Karla's Kronicles #13

The Karla Kronicles - July 2007
Greetings Kronicle Readers! Here is the last installation of the Alaska/Canada 2007 Trip. (Note: Larger and More Detailed Photos are in the Photo Albums Located HERE.)
	We had to by-pass Skagway on our way up, but fortunately we decided to stop on our way back home. Just nestled down along the Harbor; the road to Skagway is an 11% grade for 11.5 miles, which when pulling about 15K lbs, is something to at least think about. Check those Brakes!!! Pullen Creek RV Park was right down near the Harbor where the Cruise ships and other boats dock. So just walking around Skagway was really fun. You get to see all the big Cruise ships and other vessels. Walking in town is minutes away. The train depot was nearby. You could catch a tour train that took you up into the White Mountains; many passengers of the Cruise ship just stepped off the boat and onto the train. We didn't take the train, opting instead to explore the area. It's sometimes a trade off to do a tour and be confined or set your own schedule. We opted to explore and relax in town since our time in Skagway was limited.
We took off from the campground to see if we could hike to Yakutania Point and Smuggler's Cove. It was super easy hiking; The Yakutania Point Trail begins at the footbridge over the Skagway River at the southwest corner of town and winds for half a mile to Yakutania Point. Everything is within walking distance! The trail overlooks the waters of Taiya Inlet and the mouth of the Skagway River. Lots of bird viewing oppotunities; although we did not notice many different species on our hike. Also, it's been noted that between Yakutania Point and the mouth of the Skagway River is a favorite haunt for harbor seals.
	Smuggler's Cove is just beyond Yakutania Point. It's a really nice little alcove; so much like the coastal areas of Washington and Oregon that it was hard to sometimes realize that "Hey, we are in Alaska!!!" There were some great rock formations and you know how much Larry loves to climb.
Don't eat these MUSHROOMS....These little stinkers are poisonous, occasionally deadly...and they were right off the trail. We hope other hikers know... According to our book "The Meandering Mushroomer" the Amanita Muscaria or Fly Amanita leaves a very unpleasant and unforgettable impresson upon those who have consumed it.... My Mom always wants to know how we know what is a good mushroom and a bad mushroom. Well, Mom...Morels are good; these are BAD, very BAD. If you don't know it, can't identify it, don't eat it. We know it, can identify it and certainly WON'T BE EATING IT!
	A broader view of Smuggler's Cove. I was beachcombing, not for seashells, but for a "walking stick"; my depth perception was still a bit rocky (I think a lot of that was due to my older, weak glasses). We took off on a walk on pavement that turned into about a 2.5 mile hike on more uneven terrain, so I was feeling like a stick in hand was a good balance thing for the hike back whether I used it or not.
I wished we had had this snow blower a few times in Marblemount! Hah! This was a part of the White Pass Snow Fleet. It was restored in 1995 and returned to service in 1996. Now it's a Tourist Attraction in Downtown Skagway. It's a Steam Locamotive with a big, big fan in front. This snow blower can hurl ice and snow hundreds of feet from the Railway; sounds like hurricane forces to me!
	We haven't identified this mushroom; however, since it was looking out at us in the ghost town of Dyea from the shelter of this tiny fir tree, we took it's picture. If you've ever been a history buff about the Klondike Gold Rush, well, there is some fascinating history around these part, for sure!!!. Dyea is approximately 8 driving miles from Skagway. Once a boom town, this is about all that's left as far as buildings are concerned (see photo below). There was strong competition between Dyea and Skagway, but when the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway was constructed, Dyea was abandoned.
If you can believe it, In May 1898, the town of Dyea had a population between 5-8,000 people, had 48 hotels, 47 restaurants, 39 saloons and 19 freighting companies. By July 20, 1898, Dyea was on it's way out. That is just really something. Game Over in 3 months!!...Is this an example of from Riches to Ruins???? By July 1898, the Klondike Gold Rush was slowing down and Skagway had the best transportation across the mountains with it's new Railway system. Whereas, the route from Dyea was over CHILKOOT PASS; that in itself is another story.
	There is so much history of the Klondike Gold Rush and the famous Chilkoot Trail; which all ties in greatly to Skagway and Dyea. This link I am directing you to shows both historial links and current services (such as lodging, etc.). One of the links is for Slide Cemetary, where an undetermined number of people are buried due to the "Palm Sunday Avalanche" that occurred on April 3, 1898. Let's face it, 1898 was not a good year to be a resident of Dyea.... This is a view of Skagway that we saw on our drive back from Dyea. You can see the ships in the harbour; our campground was right near there.
We headed out of Skagway on July 31st...now we have to climb that 11% grade for 11.5 miles....we did fine. Larry kept a close eye on the temperature guage and we didn't need to pull over and cool down even once! The new Banks Power Pak System that we had installed before we left Marblemount also really did it's job! We made such good time that we crossed the Continental Divide and found the Baby Nugget RV Resort just shy of Junction 37 and the Cassiar Hwy. where we planned to head south towards Hyder, AK. When we left the RV Park the next morning, there was a sign saying that the Cassiar Hwy was closed. We didn't know why it was closed, so we pulled into a gas station/RV Park/lodge that appeared desserted. Talked to another camper that pulled in with the same questions we had...Why is the Cassiar closed? We decided to continue past the Cassiar turn off back in to Watson Lake YT. (This is where we found out about my eye and took off for Anchorage without seeing much of Watson Lake except for the inside of a Clinic). Anyway, we stopped again at the Sign Post Forest (See Kronicles #9) and looked at that in the daylight hours, thinking we were just going to continue back the way we came a month ago and not get to travel the Cassiar or see Hyder. We were feeling pretty bummed out about it. We went into the Visitor's Center and the nice lady there said they had gotten an update and the Cassiar was open between certain set times to allow one-way traffic through a wash-out in the road near Iskut. She encouraged us to go ahead and gave us lots of milepost information so we could stop for the night along the route and cross during the openings the following day. So back we went to Junction 37 and turned onto the Cassiar!
