04/01/2007 - Initial Thoughts.

"I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think its the excitement only a free man can feel...a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain."

The Shawshank Redemption

(NOTE: All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.)

Well, its hard to know what will happen when I get up to Alaska or how long I'll be there. My thought is two years, to experience each season once through, then have another crack at it. Whatever happens, here's a brief list (in no particular order) of things I'd like to accomplish (in addition, of course, to just randomly exploring around as time permits). Visiting in August 2006 provided some inspiration.

1. See the Northern Lights. I've heard Fairbanks, which I went through about 6 hours north of Anchorage, is an ideal spot from which to see them.

2. See humpback whales in the wild. I saw orcas (killer whales) when I was up there , but no humpbacks. In fact, one young orca fully breeched the water a couple of times, which was a sight to see. The boat I was on did have underwater microphones allowing everyone to hear the humpback "songs", which were pretty spectacular on their own.

3. Check out the Iditarod. I'm admittedly confused since I saw a marker for the start of the Iditarod in Seward, about 2 hours south of Anchorage, but all current indications are that it starts in Anchorage. Perhaps it changed over time. Regardless, it would be great to post up anywhere along the route and see it come through.

4. Hike. A lot. And then consider stepping it up a notch to backpacking.


5. Put my hand in the Arctic Ocean, which is no easy task. The driving distance from Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay on the northern coast of Alaska is 847 miles, about the same as the trip from St. Louis to Denver (a drive I know all too well, which takes 11-12 hours). Alaska being Alaska, however, a large stretch of the drive north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway is gravel, so the trip ends up taking a while depending on conditions (I'm guessing up to 20 hours). It's tough sledding, including the longest stretch of service-absent highway in the United States at 240 miles. You do get the privilege of crossing into the arctic circle along the way, on one of only two highways in North America to do so. It's an arduous journey through spectacular wilderness, and when you finally make it, apparently you see this!!! Glad I found that out ahead of time. There are other ways to reach the Arctic Ocean in other parts of Alaska which don't end in a lame $48 school bus ride, but as there are no other roads, you are talking air travel. A day trip by air from Fairbanks to Barrow runs about $450. This one may not be easy to pull off, but I'd really like to get it done.

6. Experience wildlife, safely. Below you can see (counter-clockwise) a sub-adult female wolf and a sub-adult male wolf I saw in Denali National Park and a blond grizzly bear sow and her cub (another cub out of frame), which I saw up there as well. Also, a black bear (which also inhabit AK) at my campsite in Yellowstone. Nothing quite like stepping back onto the food chain! (Click to enlarge).


8. Enjoy a nice sunny night. You don't have to head too far north in Alaska to get sun at midnight (one of its nicknames is "Land of the Midnight Sun", in addition to "The Last Frontier"). Even in Anchorage, which is in the southern portion of the state, the sun doesn't set in June until 11:39 p.m. From what I understand, the Arctic Circle is the southernmost point at which you can experience 24 hours of light or darkness for at least one day a year, at the summer or winter solstice respectively. As noted above, if I go to Prudhoe Bay, I'll cross it, but maybe not at the right time. How cool would it be to watch the sun skim across the horizon and never drop? Well, to me, pretty cool. The Arctic Circle is a mere 125 miles north of Fairbanks. As you go north, the total number of 24 hour days of dark or light go up. I think it would be an amazing experience to see 24 hours of daylight - you would really be keenly aware that you are sort of on the upper edge of the planet.

9. Go back here:

This is east of Denali National Park, in the area of "Tangle Lakes" - stumbled upon this area sort of by accident last time I was up there, finding myself unexpectedly on the 135 mile (about 120 of it dirt) Denali Highway which runs between Paxson and Cantwell. I was really blown away by the area, and like most of Alaska, there was almost no one else out there. I think it would be safe to say this area has haunted me ever since.

Alaska is an amazing place. Spectacular scenery:

And occasional reminders, even when not in your view, that the wildlife is pretty spectacular too:

Those are wolf tracks right at the edge of the tree line from the previous photo.


