Heading to Denali

We finally left the Fairbanks area and headed southwest.  Our next destination is Denali National Park and Reserve.  As we left Fairbanks, the weather was cloudy with rain showers.  We certainly hoped it would not rain while in Denali.  Driving along this route is quite different as the trees and vegetation are quite mature and even at the overlooks the view is most often obscured from view.  What we thought was mist turns out to be smoke from one of the fifteen wild fires that are burning in Alaska already this summer.  There are a couple in the direction of Anchorage but we are hopeful it will not have any impact on our trip.

Denali is the crown jewel in the parks system and gets more visitors than any other.  Home to Mount McKinley, the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet.  If we are very lucky and the weather cooperates, we might get to see it in all its glory.  We have several things planned.  Since Denali is one of the parks that does not allow the public to drive all over it, we will be taking a bus tour that will take us deep into the park.  We also have a flight planned to take us around Mt. McKinley and it will land on one of the glaciers where we will get to walk around and explore.  Finally, we will be taking an ATV tour, yep Jim will be driving a two person ATV and we will be exploring the boreal forest, fording rivers and climbing one of the smaller peaks for a birds eye view of the park.  We cannot wait!

Riverboat Discovery III

One way to learn about the culture of the Athabascan Indians is to take a riverboat trip on the Chana River.  The Discovery III is a sternwheeler and not only takes you for a pleasant trip down the river and back but also gives a glimpse into the heart of the people here in the North.

As soon as we stepped aboard, our guide began telling us about the history of the riverboat and the importance it had to Fairbanks and the surrounding area.  These boats brought in everything needed to build and maintain the fledgling community and moved people, animals and goods all along the river.  Today we would see and learn about bush pilots and how vital they were and are to the community.  We would visit the kennels of the late Iditarod Champion, Susan Butcher and learn about mushing.  Finally, we would visit a recreation of an Athabaskan Indian village and learn about subsistence living still practiced today.

This is a Piper Chieftain, one of the most popular planes for the bush pilots who takeoff and land on the rivers of the North.  The bush pilots are so important that 1 in 60 citizens have a license to fly.  The calm, shallow waters of the Chena River are ideal for these planes.  Even in the winter when the river is frozen, they put on skies and continue to fly.  Of course, there are other types of planes used up to an including large transport planes who carry heavy equipment up to the pipeline and remote villages as well.  It was fun watching this one take off and land several times.

The Iditarod Race is an Alaskan tradition.  For years, it was dominated by men who not only raised and trained dogs but also won the races.  And then came Susan Butcher.  At a relatively young age, she established her own kennel and began raising and training her own dogs.  Not only did she race but she won the coveted Iditarod four times.  Unfortunately, leukemia took her life at 52.  Her husband and daughters continue to raise dogs and race them.  This is here kennel on the Chena River.  The dogs are trained from puppies to become a team.

One would think that the dogs would be big, muscular animals in order to pull the sleds.  But no, they are not.  The dogs are actually mix breeds including huskies and malamutes (and perhaps others).  There are many qualities these dogs must possess but number one is the desire to run.  In the first picture, they dogs who would run were being put into their harnesses.  The dogs still in the kennel areas where barking and running about in excitement as they wanted to run as well.  In summer, they use ATVs for the dogs to pull and boy did they ever.

They raced around a circuit pulling the load as if it had no weight at all.  When they finished, they headed for the water to cool off and have a drink.  These amazing animals were used by the native people to hunt and transport their belongings to support their nomadic lifestyle.  These days, dogs are not used as much as in the past for pulling loads.  The ski mobile is actually more economical to operate.

An example of a home on the river.  While this one is large and modern, we saw all kinds of homes.  Alaskans are individualistic.  As long as their home adheres to safety and sanitation, anything goes.  Many build their own home and it is often a work in progress for many years.  We saw one-room houses and others such as this one.  What a wonderful way to live.

Our first glimpse of an Athabaskan village.  In the early years, the Indian people did not live in villages.  They had to follow the wildlife for food so they lived a nomadic lifestyle.  Over time they began to gather together into villages.  This is an example of such a village.

Fishing is vital to their lifestyle.  This contraption is a fish wheel.  It operates using water power much like a mill wheel.  It scoops up the fish and drops them into a chute which in turn drops them into a holding area.  The fish are then harvested and processed depending on the fish type and the end use.  I guess it sure beats a pole or spear.

These fish wheels are also used in conservation efforts because the fish can be caught, counted, tagged and released with little damage to the fish.