Jade City; Population 12...That's what the Milepost Magazine says, and I believe it. Two Jade operations directly across the street from each other and that's the town of Jade City! We bought jade rings from the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store and had a great time looking around at the huge displays and carved jade. It took us a while to make our choices from the huge selection. 75% of the world's jade comes from the Cassiar Mountains. And did you know that the healing properties of Cassiar Mt. Jade causes relaxation and creativity? I know I always feel better wearing my ring (what kind of folklore is this, anyway?)
cravasse	We stopped to camp for the night at the RED GOAT RV PARK, just short of the mile marker where construction was suppose to be halting traffic until 10 a.m. the next morning. We were going to get up and get in line the next day. The receptionist checked us in and said, "Yes, the flaggers had been at the top of the hill at the entrance all day" There had been a major road wash out, so this was a good place to camp for the night.
Now I ask you...does this look like a RED GOAT???? No Red Goats to be found at the RED GOAT RESORT; however, 3 llamas that would walk right in your rig if you let them. As soon as they heard you move around the rig, there they were, looking in the door, in the window, in your space. Very tame; probably fed by RVers (shame!) and looking for a handout. Gentle creatures, but a little intimidating when they are standing outside your screen door! Of course, who needs llamas in a campground when we can see sheep, a Moose w/calf, and a little black bear just driving down the Cassiar from the comfort of your truck.
	Karla at Salmon Glacier near Hyder, AK....We are so glad we made it to Hyder!!! Our first stop at the National Park Service Bear Viewing area at Fish Creek (4 miles from Camp Run-A-Muck) was bear-less. Even the Rangers said the bears hadn't been around...so we continued up the primitive road about 20 miles to see Salmon Glacier; at some point you re-enter Canada, but no border patrol out here!
While at Salmon Glacier, we met a man named Bernie who was touring on this little enduro bike with a homemade trunk attached to the back. He'd been on the road a while; camping out here and there, eating and getting a shower now and then. Really on a Road Trip. Nice guy. Reminded us a bit of Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee). Anyway, Bernie wanted to show us a ledge of ice he discovered further up the road, so we hopped in the truck and followed him and when he turned off the main road we began to wonder if we could turn around somewhere or have to back all the way out!
	Bernie didn't lead us astray; what an incredible glacier. Larry calls this an Ice Fall; it looks like water falling away (almost like rapids). The pictures just don't do it justice. This deep crack was probably between 70-80 feet deep. I thought parts of it looked like giant ice cubes.
A close-up down into the crevasse shows the blue ice...of course, a reminder that you can see all of our Kronicle photos enlarged in our Photo Albums section of this website.
	Bernie took this photo of us so that we both could be in the picture. He wouldn't let us take his photo, because he didn't have email to receive a copy, but took ours by walking with our camera and tri-pod up a steep icy hillside. He was a character!
Back at the National Park Service observation deck and a Grizzly is getting himself some dinner. The water was so clear and shallow, you had an excellent view of hundreds of salmon. We did notice Bald Eagles in the area; but not any feeding down along the banks like we had along the Skagit River in Washington State. We may not have been viewing at the right time of day.
	Mr. Bear entertained us for a long, long time. Pouncing upon salmon (like a kitten) and then taking them ashore to eat and then back for more. He really needed to eat. He's much smaller than the Grizzlies we saw in Denali and had black/brown fur. His ribs were showing...he needed to eat as much as he could catch.
He didn't seem bothered by the throngs of people up on the observation boardwalk, oohing and aahing at him. He just plodded along getting his meal taken care of.
	Momma and 3 cubs showed up from the other direction; they turned around and left the area shortly after arriving. I overheard the Ranger say that she probably got scent of the male Bear and left the area immediately with her cubs. So, I guess we were lucky we got this one fast photo of Momma and her cubs before she shuffled them away.
Caught another salmon!!! Enjoy your dinner, Mr. Grizzly!
Hyder, AK was our last official stop on the trip; then it was "head for the barn". We made one-night stops at beautiful Canadian Provential Parks (Beaumont and Lac La Hatche) along the Yellowhead Hwy. until we reached Cultus Lake, BC and stayed 2 days at our 1000 Trails Membership Park there. A peaceful way to regroup and eat everything we could that couldn't go back across the border. We were not successful in the endeavor, but the items taken I suspected would be. There is just so much planning you can do and the rules change often. Luckily, our Morel Mushrooms from our last chance to pick in Marblemount and the Saskatoon berries we picked at Beaumont Provencial Park in BC did not get discovered.
And on our 17th Anniversary, 8/9/07; we arrived back at 1000 Trails Birch Bay in Blaine, Washington Enjoyed our Trip but also Glad to be Home Again Total miles traveled: 7,105 Thanks for coming along on our 2007 Alaska/Canada Adventure Take care!!!! Karla and Larry
Kronicles #14 soon...Hope to hear from you all soon!

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