day, but I still managed to go to the car wash and clean all that dirt off the van.

The AlCan (Alaska Canada Highway)

This highway is a continuation of the Alaska Highway as it goes through the various Canadian provinces of the Yukon and British Columbia. In many of the Canadian towns the street signs call it Alaska Highway. It's in pretty good shape from Destruction Bay going east and south.

My first stop on it was right at Destruction Bay. There are two for-pay campgrounds, but then three dirt roads down to the lake. I was told later by another van dweller that the campgrounds aren't even on the lake where these free boondocking sites are! Excellent!

The water was so clear, pristine and COLD! I wanted to jump in, but the temperature was not that hot. I don't well cold so I didn't. I almost stayed another night to recover from the Highway from Hell, but laying around doing nothing felt like a waste of time.

I stopped in Whitehorse again, only this time found Save-On Grocery Store which has some gluten-free and organic food. I stopped at the visitor centre and loaded up on free water (that really wasn't very tasty) and used their internet. 

Continued along the highway (hoping to see wildlife!) and camped on a little dirt road along side the river. I saw this spot on the way to Alaska:

Then it started raining. And the mosquitoes swarmed. UGH! Below is the view from my bed. Keep in mind it's about 11pm. The sun doesn't set until 12:45am...AM!

The next morning I drove away and not a mile later I found the rest stop where several RVs and vans were parked. I do that a lot...find a spot then the next morning realized if I just would have continued a bit further a better spot is available. But this camping spot was private.

The next morning I headed out early. The woman at the Whitehorse visitor centre told me to get gas at Watson Lake, but it was 20 miles out of my way as I had planned to go back Highway 37. The gas station on the corner of my exit wasn't working right so I thought OK, head to Watson Lake. I'm so glad I did! First they have the coolest attraction right on the highway free to strolled: The Sign Post Forest!

 

Unfortunately it was raining or I might have strolled all day looking at these signs from all over the world.

The visitor centre told me the AlCan was now open. Due to the forest fires in the northeast part of British Columbia they closed it which is why I took Highway 37 to Alaska. So on a spur of the moment I thought, Why not take a new route? See more things? I continued on the AlCan heading east.

My first stop was the Liard River Hot Springs. I was tired, really hungry and braindead! I could have purchased a day pass for $5, but I opted for the $26 camping spot. It's raining. I jumped into that hot springs anyway! It's the second largest natural hot springs in Canada. It was glorious, huge and hot! Others soaking with me told me if it wasn't raining the mosquitoes and black horse flies would be swarming. I kept worrying, How am I going to dry my towel let alone my hair in my van. That's going to create way too much moisture and mold! When I got out I asked the reception if the campground has dryers. No. Do they have wi-fi? No. Do they have electrical outlets. No. It was pretty primitive. Do you give refunds? No. I should have asked these questions BEFORE I paid for camping! Braindeadness is my only excuse.

Then I realized I had driven all day in the rain. I know better. The solars don't charge in clouds and I should have had the power station hooked into the van's battery. I'm down to zero. This is not good. I left, forfeiting my $26 campsite and drove for another four hours to charge the power station! I hate wasting money, but it couldn't be helped.

Along the way I saw two bears, a moose, two herds of bison, and a caribou! It's hard driving a highway. Sometimes it's not a good idea to slow down or stop especially in the rain or by the time I do stop the animal has disappeared so I tend to just do a slower drive-by and look. With this one bear no one was behind me or in front of me so I stopped, backed up 30 feet and took a photo.

I often see moose on the highway usually far away. They must like the pavement. I notice, too, bears love to poop on the sides of the highway. This feels like passive-aggressive resentment toward human enroachment on their land. Do you blame them?

The bison were just laying on the side of the road. They look so much smaller than those monsters I saw on the way to Alaska! Maybe a different breed? 

At one point in the drive I rounded a corner and was faced with the devastation of the wildfire from a couple weeks ago! I was shocked. First, I thought the highway was closed due to smoke. I didn't realize the fire went over the highway. Acres and acres of destruction over the rolling hills still smoldering which made me a little nervous. It was creepy!

I continued traveling, constantly checking the Bluetti charge. I would have loved to have stayed at Muncho Lake. There were pull-outs right on the lake, but without a good charge, that would have been risky. I continued traveling through gorgeous greenery, mountains, lakes, rivers. British Columbia is spectacular.

