Minnesota

Minnesota had been great especially compared to ND! The rangers at the first SP we stayed at recommended we go to Lake Itasca SP which is where the headwaters to the Mississippi River are located. So off we went. This is a huge SP that was saved from the logging companies long ago. The lake itself is not too large, at least by MN standards but it drains into a small stream which turns into the Mississippi River. It is said that a drop of rain falling into the lake takes 90 days to enter the Gulf of Mexico! Just three weeks ago I was riding my bike across the Arctic Circle and yesterday I stood in the headwaters to the Mississippi! Pretty cool!

 

Standing in the Mississippi headwaters!

 

We then found another SP dedicated solely to mountain biking so this morning we headed that direction. As our luck would have it we have had nothing but heavy rain all day. None the less we are staying at a city CG and will see what tomorrow brings weather wise. The locals say the trails drain quite fast, so we will see. If we can ride we will do so, if not we head into Wisconsin.

 

More to come...

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Eastern MT, North Dakota and Minnesota

Travelling through eastern Montana is actually quite nice. This is all wheat country which has a beauty of it's own especially at harvest time (which is now). We are travelling on Highway 2 just a few miles south of the Canadian border. This road is a 2 lane highway and unfortunatley has little to no shoulder, and towing the TT, I was not able to stop for photos when appropriate. And of course the heat was back and summer was now upon us, big time, with days into the upper 90s. We stopped for the night in Havre, MT at a county fairground which was a good deal for $20.

 

It is now that we are starting to see the toll the miles are starting to take on our car and trailer. We are over 14,000 miles for the trip and with the beating the equipment had taken up north I am not really surprised to see some issues (although nothing serious). I noticed some front tire wear on the truck and had a complete roataion and balance of all the tires but will most likely need an alignment and I changed the air filter which was really needed after all the dirt and gravel roads we travelled.

 

We then made our way into ND. We had hoped to head a little south to the Theodore Roosevelt NP park but eastern ND, like BC and south TX is in the midst of a hugh oil and gas boom. Williston is the town closest to the border and it is just overrun with big rigs and people. The good news is the roads are being built to accommodate all the traffic, the bad news is we got stuck in all this mess at the end of a long and hot day! We scrapped our original plans then continued east. The next mroning I noticed one trailer tire looking rather bleak so we had that changed out and moved on. It was not too long after leaving this area that we left the oil patch behind and the driving became much easier. We crossed into MN that evening and stayed at a state park right on the border.

 

Restored covered wagons on display (the 1st RVs?)

 

 

 

 

 

Not too many pictures here as we are now trying to get some miles behind us.

 

More to come....

 

Posted with Blogsy

Back in the Lower 48

Our drive back into Montana was fairly easy although we had a relatively long border crossing wait, about 1 ½ hours. Heading south from Edmonton you quickly enter the agricultural area of Alberta. Beautiful fields of yellow/green canola and wheat spread out in every direction. It wasn't too long before we came upon the border and what initially looked to be an easy crossing tunred into a rather long wait. And of course by this time the plains were heating up and the wait was too long to run the AC. But a nice breeze was blowing to help ease the heat.

Long wait at the border

 

About an hour after crossing we drove into the greater east side of Glacier NP. There is the small town of St. Marys with a few hotels, RV parks, a restauraunt and the east entrance to the park. Just north of here is another section of the park, Many Glacier, where a lot of the tourist amenities are located. We arrived too late in the day to get a campsite in the park thus we settled for a private site in the Indian owned CG, Chewing Blackbones. Yes that is the name of the CG which is owned by the Blackfeet, the tribe that is in this part of Montana. A CG with real potential but not much but power and sewer hookups but it served it's purpose for the night. Getting a site in the NP is very difficult and most of the CGs do not take reservations and they always fill up by 8 or so in the morning. We were very lucky the next morning to snag a site at the Many Glacier CG where we spent three nights.

While at the park we made two hikes and rode the red bus from the CG to the top of Logan Pass which is the tallest point on the road across the park. Our first hike was around Swiftcurrent Lake which was about 3 miles around from our camp site. It is a small lake that fronts the beautiful hotel on the shore. It was a very nice hike on a great day. Later that day we had a reservation on the red bus. These are old "busses" that have been completely refurbished by Ford and are really a blast to ride. And the drivers try to perform for you with both information on the park and surrounding area and fun times as well.

 

On the hike around Swiftcurrent Lake

 

Tourboat on the lake

 

The red bus

 

Riding with the top down

 

Our big day was a hike to Iceberg Lake a 10 mile RT to a beautiful lake that was partially frozen and had small icebergs floating around too. It was a beautiful day but we got a late start and did not begin until 10 a.m. It took about 3 hours to get to the lake and this being one of the easier hikes despite it's length the trail was very busy. Not too much wildlife along the trail but we did see a Ptarmigan and bull moose. Due to the late start we did not finish until close to 6 but it was a very rewarding hike.

 

Hike out to Iceberg Lake

 

Along the trail

 

Iceberg lake is at the base of these mountains

 

 

Iceberg Lake

 

This was our last day at Glacier so early the next morning we took off heading east.