In closing, the Earth is a big place, and Alaska is pretty darn close to on top of it!

04/10/2007 - Northbound & Down, Loaded Up & Truckin'!

I have been gearing up, picking up lots of camping-related gear (including my beloved and trusty axe), am in the market for a firearm, and recently acquired this:

As much as I love my Honda Accord Coupe, it just won't get it done in the snow and unpaved expanse of Alaska, nor the 5000 mile trek I have mapped out to get there. This is my new '05 Chevy Trailblazer 4x4. I LOVE this truck, but I'm honestly sad to leave my Accord behind - I wanted to drive her into the ground. When I bought my Accord, she was still wrapped in plastic and had about 2 miles on her - from the factory, to the truck, to the train, to the truck, to me.

Speaking of the trip, a quick note... The "direct" route to Anchorage is about 3800 miles, but I figure on ending up well above 5,000 miles going the scenic route (though I don't have any particular plan on what that is). That will include re-visits to Tetons and Yellowstone in Wyoming, which I visited last summer. I also plan to spend some time in Glacier National Park in Montana, and then head up into Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada. My buddy Josh and his girlfriend may be in Banff at the same time I'll be there, which would be welcome company.

Why Anchorage? Well, about 40% of the state population is there, and I figure it's the best chance at finding a job. Then again, I may find a connection in Montana or Alberta or British Columbia, and just stop driving for a while. The joy of traveling light, creditors be damned.

04/20/2007 - AK In A Nutshell

And now, for some AK facts:

• Alaska is the largest state, twice the size of Texas.
• Of the 12,479 miles of total United States coastline, 6,640 miles are in Alaska. Florida is second at 1350 miles, California has 840, and Hawaii has 750.
  
• Mt. McKinley (Denali) is not just the tallest mountain in the U.S., but in all of North America, at 20,320 feet. From base to summit, Denali's vertical relief is greater than that of Mt. Everest. No one-trick pony, Alaska also boasts 19 of the 20 tallest peaks in the United States, the other being Mt. Whitney in CA. Colorado, where you at?
  

(Alaska Range from a 10-seat plane ride we took in 8/06)

• Population (as of the 2000 census): 626,932. Population per square mile: 1.10, the lowest in the country (Compare MO at 81 people per square mile and CA at 217).
  
• Kodiak Island is the second largest island in the United States, behind only the big island of Hawaii. Eight of the largest ten and fifteen of the largest twenty islands in the U.S. are in Alaska (the others are Puerto Rico, Long Island, Maui, and Oahu).
• Alaska was purchased from Russia, which lies just 53 miles off its coast, in 1867. It was considered an economic wasteland by Russia, which sold it for a mere 2 cents per acre ($7.2 million). For comparison, in the mid-1800's the U.S. was selling land in the West for $1.25/acre to encourage westward expansion. Alaska finally entered the Union in January of 1959, eight months before Hawaii followed suit.
• On June 3, 1942, six months after Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched an attack against Dutch Harbor, Alaska (in the Aleutian Islands, as seen on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch"). One hundred servicemen and civilians were killed, and barracks, fuel tanks, and other structures were set ablaze. In short, Japanese forces ended up occupying American soil (on other Aleutian Islands) for over a year, and at a later battle (the first land battle against foreign forces on American soil since the War of 1812) 549 American soldiers and all but 30 of the 3200 Japanese soldiers died (some by their own hand). If you are as interested in this piece of history as I was, you can find out more here from the good people at the National Park Service: http://www.nps.gov/archive/aleu/WWII_in_the_Aleutians.htm

04-20-2007 - An Alaskan for an Alaskan

Did I mention gearing up?



No self-respecting Alaskan goes into the wild without a firearm! This is my .454 Ruger Super Redhawk Alaskan.

With just a 2.5 inch barrel, it's a freaking hand-cannon designed specifically as a survival weapon against large animals, specifically including bears. Assuming reasonable precautions are effective, there is (hopefully) not much chance I'll ever need to use it. But it would up the odds on an otherwise bad day. I realize it seems odd to have revolver instead of a rifle, but this baby is designed as the ultimate last resort. I mean, it's called an Alaskan for a reason.

