Seasons Change

Our blog title, a reason, a season, or a lifetime, is appropriate as we end this part of our journey. We came to Tetlin NWR for a season.  There has been a reason each person has entered our lives, and our memories and experiences we take with us will last a lifetime.  As summer fades into fall, we begin gathering supplies to return, storing gear, and checking the lists of equipment, keys, and interpretative materials.

We were honored at a recent volunteer luncheon which was held early because schedules are changing as the rangers take annual leave and the college students head back to school.  Joy shared a story she'd written about our experiences as volunteers.  We all laughed and enjoyed ourselves.  The luncheon came to a quick closing as a tour bus of Germans pulled in to the VC parking lot.

One day, Joy joined the staff for a float down the Tok River as Kathy stayed behind and got caught up on a variety of tasks.  Joy's raft was captained by Les, the summer maintenance volunteer who actually helped build a lot of the visitor center exhibits nearly 30 years ago. Two biologist volunteers were also on the raft. This raft floated most of the way as Les called for paddling only as needed.  On the other hand, the volunteer coordinator, Kay Lynn, Tanya, the accountant, Alesha, a summer ranger,  Jerry, the deputy director and someone's husband whose name was never known all rafted together.  THEIR ride was hard paddling mostly upstream in order to splash other rafters, or back paddling to see how quickly they could spin in circles. These rebel rafters played all day in the water and provided the rest of us with lots of entertainment and laughter.

Two other rafts and two canoes contained other refuge employees and Youth Conservation Corps kids.  We all traveled down the river to a sand bar, where we built a fire and roasted hot dogs. Afterwards, the group headed to the Tanana River and eventually the pull out zone.

Our last few days off we opted to stick around the VC instead of traveling.  We went blueberry picking and drove up the Taylor Highway looking for an area that had been burned about 10 years ago.  We were told that the blueberries were abundant there!  On our way, we passed the spot where we had seen the two little foxes playing next to their den weeks earlier.  We tried to find the den and/or the foxes but had no luck with either one.

Joy also had her gold map from the DNR office and we drove 24 miles but never found a real creek to go panning for gold.  Blueberries, however, were plentiful.  We picked two cups quickly, watching for bears, and then headed to Tok to buy groceries.  The next day, we loaded up the canoe for the first time all summer and brought it to the Northway bunkhouse for storage.

Our final day off was a tumultuous one which allowed for a lot of chuckles.   It started with a knock on the door as Alesha, the seasonal ranger, asked if we could drive to the Northway bunkhouse to meet AP&T, the company that "provides" power, telephone and internet service to the state.  We use the term "provide" loosely here.  The internet at the bunkhouse had been down for weeks and, after several phone calls, they were finally sending a crew out to take a look at it.  Of course, by this time, the internet would only be needed for a few more days as Alesha's contract was ending and she was heading back to Fairbanks.  This native Alaskan has become a friend and we really enjoyed getting to know her and spending time together.

Since we were still in bed enjoying our coffee, Joy offered a few ideas and said we'd help out if needed. Kathy started the day by filling the RV's fresh water tank from the buffalo for the last time because the buffalo was now empty.  We hoped to have enough water until Tuesday when we headed into town for the last time.  We decided to ration our water by washing dishes only once a day.

Joy cooked breakfast and then we headed to the VC to check on Alesha's progress on finding someone to go to Northway.  When we returned, we found Frances with slick paws and a butter beard.  We had forgotten to put butter away after breakfast and she had had knocked it off the table, removed the lid, and eaten about half of it. After getting slightly scolded, she sat on her bed next to Joy on the couch, began to look woozy and silently threw up all over her blanket.   Kathy took her outside while Joy gathered up the butter barf blanket and threw it outside.  Keila didn't look so innocent, either, so Joy took them both for a long walk to see what else might happen.

As the eventful day progressed, Kathy decided she needed to empty the septic tanks.  Sure enough, the hose came loose from the RV while draining the gray water.  She got the hose reconnected properly and emptied it the best she could with the uphill slant we've dealt with all summer.  She left the hoses attached and began cleaning inside the RV while Joy began organizing and cleaning storage areas outside.  Kathy heard a loud thump and looked outside just in time to see Joy's head meeting the metal of the awning.  After seeing stars, Joy completed her project and washed the blanket.

