Liard Hot Springs

A really great place to stop along the Alaska Highway, just south of the Yukon border is a spot along the Liard River called Liard Hot Springs.  The campground is well taken care of by the folks in British Columbia, and if camping isn't your style, there is a nice hotel across the highway.  I chose the camping for if nothing else, the $21 tag.  I asked about some firewood, they delivered a robust armload of nicely split oak to the campsite along with a handful if dry kindling.  A scrap of paper and a match and I had a nice fire, and with the good wood there was virtually no smoke to bother other campers.  Likewise, no one else in the campground had smoke billowing through the trees.  Maybe some campgrounds in the states could learn a bit from this!  Of course there are the few that couldn't build a fire no matter what they had .. the guy in the site next to me spent about 10 minutes banging around with an axe, I was surprised he didn't hurt himself .. then the next 20 minutes smoking the place up trying to get a fire going.  At least he gave up quickly and retired to his motor home with the family. 

 The real reason the stop here though is the hot springs. A short 15 minute walk from the campground, along a well done boardwalk, and the hot mineral water springs will ease tired muscles and make you relax for a great nights sleep. I had much of an afternoon there, and then after I made some dinner on my nice campfire, I headed back along the trail in the dark for another soak before heading to my tent and nice warm sleeping bag. I can't imagine driving by this place and not spending at least an afternoon there.

 A well done changing room, the bottom is small pea rock instead of the mud from years ago.  I was here in mid September, and even then, the nights were below freezing.  The fall colors were just beginning.

Where did the Summer go?

So its been since July 1st since I took the time to come here and write some things.  I hadn't forgotten about the blog, just staying busy here with the day to day stuff. Also with facebook I have another internet social place to keep track of.  Although I've had time to sit down and write, it just hasn't been and where I could bring the laptop along.  Now the time has come when I need to finish all my little projects I've started, and gather all the stuff I brought along with me last April, and think about the trip back to Minnesota.  Just a bit over 3,600 miles through some of the most beautiful country a person could ever see.  Also some of the toughest roads I've run across in a long time .. I hope the frost damaged road from the Alaska border to Destruction Bay in the Yukon Territory has seen some repairs, or at least been smoothed out over the summer.  That was a tough stretch!  And it wasn't much better in June when Dee and I did the marathon road trip to pick up Elena in Whitehorse after her car broke down on the highway. 

Well the only way I can keep track of what I've been up to here is go through the pictures I've taken since my last post in July .. so here's a few photos to catch up for July and August.  These are mostly the highlights.  Some of the day to day stuff is fun to talk about too, like flying out to do aircraft repairs on a beach and ending up spending the night there with the bears .. more on that one later ...

Just during a walk on the beach .. lots of eagles.  This is a young bald eagle, before the distinctive white head.

On a fishing trip to the Kenai we flew through some nice glaciers on the Harding Ice Fields. 

July flowers.

Some of the sights across Katchemak Bay.

Stephanie and Dee.  Steller Air flew us to Brooks Falls for a great bear trip.  The flights in Alaska are always good!

 

Well that gets us to mid August.  Some friends came up to visit around the end of August, we took a week and saw sights, went to see the bears in the Katmai National Park, and did 4 days kayaking Katchemak Bay.  I'll try and get some photos up from the trip soon.

Just fooling around

In the bay working on some different rolls this afternoon when a sea otter seemed curious and came right up to me to watch.  Usually they are gone at the first sound you make, this guy truly seemed curious.  He was doing the same as me .. just fooling around in the water.  I did a few rolls, and he would do the same.  This went on for about 20 minutes.  What a fun rolling partner!!  He stayed right with me about a paddle distance from the boat. 

Eagles

Homer Spit is probably the best place I've found for eagle photos.  Years ago there was a woman that fed them, she is now gone, but the eagles have remained.  If you hang out here long enough, you will come up with a few good eagle photos.  These I got today near the Pier One Theatre on the spit.

Lets go for a walk

Bishops Beach is a great place for a walk during low tide.  Small rivers flowing from tide pools make tall rubber boots a necessity, and the real cool thing is that all the rocks are covered in barnacles, so the walking is easy with no slippery rocks.  Where we walk during the low tide is under roughly 15 to 20 feet of water during the high tide, so there is always plenty of cool stuff to see.  The seagulls and eagles are hanging around at low tide looking for a meal.

 This little hermit crab kept getting tipped over by the waves as he was trying to get back to the water.  I think he was trying to hide out from the seagulls.  I gave him a little help back to the water.

How would you like to be a hermit crab stuck in the middle of this bunch!

 And I have absolutely no idea what this is .. and I'm not going to touch it!

Matanuska Glacier

Just off the Glen Highway between Glennallen and Palmer Alaska is the Matanuska Glacier, a 27 mile long 4 mile wide river if ice that is the source of the Matanuska River.  On the drive back to Minnesota this Fall, this will have to be a for sure stop and hike up to the glacier.  I drove past the glacier this week on a marathon road trip from Homer to Whitehorse.  Really the best and most stunning scenery on the whole Alaska Highway lies between Haines Junction in the Yukon, and Palmer Alaska.  The Glen Highway in incredible.

Dashboard Mascot

The last mascot I had was a lizard that my daughter made for me when she was about 4 years old. It was all made of beads that were strung together to shape a little lizard, and it was red and white like the sail on the ship. When she gave it to me I thought it was an alligator, but she corrected me right away saying it was a lizard. Well she's 22 now, and the lizard made it all the way to about 3 years ago. I think the string finally fell apart and the beads all found their way into the small places of the last pickup truck I had. I hadn't thought about replacing it with anything until a friend gave me this one. At first I just set it up on the dash, it kept falling over and I kept setting upright again. Then I had to make the decision to keep it up there so, it was time to fasten it down to keep it in place. The little ship reminds me of my Scandinavian heritage, and the travels I've made with it guiding my way. It also reminds me of the friendship of the one who gave it to me. Now after a trip up the Alaska Highway and a Summer of traveling Alaska this one will have some good memories too.