Things are a bit different up there. Generally, you cannot have a firearm in a National Park anywhere in the Lower 48, but in a place like Kenai Fjords NP in Alaska you can (but not Denali). Alaska state parks such as Chugach (just outside Anchorage) not only allow it, but tell you what minimum types and calibers you should carry.

I'll also be carrying "Bear Pepper Spray" as a primary deterrent, but will sleep better if I'm camping alone in the middle of nowhere with this as a back-up.

Knock on wood.

Seriously. Knock.

04-28-2007 - Some Places I'm Sure to Hit

1. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Last time I stayed at the KOA in Jackson, which was great - this time I may just stay in the park.

2. Yellowtone National Park, Wyoming. Last year I stayed in Canyon Campground on the first day it was open and ran into a black bear making his usual rounds after months of no human presence (he could not have cared less I was there).
I'd like to stay in Canyon again but I'll be there too early - two weeks before the campground opens. I thought the whole park was great, but plan to focus this time on the northern part and will probably stay near Tower Falls in the northeastern region.

3. Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Idaho. This comes recommended by a friend (who's rep is on the line). I'm looking forward to driving through a good chunk of Idaho. I have no doubt it is under-rated, as is much of Canada.

4. Glacier National Park, Montana. VERY excited about this, on the Montana-Canada border.

5. Alberta, Canada. There are actually several Canadian National Parks within a couple hundred miles I'll hit here: Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Kootenay, Glacier (not related to the one in Montana) and Mount Revelstoke. Check any movie in the last decade or more that portrays either Alaska or Wyoming, and you'll find it was actually filmed in Canada either in British Columbia or in Alberta around Banff. That's right Brokeback fans, almost that entire movie ain't Wyoming, it's Alberta (see IMDB.com)

6. Well, there is no six. After Alberta, it's pretty much wide open for a couple thousand miles through Canada and a bit of Alaska. So, I'll just see what I run into.

05-20-2007 - Finally On The Road.

Finally hit the road today - was supposed to camp in Kimball, Nebraska (after driving thru, glad I didn't), but left later than expected and decided to continue on to Cheyenne, Wyoming (by the time I got to Kimball it was already dark, and there were VERY strong winds). Overall a nice day to drive, but about 90 miles from the Wyoming border hit a really weird storm - on the left of the road was a huge dark purple storm with tons of lightning, on the right and in front was relatively clear, and in between was a big dust storm coming up off the fields due to all the wind. I'd say the tumbleweeds were well beyond tumbling - got so bad at one point I passed a semi which had gone of the side of the road and flipped on its side (the only emergency vehicle on scene was a lone ambulance, so it couldn't have happened much earlier). Anyway, in Cheyenne safe & sound, ready to hit the Tetons tomorrow.

05-22-2007 - Grand Teton National Park

It's winter up here!!! We actually stayed indoors in Jackson, WY instead of camping at Tetons because there was major wind/snow/rain and temps in the 30's. Yesterday (5/21) we drove up to the park and drove around and did a couple short little walkabouts. It snowed like crazy on our way into the park, but let up for the rest of the day. We saw lots of elk, caribou, and antelope, plus a grizzly and her three very young (a few months) cubs. Unfortunately, the bears were behind brush so very hard to photograph, but we got some nice glimpses (they were maybe 50 feet off the road). I'm short on time and on a lousy connection, but below are a couple pics. Today it is sunny and we are driving back thru Tetons to get to Yellowstone so maybe we'll have some excitement again today.

A bison grazes with the Tetons looming in the background:

My truck getting its feet wet:

Mamma bear thru the brush:

No question bears are amazing animals - and responsible for many a bear-jam!

Hopefully we can pick up a better internet connection near one of the lodges in Yellowstone and I'll do a better update up there in a couple days. Never mind the overnight lows in the 20's, let the camping begin!

