Daytrippin

Our Alaska trip planning included booking an overnight kayak trip with Liquid Adventures out of Seward, AK.  We arrived Sunday in Seward.   Our adventure started Monday night we attended a pre-trip meeting where we met our guides, Piper and Josh. They gave us dry bags to pack our clothes as it was predicted to be raining for the two days.

Tuesday morning we suited up in dry suits and rode the Liquid Adventure boat the Marmot Dreamer out to Bear Glacier. The Marmot Dreamer is a BMW turbo diesel jetboat capable of traveling in water below a foot depth.  The boat ride took us outside Resurrection Bay and up the river to the freshwater lake of Bear Glacier. The area we were going to is about ten degrees cooler because of the Glacier and the glacial lake.  Everyone had about four layers of clothes in addition to the dry suit.

We set up our tents and a group tent with a wood burning stove in the rain. Our jackets and dry suits were keeping us dry.

We set up two person kayaks and paddled into the glacial lake. There were eagles on the beach and harbor seals in the water. The harbor seals use the lake to birth and raise their pups. This is because predators are unable to come through the shallow entrance to the

lake.

 

It kept raining as we worked to get warm after an afternoon of kayaking. We huddled in the group tent with our clothes steaming as they dried. Our guides entertained us and served us warm chili and cookies. Extra cookies were rewarded for answering trivia questions.

It was still raining when we went to bed, when we rolled over in our sleeping bags and when we woke up the next morning. The rain pounding on our tent made it sound like it was a deluge but it was just drizzle.

Our guides cooked us sausage and pancakes and we suited up for a half day of kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. Nobody feel paddle boarding but as our guide demonstrated we would be protected by the dry suit if we feel in the water.

It was still raining and we were happy when the Marmot Dreamer came to pick us up and take us back to Seward. Hot showers for everyone.

The next day we had a fishing charter. Daisy was the star landing 5 silver salmons. We call her the “Fish Slayer.” The only way some folks caught fish was Daisy was in the bathroom and there was a fish on her rod!

Thanks for following.

We drove up the highway from Fairbanks for about 100 miles to Denali National Park. It was very cloudy so we couldn’t see the peak of Denali. We drove to our campsite and set up our tent. After that we biked to the main visitors center. There we learned about the geography and animals of Denali National Park. After that we had a pleasant dinner at our campsite. In the morning we got to the shuttle station to drive into the park. The road there is eight hours long and we went six hours along it (its closed off to private vehicles). We entered the bus. We sat down in the front of the bus.

As we started the bus the driver explained his purpose on the bus and that we could ask him ANY questions had. After saying this a young kid began asking about bears moose and everything on the four corners of earth. After about two hours of this we finally saw a large grizzly mom and her cubs in the distance.

We continued on to the Eielson Visitors Center where on a sunny day you could see mount Denali the tallest peak in North America. Then we did a hike through the bear bushes to the a glacier fed river. This was a very unusual hike due to the fact there was no whining from my sisters, so I took it into my own hands.

On the way back I would whine. “This hike is so long can we turn around?”

Once we got back from the hike we boarded one of the last busses of the day. On the way back we saw grizzly bears, caribou, and doll sheep. However, the coolest animal we saw was on the way into our campsite. It was a 9 foot tall jurassic moose with her two babies that were already huge. The mom moose must have weighed 20 tons. We were all aghast by the size of the moose. After waiting for the mosses to move on we continued to the campsite and finished our day.

Thanks-Robbie “Dudley Do Right” Day

We ferried across the Yukon River and took the Top of the World Highway.  It is not paved but supposed to be scenic.  However it was raining and foggy.  This made for an interesting drive on an unpaved, bumpy road.  We saw many bikers riding in these conditions and made it us feel lucky to be in our van.   At one point as we neared the border there was a biker pushing his bike uphill in the rain and fog.  We stopped and asked him if he needed help.  He replied “Gutentag” so we rolled up the window and kept going.  We thought who would be so crazy to ride their bike in extreme conditions.

Eventually we reached the border crossing and were back in America (minus some firewood).  The roads after the border were paved but eventually were reduced to dirt until we reached Chicken, AK.

