Traversing Canada

First night—Ferndale, WA  (Close to the border, so we can cross into Canada easily and early the next morning)

We decided to travel an average of 450 miles a day; so the next day, we drove into Prince George, British Columbia (BC).  There, we parked snuggled-up to a couple of semis at the Flying J gas station.  We didn’t need any electricity or water, so it was a cheap sleep!

We drove on the Gold Rush Route (red) to Prince George.
From there, we crossed over to Fort Saint John on the Rocky Mountain Route (green)
We followed the Alcan the rest of the way to Anchorage!

On the second full-day day (Monday), we drove to and stopped in Fort Nelson (520 miles away).  We traversed the secondary road to Fort Saint John and were rewarded with our first brown bear sighting!  Actually, since Matt spotted it, he earned the huge sum of $5.00.  (Nope, again, Tom G., no comment necessary!  SMILES!)  Later, that same day, we saw three black bear!  It was definitely a day for bear!

The first brown bear!  (lower right corner between the dead trees) 

Third black bear on the side of the road

As always, I am thrilled by the vastness of this country, Canada.  It is so beautiful—mountains, groves of birch, thousands of acres of pines, rolling hills, plains, rivers, waterfalls, wildlife…

Hmmm, this might help with scale…when we turned left onto Hwy 97 at Fort Saint John, the GPS declared that in 948 miles I would need to turn right onto Hwy 1.  Meaning, on the third morning (if we maintain 450 miles a day), we would making our first turn.  Overwhelming, right?!

Scenery on the drive 

On the third full-day (Tuesday) we drove 461 miles (10 hrs plus), averaged 20.1 mpg, and are now within 196 miles of “The Turn”.  Tonight, we are staying at a recreation area on the side of the Hwy (near Teslin, Yukon).  (Recreation Area=2 outhouses, 2 bear-proof trash cans, a couple of well-used picnic tables, and a gravel parking area.) The view from our sliding door—wonderful!  We decided to celebrate this day by remaining “unplugged”!

Now, the AWESOMENESS, we saw—

1 fox

1 brown bear

2 black bear (2 sightings)

8 mountain goats (3 sightings)

9 big horn sheep (4 sightings)

16 or 17 bison (6 sightings)

AND 4 brilliant rainbows!

We pulled-over to watch animals 17 times!!!!  Nature was at its best today!  Again, I LOVE this country!  It is overwhelming how much land is untouched; how much space there is between towns and people; how amazing the air smells and tastes… It is definitely a “see it to believe it” experience.

The water is so clear and cold! 

It is magical to drive under a rainbow...

At the Recreation Area--10:30 at night...

THE BEST OF THE ANIMAL PHOTOS (today)--

Cute butts!  Big Horn Sheep

Big Horn Sheep

Mountain goat

Family of mountain goats

Gorgeous, isn't he? Bison

Day four (Wednesday) and we made “The Turn”.  It was bittersweet; we turned away from Haines, AK (a town at the top of our list-of-places-to-live).   However, Matt and I happily turned toward Anchorage and our cousins who live there!  We will visit with them, and friends in Seward, before we head-up for our new excellent adventure—volunteering in Denail!!!

Today, we saw 2 black bears, 1 brown bear (awesome hump), and our first moose!

The scenery in the Yukon was, of course, amazing. 

Kluane National Park

Kluane Lake (the largest lake in the Yukon

First black bear of the day

Hitch-hiking?

Our first moose

Wow, he is beautiful!

Still beautiful and moving off into the woods

What, why are you changing direction? 

Too damn close and a little less beautiful!

By the end of the fifth full-day of driving, we arrived in Anchorage. 

From Lynnwood, WA to Anchorage, AK—

5.5 days

2423 miles

49:37 hours

49 mph average

20.2 mpg average

Although we did not see any animals on this day, we “feasted” on the amazing scenery.  (The last 140 miles into Anchorage are AMAZING!!!)

We arrived so late on Thursday night that we decided to stay at the joint military Family Camp.

Today (Friday)—COUSINS!!!!

Matanuska Glacier

Cloud-covered beauty

 Since we had no animal sightings the final day of driving, Matt drew his favorite--a wolf!

And so, we are back in Alaska...I love this state!
Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer!