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| Death Valley. |
Most people would call a 3300 mile
drive to Alaska an adventure. And yeah, it felt that way leading up
to it, as I tried to foresee and prepare for all the issues I would,
and could, have to deal with. And along the way there were unknowns,
like where I was going to stay for the night. But everything went
more or less as expected. So looking back, it just feels like a long
ass drive! The truck performed admirably; unfazed by the distance or
the climbs. I ended up camping at rest stops almost every night,
which relieved a lot of worry. It also meant less wilderness feel,
but there's still a lot of private property along the hwy south of
the Yukon, meaning fewer legal places to park overnight. Plus there
was so much snow in most places that the little stream-side gravel
bars (free campsites) I was looking for were all buried. This time
of year, the traffic on the highways is minimal, with even fewer
folks stopping by the rest stops, so it was actually pretty much like
regular car camping. My only concern, once up north, was wildlife. The rest stops were so
isolated, with 15 minutes or more going by without a single vehicle passing by in the middle of the day, that I pretty much felt alone in the wild. I wasn't sure if bears were out of
hibernation yet, but at my first stop in British Columbia, I
confirmed that indeed they were. As I was starting to cook
spaghetti on my Coleman stove, set up on the picnic table, I
watched a black bear mosey out of the tree line about 200 meters
away. I got a good look at him (and a couple bald eagles flying overhead) with my
binoculars, but he had no interest in me so I just kept an eye on him
as I prepared another roadside dinner.
The solitude was a nice respite from
my highly social weeks at the campground in Joshua Tree. Starting in
the morning, there was always someone to cook breakfast with, we
climbed during the day, had a few join for dinner in the evening, and
more folks joined for campfires. I liked everyone I met there, and
overall the experience was one of the highlights of my life. But
after two, and then three weeks with no time alone to gather my
thoughts, I was mentally drained. I am way introverted, and this
experience confirmed that occasional (not total!) solitude is
essential for me--like food and sleep. I learned that I need to
be more proactive in making time for it, instead of letting
distress build.
Needless to say, a ten day drive from
southern California to Alaska provided more than enough alone time.
I even spent one whole day at an empty campground next to the Stikine
River; that was day eight. When I first walked up to the beach scoping the
place out, I saw a Moose, with calf close behind, walking across the
frozen river about a quarter mile down stream. The weather was
decent enough to sit outside and read, and write, and I made another
tasty dinner, with sweet potatoes. Up to that point, I had been
crawling into the back of my truck for bed around dark (after 9), but
I felt compelled to make myself a campfire that night. I'm glad I
did, because I was blessed with clear skies and no wind, so I had my
first look at the night sky from almost 60 degrees north latitude
(Wichita is at 37).
The next day was much less cloudy, and
I was getting into even more mountainous terrain on the last couple
hundred miles of the Cassiar highway, toward the northern region of
British Columbia, approaching the Alaska Highway in the Yukon. I had
to keep peeling my eyes away from the brilliant white peaks
surrounding me in order to keep an eye on the road, especially
because I was encountering numerous groups of caribou--apparently
grazing--in the middle of the road. I paid almost six dollars a gallon
for gas a couple times in this stretch, but the options are
particularly limited this time of year, with the summer roadside
attractions still closed for the season.
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| Caribou, clearing the road. |
My last night on the road I stayed up
late again to see the stars. The sun is going down around 9 right
now, but because of the latitude, it takes a long time for it to get
far enough below the horizon for it to be really dark. So it's not
totally dark until after 11...and I think it was the darkest night
sky I have seen because I saw an awful lot of satellites and meteors.
Then I was astounded when I realized that what I
had initially thought was a wispy cloud, was flowing and undulating.
I had never seen the northern lights before, because it was never
dark enough last summer, but I knew it was. The aurora steadily grew, stretching ribbons of white light--some
loose, some tighter--all the way across the sky. I spent a couple
hours standing around my truck with my neck cranked back, gawking at
the sky, as the water puddles around me were freezing over and I was loosing feeling in my toes.
One of the real pleasures of the last
few weeks that I try to remain grateful for has been the freedom from
any schedule. I stayed up late admiring the night sky...so I just
slept in :) I only had 300ish miles to go, so I wasn't in any rush.
After a 150 more miles on the AK highway, as the St. Elias
Mountains loomed to the west, I turned south on the 146 mile long
Haines Highway--aptly named since that's the only place it goes.
This stretch, skirting Canada's crazy mountainous Kluane National
Park was the most impressive...I have never seen so much snow in my
life. The forests of spruce trees had given way to treeless hills
and mountains, blanketed with what looked like dozens of feet of
blinding white snow.
(wrapping this up...) Near the US border, the road finally
wound down out of the winter wonderland and met up with the Chilkat
river for the final 50 miles or so. The weather was nice in town,
and I finally paid for camping, with a helluva view, and enjoyed a much
needed shower. More about Haines in a day or two, I think this post
is more than long enough!
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| Mount Shasta, in Northern California. |
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| Mt. Washington, in Oregon. |
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| Oregon woods. |
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| Typical campsite...a rest stop in British Columbia. With truck in tailgate-kitchen mode. |
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| The actual campsite I stayed at, next to the thawing Stikine River. |
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| Entering Yukon Territory. |
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| St. Elias Mountains, part of Kluane National Park, home of N. America's 2nd highest peak, Mt. Logan. |
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| Haines highway. |
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| Winter wonderland. |
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| Oceanside camping in Haines, AK. |
