Carcross, a small community in the Yukon, is the home to a desert! All around this area are tall snow capped mountains, but Carcross is a warm desert! Outside of Carcross is Emerald Lake. Many lakes in this area are the color of emerald because they are shallow with the light reflecting off the bottom giving it a green color. This color also signifies that the lake has little oxygen so fish are not able to live in this water.

Skagway is at the north end on the Lynn Fjord which does not freeze over in the winter, but does have 17 foot waves. The Fjord is extremely deep with areas over 2,000 feet! The first boatloads of stampeders bound for the Klondike gold landed in Skagway in 1897 and the population grew to 20,000. The year round population of Skagway today is 500. Sores and restaurants for cruise ships are their largest employer. There were four ships in port while we were here. 

Skagway is located at the southern terminus of the Sough Klondike Highway, with a border crossing point just out of town. Driving to Skagway is quite an experience. We passed the Canadian border and drove for miles through what they call the moon. This is a barren area with huge rocks, little vegetation, many ponds, and bordered by huge mountains. After the moon the two lane road becomes a 9% switchblade downgrade for over 10 miles. The road is narrow and one side is a mountain and the other is straight down, with no rails on the side. Near the bottom of this heart stopping drive is the U.S. Customs. 

Skagway is one of the few places to catch a ferry to Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Juneau has about 222 days of precipitation a year! The downtown area caters to cruise ships and we were informed that in the winter most of the buildings are empty and boarded up. The locals live and shop outside of downtown.

Prior to the arrival of the Russians and prospectors this was Tlingit land. The Tlingit were described as having one of the most sophisticated social structures and intricate societies of any indigenous people in the world. The Tlingit lead Joe Juneau and Dick Harris to a creek of color, now called Gold Creek, which had one of the largest lodes of gold quartz in the world.

Juneau is also home to Mendenhall Glacier. We were able to walk right up to the half mile wide, 100 foot tall, front of the glacier.

On the way to Juneau we encountered a pod of Humpback Whales “bubble-net feeding.” The whales herd their prey toward the water’s surface in a shrinking “net” of bubbles, then the whales suddenly launch upward, gulping thousands of fish at once. The whales make the bubbles by diving, swimming in a circle while blowing air out their air hole. When the leader lets out a sound they all come out of the water about 5 feet with their mouths wide open and full of prey. Finally they submerge, fill their stomachs with water, and filter out what they do not want. It was an amazing site. We were told that if a whale does not follow the exact instructions of the leader they are kicked out of the pod and forced to hunt alone. Our boat captain knew the Humpbacks were in the area because of the hoard of birds. He had us watch the birds and when they all flew together and dove for the water he knew the whales would breach. The birds are watching for the krill and herring to come to the top and hope to get one before the whales launch to the surface.

All along the Fjord we saw Eagles. They are enjoying the spawning salmon and preparing their nests for winter.

 Smallest desert in the world!

 The whales come up with their mouths open!

 Watch the birds to know when the whales will surface!

 Whale Tail!! and Whale Blow!!

Kluane Lake or Destruction Bay is in Canada. When we crossed the border they confiscated all our eggs and frozen chicken. The roads in Canada have proved to be the worst we have traveled, today we had pot holes the size of swimming pools and there were so many they were hard to dodge. The perm frost makes it difficult to keep the holes and frost heaves fixed and the stretch we drove today was an example of the worst. We have two RVs that will not be able to continue on with us; a back radiator was punctured with a rock and a 5th wheel lost pins that hold it to the truck. They will catch up when they are able to get fixed.
We saw the Nutzotin Mountain tops getting a huge snow storm. The clouds would pass over the mountain tops and there would be a line with snow above it. We sure hope it stays up high while we are in the area!

 The Richardson Highway into Valdez, known as Little Switzerland, is a long climb up Thompson Pass and then an 8% downgrade for 8 miles into town.  Scenery on the way is amazing with views of the Wrangell Mountains and Matanuska Glacier, I told Duf to drive and I would do the looking. We walked up to the Worthington Glacier and the temperature dropped 20 degrees! It is a massive amount of snow and ice. Before entering town was the Bridal Veil Falls that are huge and beautiful.The wild orchids, lupine and wild sweet pea were in full bloom along the highway. The Alaskan Pipeline is visible until 15 miles outside of town and then it goes underground. The pipeline is high off the ground so the animals are able to walk under, is able to move 4 feet from side to side and the legs are made to help the perm frost not melt. Across the bay from Valdez is the Pipeline terminus where oil is stored and ships are loaded. This area is full of security and we were told there is more security in the area of Valdez than any other area of the USA. Of course Valdez is quite small so .........

Valdez is only 2 blocks long and most of the buildings are for charter fishing, sightseeing cruises, or kayaking.  The road ends at the ferry station. Valdez is the most northerly ice-free port in the Western Hemisphere, they get 40 feet of snow but the bay does not freeze and there is boat activity year round. Salmon are spawning and this brings out the bears. We saw millions of dead salmon and the sea gulls were feasting. We could go to the creek and see bears eat salmon. 

Valdez is full of large rabbits of all colors! We were told that this is their good month because the bears are into the salmon, BUT next month the bears will be into rabbits and most of them will not make it. It was crazy because they were everywhere and every color!

We all got up at 1 AM and saw the northern lights. They were beautiful!

We went on a day long sightseeing boat to the the Columbia Ice Fields and the Mears Glacier which calved three times while we watched! We saw whales and seals as we traveled to the glacier.