Chicken, AK has three competing RV parks with a population of 23 in the summer and 7 in the winter.  The RV parks are Downtown Chicken, Chicken Gold Camp and Outpost and Town of Chicken RV park.  We made a quick pit stop in Chicken and moved on to Tok, AK.  The Midnight Sun of Alaska provides endless daylight and time on the road so we pulled into Tok, AK about 9 PM.  Dinner a la Fast Eddies and then a night sleeping in the van at the Tundra RV Park.  Who can complain with Fast Eddies followed by a night in the RV Park?

Next stop was our most northerly stop on the trip, Fairbanks, AK.  We arrived there after a quick stop at North Pole, AK and a visit with Santa’s reindeers.  They were shedding their winter fur coats.   Santa was not “in the house.”  He had the day off.

In Fairbanks we took some time off from camping in stayed in a hotel.  We spent half day on a riverboat cruise on the Chena River.   It was a tourist trap but we learned a lot about Fairbanks History and Native American culture.  The boat was narrated by a former radio host, Ray who was quite entertaining although most of the jokes were corny. 

The trip included a visit to a replica Athabascan Tribe village.  We learned about how they hunted, cooked and made clothing.

The highlight was a demonstration and a Q&A with a sled dog trainer and her pack of wolves oh I mean alaskan dogs.  One of interesting things about the dogs was how they all looked different even thought they were the same breed.  The dogs are breed for racing and not their looks so they have a good genetic variance preventing health issues and ensuring a long life.  We asked about other types of dogs doing the Iditarod and the trainer told us about a team of poodles doing it who froze to the snow.   Subsequently all non-northern breeds were banned from the Iditarod.

Once upon a time, poodles raced in the Iditarod. They weren’t half bad.

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Next up Denali National Park!

Thanks for checking out.

Maggie and Doug

Hello-

We left Jasper and headed North.  We thought it would be less traveled and more desolate in comparison to the first leg of our trip.  Yes-it was but it was also nice to get away from the crowds and start laying down some miles.   We drove from Jasper, AB stopping for the night at Dawson Creek, BC, Muncho Lake Provincial Park, Whitehorse, BC, Pelly Crossing and then evntualy arriving in Dawson City, YK.

Wildlife Pictures

We saw bears, caribou, moose, goats and wild bison.  The wild bison just hang out along the highway posing for pictures.  They look a little more wooly than the bison in Golden, CO.

Northern Rockies Lodge 
Spent the night camping at the Northern Rockies Lodge on Muncho Lake which is run by a Swiss family. They had great food with Swiss efficiency. 

Liard  River Hot Springs

We took a stop at Liard Springs to enjoy the hot springs.  $10 for a carload-a bargain compared to Strawberry Springs in Steamboat Springs, CO.   The lady at the entrance warned us to keep our kids nearby because of bears and moose.  It is the only place in the world where the Hotwater Physa snail lives and it’s an endangered species.  Hotwater Physa  The springs are down a long boardwalk over a steaming, lush swamp.   It is a thermal oasis in the middle of nowhere Canada.

Watson Lake, Yukon

Checked out about the signpost forest in Watson Lake, Yukon.   There are over 77,000 signs added over the years.  It started during the construction of the Alaskan Highway by the US Military with soldiers adding signs showing the distance and direction from their hometown.

Watson Lake Signpost Forest

 

Ferry Crossing

Finally we made it to Dawson Creek. This is the only spot where a ferry still crosses the Yukon River. It’s a small car ferry that shuttles you across the wide river. It’s free and runs 24 hrs a day.   It’s takes cars, rvs, motorcycles and people. 

Next stop Alaska!

Oh July 3rd we drove the Icefields Parkway toward Jasper where we camped at the Wabasso Campground for two nights.  While we were driving the Icefields Parkway we saw a few glaciers.   Glaciers are made out of snow and ice and the carve very steep and pointy mountains. 

We stopped at the visitors Center where we saw an exhibit about the Columbia Icefield.   The Columbia Glacier is the largest glacier outside of the arctic. 

The Wabasso Campground was just south of the town of Jasper and was very nice.  The bathrooms had flush toilets and and hot and cold running water.  Maggie and I rode our bikes around the campground and found the river.  We had taco salad for dinner. It didn’t get dark until about 11 pm.

The next day we woke up and it was July 4th so Daddy played the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.   We went into Jasper and found good sandwiches at the Other Paw Bakery.  We drove up to Maligne lake and disappearing Lake, which was a disappearing lake.  It was a disappearing lake because it drains into underground caverns and then it refills from the rain and the snow melt. 

