Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Liard Hot Springs to Haines, AK, June 22nd to June 27th.

George Johnston Museum.

George Johnston Museum trapper cabin exhibit.

George Johnston Museum, George's car.

George Johnston Museum, 5 clan masks.

Today we have another long day as we head for Whitehorse. Half way there we stop to camp at Teslin Lake Campground. In Teslin we visit the George Johnston Museum. Johnston (1884-1972) was of the Tlinget people and is remembered for his fine photography of the life of his people. He brought a 1928 Chevrolet by paddle-wheeler to Teslin 13 years before the Alaska Hwy was built. He drove it onto the frozen lake in winter to hunt and painted it white after realizing that the black car against the white ice alerted the animals. The fully-restored car is on display along with an outfitted trapper’s cabin, cultural artifacts and his photographs. It’s a very interesting and worthwhile museum to visit especially since it’s based on the life of this interesting man. You can’t help but be drawn to his attractive, friendly, smiling face that appears in some of his photographs.

Tlinget Heritage Center, Raven Children.

The Tlinget Heritage Center a few miles down the road has a fascinating collection of carved wooden masks both traditional and imaginative. Five totems oversee the parking area representing the five clans, Raven, Frog, Wolf, Eagle and Beaver.

On the Alaskan Highway between Whitehorse and Haines.

We head on down the road to Haines and don’t stay in Whitehorse this time because it’s raining. We’ll plan on stopping on the way back. Tonight we'll stay at Pine Lake Campground before we get to Haines Junction.

We take a short hike to the Rock Glacier.

 A view of Dezadeash Lake from the top of the Rock Glacier.

King of the World for a day.

Inukshuk at the top of Rock Glacier. We are on the right path.

The next day we turn south at Haines Junction and head for Haines, AK, just 145 miles at the end of the road. The Haines Hwy is new paving with marked shoulders and smooth as silk. We see a bike ride in our future. The road winds to Lake Kathleen and up the valley between breathtaking corridors of snow-covered peaks. We stop on the way to take a hike to the Rock Glacier, much like an ice glacier, whose mix of rock and ice pushed its way down the slope obliterating everything in its path.  We hiked up the rock field to the top of the glacier and found rock thrones that industrious hikers had built from the plentiful materials and sat there to absorb the glory of the lake and snow-capped peaks.  It’s an awesome place to be king of the world for the day.

On the Haines Highway.

At Haines Pass.

We see our first Grizzly, the smiling bear.

At Haines Pass we park to take in the view and see our first Grizzly Bear leisurely walking along the highway up to the pass. He seems to smile as he saunters along unconcerned with the cars in the parking area he turns up the slope and disappears into the land. The bear did indeed go over the mountain. What a magnificent creature!

The border crossing on the Haines Highway.

A Totem Pole welcome to Haines.

Haines from across the harbor.

A cruise ship at the docks.

Haines is a sweet little town on the shore of the Chilkoot Inlet. It was a portage point across the long and mountainous peninsula between the Chilkat and Chilkoot Inlets. The docks are filled with fishing boats and cruise ships and ferries take the Marine Highway past here heading up to Skagway. 

Our camp at Chilkat State Park.

A hike in the rain forest.

Twin Coves on the Chilkat Peninsula.

Davidson Glacier.

A picnic at Chilkat State Park.

We camp at the Chilkat State Park, a small primitive, under-utilized campground with lots of privacy and quiet, just what our Sprinter was made for. The next morning we hiked the trail out towards Seduction Point at the end of the peninsula. It’s our first hike in a coastal forest and we’re amazed at the hugeness of the understory plant life. The earth is softly carpeted with fern-like moss. In fact everything is carpeted with moss so you can’t tell rock from fallen tree. Most of the trail is wet and muddy and in places there are boardwalks. Our turn-around point is Twin Coves. It was beautiful and fascinating. Our turn-around point is Twin Coves. We didn’t have enough time to hike the 7 miles to the point.

Chilkoot Bay

Chilkoot River. The salmon run is beginning.