There is nothing more gratifying than a full tank of gas! About halfway through this beautiful route, my tank was down to half. I avoid less than half a tank just because I have no idea when the next gas station will be. The next gas station was out in the middle of no where, I pulled up and the price was about $1.50 more than normal. Call me stubborn or just indignant, but I kept driving. As I drove I got a little worried. Maybe that was the only gas station until Dawson Creek!? OMG! Thankfully there was another one that had a reasonable price. When I finally get a full tank for the next hour I sing, "Got a full tank of gas! I am on my way!" It's such a relief!

The gas stations all along the AlCan are often "antique". Absolutely ancient. They have those pumps where the numbers flip like back in the 1960s! The first one I encountered I thought, I hope I remember how to work one of these! Or often they have just a huge metal container with a hose but little else. Many of the stations have you pump first, then tell them the amount when you pay. 

I arrived in Fort Nelson around 9pm when everything was closed BUT my Bluetti was up to 50%! Found a camping spot outside of town at the Parker Lake Recreation Site. One other car was parked there. Next to a lake. Lots of mosquitoes with one tormenting me for hours until I finally killed it.

I woke early as usual and speed-walked the dirt road to and from the highway. Sitting all day requires exercise or my back starts hurting. I drove to town. Nothing opened until 9am. Visited the visitor centre, went to the health food store, went to a cafe that does gluten-free and got a breakfast sandwich to go. With the Bluetti not charged fully, I didn't want to chance cooking anything. Did a load of laundry at the laundromat that had top loading washers to wash my towels including the towel I soaked at the hot springs. Lovely laundry lady talked my ear off about the community and criticizing Canadian politics, both local and nationally. Although she was bashing on their liberal policies, it sounded just like American politics and I told her, "I don't think it's political party. I think it's men in charge!" She agreed. It was a fun conversation.

Left for Dawson Creek on the AlCan. I love how they have wide expansive fields next to the highway. This is where one sees the bears. Very nice drive, nice road especially in sections when it is so smooth it's like driving on glass, a little boring, but the traffic at times was bumper to bumper. Along with rest stops they have a lot of pull-outs with bear-proof garbage containers. The highway is very clean. They also have emergency phones all along the road. 

Bought new windshield wipers at the Fort St. Johns Ford dealership. Along the way was sun with thunder showers and my wipers were not doing well!

By the time I got to Dawson Creek, I was really tired. The Walmart has received glowing reviews on allowing nomads to park overnight. I like parking at Walmart. It always feels safe. However, I don't do anything that makes me look like I'm camping...or living in the parking lot. I don't cook outside. I don't wash my van. Etc. The store is one of the smallest I've seen with the weirdest layout, but there must have been thirty RVs, cars, and vans parked around the perimeter (as instructed). I had to move at one point because a camper pulled in beside me and whoever was inside started smoking cigarettes which filled my van with stink. I ended up next to a woman also in a Transit from Washington so that was much better! Very little mosquitoes (OH THANK GOD FOR SMALL MIRACLES!), great temperature, and quiet. I slept really good surrounded by "my people". 

Next stop was Chetwyn. I started driving through with no thought to stop and I kept seeing amazing sculptures on both sides of the road! Once I got to the far end of town where the sculptures stopped, I parked, got out and walked the length of the town looking at each work of art. It seems two weeks ago and every year since 2005 this little town has the International Chainsaw Carving Championship! It was just two weeks ago so I missed it. Some of the sculptures were amazingly detailed! It was fun. I was exhausted by the time I got back to Big Blue and I didn't even see them all as I was told they are also all over the town. There are over 200! I love these kinds of travel surprises. Such a gift!

This one was one of my favorites
called The Monsters We Make.

At Prince George the AlCan ends or rather Highway 97 ends and this is a full circle as I came through Prince George on the way to Alaska!

