Fall is Here

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot
 
Fall is finally here, more or less.  Or as much as Texas has an autumn season.  It is starting to cool off and sunrise is getting later.  I have been treated to several gorgeous sunrises on my walks over the last week or so.

And the change in temperature has been causing some wonderful fog over the lake.

I even had to break out some long workout pants.  It's enough to make anyone smile.  Even me.  I hate the heat.  My heart starts to sing when the temperature starts to drop.

Life Begins

Panhandle

"Adventure is not outside man; it is within." - George Eliot

The final leg of the trip.  South out of Whitehorse, down through White Pass and back into the US by way of the Alaska Panhandle.  This landscape was different than anything we had seen so far.  Ruggedly mountainous.  As we climbed up, we merged with the snow line (snow in September!) at the top of White Pass and then down to Skagway.  Breathtaking.

We headed first to the ferry terminal to deal with the final legacy of the car rental fiasco and had to wade through hordes of tourists disgorging into the town from several cruise ships docked in the harbor.

Since I was anticipating a different car when I made the ferry reservations and had to provide vehicle dimentions, we wanted to make sure there wasn't a problem with the change.  There was...to the tune of  $15 for the extra foot or so.

We stayed at the Historic Skagway Inn where rooms were named after the building's original  business' "employees".  I stayed in Grace.  In the bistro on the hotel's main floor, I got the first perfect salmon.  Smoked salmon in puff pastry.  Kind of hard to over cook raw salmon!  I wish I had asked for the recipe.

So, on the ferry the following morning through the Inside Passage down to Juneau.  We saw two Orcas WAY off in the distance.

As the state capital, Juneau was cosmopolitan, yet, since it was only accessible by plane or ferry, it still had a rural feel to it.  I loved it.  I also got my first perfectly COOKED salmon dinner.  My salmon quest had become something of a running joke.  Who would have thought finding Alaskan chefs that could manage salmon would be so difficult?

From Junea we flew home.  What an amazing adventure.  I'm grateful for the opportunity and hope someday I'll be able to go back.

Stacked stone monument on White Pass

Historic railway snow plow

Inside Passage from Ferry

Lighthouse

Orca off Juneau

Juneau from Douglas Island

Mendenhall Glacier

Mushrooms in the rain.

Oh Candada!

"Politeness is half good manners and half good lying." - Mary Wilson Little

We now had four days in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Province.  Unfortunately, the B&B at which we already had reservations could only take us for the first of the two extra days.  So, while we couldn't go as far north as Dawson City, we decided to at least head in that direction and found a place to stay in a town called Carmacks.

I was afraid it would be a similar experience to Beaver Creek, but while the accomodations were less than luxurious, it wasn't too bad and the little town of Carmacks was quite quaint.  It sat right on the Yukon River and had a wooden boardwalk along the river road.  While strolling along and enjoying the view, a little girl road her bicycle up behind us.  "Excuse me, please" she said and rode past us.  "Thank you." she called over her shoulder.  They say Canadians are a polite group of people.

We drove to an overlook of a place in the river called the Five-Finger Rapids.  It was a place where 4 rocky outcroppings rose up from the river causing some rough water, that apparently cost many lives of miners heading north to make their fortunes.  I hate to say it, it didn't look so bad to me, but apparently some work had been done later on the river to make the area safer for boat passage.

My instinct that night was for fish and chips in the small restaurant across from the hotel, but I couldn't resist the salmon.  I should learn to go with my instincts.  Over cooked, yet again.

Back down to Whitehorse and the Red Door B&B.  Wonderful place with a welcoming atmosphere and hostess.  And the sourdough pancakes were to die for.

I had a quick glance of what looked like some men carving a totem pole under a tent from the little historic trolly that ran through the town.  We were going to stop on the way back to get a closer look, but unfortunatley, they had already stopped work by the time we passed by again.

We spent a morning at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.  I dislike seeing animals in captivity but this place was one of the better ones with quite a lot of space for the animals to roam and many were being nursed for injuries.

We had lunch down the road in a little organic, fair trade cafe.  It was run by a guy from San Diego who came up to "get away from it all."  I just wonder how he makes a living running a cafe in the woods on a road to not much of anything.  But the food was fantastic and the area beautiful.  I have to say, I envy the man.

I could see myself living in a town like this.  Quaint, historic, but large enough to have most modern conveniences.

Yukon River

Roadside scenery

Elk

Arctic Squirrels

Baby Dall Sheep and friend

Dall Sheep

Arctic Foxes

Bean North organic cafe

Change of Plans

"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

We headed southeast out of Fairbanks on the Richardson Highway.  The original plan was to turn north at Tok and stay the night in Chicken then continue on to Dawson City, then Whitehorse.  Who could resist spending a night in a town called Chicken with internet but no flush toilets?