05-25-2007 - Tetons Redux, Yellowstone, & Idaho Day One

Wow - not surprisingly, finding internet connections when you are traveling between parks or campgrounds on two-lane highways is not easy!!! Tonight (5/25) we are spending the night in Sun Valley, Idaho and will head into the Sawtooth Mountains tomorrow and then up to Glacier National Park in Montana. Oh yeah, "we" is myself & Jeff, my buddy from Denver who will be with me through Banff in Canada.

Tetons day two was sunny and really amazing. The mountains were out in all their glory


and we had the great fortune to see a moose in the woods by the road on our way between Tetons and Yellowstone.


I've never seen one up that close, and they are big and freaking ugly! (but still fascinating). It's funny because as I've read, and as the park ranger told us, he'd get closer to a grizzly than a moose - I've heard they can be nasty. But this guy was focused on getting his grub on (eating). Looks like he has a few battle scars as well.


We intended to camp at Tower Falls in Yellowstone, one of the few campgrounds open this time of year (pre-memorial day it's a skeleton crew apparently), but the road up to it was closed (until the day after we left), which would lead to having to go a long way around. So we stayed at Madison Campground in the west-central area of the park, which was still great (I stayed there last year as well). Both nights were in the 20's, but with my zero-degree bag it was completely comfortable. Props to the people at Big Agnes. We hit snow flurries a dozen or so times, but nothing big, and considering it was cold anyway we were happy to have snow instead of rain.

We pretty much toured around the whole park, focusing on the Canyon area with the Upper and Lower Falls.

Unfortunately, we didn't see too much sun, so my pics from this summer pale in comparison to last year. Still an awesome experience though, and kind of cool to hit the same areas at half the temperature (no pun intended). It was pretty windy, evidenced by the puffed up jacket and flying lettuce.


Last night at sunset we sat down by the river near our campground and watched two huge buffalo grazing along the opposite shore, with four elk grazing along the hillside above them. At one point we could hear either coyotes or wolves howling in the distance, and there was pretty much nowhere else I would rather have been. It's been really awesome out here on the road so far.

Today we drove through a good chunk of Idaho, which is absolutely gorgeous. I don't really have any photos to post at this point (but likely will after we hit the Sawtooth Mountains tomorrow) because the beauty of it is the vastness of it, and that is just hard to communicate on film. Suffice it to say that even while driving past lush green farms and amazing blue rivers, there was never a time a snow-capped mountain wasn't looming in the distance in one or more directions.

Tonight we are staying in Ketchum, Idaho, down the road from Sun Valley. Along the way we went through one small town with about 5 buildings, including the Wayside Cafe, Lounge, and Laundromat, featuring entertainment which made me wonder if I had taken a wrong turn and ended up back near a certain fictitious mountain in Wyoming.


We also hit Craters of the Moon National Monument along the way, a vast volcanic field which began to flow 15,000 years ago and last was active 2,000 years ago.


We figured we'd spend about a half hour there, but ended up spending 2.5 hours. There was an 800 foot lava tube you could walk through, and we hit three caves which required us to use our headlamps. It was pretty hot on the surface (I can't imagine what it's like later in the year), but just a few yards into the caves the floors had patches of ice.


That's pretty much it for now. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Idaho tomorrow and heading up to Glacier in Montana - hopefully I can find an internet connection up there again. So far I'm ecstatic about the way things have gone, even with wintry conditions, and cannot wait to see what the coming days will bring. I guess that's the joy of the roadtrip.

Thanks to all who have commented, and good luck to all those now in bar review classes doing the responsible thing!

1900 miles down, somewhere around 3300 to go....

5-30-2007 - Banff!

Finally have an internet connection in Banff, and will do a full update on the Sawtooth Mountains, driving the length of Montana, Glacier National Park, and Canada Day One either tomorrow or the next day. Right now it is 2:00 am and I have to be up at 8:00 am, so no time to post pics now! Sorry for the delays - internet connections are few and far between on the routes I've chosen, and stopping by Starbucks has not been an option as we hadn't seen a chain of any kind in days until today!

