Karla's Kronicles #12

Since our trip happened so many months ago and now we are trying to catch up our journalizing of this trip, many of you have heard our Wolf & Caribou story, but for the sake of the Kronicles, I will tell it again.

The Tour Drivers are not allowed to "push" the wildlife. If an Animal is on the road, the one and only road, you wait. You don't try to move it along. This Gray Wolf (pictured below) was walking along the side of the road in front of our bus. Our Bus followed along sedately for quite a long time taking turns with other buses; passing drivers would hold up 3 fingers in the form of a "W" indicating that a Wolf was up ahead. We leap-frogged with the other buses so that everyone got to see Mr. Wolf. Then he disappeared into the brush at the side of the road right in front of our bus....

Well, about that same time the road starts to climbs towards a switchback in the road.. Coming towards us on the road from the switchback, I spotted a young Caribou, just walking on down the road towards us and TOWARDS where the Wolf disappeared into the brush. Suddenly, the Wolf sprang out from the brush to chase the Caribou; the Caribou turned off the road and bolted down the hillside with the Wolf gaining rapidly. We were suppose to be quiet on the bus. We were all screaming. It happened to fast that I don't think anyone got photos; we didn't...we were on the other side of the bus, but could see the action clearly.

The Karla Kronicles - July 2007
Hi There Again Dear Kronicle Readers! This is Kronicles #12 - DENALI NATIONAL PARK!!!!! (Note: Larger and More Detailed Photos are in the Photo Albums Located HERE.)
	There are very few Campsites in Riley RV Park within the boundaries of Denali large enough to accommodate "Vehicles Over 30 ft."; even though you make a reservation, when you "check-in", they give you a map and the sites for Over 30 Ft. Vehicles are circled; then you get to drive around the campground loops, appropriately named "Bear Loop", "Caribou Loop", etc. until you find one of the circled sites you think you can get into. About this time, no matter how luxurious your Coach may be, you are remembering fondly your Tent Trailer Days!!! Of course the loops are spread out and one-way, so if you pass by a likely candidate, you are really hoping it's still available when you circle back around! It goes without saying that our group did not camp side-by-side, or even in the same loop! But we were all so busy planning the hikes, sites, and tours that we wanted to see that we all just went our own direction.
Right after establishing camp, we headed to the Visitor's Center to see what sort of tour we could obtain. When we were in Marblemount making reservations, the website showed no available tours for the days we were staying. We were hoping for a cancellation...What we found out was there were many tours available, so they must not post all openings on the web so that they don't overbook. We chose the Fish Creek 8 hour tour with the National Park Services Bus and Driver. The reason for doing a Bus Tour is you are only allowed to drive your personal vehicle 15 miles into the interior of Denali; our Bus took us in about 65 miles. The longer tours went in about 90 miles; but 12-hours on a bus was seeming a bit much. Little did we know that it was such a great day for viewing critters, 12 hours probably would have been Ok!
Our driver's name was Laurie; she was WONDERFUL. Her background and education made her a driver-extraordinaire! She did narrate during the trip; and had so much knowledge of Denali, the animals, the geological formations, she made our trip a "complete" package. We just plain lucked out getting such a wonderful tour and driver. Oh yes, that's a Grizzly Bear...Isn't he CUTE!!! Rule on the bus is that if you think you see something, holler STOP, that way everyone gets to see the animials and have photo opportunities. Now, if you are ever fortunate to go to Denali and get a tour...be sure you have some youngsters on the bus with you...They have good sharp eyes and are not shy about calling out STOP!
Since our trip happened so many months ago and now we are trying to catch up our journalizing of this trip, many of you have heard our Wolf & Caribou story, but for the sake of the Kronicles, I will tell it again. The Tour Drivers are not allowed to "push" the wildlife. If an Animal is on the road, the one and only road, you wait. You don't try to move it along. This Gray Wolf (pictured below) was walking along the side of the road in front of our bus. Our Bus followed along sedately for quite a long time taking turns with other buses; passing drivers would hold up 3 fingers in the form of a "W" indicating that a Wolf was up ahead. We leap-frogged with the other buses so that everyone got to see Mr. Wolf. Then he disappeared into the brush at the side of the road right in front of our bus.... Well, about that same time the road starts to climbs towards a switchback in the road.. Coming towards us on the road from the switchback, I spotted a young Caribou, just walking on down the road towards us and TOWARDS where the Wolf disappeared into the brush. Suddenly, the Wolf sprang out from the brush to chase the Caribou; the Caribou turned off the road and bolted down the hillside with the Wolf gaining rapidly. We were suppose to be quiet on the bus. We were all screaming. It happened to fast that I don't think anyone got photos; we didn't...we were on the other side of the bus, but could see the action clearly.
	This was another time that a video camera would have been better than trying to focus a digital camera! After quite a chase down the hillside, the Wolf stopped; then the Caribou stopped; they were several yards from each other. They were sure "communicating"; the Caribou was not going to give up running and the Wolf needed to make a decision; pursue or forget this catch. The Wolf finally turned away from the Caribou and marched himself right back up on the road in front of our bus. We stayed behind him creeping along until after the switchback, when he disappeared off into the brush again....yep...today he didn't get his Caribou, but had to settle for Snowshoe Rabbit Stew!