This young woman is demonstrating how the fish are processed.  This salmon was of poorer quality and was not processed for human consumption.  Instead, it is used to feed the dogs.  She took a whole fish, filleted it and cut it into strips.

The strips where then hung on the drying rack in the sun before it is then placed in the smoke house you can see in the background.  It is smoked and then stored.  Food intended for human consumption is basically processed in the same manner.  The big difference would be the type of fish and the wood used to smoke the fish.

This building is a cache where food is stored.  The cache is built on stilts to protect the food from animals.  It is vital to protect their processed food in order to survive the harsh  winters when temperatures can be -40 degrees F and lower.   They also would store fur pelts that would be used to make clothing and shoes.

In the early years, this would be the type of dwelling the Athabascans would use.  The framework would be made from branches gathered and then covered with Caribou hides.  There would be a hole in the top to allow smoke from their fires to escape.  When they had to move, the hides would be folded and loaded into dog sleds while the branches would be left behind.  I cannot imagine living and surviving the cold in such a dwelling.

When hunting parties went out, they would construct temporary dwellings such as this primitive structure.  It is basically just an A-frame made from branches with evergreen or some other types of branches placed on top to keep out the rain.  Hides would then be placed on the ground for sleeping.  Not my kind of place for sure!

The homes were later constructed from logs. They were most often simple, one room structures.  The roof would have a layer of bark covered by moss and then sod with grass growing on it to provide insulation.  We have seen a number of buildings with grass of some sort growing on it.  Some of them could use a lawn mower.

The Caribou was very important to the people as well.  Not only did they provide meat but their hides were used in clothing and their structures.  For the Indians, nothing is wasted and every part of any animal is utilized for something.  They also have great respect for the animals and plants they harvest.  They give thanks and show respect at every phase of taking and processing food.

Furs and hides were processed by the village women.  They spend a great deal of time preparing them to be sewn together for garments.  They embellished the garments with bead work and by adding small pelts to create a unique design.

This is an example of a parka.  The body is made from  different types of furs pieced together to give the pattern  and then bead work is done on the fur.  The head piece has a circle of Wolverine fur.  This fur has a high oil content which makes it water proof and quite warm.

The back side is equally ornate.  The young lady told us this parka is valued at $22,000!  She also said, "we take cash or credit card".  LOL

At the end of the tour, we came away with a greater understanding of how tough the life style has been for the native Alaskans.  It is also interesting to know that there is a difference between Eskimos and Indians.  The Eskimos always lived in permanent places and are only found in the far North like Point Barrow and the remote northern islands.  The Indians like the Athabascans were nomadic and lived in what is referred to as the Interior.  They are not particularly social to each other we were told.  Seems like people will be people even in this beautiful wilderness.  In any case, they have survived in this harsh environment for a very long time and hold true to their way of life.  Young people come to Fairbanks to go to a special trade high school and even attend the University of Alaska.  When they finish, they usually return to the village where they live their lives in the community where their families have lived for generations.  We saw a very similar culture in Utah at Monument Valley.  The Indians live in the valley without running water or electricity in the ways of their people.  They do not want to live any other place or any other way.  Not a bad way of life.

Gates of the Arctic

Like many of us, I have a bucket list; well, maybe it is more like a dumpster list.  One of the items on the list is to visit all the U.S. National Parks.  One of the largest and most beautiful is the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Refuge here in Alaska.  This untouched wilderness is above the Arctic Circle and is one of the least visited of all the parks.  It is not wonder as there are no road to access the park.  The only way to see this wonder is to fly there.  I certainly never thought we would actually be able to go, but my wonderful Jim booked us a tour that would take us.

We joined our fellow passengers at the airport around 6 p.m. to go through the preflight instructions.  We would be flying in a 10 seater Piper twin engine plane.  We were very excited just to be flying as it has been quite a while since we were in a small plane.  As I expected, the first question was “how much do you weigh”.  Dear God, could we possibly do this in private?  In know that is very important to have the correct weights so the plane can be balanced so I quietly gave the number.  What do you need hearing aids or something?  What do you mean can I repeat it?  Dear Me, how humiliating.  Oh well, I guess it is the price I must pay to go on this trip. Then we were told that we were over weight and needed to shed 50 pounds of bags and possessions so the wing locker would not be overweight.  I agreed to leave my camera bag and extra zoom lens at the office to help with the weight.  I kept having this nagging feeling I would regret it.