Alas, we had to continue southeast on the Alcan highway, directly to Whitehorse. 

Our first stop was in Beaver Creek just over the Canadian Border.  As with many last minute plans, lodging choices were slim.  I want to make fun of the "motel" and the "suites" we were given which were in a rickety, run down four room trailer, with an unpleasant smell and questionable carpet.

I'm not actually making fun of the place because, while (and I'm going to sound like a snob here) it was not of a standard I am generally used to in travel accomodations, the sheets were clean and the woman who checked us in was very friendly and polite.  The alternative was driving all night.

There wasn't much to do in Beaver Creek so I took a walk.  I found an overgrown dirt track behind the motel and while tromping along, enjoying the scenery, I came across a fallen sign, half reclaimed by nature.  "This dump is closed", etc.  Great.  So much for enjoying nature.

While I was reading the sign, I was no longer making a racket in the fallen leaves, allowing a rustling in the trees to enter my consciousness.  Sounded like footsteps.  The footsteps of a forraging animal.  A LARGE forraging animal.

City slicker that I am, the first thing to pop into my head was...BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, I cut my walk short!

Of course, it was probably an arctic squirrel.

Despite the annoyance of changing plans, we were treated to a wonderful sight we would have missed otherwise. 

Just over the Canadian border, before we reached Beaver Creek, there was an RV stopped in the middle of the road.  The occupants were out on the side of the road photographing a Black Bear.  Unlike them we PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.  Unfortunately, the bear was into the trees before I could get a shot.  Back into the car.

We hadn't gone more than a few feet when I spotted another bear on the other side of the road.  Out of the car again.  The first RV pulled up to us and we were joined by a second RV.

You know you are a tourist when...

A van pulled up to ask us what was going on.  When he found out we were photographing a bear on the side of the road, he snorted and drove on.

...you are laughed at as rediculous by a local.

The first thing you are told about this place is NEVER get out of your car to photograph a bear on the side of the road. 

I got some great shots.



Black Bear on the side of the road.



Even the weeds on the side of the road turn colors

I love the vibrant colors of the Aspens

Road to the old Beaver Creek Dump

Sunset in Beaver Creek

Spectacular view

More spectacular view

Changes in Lattitude

"When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere." - Robert A. Heinlein

No matter how pleasant and difficulty free your trip is, somewhere along the line Murphy is going to rear his ugly head.

Back on the train.  Next stop...Fairbanks.  The northernmost destination in our travels. 

First was the (major international chain) hotel.  The first morning, my key card stopped working.  The friendly young woman at the front desk politely made me a new one and handed it to me.  No ID required.   Maybe I see things differently coming from major urban area in the lower 48.  She was genuinely confused when I expressed concern that she handed a perfect stranger a key to my room without so much as asking my name.

Next stop.  Pick up our rental car.  We had plans to drive over the Top of the World Highway into Canada, staying in Dawson City and then down to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Province.

What wasn't mentioned anywhere I saw when I made the reservation, that was emphatically pointed out by the rental clerk, is that they don't allow their cars to be taken on unpaved roadways.  Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't at least 3/4 of Alaska's road system unpaved?  To make up for it, the girl upgraded our vehicle without mentioning it to us, which caused more difficulty down the road that I'll talk about later.

As a large chunk of the Top of the World Highway is unpaved, AND, the ONLY direct way to get from Fairbanks to Dawson City, we ended up spending the entire morning of our one day in Fairbanks, scrambling to redo a large portion of our itinerary.  We had to cut Dawson City out altogether.

Even our afternoon was severly curtailed because most of the attractions outside of Fairbanks are at the ends of...unpaved highways.

So we spend the afternoon wandering around downtown Fairbanks and as the city is host to a major ice sculpting competition, we checked out the Ice Museum and saw a pretty cool ice carving demonstration.

That night we had dinner at a restaurant called "The Pump House".  I ordered...wait for it...Salmon.  Rare.  Which arrived well done.  Inedible.  I rarely send food back, but I couldn't eat this.  The waitress was blatently offended that I would dare and was barely civil to us for the rest of the meal.

Then, she brought us the check, charging us for both pieces of Salmon.  We sent that back too.

But...on the way out of the restaurant, we were treated to the first sunset of our trip.  And it was spectacular.

I love the reflection of the landscape on the side of the train

One of the few blue skies we saw.
The rain had just stopped giving us a beautiful rainbow.

Sunset outside The Pump House Restaurant.
Made up for a disappointing meal and less than stellar service.

The same sunset outside the hotel.