This little Kit Fox was taking a stroll right by the bus after we turned around and headed back to base camp. We never did make our full 65 mile tour into Denali; the guide needed to return the bus to the bus garage for another tour and the Wolf/Caribou incident cost us a lot in time; but we will never have an experience like that again!
	Another beautiful Caribou silhouetted against the skyline. You don't have to take a bus tour to enjoy Denali, but the memories of this trip will remain with us for a long time. On the drive back, our driver suddenly stopped the bus and started backing up...she spotted Grizzly tracks at the side of the road. Ever alert, we checked off almost every animal on the tour checklist. We saw Caribou, Moose, Wolf, Fox, Grizzly Bears and Cubs, Snowshoe Hares, Arctic Ground Squirrel, Harrier Hawk and Dall Sheep. I think the only thing we didn't check off was a Cougar....it was a day at the zoo; only this time, the animals were free!
It was hard to leave Denali, but we had only allowed 2 nights in the schedule. And, of course, we need to address "Denali the Mountain" aka: Mt. McKinley. No pictures? Why Not? Good question....Since Mt. McKinley is approximately 20,320 Ft., only 5% of Visitors to Denali actually get to see the top of this great mountain...All I can say is that we were close to being one of the 5%; however, on the day we left Denali, the clouds lifted briefly as we were heading away from the Park, but by the time we could find a pull off to snap a picture; it was clouded over again....Click here to learn more about Mount McKinley And for the Forest Service's website, visit: Denali National Park Again, whether you take a bus tour or get to see Mt. McKinley's peak, the Visitor's Center is very beautiful with displays and information and there are many activities, presentations and movies to enjoy.
75 miles North of Denali, the Parks Hwy took us through the little town of Nenana Alaska. Nenana is a historic community and Athabascan Native Village.We stopped for a little driving break and some history... The famous ICE CLASSIC is held each year in Nenana. Seems they have a contest each year in Nenana to guess the closest time to when the ice breaks up out on the Tanana River. A TRIPOD placed on the Tanana River in Early March is connected to a clock on the shore. When the ice breaks, the TRIPOD tips and stops the clock. This is an actual monetary contest...The following are the results from 2007, where the ice measured between 40.5 inches and 51.5 inches thick. The website announces: "The Tanana River officially went out on April 27, 2007 at 3:47 P.M.Alaska Standard Time. The jackpot was $303,272.00 split by 22 winners!!!! (that's about $13,785 each!) Too Funny! I'm glad we stopped; I even got Mom a little Alaska Doll dressed in Native Costume for her doll collection.
We arrived in Fairbanks July 22nd for a 2 night stay. This was the point in the journey where we would say good-bye to our Traveling Companions for the remainder of the trip. They chose to travel up to Prudhoe Bay; roughly 489 miles North of Fairbanks, most of it unpaved and remote. We decided to follow my Ophthalmologist's advice and not get quite so far away from medical facilities, and we had missed out on seeing Skagway and other sites when we had to make our fast dash to Anchorage. Fairbanks was the stopping point to catch up on laundry and re-stock supplies. And we got a chance to see my Cousin Chandra for a brief, but wonderful visit!
	So, here is the pipeline. Now that we have been able to see this structure in person, when we do watch a documentary on Alaska or on the building of the Alaska Pipeline, we appreciate it even more. This is some incredible engineering feat!
Another view of the pipeline spanning the Tanana river.
	We made it, we made it, we made it....From Mile 0 in Dawson Creek to Mile 1422 in Delta Junction. We even have the certificate to prove it. And we are still not done traveling; just making our way back to the lower 48 states...
Now, it's July 24 and we are in Tok, AK. Tok is where we slept for 2 hours in the Sheriff's parking lot while on our dash to Anchorage. We wanted to stay at least one night in Tok at the Sourdough Campground. Reindeer Chili in a Sourdough Bread Bowl for dinner; sourdough hot cakes for breakfast in the a.m. Yes, grass & flowers grow on many of the rooftops in TOK. That man is trimming with a weed whacker (roof on the left); we had to get his picture. We also had to make a decision whether to try the Top of the World Hwy. or continue back on the Alaska Hwy to Whitehorse and skip seeing Chicken, AK and Dawson City, YT. We went to the Visitor's Center to get a little more information.
	Top of the World Hwy has quite a reputation. It's unpaved, no rail guards, no center or side lines; slippery when wet. Our weather seemed to be Okay so we did decide to head on out and so glad we did! There were parts that were washboardy and rutted, but in many ways, it was better road than parts of the Alaska Hwy with it's frost heaves! It's pretty remote but we did see other rigs on the road; a Caravan passed us coming from Dawson City to Tok.
We stopped in Chicken AK (named Chicken because they didn't know how to spell Ptarmigan). Chicken is just about the only "civilization" between Tok and Dawson City. and there was more history and things to see and do in Chicken than we allowed time for. Chicken is the location of the Pedro Dredge. The 3-cu. ft. dredge (measurement of the bucket capacity), the smallest in the Fairbanks Exploration Company dredge fleet, mined over 55,000 ounces of gold in the eight years on Chicken Creek. The final clean up on the dredge was October 1967. So if you like Gold Mining History; the Chicken Link is a good resource. Ahh yes, "The Top of the World Hwy" just keeps going and going and going....We pulled off to take a photo of where we'd been just past the USA/CANADA border crossing.
	We are pretty sure this building houses the Border Guards during their shifts. This would be a very strange commute to make every day. This cabin is just a few feet from the Guard Booth.
In order to get to Dawson City after getting over the Top of the World Highway, you have to put your Rig on a little ferry and cross the Yukon River. The ferry takes approximately 4 rigs at a time; for instance, 2 regular vehicles and 2 RVs staggered for balance. Because of the swift current, the Captain and crew must make a very wide swing downriver and power upriver back into the dock. It was fun to be in line and watch the action; then a little weird to drive our big unit onto this tiny Ferry; we are used to those BIG WASHINGTON STATE FERRIES! There is no charge for this crossing. From what we learned, the Yukon is too swift in this area and too few cars make a crossing to justify building a bridge.
	A blue sky day in Dawson City....and we were glad for it. Those streets are right out of the old Westerns...dirt. We heard many tales of Dawson City not being to much fun to visit on a rainy day. We stopped in a gift shop/book store and purchased a copy of Jack London's "Call of the Wild and Other Short Stories" and a book called "Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness" by Robert Specht and Anne Purdy. Anne Purdy is Tisha (which is the pronunciation of "Teacher" by the locals at the time). This is a true accounting of Anne Purdy who was transported by Dog Sled from Eagle to Chicken to teach school in Chicken. A very good book and had I known before we left Chicken, we could have visited "Tisha's School House" !!!
Larry's standing in front of Jack London's Cabin. It's been relocated to this spot in Dawson City and still has some of it's original wood; but it's more a replica of London's cabin (author: Call of the Wild) That was one of the reason's we didn't want to miss Dawson City and it's the setting for so many Westerns and films done depicting the Gold Rush days gone by.
	And here's Robert Service cabin. You will most likely know this Poet for his famous "The Cremation of Sam McGee". I'll never forget a night in Marblemount, under the Gazebo with a fire going, when Jeff Scott recited "The Cremation of Sam McGee", to a captive audience, by flashlight and firelight.... This poem certainly captures the essence of the Gold Rush era and the hardships of the men who came to this remote part of the world in search of riches. So sit back, relax and enjoy this video recitation of "The Cremation of Sam McGee"
On the road again, July 28th, traveling from Dawson City to Carmacks, YT. On the way, we pulled over to a roadside rest area just a few miles North of Carmacks. We got out to read some roadside Kiosks describing an Overlook and discovered you could hike down to another viewing platform. It was only 219 stairs and a 1 mile trail down.
	The lower viewing platform gave a much better look at Five Finger Rapids. Now just how fun was that to negotiate in a boat??...not much fun according to the Kiosk. Guess Five Finger Rapids caused quite their share of troubles for navigators.
Yep, that's our trailer up there in the parking lot. It was an easy hike down; going back up the 219 stairs was a little more difficult, but they had built resting platforms with information plaques along the way, so you don't read them going down; you read them going up so you can have a breather!!! Always prepared, you will notice we did carry our water bottles in our day hike hip packs, binoculars and camera. Five Fingers Rapids does have some resemblance to Deception Pass in Western Washington State, don't you think?
	Montague Roadhouse was first built in 1900. It burned down and a replacement was built but it also burned down in 1909. Then this log structure was built in 1915 and was used as a roadhouse until the 1950's. The kitchen and eating areas were on the main floor and the bedrooms were on the 2nd floor. It was heated by 2 wood stoves. The inside of the building was lined with cheesecloth, both to lighten the dark interior and to prevent the moss and dirt chinking from falling into the rooms.
Staging posts were built every 20 or 30 miles (30 to 40 km) along the length of the Overland Trail. Each post had a roadhouse, stables, storehouses and cabins. The Roadhouses were two-story buildings. You can see this in the photo Larry took. There are holes where the 2nd floor level was.. Folks must not have been too tall in those days or they stooped a lot! A stage coach would stop at two or three roadhouses in a day and horses were changed at each post. Passengers paid $1.50 for meals and $1 for a bed for the night.
Well, that about wraps it up for Kronicles #12. Lots of extra links included, but those official websites can enhance our trip far better than I can explain, so if you have the time to explore further, you have the links available. I highly recommend this link to a video of the reading of "The Cremation of Sam McGee", even if you are not familiar with Robert Service or this "poem" this video is really good.
Since releasing Kronicle's 10 and 11, we've had several website hits and several wonderful emails from some of you! Thanks! As always, we hope you are enjoying our trip as much as we did; Kronicle's 13 is coming soon and takes us to Skagway, AK, Hyder AK, and back through British Columbia on our way home. More soon!!! Karla and Larry
Wishing you all Health and Happiness...Keep those emails coming! We love hearing from you!!!