After lunch, we decided we needed to get out of the RV and enjoy the sunshine so we grabbed the metal detector and hit the road.  We drove to to the nearest turn out, turned the metal detector on and started hunting. Within a minute, the detector started making a series of weird noises and promptly died.  The batteries were dead and the nearest working ones were back at the RV.  We returned home, got fresh batteries and tried another location.  The location brought us too close to a falcon's nest, who yelled at us the whole time we were there.  As we watched her through the camera, we looked up and we saw a very large V formation of birds flying overhead.  It was a flock of sand hill cranes heading south.  We counted the best we could and estimated that the V contained at least 80 birds. They were headed the same place we were for the winter and we knew we'd all meet up again within a few weeks. What an amazing sight!

Although our chosen site was obviously great for bird watching, the ground was hard as rock so we decided to find another location.  We drove to one of the many sandy hills along the roadway and discovered very large moose tracks in the sand.  Although it was much easier to dig, the detector didn't detect anything so we spent our time looking at animal tracks instead.

We put the detector away and headed to the nearby gas station/lodge/store, Border City, to buy ice cream to go with our recently cultivated blueberries.  Roberta, the store clerk, reported they only had ice cream bars.  Even desert plans were not happening as hoped.  We bought Klondike Bars, parked near Highway Lake and watched ravens hunt, water fowl fly, and a storm roll in.

The visitors center is open May 15th to September 15th annually and our last scheduled day was August 27. The average number of visitors diminished quickly the last week of August from 120 per day in July to less than 70 per day in August.  With our extra clean up projects completed, it was time we say our goodbyes. We loaded gear back into the RV and drove to HQ in Tok where we would spend the night before heading out of Alaska via Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage.

Finishing the AlCan

From British Columbia to Alaska, the Alaskan Highway aka the AlCan, was the answer to the Japanese threat during World War II.  Completed in 1942, it ensured the United States and Canada could defend their northern borders as well as provide support to their Russian allies.  Our journey to the end of the AlCan ended in Fairbanks.

On Tuesday we headed into Tok as soon as we closed up the Visitors Center.  We stayed at the Tetlin NWR Headquarters, which allowed us to easily dump our black an gray water tanks, fill our fresh water tank, do our laundry and reconnect briefly with the world.

We were on the road the next morning by 10:00 am and spotted two moose before we even got to Delta Junction.  The first was a cow with twin calves who ran along the highway while considering crossing until she saw us.  The cow turned and gently nudged one of the calves toward the woods and away from the road.  It was an obvious gesture that mommy knew best as she taught her young ones road safety.  They disappeared safely into the woods and we drove on.

The views of the Alaskan Range were wonderful and we began to talk about our future trip to Denali. We still needed to make reservations and see if we could get more consecutive days off to make the trip.

Just south of town is the Delta Junction Meat Market.  A clean  processing plant that packages local domestic protein including reindeer, pork, elk, yak, and beef.  We sampled and then stocked our freezer.

Back on the road, we followed the Alaskan pipeline across the bridge honoring the black army brigade that helped construct the highway.  It's amazing bridges stand for so many years.  What beautiful works of architectural art they are!  The pipeline follows many miles of the Richardson Highway and became our shadow between Delta Junction and Fairbanks as it ran beside the highway, through the woods and along mountain ledges.

We arrived in Delta Junction and located the original mile post signaling the end of the Alaskan Highway. There is also a final milepost in Fairbanks which we address below.  One of the intentions of the highway was to join up with the north to south running Richardson Highway.  We took our photo with the milepost and Joy got silly with the worlds largest mosquito.

Nearing Fairbanks, we noted two significant military bases.  Eielson Airforce base and Ft. Wainwright Army base.  As we drove past Eielson, we warned by signs to not stop, stand or photograph, as the highway paralleled the airport where we saw C-130's and F-16's parked.  Joy, of course, ignored the signs and got a great shot of an airwacs doing touch and go's.

After driving on the first divided "highway" we'd seen in months, we saw signs for the North Pole. Driving right past Santa's house, we decided to save our visit for the trip home.

We drove to the county park that we had intended to stay at but all sites with electricity were full.  The air was also full - of mosquitoes - so we drove down the road to Rivers Edge RV park.  Clean and busy, the park was clean although a little cramped.  At least they had cable and yes, we watched TV!

After getting hooked up and taking care of the pups, we went out looking for Mexican food (the last time we've done so in Alaska.)  We found a promising restaurant and even had a Hispanic waiter; but alas, the food was gringo style.  Sweetened tomato sauce instead of enchilada sauce and microwave quality food.  The chips and salsa were actually good so we ate our fill.

The next day we went to the visitors center and cultural center.  We watched a movie about the aurora borealis, walked the river path to other attractions, and actually ran into some tourists from Germany we'd met at the Visitor Center back in Tetlin.  Eventually, we found the final AlCan milepost signifying when the the AlCan was rebuilt to make the road available to car travel and Fairbanks became the final milepost. It was the first city in Alaska available for tourism via automobile.

With our sightseeing done, we headed out to conduct business.  Keila and Frances conducted theirs at PetCo.  Keila got her nails trimmed, Frances found an antler and both got their next month's supply of dog food. After Petco, we all headed to the dog park as it had been quite a while since the pups were allowed to run off leash.  At the park, we met a nice young woman and her typical Alaskan street dog, long legged with long pointy ears, playful and energetic.

After dropping the pups back at the RV, we headed to Fred Meyers, a cross between Wal-Mart and Costco.  The store was enormous, clean, well stocked, and provided  great customer service.  We bumped into some more people we'd met at the Visitor Center - this time a graduate student who was studying the aurora borealis and her older sister.  We laughed as this was the third time we'd run into visitors we'd met at the refuge in other parts of the state.

The next morning, on our way out of town, we conducted our last piece of business - getting the tires rotated on the Jeep and having someone look at a faulty valve extension on the RV. We found a tire shop large enough to work on the RV.  They were friendly and helpful and let the dogs hang out with us in the shop as they worked on the vehicles.  It was cold and rainy so we enjoyed all being together.

Within an hour, we back on the road and headed to the North Pole!  Growing up, Joy's neighbor, Pinky, and her family were from Alaska.  They moved to Minnesota after working on the pipeline.  Pinky often told Joy about meeting Santa Claus in North Pole but Joy never believed her - until now.  North Pole, Alaska is home to Santa's shop and post office where it is Christmas every day of the year.  The shop is full of not just decorations, but clothing, gifts, and fudge.  Joy lined up to sit on Santa's lap just like all the children - thankfully, she wasn't arrested.

We purchased our few items, including fudge, and got back on the road.  The stretch between Delta Junction and Tok provided several more moose to view and we now tell our visitors to look for them when we find out they're traveling that same stretch of road.

On our way home, about 10 miles from the visitor's center, we rounded a corner and found this juvenile black bear sitting smack dab in the middle of the road.  We came to a stop as he stood up, glared at us, and walked away.

We would hear several visitors report to us about seeing him as the summer went on but luckily, we don't think he got any closer to our campsite.  Juvenile black bears are unpredictable and certainly not the animal you want to confront.

"Welcome to Tetlin!"

Leaving Haines seemed somehow sad.  It was the longest time we had spent in one place since leaving Houston (3 nights) and we had had such a wonderful time and feel like we made such a great connection with Drake that passing the airport on the way out of town made us gloomy – just like the weather.

By the time we arrived at the Canadian border (again) it was sprinkling. A female inspection officer came out of the building after running our license plates and asked the usual questions. This time when Kathy reported we had pepper spray with us, the she asked to see it. She decided it was concealable and that we could not bring it in to Canada.  We had the options of turning around and leaving back in the US, or voluntarily surrendering it to her for destruction.  Kathy filled out the proper forms and we were back on the road. Right after the Canadian crossing, the road began a “slight” incline - a “slight” incline that lasted for at least 15 miles. Soon we were near the Wrangell and St. Elias mountain ranges.  Snow was within hiking distance which meant the temperatures were much colder now.  We thought that the roads weren't as bad as people had warned us they would be and we figured we had missed the worst ones because we had avoided Whitehorse by cutting west to Skagway. When we got to the juncture of Highway 1 again, at Haines Junction, we realized we just hadn’t gotten to the bad parts yet!

We saw very few trucks or RVs and even fewer cars that day.  The road was lonely and desolate as we came upon Kluane Lake .  It looked like fog was hanging over part of the lake but as we neared we realized it was dust blowing in very strong winds along the top of the water from the sandy, shallow end of the lake.
Like most lakes we’d encountered so far, Kluane Lake is huge!

You arrive near the south edge and turn left following the edge around and across an area where the lake bed is exposed.  This is where the winds blow the glacial flour across the top of the water and it looks like a sand storm in the Sahara – over a lake.  As you round another corner, the interpretative center sits near a roadside turn-out which is where we stopped to walk the dogs.  Joy wanted to take them down to the waters’ edge but the shores were gray rock looking ready for a landslide.  We drove fifteen more miles and found a provincial park right on the shore of the lake and decided to camp there for the night.

Like most of the Canadian parks and recreation sites that we’d camped at, this was beautiful, clean and well maintained.  The Canadian parks provide free fire wood and that’s always a plus.  This park had 60 sites but we counted only 39 accessible because the park was closed to tent campers due to increased bear activity. We had been told that there had been an increase in brown bear (grizzly) activity in this area and had kept our eyes peeled for one the entire drive without success.

We chose site #1 one tucked back in the woods with a view of the lake. After we parked, a young German woman asked us for change so that she could pay the $12 instead of $15 for her site.  Canadian parks are paid by leaving money in an envelope and drop box.  We initially thought we didn't have any Canadian change to pay the $2 (Kathy had a $10 Canadian bill on her) but we then remembered that we had several loonies ($1 Canadian coins) in the front of the RV.  Kathy took the 5 loonies over to the German couple’s site and gave them 2 loonies asking nothing in exchange – figuring she still had 3 loonies left to pay for our site.  Somehow, she ended up a loonie short and had to use 4 U.S. quarters to pay $1 of our $12 fee.  We still have no idea what happened to the other loonies and think we’ll find them at some point in the oddest place.

After setting up, we walked down to the lake.  The wind was blowing pretty good and the lake actually looked more like an ocean, with waves and white foam, than a lake.  It was also pretty darn cold! The view was extraordinary!  Standing on the rocky beach, you could turn in around in a circle and see mountains that surrounded you for 360 degrees.  It was the most beautiful place Kathy has ever stood and it brought her to tears.

For Joy, it was a rock hound's delight! She’s discovering that she’s a closeted geologist and while Kathy keeps her eye to the sky for mountains, Joy keeps hers to the ground for rocks (and gold.)  We built our version of a Native American rock sculpture, as did several visitors before us, and then walked along the beach looking for agates. Joy reminisced about a childhood trip to Mille Lacs Lake in Minnesota and agate hunting with her mom. We returned to our site, ate dinner and built a fire.

Kathy had a wonderful roaring fire in no time so we decided to make S’mores.  I was leery with bear activity and marshmallows and chocolate but we cooked quickly and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  We were exhausted from the drive so we went to bed early. Frances was ready to play at her usual 5 AM and we decided to get an early start on the road so we were off by 8 AM.

The road led to Destruction Bay, a town that was named during the building of the Alaska Highway for all of the equipment it destroyed during construction.  Let it be known that it continues to live up to its name as it has some of the worst roads we’ve ever driven on.  Apparently, the US definition of the word “paved” and the Yukon definition of the word “paved” differ quite significantly.  Not only were the roads not paved for several miles, they were gravel with a washboard base which shook the RV to its very core, even at 20 mph. Kathy kept looking up at the new flat screen TV that was installed this past summer and hoped that wouldn’t fall on Joy’s head!

When we finally arrived at the actual “road construction,” we had to wait in line for a pilot truck to lead us beside the shoulders they were working on.  Yes – the shoulders, not the frickin’ roads! We are still trying to figure out how to get back down to the lower 48 without driving that section of the Yukon again.  Kathy keeps picturing a helicopter with the RV and Jeep dangling underneath as it flies back to Kluane Lake! When we neared the end of construction we were almost at the Canadian border.  Kathy swore that once we crossed border we would be driving on blacktop again and threatened to stop the RV, get out, and kiss it.

Entering Alaska USA was a quick meeting with a friendly smiling border patrol agent who simply asked about any fruits and vegetables.  We had purposely not stocked any but did tell a small white lie as we said “no” and then remembered we had two plums in the fridge.

About 9 miles after the checkpoint we rolled upon the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center, the place we would call home for the next 2 months.  Although we were driving another 83 miles to the refuge headquarters, we decided to stop in and take a look around.  We also knew that our future boss, Kay Lynn, might be at the center.  

The building is almost as spectacular as the view from its deck.  It’s a huge cabin built in the trapper cabin style only much larger and with a much nicer and larger food cache (not used for food.)  We walked in the front door and heard a cheerful voice say, “Welcome to Tetlin.”