Tag Archives: Canada

Endicott Island

Some visitors are enjoying Endicott Island, which is around 15 miles from Prudhoe Bay, but only 2-3 miles off shore. With the sea ice out, an estimated 130 polar bears are roaming Alaska’s north coast from the Canadian border to Barrow waiting for the freeze, according to some BP people we ran into. I have no idea if that figure is accurate, but I’ve sent my bear biologist friend out as a fact checker.

Polar bears are far more aggressive than your run-of-the-mill grizzly. An oil worker was mauled a couple of years ago when a polar bear was looking through a small window at his work camp. The worker swatted a rolled up newspaper at the window, in an attempt to “shoo” the bear away. The polar bear came through the window taking out half the wall with it.

Even polar bears are curious as to what that plug is hanging from our vehicles’ grills.


A Very Wet Summer

How much rain have we had up here in The North? Well, the picture above is of The Alaska Highway gone River. All roads leading to Alaska from the Yukon Territory have been blocked by washouts after more heavy rain and still melting snow.

Holy shit! The tourists were right all along… Alaska IS an island!

The Alaska Highway is closed from Destruction Bay to Haines Junction, and from Teslin to Junction 37. That’s roughly 220 miles of highway. The Klondike Highway is also closed due to washouts. It’s expected to take days to reopen The Alcan. One washout between Teslin & 37 is over 200′ wide and 20′ deep. That is a bit of a gully.

When asked when the roads were expected to open, The Yukon Territory’s Highways and Public Works spokeswoman Aisha Montgomery said, “We’re hesitant to give specific times.” Especially when the salmon are running…

To the 100 travelers who are stuck between a mudslide and a washout near the Rancheria Lodge I say: “Welcome to the Yukon!”

———————————————————————-

“I went to bed and woke in the middle of the night thinking I heard someone cry, thinking I myself was weeping, and I felt my face and it was dry.

Then I looked at the window and thought: Why, yes, it's just the rain, the rain, always the rain, and turned over, sadder still, and fumbled about for my dripping sleep and tried to slip it back on.”
— Ray Bradbury from “Green Shadows, White Whale…”


Flathead Lake, MT

I’ve left Canada and am back in the U.S.  The drive and the weather in BC were perfect.  At U.S. Customs, the agent just looked at the truck for several seconds before saying, “Wow”.  Yep.  I get that a lot.  Most people think I’m just off my rocker, but the agent was pretty cool, and only gave me minor flak for driving a Rover.  The Customs guy was a Land Cruiser fan/rebuilder.  I didn’t hold that against him.  Overall, I never have a problem at Customs, still… this one was by far the most enjoyable.  A great welcome back.

I hit snow just north of Whitefish, which was the first of any measurable amount since Fairbanks.  A mini blizzard with the blowing wind and some very wet snow.

I drove along Flathead Lake, which is just massive.  A great drive, and Woods Bay reminded me of an older Deephaven, with cabins & cottages right up against the shore of the lake.  Not much room through here, with the lake on one side and a huge cliff wall on the other, very un-Montana, but it was a great drive.


Jasper National Park

 


Into BC

I spent last night at Liard Hot Springs.  I ended up renting an old log cabin with no running water, but it did have electricity and a woodstove.  I unloaded my cooler and food, then had a fire burning in the stove within minutes.  Love that spruce!  I had wanted to make Toad River Lodge, mainly because I stayed there on my first trip up the Alaskan Highway.  I remember watching a plane land on the grass runway alongside the highway then taxi up the road to the lodge and parking out front.  That was what I wanted to see.  The pilot got out and then went into the cafe for breakfast.

I decided not to push it to Toad River last night in the dark due to the bison on the roads.  The first one I spotted caused me to mentally ask myself, “Why doesn’t that boulder have any snow on it?”  Then I quickly realized that it was no boulder, but a large lump of shaggy buffalo.  I’m glad I did pull over, because this morning I spotted several small herds of the big beasts on and alongside the road.  Caribou were everywhere, I must have seen hundreds today and I expect to see more tomorrow.  Throw in about twenty big horn sheep and a black fox and you have a great wildlife viewing day.  Crazy.