Tomorrow morning I am attending the wedding of my close friend Josh from high school at Lake Louise in Banff, and I get to be an official witness. It was just pure coincidence that I planned to be here at the same time they planned the wedding. Congrats to them both!

Anyway, I have a TON of pictures to sort through and will update soon. Glacier National Park is one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places I have ever seen. Plus, there are stories about leaving behind luggage, property damage to restaurants, flat tires, and unexpectedly closed roads. Later...

05-26-2007 - Steve Ogle Is A Dirty Rotten Liar

Just kidding!!! Steve is the man - he is the person who suggested going through the Sawtooth Mountains and Redfish Lake in Idaho, which ended up being awesome. We literally got the last camping spot around Redfish Lake on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, though it's not really the "season" there (the Visitor Center was not yet open and half the campgrounds were closed). It was nice and warm there and partly to mostly cloudy but no rain. We did a nice short hike out around part of the lake.


And caught a nice view of Little Redfish Lake on the way out:


We have been avoiding interstates, and left Sawtooth by continuing up the Sawtooth Scenic Byway and then the Salmon River Scenic Byway up to Montana. It was a great drive along the river through tree-lined mountains and then into more "loose" mountains consisting of big rock fields, then back over a high mountain pass at the Idaho-Montana border, at which point we were in for a full day of rain all the way through Montana.

05-27-2007 - Montana is God's Country

I LOVE Montana. We rolled the full length of Western Montana on the way up to Glacier National Park, and never left mountains the whole way. It rained the entire way, precluding too many good photos, but the area where we entered near Darby and the area below, near St. Ignatius, MT were unbelievable.


When we finally got to Glacier, it was pretty nasty and late so we stayed in a motel just outside the park to get a fresh start in the morning. At this time of year, there are very few tourists up here and all the lodging is very cheap - less than half of what it is in peak season. Unfortunately, the next day only brought more rain for a good chunk of the day.

05-28-2007 - Glacier National Park

Rainy today for most of the day, but it let up in the afternoon and was just cloudy. Unfortunately, cloudy means the mountains are mostly obscured. We are here a bit early in the year and the main road through the park, "Going to the Sun" road is partially closed because they are still clearing snow. So we are able to see about 16 miles on the west side of the park and 13 miles on the east, plus a couple other spurs. Not ideal, but this just happens to be when we are here. Still spectacular! I think Glacier is in my opinion the most amazing park I have seen to date. It's very rain-forest-y on the west side, and more of an alpine feel on the east side - both awesome.

I'm very glad I have head-to-toe rain gear!


A bit of wildlife along the way:

A nice waterfall carving out the rock on Trail of the Cedars:

We did an amazing hike out to Avalanche Lake, which is a must:

And we learned, somewhat disconcertingly, that many deer in Glacier have lost all fear of humans, and not only won't yield when you come up on the trail, but will see you from across a field and just keep walking towards you:

We have a good idea why the road through the park is called "Going To The Sun":

A nice view from the Many Glacier spur entrance:

And another - I can't believe how still the lakes are up here:

Did I mention I LOVE Glacier?!!!! No doubt I will be coming back here!!!

5-30-2007 - The Road Less Traveled, and the Road Not Traveled

Had a pretty long driving day today, with a bit of adventure. We didn't want to take the freeway through Calgary then over to Canmore (outside of Banff National Park in Canada), so we did a bunch of random two-lane highways, some of which became gravel logging roads for about 60 miles. Had no trouble at the Canadian border, and waved goodbye to the Lower 48 for now:


The customs agent did ask me twice if I had a firearm after I said I was going to Alaska, then said "Why not". I guess no one really does go up there without a gun! I explained it was being shipped later, and no foreign national can bring a handgun into Canada.

I did have one bit of trouble on the logging road:

But luckily have a full-sized spare so it was all-good - I was laughing about it. Made somewhat quick work of it, and we were back on our way:

Then about 20 minutes later ran into this!!!

