Seeing North America

Still no update on the trailer parts. Thus, we left Fairbanks yesterday and we are heading homeward, but with plenty of stops along the way. By leaving without our trailer means we will return next year to pick it up. Tonight we are tenting at Teslin Lake in the Yukon. Tomorrow we’ll decide on taking either the Alaskan Highway or the Cassier Highway once we reach Watson Lake. There is a forest fire limiting access on the Cassier. As of this afternoon they are alternating traffic with a pilot car to pass through a 30 km section.

It’s the end of August and we are back in Fairbanks. Update on the trailer is that the various attempts to get the trailer working again have not been successful. The issue is first the lack of Airstream knowledge along with the difficulties in obtaining parts. We are now considering our options. These include leaving the trailer here in Fairbanks for the winter and retrieve it next summer, wait until it gets repaired then head home, fly home leaving the truck and trailer here until next year, buy a used trailer just to get home.

We’ve kicked around parts of Alaska tent camping along the way. Mostly this has worked out great, however, August has seen plenty of rain so we’ve gotten soaked many times. We are both ready to be out of the tent.

We are so grateful for Laurie and Brian letting us shelter at their home. Right now we are drying out our tents and will do a good cleanup on the cooler all before the next week of rainy weather sets in! Health wise we are dealing with a cough for Wells and a sore hip for Marsha. Aging is not for the faint of heart!

No word on when our trailer will be back on the road. Yesterday I was on the phone with the repair place 6 different times. First time, in the morning we received word the axle is in Anchorage and was ready to be sent to Fairbanks that day. A bit later in the day the story morphed to, “Well, we are not sure it’s the right axle. We have two different part numbers and only one should be correct. Later in the day the story changed once again. There is a possibility the correct axle is in Alaska, yet we will not know until Monday (or Tuesday, or Wednesday, or … my thinking). We’ll call back on Monday for an update. Once they have the axle it’s another 2 to 3 days before it can be completely repaired. That leaves us plenty of time to get to Fairbanks when we need to be there.

While in Anchorage we met up with Ben Eastman and his twins once again. They were ready to leave the next day for the lower 48. Twins school starts soon so they needed to head home. We took a day and drove down to Hope, Alaska which is a funky little place off the beaten trail a bit under two hours south of Anchorage. The entire time in the Anchorage area we stayed at a state rec area 12 miles outside of the city in Eagle River. We traveled to a sweet place, Eagle River Nature Center and did a bit of a hike. Hiking for me is still a slow process as I continue to deal with foot issues.

After a few days we decide we have more time to spend before we even know when parts will actually arrive, so we decide to hightail it Haines which is about 800 miles south and east.

Driving to Haines includes getting to the Alaskan Highway and head back towards Whitehorse, Yukon. Before Whitehorse in Haines Junction one road heads south on a 100 plus miles dead end road where the end point is Haines. Located 90 miles from Juneau via water it’s 14 miles from the end of the Lynn Canal, a long fjord finger of water that terminates at Skagway. Skagway, famous for the Klondike Gold Rush days as the principle starting point in getting to Dawson City and the gold fields was a notorious lawless town where many lost their lives as the prepared to haul their 1100 pounds of supplies up either the Chilkoot Pass or White Pass getting to the Yukon River where they needed to build a water craft to float downriver to Dawson City. This is the area of which Jack London (Call of the Wild) and Rober Service (Cremation of Sam McGee; and the Shooting of Dan McGrew) wrote.

Upon leaving Eagle River we set our sights on Tok where we plan on showers and laundry. Showers come infrequently while tent camping so that was high on priority list. We enjoyed both a supper and breakfast the next morning at Fast Eddy’s in Tok. The road from Tok to Destruction Bay is in terrible condition this year with potholes, pavement breaks, along with miles of construction. We finally arrived in Haines Junction, Yukon. The road south of here to Haines passes through 3 different time zones, as the road passes from the Yukon to British Columbia to Alaska. We camp at a nice Yukon Territory campground, Million Dollar Falls, before pushing on the final 100 miles to Haines the next day.

