Thursday, October 6, 2016

On The Road Again

On the Road Again

After packing up the last of our belongings and saying goodbye to our Alaskan Family, we hit the road. With the Sweaty Yeti in tow we made our way north to Tok, AK. This was roughly a 5-hour drive that we did not start until mid-day but we were still able to marvel at the fall colors the entire drive north. For the night we pulled into Eagle Trail State Recreation Site to catch some sleep and as far as we knew were the only people in the entire campground. It was a little eerie of a feeling to be out in the middle of nowhere with no one for miles but that’s what you get when you travel up here in the off season. In the middle of the night Ashley got up to use the restroom and to her shock and our dismay it was snowing! Of course! We were hoping to avoid snow but it seems very fitting that it snows on our first night. After getting a few more hours of sleep we decided to get an early start and hit the road. Luckily there wasn’t too much snow but there was a fine coating on the ground and camper. Soon we were on the road and much to our dislike it started snowing again. On the drive to the Canadian border the snow got heavier. At one point you could hardly see the road and it was coming down in large flakes. Thank goodness it didn’t last more than 15 minutes and it cleared up! We were able to cross the Canadian Border with little to no snow and no trouble. True to form the border crossing asked no questions about the camper again.

This is what we woke up to
Driving towards Canada
We decided to take a different route home than the one that we took up here. For this journey we chose to take the Alaska-Canada highway. After a full day of driving we ended up at Whitehorse, Yukon. We had been told by some friends that you can camp at the Whitehorse Walmart for free and when we pulled into the parking lot it felt like a campground with all of the RVs and travel trailers parked in it. We were tired and hungry by the time we pulled in and decided on McDonalds for dinner since it was 100 yards away. Unfortunately, Canada McDonalds do not have the deals that American McDonalds does. We paid $15 for 20-piece chicken nuggets and a small soda. Yeah, that one hurt but at least it was only about $12 US. But it was a warm meal that came quickly so we were happy. Soon after we crawled into the camper and got some sleep. The next morning, we woke to frost but luckily no snow. We hit the road and made our way east. The drive was beautiful, lots of fall colors and lots of animals. So far we had seen two moose, two coyotes, two eagles, multiple sheep, two black bears, and over 50 trumpeter swans (we counted). It was definitely a lot of fun seeing all the wildlife along the drive and we had a great time counting them all. After a few hours we came across Kluane National Park in the Yukon and the views were breathtaking. We took a short break to stretch our legs and snag a few pictures. Soon after we headed into British Columbia and to our shock and amazement we drove past a buffalo! We did not expect that! Soon they were all over the place! All we had to do was drive along the road and there they were, standing there, munching on grass. We counted over 100 buffalo on our drive and it was quite entertaining to see them all. 

Trumpeter Swans

Black Bear having a mid-day snack

Buffalo!


2nd Black Bear of the day

Yep...those are all buffalo

Beautiful fall colors

Caribou

Kluane National Park

After a long day of driving we ended the night at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park. After parking the camper in the campground we grabbed our swim suits and headed over to the nicest hot springs we have ever been in. To get to the hot springs you had to walk a few hundred yards over a boardwalk through the woods until you came upon a beautiful creek with steam rising off the water. This was by far the most natural hot spring we had been in as the bottom was covered in small stones and sand while the edges were the natural bank of the stream. We stepped in, relaxed and after a while we start exploring downstream. The water had washed away some of the underlying dirt so it was not long before Adam started to explore under the earth. The water had gradually eroded the land under a few trees and left a small gap of air between the soil-packed roots and the surface of the water. We were able to carefully swim under the overhangs and have our own miniature caves. To quote Adam "it is the coolest place I have ever been in my adult life." Of course we never imagined we would need a camera while swimming so we have no pictures. But even the best photo couldn't describe the small piece of paradise we found that day. After all our exploring we headed back to dry off, have dinner and catch some sleep.

Walkway to the Hot Springs

Liard Hot Springs
The next morning we hit it early and after driving only 30 miles we came across another wonder. The road led us through Muncho Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia and the views were stunning. Tall mountains on both sides with a jade green lake stretching for miles along side us. It was incredible to witness. Unfortunately we needed to stop and get gas in the local village as there was no other station for a while. Now we were a little concerned when the price of gas was $1.69 per liter and we were used to playing $1.20 per liter but we didn't have much choice. It wasn't until later that evening when Adam was doing the daily finances and discovered that nonthreatening Canadian Dollar and liter price tag amounted to $4.96 per gallon in US currency!!! That was unpleasant but still could not tarnish the beauty of the park. Soon we then drove through Stone Mountain Provincial Park and saw more stunning scenery. As we continued on our drive the we were constantly amazed at the views. 

Muncho Lake

Our faces before we got gouged on gas...

The drive through the Provincial Park

Stony Mountain Provincial Park


The drive through the park

Views of the mountains

After a looonnggg day of driving we ended up at Saskatoon Island Provincial Park. Now island is a strong word. This park was really a strip of land sandwiched between two lakes. This is what we like to call an isthmus in Wisconsin. Maybe Canada isn't familiar with that word...but we pulled in after dark, found a campsite and had some late dinner before crawling into the sweaty yeti. This was probably the strangest campground we have been to because as soon as we step out of the car all we can hear is honking. When we say honking, we do not mean car honking, we mean animal honking. From our site the lake must have been close although we could not see it. The only reason we knew that it was because of all of the swans and ducks honking away in the lake! It was strange to hear so much noise but not be able to see any of the animals causing them. After a few hours sleep Ashley woke up to check the sky. The northern lights were supposed to be out tonight and to our luck we caught them! Ashley got her camera out and was able to catch some pictures but soon went back to the camper because there was an animal walking around our site, just out of site of the headlamp and it did not seem to go away no matter how much noise she made. Yet again, this is part of the game when you camp so far north. The next morning we were able to head out to the lake to view all of the birds who make so much noise! Too soon it was time to hit the road again and continue the adventure. 

They were faint but they were there

The Sweaty Yeti and the Northern Lights


All of the swans and ducks!




All in all the trip is off to a great start! Stay tuned to see where we go next! 

-The A-Team




1 comment:

  1. Safe journey home!!!
    What a Fantastic Adventure 👫

    ReplyDelete