So, we went from being 67 miles away from Canmore, to 127!!! Again, I was laughing hard about this in the car - it's not a roadtrip without some hitches. Let's see: flat tire (which I got fixed in Canmore), closed highway (which did not show as seasonaly closed on either of our maps), I broke a lamp with my head in a Salmon, Idaho Subway, and Jeff left ALL of his jackets in the hotel in Ketchum, Idaho, leading to a 135 mile round-trip double-back. Good times!

5/31/2007 - Canmore

Today we witnessed and photographed my buddy Josh's wedding at Lake Louise, and had a great time. Later we had a really nice dinner in Canmore and a few cocktails. On Friday we're off to...well, I'm not sure yet - either up to Jasper National Park, or over to Glacier (the one in Canada) and Mount Revelstoke. There are like six parks up here, and I'll hit most of them. Jeff is off to California in a couple days so we'll part ways soon. It may be a few days before I find an internet connection again, so I'll catch up then.

P.S. the weather is UNBELIEVABLE. It's unseasonably warm, and there is still lots of snow on the mountains.

Congratulations to Josh and Deanne!!!!


Trip odometer: 2847

6/1/2007 - 6/2/2007 - Banff, Jasper, Yoho, Glacier (Canada), & Revelstoke

I can honestly say this trip could not be going better. We've had a few weather problems, but a very few and over two weeks so far more than we could ask for. It continues to be WAY unseasonably warm - it's like the middle of summer, without middle of summer crowds. The tourist season seems to start around June 15 or in some places even July up here, so we are getting the best of both worlds - great weather, and no crowds. So far my absolute favorite places, not just for this trip, but ever, are Banff in Canada and Glacier in the U.S. Which one is better? Well they each have their good points, and lets just say that each is my favorite in its respective country. Banff is really part of a four-park contiguous group of parks including Banff, Jasper, Yoho, & Kootenay. Glacier (Canada) and Mount Revelstoke lay just off to the west (about 150 miles) in the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian Rockies are AWESOME.

We camped near the city of Jasper last night in a park campground. Jasper is a little more low-key than Canmore, but still pretty touristy, and was putting me on edge. I think the $17.75 12-inch pizza put me on tilt. Everything is VERY expensive up here so far. I just saw a 24-can pack of Budweiser for.....$45.50!!!!!!!! REALLY? The Canadian beer is just as expensive. And the 95 cent to the dollar exchange rate in our favor isn't really helping, especially because apparently all credit card companies now charge 3% on each charge in a foreign country. Oh well, speaking for those reading from the law school class, getting hosed pretty much just rolls off anymore.

And now for some pics:

A 500-year-old cedar forest in Mount Revelstoke National Park:
Mistaya Canyon in Banff (pretty much all the remaining pics are Banff), where the water has carved out a narrow, deep channel through the rock:
(Remember you can click to enlarge)

Above Mistaya Canyon is a beautiful raging river with the obligatory snow-covered mountains.

One of the many nice lake-mountain scenes in Banff:

More Banff:

The famous Lake Louise in Banff, still thawing despite the now warm temps (apparently it was snowing just a couple weeks ago):

At the higher elevations, still lots of snow and mostly frozen lakes:

Did I mention Banff is pretty?
We hadn't seen bears since Tetons, a bear-drought as we call it. We kept stopping and scoping things out, but no dice.

But when you're not looking....EUREKA!!! BEARS!!! Not only that, but this mom with her cub. All in all we saw 9 bears in a 24 hour period, including 4 cubs. I gotta admit I waited and waited for these two to look the same direction, and am pretty proud of this pic for the patience.
Proof positive that all black bears are not black, and they LOVE eating dandelions and other flowers:

Standing next to Tangle Creek Falls in Banff:
Our trucks enjoying the view:

Tomorrow Jeff and I part ways, as he heads south to Northern CA for a family reunion-type thing and then back to Denver, and I head north through British Columbia, a bit of the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska, where I can once again use my U.S. currency where we have bills less than $5 and don't have to deal with all these $2 and $1 coins!

This is officially my longest road trip now, a few hundred miles over 3000 - and clearly best!