June 8 2018

Update on the roads: The Tok Cutoff to Glennallen was in really really bad shape. We were running maybe 15 to 20 MPH most of the time. Once we turned off toward Palmer in Glennallen it got much better.

We got to our campground in Wasilla pretty early and set up camp. We were a little put off as they decided to seed between the sites and have roped the entire site off until June 20th. With our slides out, we have less then 12 inches to walk around. We have set up chairs in front of the site so we can at least sit outside.

We were to move anyway on the 19th, so we decided to go up to Denali for three days leaving on the 18th. When we return for our last week, the site should be open.

On the 7th, we drove as far as we could up Hatcher Pass which put us at the Independence Mine. The rest of the pass is closed to Willow until the 4th of July. There was quite a bit of snow still. The views were awesome.

We had lunch about halfway down where it was a little warmer.

After lunch we drove to the Thunderbird waterfall between Wasilla and Anchorage.

Unfortunately, we got the results back from the Whitehorse Veterinarian. Mallory does have a very bad bacteria that is resistant to antibiotics. Today, we are headed back a Vet in Palmer (third Vet so far). We hope to get a stronger antibiotic that will knock it out permanently.

Mount Sanford from the Tok Cutoff (Wrangell St. Elias NP)

Mallory up at Independence Mine

Lunch time view from Hatcher Pass

Unknown waterfall from Hatcher Pass Road

Top of Thunderbird Falls

 Bottom of Thunderbird Falls

June 5, 2018

We made it to Alaska!!!

The highway from Destruction Bay to the border was in really good shape. Actually no construction what so ever. In 2014 and 2016 that section was under significant construction and made the trip pretty miserable.

Unfortunately, once we crossed the border, the road was horrible almost all of the way to Tok. That section was pretty good in 2014 and 2016. Alaska must be running out of money.

The really good news is we caught up to our 2016 bear count where we stand at 14. All four today brown bear. It was really nice to see mom and two cubs.

We also stopped for the first time at the Beaver Creek Information Center and got another Gold Passport Stamp. We now have 12 stamps so at a minimum we will be entered three times into the 1 ounce giveaway.

Tomorrow we head down to Wassila where we will stay for 22 days. Woohoo.

June 4, 2018

Internet has been spotty at best. But that is expected.

We spent our last two days in Whitehorse hiking and running around getting as many stamps for our "Gold Passports" as we could. Yukon has been putting on a gold giveaway for many years now. No... we have not won. However, it is fun to enter. We will need to visit at least ten places and get stamps or a "code" number to be entered into a 1 ounce gold drawing. We will need at least 20 stamps or numbers to enter into a 2 ounce drawing.

The "stamp hunt" does not begin until June 1st. On June 1st we stopped by the Whitehorse visitors center to pick up our three passports. We then spent the day visiting various places to get 9 stamps in Whitehorse.

It was kinda fun, but all of the places we went to other than the wildlife preserve were visited by us in past years.

We then spent our final day hiking up on the Canada Trans Trail.

On our way up to Destruction Bay we got two more stamps in Haines Junction.

The bad news is we were blanked on the bear count. So we stand at 10 bear to date. We are now tied with 2016 but will most likely not catch our 2014 count of 21 bear to this point.

We are now spending our last night in Canada before crossing back into the USA. Destruction Bay is a great stop as we love spending time with Loren and his friends. We had a few beers with Loren catching up on the local gossip. And by the way we struggled with Loren's new email address as Z "Zee" is pronounced "Zed" in Canada... Aay...

Blue Billed Duck

You don't see these in the lower 48

Temptation Island. Don't eat the bane berries.

 Canyon Creek Bridge 

Destruction Bay Yukon

Kluane Lake  

Mallory chasing sticks in Kluane Lake 

Fireweed

June 1, 2018

So, we have decided to defer our trip up to Dawson. We have not seen much improvement in Mallory's infection. Unfortunately, they had to send the culture down to Vancouver for analysis which will take a week. I feel so bad for her. She is only 9 months old and has been on again off again sick for the last three weeks.

Our revised plan is to stay an extra day here in Whitehorse, and then head to Destruction Bay, Tok and then down to Wasilla. I will feel much better in Wasilla should her condition get worse. We will plan Dawson late this summer or early fall.

Yesterday the 31st of May we did a little hike around the power plant, drove up to the suspension bridge (part of the Trans Canada Trail System), and tried to tour the fish ladder. The fish ladder typically opens June 1st, however, they are repairing it and should re-open around the 15th of June.

On June 1st, we drove up to the Takhini Hot Springs. It kinda reminded me of the Chena Hot Springs near Fairbanks. The pools were nice and hot on a cool-rainy-drizzly day. They are in process of a full renovation which should take another three years. The facility should be really nice upon completion.

After the Hot Springs we had lunch at our favorite Whitehorse restaurant, Klondike Rib and Salmon. Great food as usual.

Schwatka Lake

Fish Ladder

Takhini Hot Pools

Klondike Rib & Salmon Restaurant.