Into the wilderness

We've arrived at Denali National Park. Carol just bought a bunch of post cards. Its a Smith tradition. She buys the cards and then never sends them. She says this year will be different. Don't get your hopes up. Every year is going to be different. She has good intentions but the bears kind of get in the way.

Anyway, for those of you who don't know, we discovered the Tek campground last year. When you stay there, you get to drive an additional 15 miles into the park (total = 30 miles). Once you get in your site, you are not permitted to move your car until you leave. We'll be there 14 days starting tomorrow. The campground has nice facilities but no phone and no cell coverage. It's technically in the wilderness portion of the park, just about eight miles from the the most intense wildlife. For $36, you get a pass to ride the bus every day you are there. We'll set up camp tomorrow and then be out in the park most of the remaining days.

Striker is excited. He loves camping here because he gets to stay in one place and catch all of the action in the campground. We all compare notes at the end of the day. The new front deck in the car is working well giving Striker more space to move around and better views out the windows. Should have some nice pictures and video when we get back to civilization.  Will probably be needing a shower too.  I try to take one every couple of weeks whether I need one or not.  Eating at the world famous Salmon Bake tonight. Then we'll drive the road looking for critters.

Silver fox

One of the foxes we saw on the way up was really different than any fox we've seen.  Turns out it was a variant of the red fox called a silver fox.  The one we saw had some interesting colors in it.  Here is a pic.

Yukon Schmookon

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like about the Yukon. But many have heard me talk about being ripped off on gas there.  I thought I had it all figured out, buying just $60 worth of gas at the north end of the Cassier Hwy.  Well, I checked my bank account and somehow my card was charged $97.

Now there is something new to complain about. All the rest areas are now signed so that you can't sleep in them (we did anyway).  If that weren't enough, every pull out is signed the same way.  Even little dirt access roads to a river or lake.  Signs all over the place and this is a HUGE place.  We just drove straight through to Alaska and then put in an extra 50 miles for good measure.

We did see a lot of black bears, two fox, and one nice grizzly (just past Destruction Bay).  Mostly it was good to get back to the USA.  Gas in Fairbanks is $3.90.  Sounds like a lot until you realize the cheapest gas in Canada was $5.20 and sometimes as much as$7.50 (we never paid more than $6.00).

We're in our favorite RV park in Fairbanks.  Nice sunny day.  We already resupplied at Walmart. We head into Denali on the 25th and will be off the grid for two weeks.  No cell phones or internet, no driving, just lots of bears, other wildlife, and endless wilderness to explore.

Moving on

Just hit Whitehorse, about 300 miles from the main Alaska boarder.  We saw one bear fishing in Hyder a couple of times.  Kind of strange.  The salmon run was at its peak, and the biggest in years, but the bears just weren't there.  Some said it had to do with recently completed road construction nearby.  Some say it had to do with beaver dams.  No one knows for sure.  We also saw a wolf fishing and that was pretty cool for about a minute.  Here are some pics of the bear:

Here is a video:

Striker has now crossed the boarder 5 times without being carded.  By contrast, they carded Carol five out of five times.  She even tried the "I'm missing a leg" bit and they then decided to search the car.  I think they were trying to help her find her leg.  They felt pretty good when they realized she had both of them.

Saw some more black bears along the road after we left and we saw a lynx for a brief moment this morning. 

Just a short stop here and then its on to Alaska.  We've got to be in Denali soon and we will probably go by way of Fairbanks.

Striker's second trip to Alaska

So now Striker has made it to Alaska twice.  Spent the morning in Hyder waiting on bears.  Got there a bit late and missed the morning event.  Lots of Salmon, but no bears yet.  Maybe this afternoon.  Not as bear crazy around here as people were saying.  That's pretty much the way it usually is.  Saw a sow and two cub black bears crossing the road just South of the Hyder junction on Hwy 37.  I'm thinking we'll have some bear pics the next time I post.

Hyder is sounding even more interesting

Just arrived in Smithers, BC. The road construction guy told us about “bear bangers” and we will try to find some here. He says the bears are very active this year and so some extra deterrent won't hurt. We also have four cans of bear spray and a very protective cat with an incredible right hook. We'll be fine. About 200 miles to Hyder. Hoping to see some big grizzlies up there eating salmon. Next McDonald's is about 800 miles from here in Whitehorse. We'll probably have limited internet access until then. Might stay in Hyder 3 or 4 days. It would be a good opportunity to get caught up on a few things while we wait for the bears to show themselves.

Doing it again

We're finally on our way back to Alaska.  Got delayed a bit by a crazy lady, craigslist scam, Striker's new medical concerns, lost hiking pole, Carol leaving her wallet in a Starbucks restroom, blah, blah, blah.  We are writing this in William's Lake, BC.  Striker went stealth going across the border and we had no problems.  Just a couple of other issues.  We are now half-low riders.  What would you expect with a Mexican and a white boy?  Anyway, an air lift bag blew out in Chahalis, WA, and so the back of the car is bottomed out.  I think it is embarrassing, Carol says it looks cool and she wants me to figure out a way to make it bounce up and down.  I had one suggestion, but she wasn't interested. Striker seems unconcerned.  Anyway, they have a lifetime warranty and new bags are on their way.  Can't get them till AK though...

We hope to be in Hyder, AK, tomorrow.  We called ahead and the campground is closed due to bears.  If true, we'll probably stay a while.  We need to be in Denali on the 25th, so we can't stay too long.  Big shoutout to David and everyone else staying with this blog for year II.  We'll let you know what we see in Hyder and hopefully we'll have a few pics.