Almost 4 full years of adventure have flown by! But with more work and a wedding (or two) and insurance bills to pay, juggling travel was getting harder and harder. Our planned 4 months in Park City has turned into a return to a more stationary lifestyle. There were some adventures getting here though!
Hard to believe it is already 2018. 2017 and the trip to Alaska was such a special time, but we have other (mostly) great memories from the rest of 2017. To catch up this will be mostly boring narrative, but my mother insists that we should write it all down, especially due to the drama that ensued!
It seemed like the more we saw in Alaska the more amazing it was. Perhaps that is because we did the Kenai Peninsula at the end of our trip. From Haines, we loaded Monty and Mulligan onto a state ferry. Juneau is only accessible by water or air despite being the state capital! The downtown area in the summer is simply cruise ship tourist mania! We avoided that like the plague, but there were plenty of other cool things to see.
6 times the size of Yellowstone National Park! Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve is 6 times the size of Yellowstone and we had to drive around it to get to Haines. And that doesn’t include Kluane National Park in Canada, which is more than double the size of Yellowstone!
Cooper Landing was our next stop. Kenai Lake (beautiful green water) flowing into the Kenai River, is another popular area when the salmon are running. It is also a common place to see bears and other wildlife.
Salmon – its all about the Salmon… And the Halibut.. And the tourists! But mostly Salmon. The Kenai Peninsula is dotted with fishing/tourist towns separated by beautiful mountains and rivers.
30%-ers – That is what they call the lucky few that get to actually *see* Denali while at the National Park – and we did! And moose.. There were a fair number of moose around the entrance area which always causes what we call “being Yellowstoned” – stuck in traffic as some other tourist tries to get a picture of a far off animal.
To get out of Dawson City toward Alaska, you have to take a small ferry across the Yukon River. This puts you on the start of the “Top of the World” Highway. Coincidently, the John and John canoe team that we had dinner with the previous night rode the same ferry with us!
The Alaska Highway starts in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. This year is its 75th Anniversary! (Don’t forget you can click on any picture to see it at full resolution)
Continue reading Alaska and Yukon Highways – Dawson Creek to Dawson City