From the moment the plane left the ground, I knew this would be a magical night, and it certainly was.  We left Fairbanks and headed north toward the Arctic Circle and on to Anaktuvuk Pass located deep in the Gates of the Arctic National Park.  Taking pictures was not easy as we flew into the sun outbound and my side was directly facing it.  But on the return flight, the sun was behind us and I hope you enjoy the results.  As it turned out, I did regret leaving my zoom lens as we flew over an area where there were Caribou and they look like black dots.  But, no matter there were so many other things of beauty to see.  I cannot show them all but here are a few.

The Alaska Pipeline is vital to the state.  Here the pipeline parallels the Dalton Highway.  This roadway was built in 1974 before the pipeline construction in 1974-1977.  Called the Haul Road, it cut through 416 miles of the arctic.  Trucks moved tons of equipment and materials using this gravel highway to support camps and work sites.  Oil companies owned the road and opened it for public use in 1980 when it became known as the Dalton Highway.  The road is so brutal that only the very brave will risk it.  It is notorious for ruining tires and breaking headlights.

The immediate landscape out of Fairbanks is flat and dotted with lots of lakes and ponds.  In the summer when the weather is warmer, it becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and all sorts of other insects.  Hunting and fishing here becomes a test of endurance.  Because of this, the locals hunt and fish in the winter.  Even though the weather is very cold, the frozen landscape makes movement much easier.

The landscape begins to change and mountain comes into view.  Here in the north, ice is still present here and there as the mountains get higher and higher.  In one place, we flew over a large patch of ice where a herd of caribou were moving across the ice.  In the summer, they move north and seek out these patches to find relief from the biting mosquitoes that mercilessly pursue the animals.

Our first look at the mighty Yukon River.  It flows east to west bisecting Canada and Alaska.  The river twists and winds it way across the landscape.  From mid-October to mid-May, the river is frozen over.  It has only three bridges that crosses it, two located in Canada and one on the Dalton Highway.  

There are few trees here.  The land is covered with lichens and mosses and other low profile grasses.  In the winter, the moose and caribou and other animals depends on these plants for survival.

Our first stop was Coldfoot where we took on gas.  Coldfoot came into being during the gold rush of 1898-1900.  It became a commercial center for miners and reach a population of 300 in 1902.  In 1906 and 1907, gold strikes to the north and west of Coldfoot depleted the population as the miners moved to new digs.  Then in 1970 it became a pipeline camp.  In the 80's, Dick Mackey, an Alaskan musher outfitted a bus with a stove and started serving foot to truckers who stopped over there.  Later, the truckers wanting more services brought wood left from hauls to the sight and together they built a cafe.  It is quite an interesting patchwork of materials that created the world's northernmost truck stop at Coldfoot.

After Coldfoot, the landscape changed dramatically.  The mountains are dark granite.  They are bare of trees and are stark but at the same time, they create a beautiful play of light and dark and you look to the horizon.

For the most part, it was a clear evening.  Our pilot pointed out the various peaks and told us what their names were.  He also told us a great deal about the native peoples and how they have lived and thrived in this hostile environment.  We passed Wiseman just north of Coldfoot.  It was the northern most gold mining camp but like many other camps suffered the boom/bust.  Unlike others, it has continued to be occupied even though there are no roads to support it.  Residents are self-reliant and independent and use traditional skills to support a subsistence life style.  They live off the land hunting and fishing and grow vegetables during the summer.

One of the mountains we flew over has a glacier flowing down one side.  At the base of the mountain is a high mountain lake.  This fresh glacier fed lake sparkles blue under the sun.  Alas, I could not get a good picture.

These tall peaks are part of the Brooks Range that extends from Canada to the coast of Alaska. the tallest of the peaks is over 9,000 feet.  This peak is one of two that mark the beginning of the Gates of the Arctic.  The clouds had begun to rolls in and the winds were increasing.  The flight because quite rough.  Several times, my head hit the roof as we were bunched about.

The entrance to the Anaktuvuk Pass, our final destination.  This name belongs to both the pass and the Nunamiut Inuit village located there.  The name Anaktuvuk means "the land of many caribou droppings".  The people here depend on the caribou for their livelihood.  The name is in recognition of a land of plenty where they could settle and survive.  It is home to about 300 people who are cut off from everything and depend on each other and the land to survive.  Unfortunately, the weather turned so quickly our pilot decided not to land for safety reasons.

