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Salmon Glacier

We’re back at the southern most tip of Alaska staying in Stewart, another old mining town on the Pacific coast. We drove 20 miles up into the coastal mountains to visit Salmon Glacier, a nice panorama.
We drove out an old mining road at the summit till a landslide blocked our path. We parked, had lunch and explored the area.
We visited this glacier 7 years ago and found it fairly intact with minimal retreating.

Cashier Highway heading south

Another beautiful Provincial Park
This park has especially ominous bear warnings which turned out accurate
Park threatened expulsion if you didn’t keep a sanitized site.
A grizzly bear swam across a bay in front of the park this morning, he swam remarkably fast then climbed out and proceeded to wander through our campground totally fearless of humans. Total panic amongst campers ensued. I grabbed my shotgun but fortunately he wandered off being shooed out by a Ranger . They had to close this park last year and I suspect they’ll have to again . Ranger said grizzlies are rarely alone as he went looking for more of them. Tent camping here is not recommended.

Another forest fire before leaving Alaska in

Heading south in Alaska we entered the 4th forest fire on our trip, this one once again had crossed the road. They closed the highway and allowed one way traffic only with a pilot lead car. Karen was developing smokers cough from the constant choking smoke we’ve driven through. Wait time was often 45 minutes.

Once again heading into smoke and burning roadside
Miles of burning forest
Karen’s smoke respirator
Forest fire roadblock, traffic was backed up for miles

Catamaran to the Glaciers

We approach Prince Williams Sound through a narrow channel

Leaving Valdez we entered into Prince Williams Sound through, a huge inland ocean ringed by mountains and glaciers.

We saw several pods of Killer Whales

A whale circled the catamaran breaching several times, it looked like it was enjoying itself

The massive glacier was not silent, it creaked and occasionally thundered as it slowly moved toward the water. We approached uncomfortably close at times

The glacier was beautifully colored, 400 feet above the water with 700 feet submerged and half a mile wide

We later saw Puffins, otters, sea lions and seals, a very cool trip

Back in The Yukon

We departed Alaska and headed into the Yukon staying at one of Yukons beautiful Provincial Parks. The park was virtually empty allowing us to park next to a clear glacial river at our doorstep. I fished for Artic grayling catch and release. I always inspect riverbanks and trails for signs of bears, all clear . We were just off the Alaskan Highway so travelers slowly trickled in , we were the only camping spot for a hundred miles.

We traveled to Whitehorse the next day and did some shopping and dinners.

DC 3 weathervane, it always points into the wind at the Whitehorse Yukon airport

Bears

Bears are a big deal in the far North. You don’t often see them but they’re always out there. One campground put tent camping inside electric fencing. Bear proof trash containers are universal.

Black bears are common at lower elevation in the Boreal Forrest. Grizzlies are everywhere especially in the Taiga and Tundra.
We stayed at this campground with ominous warnings
Many campgrounds provide bear proof food storage so the bears don’t break into your car/ tent/ RV looking for snacks
Yukon assuring us visitors not to worry
Campground alerts
Tents inside electric fencing for protection
Official Yukon bear protocol
Many people carry bear spray, it’s only affective within 15 feet of the charging bear. You have 5 seconds for it to work. Don’t miss !
Local sense of humor

McCarthy Alaska

We drove 50 miles out a remote peninsula on the coast and parked our truck at one of the only campgrounds within a 100 miles. We opted to have a van drive the last 50 miles to the old mining town. After having driven over 1000 miles of gravel, rough roads, this road ranks #1 for being the worst in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia. It was well worth having someone else destroy their vehicle

. The fifty mile ride took 2 1/2 hours of pot holes, dips, washboards and deep ruts. We saw 2 vehicles that had slid down the step embankments with no guards rails.

This one lane vehicle bridge crossed a deep gorge with a salmon river below. The rough road seemed endless.

They dropped us off at a pedestrian foot bridge that crossed over to the old mining town
Several buildings have survived from the mining days, this is an active hotel
Some buildings were being used, some not
There are several year round residents
The massive abandonments buildings have been preserved by the government
This copper mine was built by Guggenheim and his Robber Baron friends around 1900. 1200 men worked here 7 days a week till the mine closed during the Great Depression
A lot of the site has collapsed but fortunately many buildings have been saved.
Old management house
The campground we left our truck at while traveling further out into the wilderness . Plumbing was marginal.

Valdez Alaska

After spending weeks in interior Yukon and Alaska, we’re heading down to the coast . We had to cross a lofty coastal mountain range that gets 80 feet of snow in the winter.We passed several glacial waterfalls.
Passing through snow covered peaks crossing over to the coast
Our campsite in Valdez, we are one block from the ocean.
An interesting waterfront with a mix of restaurants and commercial fishing businesses
Those are the storage tanks for the Alaskan Pipeline which ends in Valdez bringing oil from the North Slope oilfields 800 miles north,.

Valdez in a major recreational and commercial fishing port

That’s a sleeping snowshoe rabbit in the foreground, the town was filled with them,
Fisherman wheeling a huge halibut along the waterfront
Filleting a 80 pound halibut