We spent the next night at Chilkoot Lake State Recreation Site. The Chilkoot River is boisterous with large boulders that break the flow. Red and pink salmon run the river to spawn in the lake. There’s a salmon fence and counting station with someone actually sitting there in the middle river counting fish as they go through the passage. What a job. Don't blink.

We say farewell to Haines.

We leave Haines and drive back up the Haines Highway along the Chilkat River.

At Haines Pass we see a beautiful handcrafted canoe destined for Whitehorse and competition.

Our camp at Dezadeash Lake.

Great bicycling on the Haines Highway.

We depart Haines the next day and head back to Haines Junction. It’s noon when we reach the Dezadeash Lake Campground along the Haines Hwy and stop early to get our anticipated bike ride on its smooth pavement. The weather has cooperated and we have a clear day and a great 30-mile ride.

Saint Elias Lake.

The next day will be a short day so we take a hike to Saint Elias Lake before heading up the road to Kluane Lake.

So many wildflowers . . .

More next time as we travel on to Fairbanks.

See you down the road.

Jackie

Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Banff to Jasper and Liarad Hot Springs, Canada. June 19th to the 22nd.



Bridal Veil Falls, Ice Fields Parkway.

We travel on to Jasper on the Ice Fields Parkway. This is some of the most stunning scenery we've seen on our trip. We stop to see the most renowned sights; the Athabasca Glacier, the Columbia Ice Field and Athabasca Falls. It’s difficult to consider that the Glacier's retreat has accelerated so much with climate change.



The Ice Fields Center.

The Athabasca Glacier. 



The Columbia Ice Field.



Traveling the Ice Fields Parkway.



Athabasca Falls.

The Athabasca Falls are outstanding. The glacial-blue waters of the Athabasca River funnel into a narrows with a tumultuous roar and thrashing. Boardwalks take visitors to the top of the falls and down to the bottom below the narrows. Above and below the falls the river flows serenely as if nothing has happened in the couple hundred yards in between.




The falls rush into the narrows with a roar.



The frothy river flows through the narrows below the falls.



Jasper.

Jasper is a sweet little town. Everyone we talked to loves living there.

We spend the night at the Hinton KOA east of Jasper, which has very nice, level, grassy sites, great facilities and mountain views.

Our camp at Swan Lake.

The drive to Grand Prairie takes us away from the mountains and everything looks like Kansas. It's a bustling town and we're there only long enough to buy some groceries and stay a night a Swan Lake north of the city. This nice campground offers fishing and a nature trail along the shore.



Dawson Creek and Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway.

The drive from Dawson Creek is pretty flat.

The next days drive gets us to Dawson Creek which is mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway, a milestone on our travels to Alaska. The countryside is rolling hills, lush and green with a road that disappears into a horizon line that is always somewhere in our future. We're surprised at how little traffic we encounter.





At Ft. Nelson we find this great little museum.



Ft. Nelson Museum.

Trappers cabin at the Ft. Nelson Museum.

 



In Ft. Nelson we find a great little museum with wonderful artifacts, stories, and historic buildings. It was fun and had nostalgic items from our youth. Buildings included a fully outfitted trappers cabin. Remember princess phones? You'll find these and more in the historic house that has a communications exhibit.  





Black Bear along the highway.



We've seen lots of Black Bear along the highway. Today we saw 12. They're feasting on nutritious dandelions growing along the road. We spend the night at Bucking Horse, a little roadside provincial campground on the way to Muncho Lake.

Muncho Lake is a gem and famous for its outstanding blue and jade color. We find a boon dock for the night and take the opportunity for a short hike up Boulder canyon and a 27 mile bike ride along the lake edge. We also see our first Stone Sheep.

Muncho Lake.

 

Biking along Muncho Lake.

Stone Sheep licking mineral along the road at Muncho Lake.

We depart Muncho after noon and make the short drive to Liard Hot Springs where we’ll spend a night and partake of the mineral-rich waters. The campground is wonderful, the nicest provincial park yet. A boardwalk to the hot springs traverses the marsh where we saw a moose in velvet grassing on water plants and a mallard hen with nine ducklings. The spring water comes out of the ground at about 175 degrees making one end of the pool unapproachable. The lower end of the pool is just right when the water is stirred to mix the hot and cool layers. A lower pool is cooler still. Most people get in the cooler pool first but we just stepped down into the Alpha Pool and settle down into its soothing, hot, clear-blue water.

Liard Hot Spring pool.

A little further up the boardwalk are a spring and hanging gardens.

The hanging gardens at Laird Hot Spring.

The hot springs and a well-maintained campground make this a great place to stay. A real treat if you’re ever up this way.

We see a forest buffalo grazing along the highway.

As we travel on we see our first forest buffalo grazing along the road. They are a darker color than the buffalo we see in Yellowstone. Beautiful animals.

See you down the road.

Jackie

Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Waterton to Banff, Canada. June 15th and 16th.

Our destination is Banff and it’s a full day drive. We head north on the Cowboy Trail to Longview. The Cowboy Trail is a beautiful scenic drive through the grassland foothills of the Rockies. Well-kept ranch houses are tucked into valleys and an occasional herd of cattle roam in green pastures.

 At Longview we take Hwy 40, which had just opened on June 15^th. It’s closed from December 1^st to June 15 to protect the Elk during the calving season. It rains all the way and the mountains are veiled.

Beautiful downtown Banff.

Banff is the Vail of Canada. Nice, clean, attractive architecture, nice streets and shops. A tourist magnet. 

Big Horn along the Bow Valley Parkway.

Our camp at Castle Mountain Campground.

We camped north of town at the Castle Mountain Campground along the Bow Valley Parkway. A nice small camp with flush toilets and water, everything we needed.

Jim and the catwalk at Johnston Canyon.

A mile down the road is the Johnston Canyon Trail. The parking lot at the trailhead is paved with parking for tour buses and RVs so we figured it was a popular place. We get there early before the crowds.

The catwalk at Johnston Canyon

Lower Johnston Canyon Falls.

Upper Johnston Canyon Falls.

The literature we picked up at a visitor center didn’t mention what the attraction was but we soon found out and were duly rewarded with a beautiful walk on a catwalk up a narrow canyon along a frothy thunderous river, called a creek in these parts. The falls are spectacular as we’ve come to expect in this country and the narrows are a fantasy landscape.

The Inkpots in Johnston Canyon.

The Inkpots. Notice the crater created in the sandy bottom by the spring.

We hiked a couple miles past the Upper Johnston Falls to the Inkpots, a cold spring that bubbles up in 5 clear pools to form shallow circular craters in the sandy bottoms. You can watch them as they form. It is something unexpected and a worthy hiking destination.

Upper Johnston Creek foot bridge.

The Inkpots are in a wide valley where the river spreads out before plunging into the narrows of Johnston Canyon. If you hike a tenth of a mile further there’s a wooden foot bridge across the river and an excellent place to get more great pictures.

We pose for a picture with the inushuk.

Along the river we find cairns called inukshuk. This is an Inuit word meaning “in the likeness of a human”. This human shaped cairn was important for survival and meant that someone was here or you are on the right path.

The Ice Fields Parkway.

Glacial rivers.

Glacial lakes.

We journey on along the Ice Fields Parkway heading for Jasper. Sharp, severe peaks form an impressive corridor of stone on both sides and a glacial river flows along beside us, its waters so incredibly blue.

 

Our camp at Mosquito Creek.

A little inukshuk at Mosquito Creek.

 

We stayed the night at Mosquito Campground, unfortunately named, along the Mosquito River. No mosquitos but a nice little campground along the river. We found this inukshuk by the river.

The view from our camp at Mosquito Creek.

 

The North Fork of the Saskatchewan River.

More beautiful lake for moments of peace and contemplation.

We cross the beautiful North Fork of the Saskatchewan River which spreads its turquoise waters out across a broad river valley.

Bicycling on the Ice Fields Parkway.

 

Incredible views from a bike.

We take a couple hours to bike along the Parkway. We didn’t allow enough time for all the hikes and bike rides there are to do here. It would be worthwhile making another trip here.

Our next destination is Jasper. Until then.

Jackie