Another view of the approach into the pass.  Further along, there was heavy fog and light snow.

On the return trip, the Brooks Range was magnificent to behold.

These peaks take their red color from copper

Beauty as far as the eyes can see.

 The changes in landscape as we neared Fairbanks.  Cinder cones remain where volcanic activity once ruled.

Back in Fairgrounds, the midnight sun hovered low in the sky creating beautiful sunset lights.  The sun actually set about 1:30 a.m. and rose again about 3:30 a.m.  This weekend there will be a festival to the midnight sun and the shortest amount of sunlight of any day of the year.

It was a wonderful trip.  I would love to see if all in the winter when the land is blanketed in snow and the aurora glistens above.  Ah, but that is another trip.  Maybe.......

Fairbanks Sights

After enjoying staying in the wilderness and small villages, we are now in Fairbanks, a small to medium sized city by our standards.  One of the surprising aspects of the area to us is the amount of military presence located here.  There is Fort Wainwright Army Base and Eielson Air Force Base located in the area.  The 354th Fighter Wing’s mission is to prepare U.S. and allied aviation forces for combat and deploy them globally.  They also stage forces to protect our interest in the Asia-Pacific, and they are the sight of Red Flag, a sort of Top Gun training facility focused on combat air simulation training.  A pretty important base I’d say.

There is a great deal to see and do here but it is still a city and we are more interested in the wilderness.  In any case, we are staying at an RV facility on the Chena River.  It is a nice park and our site is located right at the river’s edge giving us a great view unless someone happens to be in the sight adjacent to us.  That site is very small so it has only been occupied twice so far.  The girls love walking the trail that goes along the shoreline and playing with the various dogs that are here.  Yesterday as we were returning from a walk, we observed a dog on the opposite bank running up and down the shore barking at dogs on our side.  He suddenly launched himself into the water and swam across to join in the play.  Amazing.

Fairbanks has several good museums and opportunities to enjoy the rivers, hiking as well as flights to the north.  From Fairbanks there are many land, air and train tours one can take to go north over the Arctic Circle and beyond.  We are booked on a flight Tuesday evening that will take us over the Arctic Circle and the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve to Anaktuvuk Pass where there is a village we will visit.  I am very excited as that park is in my bucket list and you can only reach it by air.  As a matter of fact, it gets the fewest visits of any of the national parks but contains some of the most beautiful scenery of any of them.  While we will not get to really experience it fully, the view from above will be wonderful.

The University of Alaska is here and has a number of museums and facilities that can be visited.  This university is unique with regard to fields of study one could pursue.  Being here with access to this environment allows for some interesting research.  We visited their Museum of the North.  The museum’s history dates back to 1917 as it was part of the university charter from the beginning.  Its collections focus on all things Alaska from science, culture and history to art and even dinosaurs.  We spent an afternoon enjoying the exhibits and three films that focus on ongoing research.  On film focused on the collection and study of dinosaur and plant fossils.  The university has a massive collection to support all sorts of studies.  One film focused on the aurora borealis and the science behind this beautiful phenomenon.  Fairbanks is one of the best places to view the aurora in the winter months.  The final film focused on Bow Whales and the Arctic currents that they follow.  We are somewhat familiar with these whales as they are one of the sources of subsistence living in the native cultures of the far northern villages.  It is amazing how they put out to sea in skin boats to hunt these whales.  Incidentally, only these native peoples are allowed to hunt these whales as they are endangered.  All in all, it was a great afternoon.

Another university facility we visited is LARS -- Large Animal Research Station.  The focus at this facility is to study Muskox, Caribou and Reindeer.  This 134 acre farm is not far from where we are staying.  They have small herds of all three animals.  Here are some pictures and information we learned from our visit.

What you are seeing is a sink hole.  The area where the grass ends is the hole, just one result of global warming on this fragile environment.  The permafrost, the thick layer of soil that makes up the land here should remain frozen throughout the year.  The melting and refreezing causes these holes and also the ice heaves in the highways.  Our tour guide told us that they have no idea the depth of the hole.  They dropped in a bale of hay and it disappeared.  Kinda scary if you ask me.

 Our tour guide was quite knowledgeable and fun.  She is getting her masters here after receiving a bachelors at Mississippi State University, just 15 miles from my home town.  When she told us, I said "Wahoo, go bull dogs!"  She laughed and said that made her day.  The skull you see is a male Muskox.  Unlike the females, the top of the horns have this thick layer.  It is used to head butt during seasonal rut.  Not surprising that the males do not live as long as the females.