In Haines we luck out in the Chilkoot Lake State Rec Area and score a lakeside site with what a view. The road into the campground follows along the Chilkoot River where there are bears fishing for salmon. We’ll stay here for the next few days until we get an update on trailer parts availability.

South of Anchorage on the way to Hope

South of Anchorage

Sheep Mountain

Now what dance position is this?

Bears near Haines fishing at a fish weir

How do you smoke a salmon?

The view from our campsite

Another campsite view.

The Kenai Peninsula is a primary vacation spot for Alaskans. It’s the entire land mass directly south of Anchorage. It includes the Russan River, Homer, Kenai, Soldotna, and Seward. Soldotna is the largest of these communities yet the two most visited for tourism are Homer and Seward.

We’ve spent the past few days in Seward next to Kenai Fjords National Park. While here we’ve encountered plenty of rain, but one day of cool clear weather. That’s the day we took a wildlife and glacier boat cruise. We were out for 6 hours seeing both wildlife and glaciers. Included in our wildlife list for the day were: a humpback whale; a few sea otters, tufted puffins, crested puffins, eagles, harbor seals, and stella sea lions. We visited a few tidewater glaciers as well as a few piedmont glaciers. I’ll share a few photographs of the trip, but I did not capture much.

One day in Seward was a chore day with both laundry and showers on the list.

Our tent site for our stay in Seward was a Kenai Fjords National Park tenting only site. Both well maintained and a great price, free. The location was about ¼ mile from Exit Glacier Nature Center. It was here 5 years ago when I dropped my camera and favorite lens into the river. After a month they were back in working order, but that’s a story from a previous trip.

On Monday we headed back up to Anchorage. We have received confirmation our parts have been shipped from the lower 48, but no word on how many days/weeks until they arrive in Fairbanks.

Catching up on the past few days, we traveled to the Anchorage area camping in a state park about 12 miles outside of the city. While in the area we visited with our friends, Dave and Jeanne Eastman who are visiting their son, Ben. Ben’s there for a month. He’s head pilot for Aleutian Airlines and is flying the routes to Dutch Harbor, King Salmon, and another remote town. With Ben are his 14 year old twins, Landon and Charlie. It was great catching up with the entire clan.

After a few days we headed south towards Homer. One day we flew over to Katmai National Park to view bears. We traveled to a remote area called Hallo Bay and witnessed so jaw dropping close views of the brown bears. In the past all our bear safety training was make lots of noise, carry bear spray, and get no closer than 100 yards from the bears. We flew over remote, remote (yes, I know that was two remotes in a row) territory. The scenery alone made the trip worthwhile. dWe were in 1 of 4 planes in the group with 4 pilots/bear guides. We landed on beach and as we gathered round for our final safety talk a bear walked by 25’ away. It was moving along with not a care in the world about us. The brown bears in this area have plenty of food and do not view humans as a threat. We were instructed to walk in a tight line, speak softly, and make no sudden movements. Above all DO NOT RUN. Once we approached where a bear was digging clams for food we took a knee within a small group.

I have a few photographic opportunities with a picture count of over 3,000. Don’t worry I will not share more than a few hundred! LOL!

We are camped at Anchor Point at a state park overlooking the beach. During low tide the tidal area is exposed for at least a third of a mile and disappears at high tide. While the tidal area is exposed it is covered with gulls, crows, and eagles.

One last item of note about Anchor Point. It’s the western most point one can drive on connected roads in North America.

While receiving our final bear safety lecture this one walks by 25′ away. We were totally ignored while we stood next to the plane.

Bears smell clams and dig down about a foot in depth. Next thing you head is a crunch as it breaks open the clam.

Not cropped with a 150mm focal length

We are out there!