Duf went salmon fishing and we ended up with 21 pounds of salmon in our little freezer. The salmon and halibut have filled the freezer!

Kodak, Cornalia Marie, and Saga are ships from the show Deadliest Catch and were in port. When it is not crab season they are tenders for the salmon fishermen.

 Bridal Veil Falls

 Mears Glacier and yes the ice does look blue! Glaciers are very noisy, it sounded like there was a logging camp around the ice corner.

 An Eagle that posed for me.

 These boats would have the small boat make a big circle with a net for catching fish.

Ralph and Pat brought up a great point. In past years driving in Alaska was made difficult because of the horrible frost heaves. When we were here two years ago the highway was under construction in many places. Now, two years later, the highway has been great UNTIL today. The highway between Palmer and Valdez is full of frost heaves, very narrow, steep grades, and no shoulders! It was like a roller coaster and I HATE roller coasters!

We were told that four years ago a new person took over the highway job and he did not like the curves. He decided to redo the highway, not for the frost heaves, to eliminate as many curves as possible! New bridges were constructed to eliminate those curves! The elimination of curves also eliminated the frost heaves, at least for now!

We are at the site of one of the most unusual experiments in American history: the Matanuska Valley Colony. In the summer of 1935 FDR and the New Deal relief agency planned an agricultural colony in Alaska to utilize the great agricultural potential in the Matanuska Valley, and assist American farm families that were suffering through first the dust bowl and then the Great Depression. 203 families from the northern counties of MI, WI and MN were asked to join the colony because they thought hardy farmers of Scandinavian descent would have a natural advantage. The failure rate was high, but many of their descendants still live and farm HUGE produce here! The growing season is 100 to 118 days annually, and the unique micro-climate produces the amazing GIANT vegetables. This head of cabbage is the size of two basketballs and still has three weeks to continue to grow. They said they grow HUGE and are juicy and taste great! Where are we?????

Final pictures from the Homer Spit!

It started out as a fun day Jeeping with another couple. We found a mud road, East End Road, at the end of Homer that went straight down with four 90 degree turns and ended on the Kachemak Selo at the head of Kachemak Bay. The tide was out about 200 yards so we decided to walk on the beach, keeping in mind that the silt is soft and the bore tides come fast.
Then Mike decided to do a couple of donuts on the sand, the first one was great but the second one began the trouble, he sunk into the silt mid tire! We put logs under the tires and dug out some of the silt, but the Bay had sucked the Jeep in. We were in the middle of nothing with no one around when we noticed that the tide was moving in FAST. The tide waves were 2 feet and closing in on us.
I was looking thru the binoculars and spotted a truck coming around the bend about 3 miles down. We did not know that a Russian village was hidden on the point and they are not really interested in company. The first truck saw us waving, but he did not slow down. The second truck was a wonderful young man that said he had pulled five cars out during the last week and asked if we had read the signs. OOPS! He realized we were in trouble and tried to pull the Jeep out with his truck but the silt had sucked the Jeep in and it did not budge. He said he would return and hoped it would be in time. He did return with a John Deere tractor and was able to pull us out. By the time the Jeep got out the water was up to the window!
He had us go to a fresh water stream and drive down it to get the salt out of the brakes. The door seals worked because there was only about 2" of water on the floor and nothing else was wet.

 This is silt mixed with coal. You can see the water is far out and the Jeep is deep in!

 The road to trouble!

 The water has arrived!

 The shore area is getting smaller. We tied a rope to the Jeep and Mike stayed inside so we would not have to open doors and let water in.

 The fine young man that basically lifted the Jeep out of the silt! As they say all is well that ends well! Muddy Memories were made with new friends on this trip!

 Duffey is on a Halibut fishing trip today. In this area Halibut can be 100 to 200 pounds and smaller.

 This is the Homer Spit where we are staying.

 Acres of wildflowers cover the mountain slopes and make this area beautiful. Eagles are abundant, we had one land on a rock outside our front window this morning. Of course by time I got the camera he left.

 We took the Jeep off the beaten path and after reading the sign decided we were not invited in!

 This is a view of our Motorhomes parked on the Homer Spit. The tide was out and I walked out as far as possible to take this photo and find shells!

This is the view of the Harding Icefield across the bay that we are facing! Amazing sight first thing in the morning.

Did I forget to mention we drove the Dalton Highway just like the Ice Road Truckers, minus the ice! It is a gravel road and very narrow. Along the way there was a 'resort' made from abandon truck containers. We stopped and the only person there was the owner, a nice looking lady around 35 years old. We asked her if she was afraid being alone so far out and that is when she showed us her arsenal of guns located about the property! They were all pink and she let me test out a couple! The restroom was an experience. It was an old freezer truck that hung over a mountain and contained a toilet seat and if you were to fall through you would go down forever! She told me to take a gun because bears were out there, but when I closed the door I would be safe. Fastest trip I've ever made! She had a grill where she cooked us burgers and we sat and talked.

The Alaskan pipeline runs along the Dalton Highway.

Ninilchik, population 456, becomes the biggest city in Alaska during fishing season. The Aleutian Mountain range surrounds this area with Mount Iliamn

a, Mount Redoubt, and Mount Spur volcanoes visible.

Seward is an amazing area, the highway ends at the mountain and the small town of Seward is on Resurrection Bay. This bay is deep enough for cruise ships to enter. Duf fished from the bank, below glaciers, and caught salmon and flounder coming in from the Ocean. This sleepy little town is nestled in the mountains overlooked by glaciers on a bay abundant with wildlife. Direct from his pole to my plate!!!