This is a male Muskox.  The ox have a dual layer coat.  The outer is made up of long hair much like ours but courser.  The under layer is fine and very warm  It is called qiviut.  Softer than cashmere and warmer too, it is shed only once a year.  In the wild, it is scattered wherever the ox goes.  The natives go out and collect it.  Here, they bring them into pens and use a hair pick to comb away the fur all at once.  It is then processed much like wool, spun into thread and used to make warm scarves etc.  It was for sale in the gift shop for a whopping $75 a twist.  This is just one example of the value of possibly raising the muskoxen commercially.

The Muskox went extinct here years ago.  It was brought back to this area by the university and reintroduced on Nunivak Island in the far north.  It was an amazing accomplishment of logistics and endurance by the animals themselves.  They started with 32 animals and now that herd number more than 700.  The oxen love willow.  Our guide enticed a couple of them to come to the fence to get a tasty treat.  This is the male from the picture above.  Our guide said he usually did not come but did this day.

This is the dominant female of the group we saw.  She pushed the male away and took the treat.  As you can see, she has only one horn.  She caught it in a fence and pulled it away.  The horns, unlike antlers do not regenerate.

This is a female Caribou.  She is one of several they are trying to socialize thus the halter you see her wearing.  They could use her to help raise awareness with public regarding possible use of the Caribou.  Both male and female Caribou have antlers.  This female has a young calf.

This is the calf of the female above.  It is about 4 weeks old.  It was so cute walking about.  It went to get a drink of water and climbed into the container and stood while it drank and then took a leak where it stood.  Funny.  The Caribou are not domesticated, however here they are studying what commercial benefit they might bring to the local economy.  Their pelts can be used and of course, the meat is widely eaten.

This is a female Reindeer and her calf.  The Reindeer females do not have antlers.  Reindeer have been domesticated for years.  You see farms raising them in Canada and many of the lower 48 states.  Here in Alaska, raising them is a sticky business.  Only native Alaskans may raise Alaskan Reindeer.  So, if I wanted to have a herd I would have to import Reindeer from Canada or someplace in order to have them and sell the meat.  They are so strict, should I allow a native to bring his herd over to board with mine, my herd would then become Alaskan Reindeer and I could no longer have them.  Funny, but part of the laws protecting the Native peoples.


It was quite an interesting afternoon visiting LARS.  The study that is happening here will hopefully contribute to economic development to help the Alaskans.  Since oil prices have fallen, their economy has suffered.  Interesting, what is good for us is harmful for them.

Tomorrow we are going on a stern wheeler adventure.  We will experience pioneer living and learn about the importance of bush pilots.  Of course, we will certainly enjoy being on the river.

Charlotte, beauty or beast?

This is Charlotte, our nine month old American Cocker Spaniel.  When we made the decision to get a new puppy, we did not think about traveling with a young puppy in the future.  It is funny how we tend to forget all the "puppy" stuff when we see that sweet face and hold her for the first time.  Charlotte has very unusual eyes.  As you can see, her eyes are not dark but are gold/green, and she has pink markings around her nose and mouth.  Her eyes give her a very human look that can melt your heart.  She is lively, sweet and loving.


She is also a chewer.  When we were still in our house, her favorite targets for chewing were the door stops.  She would pull the white rubber tips off and chew them until they were flattened and useless.  They were small and to keep her from destroying all of them, we just removed them until the house sold and then replaced them all.

In the RV however, she has new targets -- wires.  The first week after we moved into the RV, Charlotte noticed a tiny bit of wire protruding from beneath the platform of the bed on Jim's side.  It was barely visible so how she noticed it was beyond us.  We came home to find that she had scratched at it until she could get a hold on it with her teeth.  She then pulled it out and proceeded to chew it in a number of places exposing the wires.  Fortunately she did not get a shock or maybe it is unfortunately as perhaps it would have stopped her from doing it again.  Poor Jim, it took him quite a while to remove the mattress and platform so he could trace the wire and make repairs.  Not a fun day for Jim.

We have taken extreme care to make sure there is nothing she can get too when we are away from the RV.  We have an electric blanket on the bed with dual controls.  Yep, you guessed it, there are lots of wires.  On each side of the bed, there is a space where these wires fit nicely out of the way.  Usually, as a precaution I put a pillow over the opening just to keep Charlotte out of harm's way.  Yesterday, I forgot and when we got back Charlotte had found the wires and chewed them rendering my control useless.

Today, we returned to find Jim's wires on the floor chewed and useless.  As you can see, she beheaded the poor things and exposed the remaining wires.  Now Jim has the chore of trying to make repairs making sure that he gets the ground wires and the live wires in the right place.

This poor fire extinguisher fell victim too.  Remnants of the black wall bracket can be seen and the pin is laying on the floor.  She has worked on it for a while now, amazingly it is still functional.  It has almost become a joke when we come home to find the pin and replace it.

I gave Jim this bottle of special Scotch for our anniversary last year.  It came in this decorative wooden box.  This week, he finally finished drinking the last of it and placed the box by the door to take to the trash.  He forgot to take it out and when we returned, we found the corner chewed by Miss Charlotte.






Oh, I almost forgot the blind on the front door.  Charlotte likes to look outside when we are away and when she could not see out, she chewed the lower blades trying to create a view.  She also has destroyed four brackets that hold the blind in place when we are moving.  One original and three replacements.

It seems that no amount of Bitter Apple spray keeps her from enjoying a good chew.  One might ask us why we put up with it.  Perhaps we would be better served finding her a new home.  But, what to do?  Her beautiful human looking eyes continue to melt our hearts every time we look at her.  But the beast that keeps chewing and destroying things make us wonder if perhaps we made a mistake in making her part of our little family.  But, then again, she makes of laugh and brings great joy as we travel the adventures of life.

Alaska Finally

Well,  I am a bit behind getting this posted but better late than never.

Our last day in the Yukon was the most difficult driving day to date.  We encountered a great deal of road construction and true to what we had been told, the roads were in pretty poor shape.  Three different times we had to wait for a road crew car to lead us through.  The road was gravel and in the process of being repaired which meant it was either very dusty or very muddy.  At the end of the day, both the truck and the fifth wheel were encased in a thick crust of mud.  Even with all the construction, as long as we maintained a slower speed, we did not have any problems.  It does make for a stressful drive as you cannot let your attention drift for even a moment but we still enjoyed the scenery.

When the border crossing came into view, we were so glad to be crossing.  As with the crossing into Canada, the crossing out again was no big deal.  The border person did not look into anything or at any of our papers other than the passports.  As soon as we cleared, we stopped at the first gas and food place.  It did not look like much and the folks were a bit scruffy looking but they were very nice and eager to talk with us.  The food was good even if the menu consisted of burgers, chicken or fish sandwiches and fries.  What else could we ask for?  typical American food:)

We drove the final miles to Tok.  Tok is a small town but has three RV parks.  We chose the one just outside of town because it has lots of trees and is more secluded.  The owner is a nice lady who is trying to keep running the place alone.  Her husband passed away and she is left trying to manage.  It needs a bit of TLC but has everything we need especially an RV/truck wash.  Our first order of business was to give both the truck and fifth a wash.  The mud was so thick and hard even with the power washer it took a bit of doing to get it clean.

We will rest a couple of days, collect our mail from the post office, wash and groom the girls and plan our next move.  Alaska, we are finally here!

As we left the campground, the road deteriorated almost immediately.  As you can see, it undulated and would really damage our fifth wheel if we did not slow considerably.

Road construction slowed our progress several times.  The gravel road was rough and a pilot car led us over the road.  At the first construction, we had to wait 10 minutes for the pilot to bring the southbound traffic through.  One section was so muddy it coated our rig and truck.  All in all, it made for a stressful driving day but it led us back home to the good ole U.S.A.

A waterfall of ice caught my eye as we passed.

A lone bike rider loaded with all his camping gear passed us heading southbound.  We saw several of the hardy souls, my hat is off to them!

As we got closer to the border, the landscape changed from mountainous of forest land dotted with lakes, ponds and streams.

A driving force for the poor roads can be traced back to the soil itself.  It has a high concentration of ice within the soil itself.  During warmer seasons, the ice thaws and the water makes it unstable.  When it refreezes, it heaves and warps.  Here is an example of research that is ongoing trying to find a solution to keep the soil from thawing.  These vents allow cold air to enter the soil and the hope is to keep it solid.

Up ahead, the border is finally in view.  Even with a line, we crossed and were on our way in under 15 minutes.

This is our mud encased landing gear on the fifth wheel.  We had to power wash everything before we could park and set-up.  The mud was so hard, it took several passes with the power wand to break through the mud and begin to resolve it away.  Yuk!