The we went to see Maligne Canyon.  It was a very skinny, deep canyon carved by the river.  The water was a very pretty color.  Next we went swimming and paddle boarding at Lake Annette.  My big discovery was tree snot that could  be found on floating trees in the lake.  It is green with brown speckles.  It totally grossed out my my mom.   Robbie and Daddy went for a swim in their wet suits.  Maggie, mommy and I did some paddle boarding.  Mommy fell in and lost her favorite Maui Jim sunglasses.  She was very sad.  I found a tiny dead fish that I threw back into the water. 

We had a good dinner that night at a brew pub in Jasper and got ice cream at Grandma’s Ice Cream Shop. 

Please check up for our next update!

Daisy Day

We started off the day by leaving the hotel and getting on the highway which was very scenic drive with great views. As we took the the scenic drive to Lake Louise due to it being a holiday weekend the parking lots around the lake were very full. Due to this we parked at a remote parking lot and got in line to the shuttle. After a long wait in line we finally boarded a bus to Lake Louise. On the bus ride you could see huge pointy mountains with glaciers hugging their peaks. We unloaded at the lake and walked right down to the waterfront. There you could see crystal clear waters stretching across the lake and beyond the lake was a huge glacier.

Lake Louise with Victoria Glacier in the background

We continued on this path to the trailhead of the tea house hike. As we started the hike you could see more of the glaciers and the lake. When we reached the top after about an hour of hiking and listening to constant whining we reached the top there was another crystal clear lake along with a huge glacier at the end. The tea house was a restaurant at the end of this hike. A lot of its supplies came stocked once a year by helicopter. They had a very simple menu, consisting of simple sandwiches, scones/biscuits, and tea. We got tea and sandwiches. However due to the large lines we hurried down fast. On our way back we saw a huge grizzly bear with her cubs off the highway. Then we got off the bus and got into the van and drove back to our hotel.

A view from the tea house

Written by Robbie Day

A few days ago we camped in Glacier National park in Montana.  Luckily it was only a five hour drive from Bozeman, where we stayed with our friends.  At about five o’clock we arrived at our campsite in Glacier.  We had enough time to make dinner and set up camp.  For dinner we had greek chicken, which was my favorite meal we have had camping.

Later that night we had s’mores while we relaxed by the fire.  We where up till 11 o’clock because the sun did’t set till 10:30.   We had a very nice first night in the tent. When we got up in the morning we had breakfast burritos before we packed up camp.  When we got on the road we decided to drop the trailer in one of the visitors centers and drive the Going To The Sun road.

Once you reached to a certain point on the road cars over 21′ where not allowed, after that point the road began getting windy and climbing up the mountain. There were many waterfalls running over the rocky walls.  When we reached the summit of Logan Pass we decided to head down the other way. On the way we found a restaurant and had some lunch.  After lunch we headed back up past the summit and parked the car to do a hike.

 We hiked to two different water falls.  The first one we thought was huge, but when we got to the second one, the first one looked like a toddler.  On the hikes there where many beautiful wildflowers.  All along the park they where many marmots.  We had an amazing time in Glacier and wished we had more time to spend there.

Enjoy the pictures and check back for an update!

Maggie Day

 

We want to share the adventure of our travels and to create a log for ourselves that we could revisit and remember this moment in time. Please keep checking back-we are hoping to improve the site as we master blogging. 

Shout Out to Vanworks for getting our van in done for the trip-Thanks Barry! Check out his website 

Vanworks

We are sad to leave our dogs we refer to as the dingos. Ginger and Lizzy would not like the constant travel and will enjoy their time with our parents/grandparents. 

Our first stop was in the Grand Tetons. Weather was cold and rainy. After a great meal in Wilson at Streetfood at the Stagecoach http://www.streetfoodjh.com/ we slept in the van. The van setup worked well and the heater kept us toasty. The night would have been better if Daisy’s blanket had not been on the heater vent acting as an air de-purifier. 

Some old paperwork for fire starter!!

Nap time!

Visited friends in Bozeman on the second day. Thank you to John and Becky and family for the hospitality.  It was fun to catch up and see life in Bozeman. Good luck with the chickens!

Keep checking back as we update!  THANKS!!

Doug Day

Day Tripping