The Highway from Hell

To be clear, the whole Alaska Highway isn't hellish. Just the part between Tok, Alaska and Destruction Bay, Yukon, but even this small section will give you nightmares. When one lives in a vehicle, damaging the vehicle might render one homeless! For someone who is chemically sensitive and housing options are scarce, this is to be avoided at all costs. I did NOT want to drive back on this highway! I even called the Alaskan ferry system to find out about ferries from wherever to wherever. I didn't even care! I was told by the very nice customer service agent there aren't many, well, only one from Valdez to Bellingham, Washington. I exclaimed, "I CAN DO THAT!" Then she said they are reserved up to five months in advance. There is no sleeping in vehicles and no access to vehicles during the sailing. I could reserve a cabin, sleep on the deck, sleep in the solarium on a tent or in a chair in the passenger area. Could I tolerate their cabins? Could I sleep next to smelly people on the deck, solarium or the passenger sitting area? I doubt it. She had one available spot on August 15th due to a cancellation with a cabin for about (can't remember exact price) $2600. It would take three and a half days. I was tempted especially since that cabin had a private shower, but I decided I did prefer the freedom to drive.

I woke up at 4:00am ready to tackle the highway from hell. I figured getting there early on a Saturday morning there would be little traffic and I could drive as slowly as I liked. This worked out well. Most of the traffic was going to Alaska, much more in fact than two weeks ago. Most of the time I had the highway to myself. That made it only a tiny bit better as I didn't have as many trucks passing me throwing dirt, gravel and dust all over Big Blue.

This is what the highway looks like before they start mangling it with really bad patch jobs. Even their patching methods are shoddy.

For sixteen solid Alaskan miles this is what it looked like with flagging stops and pilot truck guidance:

When the semi-trucks or large trucks passed me, the dust was so bad I couldn't see the road. Motorcycles were treating it like some off-road adventure challenge. Still, they went the speed limit of 70kmh (50 mph) regardless of the dust, gravel, potholes, cracks and rollercoaster bumps!

For 220 Canadian kilometers, this is what it looked like:

For about 100 yards it was pavement drop-off then gravel covered potholes and cracks, dust, and dirt. Then one mile of bad highway, alternating with another 100 yards of van-abusive "gravel patches". FOR 220 KILOMETERS!

There were times I went 10 mph, never more than 40 mph. Thankfully few people were on the road that early and if they came up behind me, I pulled over and let them pass.

Part of the highway had been repaved. It was wonderful!

At the Destruction Bay gas station, a sport car drove up. Low to the ground, sleek, gorgeous. I think it was bright blue. It might have been a Ferrari or Mazeradi, but the mud covering the whole car also covered the decal. 

Mazerati

Ferrari

It was a Ferrari. The Mazerati isn't low and sleek enough. 

This shockingly gorgeous young man opened the door and as he passed me he said with the biggest, "I'm-gorgeous-rich-entitled-and-I-know-it" smile and said extremely cheerfully, "Hi! How are you?" I responded speechlessly with, "I'm fine." and kept walking. He drove that car over the Highway from Hell!!!???? It's so low to the ground I wonder HOW? How did he not bottom out with every gravel patch? If I wasn't so mesmerized and confused by his beauty, I might have asked. I left the gas station and not fifteen minutes later he passed me speeding at least three times faster than I was traveling. I think he must have a death wish. I wish I would have taken  photo of the car covered in mud!

East of Destruction Bay the highway wasn't too bad with occasional gravel patches and some potholes.

I'd like to think one day it'll all be fix and lovely like the above photo, but every winter the permafrost damages the highway so it's an ongoing challenge for Alaska and the Yukon to keep up with the destruction. I was told by visitor centres with the wildfires, they don't have the resources.

I survived to tell the tale...not my idea of a good time!

ALASKA!

I'm writing this post at 1:20am...it never gets dark here! Official sunset is 12:45am! 

I arrived around 2pm on Sunday, June 15th. The visitor center in Tok (pronounced "Toke") wasn't open so I started heading for Fairbanks hoping everyone was right and camping on the side of the road or at a river was allowed. I stopped at the Three Bears Alaska grocery store that had very little gluten-free or organic food. Then the Tesoro gas station after reading if you fill your tank not only would they let you park for the night, but you can use their car wash! This "car wash" is only a hose with sprayer, a bucket of soap and a brush, but it was good enough for me! The ground where I was to park and wash was deep in mud and the soap water was dirty, but Big Blue got a bath! Nothing like a bath to make one feel renewed!! (I'm still waiting to have a proper bath...it's been six months!)