 

More to come....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

On to Edmonton

We left Whitehorse and continued south on the Alaska Hwy with the goal of completing it's full length. Our day's drive ended at perhaps the best place so far, Liard Hot Spings Provincial Park. This is a very nice park with a natural, i.e. not made into a concrete swimming pool, hot spings with very hot, soothing water (sorry too lazy to bring the camera to this soak). A conversation that evening with the ranger prepared us for our drive the next day. There is a herd of Wood Bison that freely roam the highway just south of the springs. And true to his word we came upon them within a few miles of leaving the park. These are huge animals weighing up to 2,000 lbs. And his advice? Do not honk at them! If they are in the road stop, turn off the car and WAIT! Fortunately they were on the roadside when we came through.

 

This was a young one

 

Checking me out

 

Using the trailer as protection

 

Checking out the car on the other side of the road

 

Also this morning we drove along the edge of the Rocky Mountains and other wildlife was out as well.

 

Stone Sheep that eat the minerals on the roadside

 

 

Momma and her cubs

 

Cute cub

 

As you travel further south the oil and gas industry become very noticable. This part of Canada has hugh natural gas reserves and the exploation is going strong. It is very much like west TX with 18 wheelers flying by, derricks lining the forests just off the road and unfortunately waste water pits springing up with those wells. But like anywhere else this is a hugh employment base but there are too few people for the jobs available.

 

Another quick overnight at a Provincial Park put us on the final leg of the Alaska Hwy. It officially starts (or ended for us) in Dawson Creek, BC.

 

The tourist ending of the Alaska Highway (yes we did it in reverse)

 

The official marker a couple of blocks over

 

Another full day behind us brought us to Edmonton, AB with a postponed visit with my cousin Howie. We were supposed to visit on our way north but we changed our route to the westerly drive going up and the easterly drive coming down. We had not seen each other in 30+ years so it was great to reaquaint, meet his family and celebrate the birth of their 5th grandchild which happened a day earlier. And of course seeing Howie's Dad, George was special too.

 

Howie, Leah and us

 

Tonight we are in Claresholm, AB about 130 miles north of the border. We will cross back to the lower 48 tomorrow, spend a few days at Glacier NP then begin our journey east toward Toronto.

 

More to come...

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

It's Dangerous Out There!

And this is NOT us. The road from Dawson City to Whitehorse has long sections of gravel totaling about 60+ miles. These sections are generally in good condition despite being gravel but you still need to pay attention while driving. We happened upon this wreck shortly after it occurred (no one was hurt) and it was difficult to tell exactly what had happened. But the end result it was matters. Over the next several miles we came upon several other vehicles that had overturned and were on their side or top in the ditch. After seeing some of the local drivers it is easy to understand some of these wrecks. They go way to fast for the conditions, pass on hills and ignore double yellow lines when appropriate. We are doing our best just hope the others do as well.

Everyone was OK

 

Several more like this past the first wreck

 

More to come...

 

Posted with Blogsy

Time to Go South

Our trip now complete to the Arctic Circle it was time to begin making our way south. We left Fairbanks somewhat late in the day and made a brief atop in Delta Junction which is the official end of the Alaska Hwy. Not much here except the designation sign, so we continued on.

Official end of the Alaska Highway

 

Gets a little cold here!

We moved on to Tok, AK got an RV space for the night and got caught up on laundry. Not much here either but a good place for a quiet night's rest. Early the next morning, just south of Tok is the cutoff for the Top of the World Highway headed to Chicken, AK.

There is not much in Chicken and off course it plays on it's name but it was a fun place to hang out overnight. There is still gold mining activity in and around the area but this is mostly taking place in the surrounding hills. Also on display here is the Pedro Dredge that was used at the turn of the century for digging into the creeks and streambeds. But the best story about this town is the name and how it came about. In the early 1900s when the town was going to be incorporated the townsfolk wanted to use the name Ptarmigan after the state bird, which was plentiful in the area. But unfortunately no one knew how to correctly spell "Ptarmigan" and not wanting to be embarrassed decided to use Chicken instead!

 

The Pedro Dredge

 

Beautiful downtown Chicken

 

Saloon hat collection

 

The Chicken Poop (only outhouses here)

 

The big chicken!

 

Our day in Chicken was hot and sunny which gave me some concern for the next day which would take us on the Klondike Loop, the Canadian portion of the Top of the World Highway. My concerns were soon realized as the next day brought serious rain to the area and we still had a little over 100 miles of (mostly) dirt road to travel. This road can be dangerous in the best conditions if not careful but we managed to safely traverse it. Shortly after leaving Chicken we crossed back into Canada with our destination for the day at Dawson City.

 

Weather conditions

 

 

Took a while to clean!

 

The road ends at the Yukon River (but we stayed just this side in a Provincial park) where a free ferry takes you to Dawson City. The ferry landing is interesting in that the gravel banks are constantly being graded and the landing position of the boats change as well. You load and unload directly on the beach. In the days of the gold rush sternwheeler boats were used all along the Yukon River to transport goods and people. Just below our CG on the banks of the river was a sternwheeler graveyard with some relics from days past.

 

Not quite the Galveston ferry but it works great!

 

Sternwheeler wreckage

The rain continued all night and we were tired and wanted to move so the next day we moved on but not without our first tire issue. After getting gas we noticed the tire monitor beeping and sure enough we picked up a nail. The TPMS monitors the trailer tires and ccaught the leak fortunately while we were still in town and across the street from the repair shop. So a not so quick tire repair got us back on the road late in the afternoon.

3" nail

 

Our day ended back in Whitehourse, YT where we took a two day rest to see a few things we missed on our way up, do laundry and rest.

 

More to come....

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy