Fishing the Kasilof River

Walt is all outfitted and ready to fish for Salmon. Most people wade into the water and cast from there. Others drift in a boat.

Walt hasn't gotten to fish much in the last 30 years. He bought the equipment at Soldotna and was surprised at the reasonable prices -- the license cost more than the equipment!

This gives you a view of the river when it's not busy. The salmon don't actually start to run for a week or so. There were a few fish snagged but most were thrown back.

Walt didn't catch anything but had a good first day practicing his casting.

Kasiolof

Walt got his fishing license today and the equipment he needs to go after a salmon. We got a tour of the Soldotna and Kenai Villiage area.

This evening Walt and Jim went to the river to test out the new equipment. No fish were caught but Walt had a great time just being out there and casting.

Glenn Highway

Today we traveled the Glenn Highway from Glennallen to Anchorage. It was one of the most beautiful roads we have been on. The mountains were so varied in color and composition. There was lots of greenery but the rock coloring was outstanding.

We saw at least three glaciers nestled in the mountains. They looked at first like snow patches. The sun glinted off of the glacier and I was never able to get a photo that showed the glacier.

We stopped in Palmer for lunch. It was a nice break because we soon encountered major construction. They are blasting and building the highway up higher to avoid avalanches. This is about a 10 mile section of the highway. We had a 20 minute wait for the pilot car so had a nice conversation with the young lady flagging. She will be attending University of Alaska in Anchorage next year to work toward a nursing degree.

We planned to stay in Anchorage for the weekend but were surprised to find traffic backed up because of an air show. We had called every campground we could find listed in Milepost & Trailer Life. All the campgrounds were full.

It was still early in the day so we headed out on the Stewart Highway. What a treat. The view of Cook’s Inlet and the snow covered Kenai Mountains was spectacular.

We had planned to visit friends on the Kenai next and gave them a call. Was it okay to come in today? Sure. So we traveled on down to Kasilof to meet them.

It was such a beautiful drive and we are set to stay until the salmon run – a few weeks probably. Walt wants to fish and we are glad to sit in one place for a while.

Driving West

We ate breakfast at the Chicken Creek Cafe this morning. Timed just right -- we had just been served our food when two buses arrived. We had a nice visit with a gentleman wearing a beautiful purple K-State shirt. He lives in Manhattan so we got an update on the storms they had several weeks ago.

After breakfast we hitched up and headed out on the Taylor Highway. Made a stop at the Chicken Post Office (first photo) to mail some postcards and buy some stamps. The mail plane comes on Tuesday and Friday. They handle about 600 pounds of mail with each flight during the summer.

The road was a mix of paved and gravel. It was actually rougher than the Top of the World Highway. It took at least 2 hours to travel the 77 miles to Tok.

In Tok, we got diesel and washed the rig. Mud and dust was caked on -- especially underneath and on the rear windows. It was nice to be clean for a while.

Being early in the day, we decided to keep going and took the Tok Cutoff to Richardson Highway. It rained off & on after we got onto the Richardson Highway. The road was a mix of pavement and gravel.

The last photo shows the Wrangell Mountains. It was a little overcast so we couldn't see the highest peaks. By about 5pm we decided we were ready to stop for the night. We are spending the night in Glennallen.

Tomorrow we will drive to Anchorage - just under 200 miles. Plan to spend several days there.

Historic Downtown Chicken

The first photo is not really historic -- just a rest stop.

We took a walking tour of Historic Chicken. It has been placed on the National Historic Register and restoration is just beginning. Click on the link to find out more about Chicken.

There are quite a few buildings left from the mining days.

The one I was most interested to see is the last photo. It is the building where Ann Hobbs Purdy lived and taught school. Her life as a teacher in the late 1920's is portrayed in the book "Tisha". The school room was the door on the right and she lived in the room on the left.

The Chicken Creek runs along the edge of the settlement. There are now about 60 residents -- 15 of which are year-round residents.

And who would have believed how high-tech Chicken is now. As of yesterday at the Goldpanner, there are now flush toilets and sinks with running water in the washroom. Still no phones in Chicken (satellite phones are available for emergencies). But there is great internet access in Chicken.

We are staying in Chicken Creek Campground. We have 30 amp electrical hook-up powered by a generator that runs 24 hours around. Previous visitors to Chicken had to use outhouses and dry camp.

We plan to eat a hearty breakfast at the cafe tomorrow morning before heading to Tok. The road now becomes the Taylor Highway. It is not far to Tok so we can have a leisurely morning.

More Top of the World Photos

Clearing Customs

We crossed the border at Poker Creek, Alaska. It is a small customs station but we had a wait because a passenger bus was crossing in front of us.

The wait gave us a chance to see the interesting signs.

We also set our watches back an hour. We are now on Alaska Time. When it's 8 am at home, it is 5 am here in Alaska. We will be in this time zone all through Alaska.

We had no problems with the crossing.

Top of the World

Here are some photos of the scenery and the road on the Top of the World Highway.

The first photo is where the road turns to gravel for the first time. We were surprised how many sections were paved. We had expected gravel all the way. It had rained a few days earlier and it also looked like a water truck had sprinkled the road. Because of that, there wasn't much dust and the road was just damp not slippery.

The road is 108 miles from Dawson City, Yukon to Chicken, Alaska. It took us 4 hours and 15 minutes to travel that distance. There was very little oncoming traffic and never were slowed down or passed by traffic on the way.

We were already dirty & dusty so didn't seem much worse by the time we got to Chicken.

Ferry Across the Yukon River

We left the campground at 7:30 am because we had been told that there was up to a 3 hour wait for RVs to ferry over the river. It was good timing because there was only one RV in front of us and one car. The ferry was just pulling in to the bank at Dawson in the first photo.

The second and third photos are our view as we ferried across. It took just 3 minutes at about 5 mph to cross the river.


The last photo is landing at the opposite bank and the beginning of the Top of the World Highway.

We're off.

Our internet service is really weak here. Can't seem to get the photos to post.

We are headed to the ferry early in the morning. Will ferry across the river and drive the Top of the World Highway to Chicken, Alaska.

Drove to the Dome that overlooks Dawson City today. It is beautiful. Will post photos when we have internet service. Probably when we get to Tok.

The Dome Road

This morning we drove the Dome Road to overlook the Yukon River and Dawson City. It was a beautiful view.

The road in the distance is the Top of The World Highway that we will travel tomorrow.

Afterward we walked the streets of Dawson City and visited the shops.

Met the most interesting couple at Sourdough Joe's Restaurant. They have been mining in the area since the early 70's. He has been a singer, songwriter and miner. He has also created a CD of his music and written a book called "A Vanishing Breed: The Gold Miner". The song he is most famous for is "North to Alaska" which was sung by Johnny Horton (always has been one of my favorite songs).

We stopped at the bookstore and bought the bo0k & CD. The Simpsons were still outside and they gladly signed the book for us. Jim & Marcene Simpson are true Yukoners and were such a delight to talk with. He is 80 and she is 82. They are now the vanishing breed.

Klondike Photos

The Klondike Highway

Our trip today was up the Klondike Highway from Whitehorse to Dawson City, Yukon. We are so close to the US Border that we're aching for 'home' with familiar roadsigns and currency.

We traveled mostly paved roads for 300+ miles. It took about 7 hours with several rest/sightseeing stops.

The first photo is the construction area. Here the road was just packed dirt/gravel road. The stretch was about 20 miles. Actually this area was the smoothest of our drive today. We didn't encounter much traffic and they kept the road watered to hold down the dust.

One of our stops today was Gravel Lake it was small in contrast to the huge lakes we have been seeing. It is home to the Lodgepole Pine. The photo here shows a 'baby' Lodgepole and the larger forest in the background.

This afternoon we visited Dawson City and stayed for the entertainment at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall. We had a good time and it was still light when we left at 10:30.

The last photo shows Walt walking Biggs at about 11pm. Notice how light it is. The sun was just starting to get low over the mountains.

Frantic Follies Show

The Follies was a fun show. There were several bus groups there so it was a packed crowd.

The show started at 8:30 and ended about 10:15 pm. It was nice to come out of the dark show into nice daylight.

Frantic Follies Photos