She spots a salmon

She nails a snack

Anchor Point

Anchor Point

Our second night of camping went well as we get accustomed to life in a tiny tent. In the morning head 110 back north to Denali National Park. With the cloudy weather we didn’t expect to get views of Denali but we’ve seen it when we were here last in 2018. Personal cars are allowed in 14 miles on the access road into the Park. To venture further out the 90 mile road one is required to take a Park bus or have a reservation at a campground beyond the 14 mile barrier. One can bicycle further into the Park after watching a bear safety video. We are kicking ourselves that we left the bicycles back at the campground. We travel the 14 miles and do a short hike from there. Our only wildlife sighting in the Park Dall Sheep way high up on the cliffs above. Denali National Park was created specifically to save the Dall Sheep.

On our return trip south to our campground we spot a couple of moose in the distances.

Yesterday our plan was to check on the trailer status and grab a few more items from the traipurchase a few things including tent and sleeping bags for our tent/truck camping adventure. Of course, all of these items we own but they are back in Sherburne. After a productive stop and REI we are now ready to head south. Our goal for the day was to make it to Denali State Park maybe 70 miles south of Denali National Park. After over an hour of heading south we find a text message from our friends saying we left a few items out in the yard near our truck. We needed those items for our camping sans trailer trip so we turned around and spent another night in Fairbanks.

Today we restart our attempt at tent camping. After saying goodbye to Laurie and Brian we started south once again. We arrived at a state campground in Denali State Park about 70 miles south of Denali National Park. Most of the sites are suitable for RV camping but we luck out and find one that is secluded, flat and has a gravel free area for the tent. The area is not mosquito free but we have our large screen tent that fits over the picnic table. Life is good.

Last night we camped at Paxson Lake BLM Campground. We woke with high expectations to experience the Denali Highway. At one point the Denali Highway was the only way via vehicle to get to Denali National Park, but at some point, it was mostly forgotten when the Parks Highway from Anchorage to Fairbanks was completed. The Denali Highway is an East West two lane mostly gravel and stone and oil road that wanders through remote territory roughly 130 miles long.

We expected to complete the drive in one or two days enjoying the views (mostly rain and fog). Once we hit the Parks Highway we’d continue north to Fairbanks. About 80 miles from the eastern starting point and about 50 miles from the end point we lost an entire wheel. It dropped off with the axel dragging on the ground. We were extremely fortunate that we were going through some potholes and moving at 5 to 10 mph. Nobody was hurt plus we were only 2 miles from a Roadhouse which consisted of a bar, gas, and a closed lodge. Seven of the first ten cars/trucks to pass by stopped and offered to help. I accepted a ride to the Roadhouse where the key resource they had was Internet! 

As I was waiting to contact a tow truck one of the owners went and picked up Marsha leaving the truck and camper on the roadside. As I write this it’s 6:30 pm and we are now both back at the truck and trailer waiting for the tow truck to arrive from Cantwell, fifty miles away. He expects to arrive here between 7 and 7:30. We will be towed to an RV Campground in Cantwell then we’ll need to determine where there is a place to repair the axle. We expect to be without our travel trailer for an extended period. I’ll write more once we have a better idea.

The tow truck arrived at 7:04 and we were off loaded and in a campground in Cantwell. We jacked up the one side of the Airstream so we are somewhat level. Tonight, we rest and tomorrow we start calling around to repair shops north or south of us. Fairbanks is 150 north and Wasilla is 165 south. Hopefully, parts and the availability of someone to work on the trailer will happen. We’ll see.

In the meantime, we are in good spirits and look at this as just another part of our adventure.

They have looked at the trailer and determined what is needed for repair. Next step is to either locate the parts here or have them shipped. Still no clue how long we will be here.

We called around and found a place in Fairbanks that could work on our trailer later in the week. Then we contacted Zack at the towing service and had the trailer hauled 150 north to Fairbanks. Dropped the trailer off yesterday and now we are in Fairbanks waiting.

We are feeling good, lucky, and happy as we see how long we’ll be here. More updates later as we know more.