I headed down Highway 2, the Alaska portion of the Alaska Highway and started looking. Near Dot Lake I pulled over to a parking area and beyond was a gravel surface right next to a creek. I kept thinking, I hope this is legal! I washed the solar panels, washed my hair (it had been too long!), washed my pants that got muddy from the car washing, made dinner, and collapsed. A lot of work goes into living in a van and after an exhausting day of driving, it doesn't stop! I find when I'm most exhausted, I forget to take any photos, but photos of a parking lot aren't that interesting anyway!

The next morning I headed to Fairbanks, but not before I killed no less than 100 mosquitoes and gnats that somehow got into my closed van during the night! How? They are relentless. Every time I stopped they'd swarm the van. Luckily, I've managed not to get too many bites and nothing that itches. Finally when the weather got hot (90 degrees!) and everything dried out they went away. 

Fairbanks. Not a very impressive town. More like a large strip mall that expanded in all directions. I might have missed any downtown it might have had although I drove around searching for various amenities I needed. I went straight for the visitors center and they were incredibly helpful. First, smoke haze is a natural occurrence every year because usually Alaska has their share of wildfires. Not this year, but the Canadian wildfires are making up for it. Yes, as long as it isn't private property or there are no parking/camping signs, I can park anywhere!! The parking locations are all over the side of the highway. Rest stops are usually camp-able as well. Look for dirt roads heading to the sides of bridges as it will take you to the river's edge, but I found some of those dirt roads are in bad shape with deep ruts or steep declines. Alaska also has BLM lands, but like the lower 48, they are out in the middle of no where. Walmarts and some other grocery stores were filled with RVs and vans parked in the back of the lots. It's very boondocking friendly!

I found the Co-op Grocery store and loaded up on food for the first time in almost a week. But what about water? I was totally out of water. No stores (including Walmart) has refill water stations! I was directed to go to any number of water companies for refills. One tasted like chlorine (no filtering) and the fancy one that does reverse osmosis also treats the water with ozone. I told the woman I can't do ozone as it would make me violently ill, but they didn't have ozone-free water. Now what do I do? I decide to test their water and drank a small 2 ounce cup. Immediately my mouth, throat, and whole esophageal tract all the way down started burning! I figured it might me a little nauseous, but I did not expect burning. No thank you! I ended up going back to Walmart and buying three one-gallon plastic jugs for too much money. 

I stopped at Home Depot and bought some sodium chloride to put in my van to soak up the humidity that makes my van feel wet all over. Then I took off around 2pm on Highway 3 and headed south for Denali State Park. On the way I saw what I think was a small beaver (?) waddling slowly across the highway. I was driving nearly the speed limit which was too fast to make any decent decision. I thought for a moment I could roll over him, but I was afraid he'd panic and end up under a tire so I went around onto the side of the road. I hope he made it across before someone else hit him!

That was the only wildlife for two hours! Kind of disappointing as I had high hopes for Alaskan sightings. I got to the park, acquired information, and found a parking area on the highway just north of the park with a plan to go back the next day for some hiking. A little noisy on the highway, but I ended up with European neighbors from Switzerland (I used to live in Switzerland!) who started their trip a year ago at the southern tip of South America! They plan to transport their vans back home from Baltimore - it will cost as freight $3,000. Hmmmm....good to know.

View from parking location.
The haze still covers everything so it's hard to see anything!

As I was relaxing and looking at my emails and messages, I heard a commotion on the highway, screeching of brakes and some loud clanging metal. I looked out the window of my van just in time to see a mama moose and two babies running past and across the parking surface!!! I jumped out of my van, stayed behind it as moose especially ones with babies can be dangerous and watched her trot haphazardly through the parking area. Good god, she was big! The babies were huge, probably about six feet tall. It seems the semi-truck risked his own life and slammed on his brakes for them. That can't be easy sailing down the road at 65 miles an hour. This is why I usually drive slower than the speed limit! She disappeared over the embankment quickly. The Swiss people were sitting outside and we were all screaming, "DID YOU SEE THAT?" So exciting!

I was up until about 2am...it's still light out! Got up at 5am as usual and headed to Denali National Park and Preserve. I've learned if a car is parked on the side of the road and the driver has a high-powered camera lense, slow down and look. Same with tour buses. That morning a cruise tour bus was parked in the middle of the road near the park entrance with emergency flashers. I looked. Hmmm...maybe some animal is crossing in front of the bus. Finally I looked to my left and there is a mama moose with a tiny baby! The rest of the morning I hiked the Horseshoe Lake trail and saw muskrats in the lake.

 I drove around Denali National Park and Preserve. The weather cleared so I saw Denali!

There were signs on the trails warning hikers. It seems a bear killed a caribou and the bear will go back to the carcass...the bear will go back to its kill so they don't want hikers in the area who might make the bear feel like its food is being threatened.

Went to see the Dog Sledding Center. Lots of cute puppies, but didn't stay for the demonstration. After getting to bed at 2am, I was exhausted. I started the very long drive toward Anchorage, but couldn't keep my eyes open on the way so pulled into a snowmobile parking lot to camp just before it started pouring rain. I woke to the whole van feeling so wet it had been underwater.

The next morning I stopped in Talkeetna - incredibly cute town with lots of art galleries, restaurants and log cabins. Unfortunately, as usual, I was there too early in the morning, but walked around looking. It doesn't matter. It's not like I'm going to buy art, touristy souvenirs or eat gorgeous looking gluten-laden food.

Anchorage was a very nice city, lovely downtown, lots of amenities: Walmart, Fred Meyer, and a great health food-oriented store call Natural Pantry. 

After loading up on necessary supplies, I headed out Highway 1 to the Kenai Peninsula. OK! Now I feel like I'm in Alaska and I finally figured out the map! I kept asking myself why are there no little country roads on this map to the outlying towns? Because the land is all mountains! In the Fairbanks area, I could hardly see anything for the smoke haze then the clouds so the landscape just looked like Washington. Ho hum, who cares? I wasn't impressed. Denali cleared up, but in the northern area of the Kenai Peninsula one is surrounded by snow-covered mountains on all sides! It's glorious.

First stop was Girdwood. Little town. Not that interesting. It had a laundry with front loading washers so that wouldn't work. I stopped in at the National Forestry Office and spoke with a bad-attituded woman. It was like pulling teeth trying to get information on camping for free anywhere off the highways. She sent me to the Portage Glacier Highway that is lined with not only the Portage Glacier, but many others. There are a lot of avalanche warning signs on the highways and I wondered as the sun warmed the mountains if they have avalanches even in the summer? There is a lot of snow on the peaks!

I found a wonderful camping spot right on a river and hiked part of the Blue Ice Trail.

I left early and headed to Seward down the Seward Highway (9). Really cute town right on the water. I did laundry as they had top-loading washers, bought more water, exchanged books at a Free Library near the senior center, and walked around. It wasn't until I left and drove through the northern side of town that I saw the hundreds of tourists debarking from the cruise lines. Most milling around with luggage, some getting on tour buses. Blah. I left for Homer.

The drive to Homer was back on Highway 1. The mountains disappeared and the scenery looked like Washington making the drive long and boring. Homer might have been equally as boring, nothing special EXCEPT the view! Along the route a white mist started rolling in at around 4pm. At first I wondered if it was smoke and there was a fire .Was it clouds or fog?  Once I got a look at the view to the west and saw the distant mountains, with a layer of clouds or fog, and then water, it looked like some kind of magical land. The sides of the highway were congested with tourists so I didn't stop often for photos. The Sterling Highway had the most traffic of anywhere I'd traveled so far. I'm not fond of people, tourists and a lot of traffic, so I tend to not stop or pull off since it might be difficult to get back on the road. I do wish I would have gotten a better photo...

Instead of staying in Homer, I had a strong desire to leave! I was determined to get closer to the northern part of the Kenai Peninsula with the mountains, beyond the fire damage. About halfway to Homer were acres and acres of burnt trees. It's amazing and frightening to see.

I have found I am incredibly tired of camping on highways with the noise. The whole point in boondocking for me is being out in the peace and quiet of nature. So I kept driving hoping to find something, but as that snarky woman in the National Forestry office said, Alaska doesn't have much of off road camping. As I drive down miles and miles of highways, I'm constantly looking. I came across a dirt road, but it looked like a quarry. Quarries are private property so one doesn't want to be camping only to be in the way in the early morning as quarry workers arrive for work. As I passed this road, I kept looking and through the trees I saw part of an RV! I circled back to check it out. It looks like a non-working quarry, the RV was on the top of the hill. I continued driving in and there are five other vehicles parked ready to camp for the night! I drove down into the bowels of the quarry away from everyone else and shielded from the highway noise. 

Sometimes I feel a little creepy in places like this when I notice the shotgun shells all over, but with others camping there, I felt safe. I constantly think Alaskans throughout history are the explorers, the subversives, the rebels and renegades who wanted to be out in the wilderness away from other people and government control. I find this admirable, until I'm reminded they can also be gun-toting crazies. Earlier in the day I passed a car on the side of the road that obviously had a flat tire. Someone took a gun and shot out the windshield! I see a lot of highway signs with bullet holes, too. Hmmmm....I don't always feel that safe here in Alaska!

The next morning I headed back to Portage Glacier Road and visited Portage Glacier and surroundings this time without tour buses blocking the views:

I can't get enough of these snow-covered mountains and glaciers! It's like a wonderland!

I waited for the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center to open. I figured this might be my only chance to see bears in Alaska. This is not a "zoo". I boycott zoos. I understand the need to see wildlife if one can't travel, but purposely trapping and imprisoning animals for entertainment is outdated and cruel. This center takes in wildlife that has been injured, abandoned as babies, or disabled in someway. They have eagles, owls, porcupines, fox, bison, elk, reindeer, caribou, wolves, lynx, muskox and bears! They had two black bears snoozing in the sun. They also have grizzlies, but the grizzly compound was huge and they must have been napping in a far corner. Nice place. They work really hard at providing a natural environment for the animals.

I admit, I had no idea what a caribou looked like and I headed here first.
I thought they were much bigger like reindeer. They were very small!

I thought I would stay a few more days before attempting another trip on the Alaska Highway from Hell, but it was time. So often when I'm visiting a location, all of a sudden it's time to leave. That is an advantage to not having a schedule and having all this freedom. It's my choice. Big Blue is leaking coolant and my appointment is in two weeks. I'd like to stay for the van festival which is a month away, but the coolant leak stresses me. I am also worried the festival might be much like Quartzsite with smelly people and no healthy food options. Paying $250 to experience even something remotely similar to Quartzsite would really piss me off. I left. Alaska is done and over. 

I headed out on Highway 1 toward Tok. This is not the same route I came in on. The views were spectacular, the highway was like a little country road. When I say "little", I'm not exaggerating! When it started twisting up and down through the mountains it became incredibly narrow with very little side, no pull-outs, and giant RVs barreling down toward you. They took up their whole lane from stripe to stripe! It was a bit frightening as my side had the drop-off cliff and a lot of unstable cement and potholes!

I stopped in Palmer which had a little market or maybe it was a solstice fair. Lots of booths selling sourdough bread and nothing gluten-free.

Near Glenellen, Mt. Drum was hypnotizing, staring straight at me on the highway from the distance! It looked like something out of a fantasy land!

Mantanuska Glacier was another gorgeous sighting along the highway:

That night I stayed at a boondocking campsite Menasta Lake that claimed to have moose sightings. I spoke to a local who was there with her brood of teenage boys and she said they started mining in the area and the wildlife have pretty much disappeared due to the huge trucks in and out of the area. Oh well. Once the teens left, it was very quiet all night. 

I got up the next morning and tackled the Alaska Highway. The second time wasn't any better although learning from the first time, I drove a whole lot slower not caring if people wanted to race around me. I must be masochistic to attempt it twice, but I didn't have much of a choice. To heal from the trauma of it all, I'll be writing a separate post!

Alaska in a Nut Shell, pros and cons:

Boondocking supported and encouraged.

Gorgeous snow-covered mountains and water.

No water refills.

Stores don't charge for bags.

Not a lot of healthy food options.

Hooray for moose...I think all the bears went to the Yukon for the summer to get away from the tourists!

Nice, cool weather. 

The Alaska Highway.

I went in June which I think is a really good time to go with fewer RVs and campers. I've heard in July the Alaska Highway is bumper to bumper which is why I headed out early.

Also in June, there are wildflowers along the sides of the highways. This is spectacular. I don't think they last into July so June was a good choice: