North...to Alaska! Part 2. The Kenai Peninsula and back through Canada.

On the drive to Homer on the Kenai Peninsula.

 

The Blue Ice at Williwaw CG

After meeting up with our friend Frank at Talkeetna, we continued south. We drove down Highway 1, stopping at Wasilla for groceries at Fred Meyers, then passed through Anchorage and continued to Portage Glacier Road, which leads to Whittier. A few miles down that road we found the campground we were looking for, Williwaw USFS CG, which sits beneath a glacier of "blue ice".

After setting up camp, we went for a short hike on a nearby trail which followed a stream. Rounding a bend, we came face to face with a juvenile moose munching on grass! We took a few photos and then discretely turned around and left him to his foraging!

An encounter on a walk near our campground!

We were very impressed with the beauty and peacefulness of this campground and planned to return to it on our way back from Homer.

We now continued down the Kenai to Homer Spit. We camped for two nights there, at a private campground which was okay, nothing spectacular, but there was laundry and shower facilities there. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Patty's and visited a couple of breweries.

Looking down at Homer Spit.

We spent a bit of time observing the commercial fishing activity just off our beach. 

Salmon fishing off Homer Spit.

We left Homer and headed across the peninsula to Seward. We actually camped a bit outside of Seward and then drove into town to look around and to find a boat tour. 

The next day we boarded a tour boat. The weather was excellent and the water was calm so we had no trouble. We saw a couple of humpback whales and a pod of smallish orcas. We also viewed otters, eagles and even a few puffins, so it was a pretty successful boat ride. After the tour we had some fish and chips at a local brewpub. 

On the water, leaving Seward, AK.

After Seward, we decided to spend the weekend back at Williwaw and beat the weekend crowds. We drove into Anchorage to get the oil changed on the Tacoma and did some shopping at Fred Meyers and Walmart. The next day we visited the  Begich Boggs visitors center at Portage Lake. There were some tiny remnants of ice bobbing around there!

The tiny ice bergs of Portage Lake.

Here's a closeup!

After going to the visitors center, we returned to camp and walked along a trail which runs beside the creek. We spotted a large group of salmon lurking in the creek! They weren't moving anywhere, indeed, when we checked on them the next day, they were still at the same spot!

The salmon at Williwaw!

We also took a short drive to Hope, it's a cute little place and you can get WIFI at the little library.

At this point, we were feeling the effects of the colds we had both caught. We decided to take a couple more days off and stay at Williwaw to recover. After a day's rest we took a short day trip to Girdwood where we could get water from the fire station there. The station was next door to the library where we were able to use the WIFI. We visited the local grocery store and picked up some soup for dinner, gassed up and headed back to Williwaw.

After a short nap we visited Byron Glacier Trailhead in our quest to view as many glaciers as we could! While hiking we noticed people collecting orangish berries which they called salmon berries. We tried one but they seemed quite tart. Maybe the one I tried was not ripe.

On Byron Glacier trail.

We left Williwaw in the rain after a 5 day stay! We stopped at Anchorage's Fred Meyers for supplies and gas, continued through Palmer and made it to King Mountain CG for the night. It was wet and cool so we didn't do much at King Mountain, actually, it doesn't look like there was too much to do anyway!

We've decided to pass through Glennallen and turn north for Tok. It was sunny the next morning and we enjoyed the scenery as we drove by the Matanuska Glacier. This was the largest glacier we had encountered, it's huge!

Matanuska Glacier

We proceeded to Glennallen and had lunch at the library's parking lot. We got gas at the junction of  Highway 1 and Highway 4, the "Hub of Alaska". Turning north, the two highways run together for a short way, then split with Highway 1 going on the Tok. We followed Highway 1 but stopped at Grizzly Lake CG because we wanted to visit the nearby Wrangell-St. Elias Nat'l Park, a park we had never heard of before!

Grizzly Lake CG was actually pretty nice and reasonably priced with electric hookups and included showers. The campground's dog came by for a visit and stayed a while. This is where we ended July, we had now been on the road for over a month, since June 24th!

The campground host at Grizzly Lake!

We spent the first of  August visiting Wrangell-St. Elias NP. Took a short hike and drove around a bit. This is a gigantic park but we only scratched the surface. It would be worth another visit someday.

We then took the short drive back to Tok and stayed at the same RV park, (Tundra) that we did on the way out. Did a little shopping and hit Fast Eddies for dinner.

We had a long drive the next day, from Tok to Lake Creek Provincial Park. Getting through Canadian customs was a breeze but the roads were pretty bad in Yukon, lots of  gravel and chunky pavement.  Lake Creek had plenty of spots available. 

Campsite at Lake Creek.

We now drove to Haines Junction. At the start, the roads were, again, horrible but by the time we got to Destruction Bay we found that the construction we had encountered going up was now complete and the roads were excellent! So we made very good time going to Haines Junction. From there we turned south and stopped at Kathleen Lake, a very nice provincial park.

At Kathleen Lake.

The drive on the Haines Highway had great scenery. We quickly made it to Haines and then through to Chilkoot Lake CG where we planned to stop for a couple of days to spot bears.

At the river there is a "fish weir", a netting is stretched across the river with an opening in the middle which allows the Fish and Wildlife personnel to count fish passing through. Occasionally they will pull a fish out and collect DNA samples. This weir funnels the fish into the center and this attracted bears! When the F&W people are gone, bears routinely climb onto the weir and grab salmon. We saw a mother with four cubs in tow here.

Bears on the weir on the Chilkoot River.

Viewing the bears!

Haines is a cruise ship port!

We also visited Haines while here and looked into getting a ferry ride to Skagway. We could only get a ferry if we wanted to wait another 3 days. We didn't, so we decided to drive back to Whitehorse. On re-entering Canada, Canada customs decided to search our trailer. This was the first time we had been searched and the guy really went through it! It must have been quite a workout, too, lifting the mattress and all. 

After that we drove on through Haines Junction and stayed at Pine Lake Junction again. This time there was some sort of event coming up and so there were no first come/ first served sites available. The camp host was very helpful though and helped us get an account online and reserve a site that way!

Our next stop was just past Whitehorse at Caribou CG. a little private site which was a little rough, but the food and entertainment was excellent! They have a sort of permanent food truck that puts out some very nice European food and they even serve German beer! The currywurst was quite good. A lot of the help are foreign students over here on some sort of  work/study program. There was also live entertainment which we enjoyed. The campground also offered showers and laundry which we used. Overall, this was a pleasant change from our usual camping experience.

At this point we decided to forego a side trip to Skagway. I didn't feel like it would be much different from the other coastal towns we had already visited and it would have been a long drive. So we decided to press on to the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. Driving through Teslin we saw a "Check Fuel" sign posted so we decided to go back to town and fill up. We also saw a highway sign which said "Alaska Highway Closed at Big Creek"! (When we stopped at Continental Divide and asked about it, we were told it was had been posted for the fires and should have been turned off!) We finally made it to Big Creek CG for the night.

From Big Creek we followed the AlCan to the junction with Highway 37 just before Watson Lake. We now left the AlCan and were on the Cassiar Highway. Our first night was spent at Kinaskan Lake.

Kinaskan Lake 

We continued down Hwy 37 to just past the junction with Hwy 37A, (Stewart/Hyder road), and stopped at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park. We stayed here for a couple of days while we explored Stewart and Hyder.

The drive to Stewart is a special one with views of glaciers. We stopped to snap photos as we headed to Hyder.

Bear Glacier

Reaching Hyder, we went to the bear viewing site, hoping to spot more bears. The river was filled with spawning salmon! We figured we were sure to see some bears. But we did not see a singe one!

Lots of fish but no bears!

Before heading back to our campground, we had dinner at a Mexican Restaurant in Stewart and the food was great!

 

The next day we returned to Hyder and drove out to possibly our last glacier sighting.

The last glacier we'd see on this trip!

After the glacier spotting we returned to Hyder and had the fish and chips at the "Bus". When I had done my motorcycle trip in 2019, I stopped here for lunch and they were operating from the old schoolbus. They have now moved into a little kitchen adjacent to their house. Still great food, though.

You can still see the bus beside the kitchen!

We now departed Meziadan CG and continued southward. We made it to Tyhee Lake Provincial Park just outside of the town of Smithers. It's a pretty nice park with showers, which is always a plus. We decided to pick up a new battery for the trailer in town. The guys at the store had to charge it up overnight and told us to come by the next morning. We then had dinner at "Telly's" which turned out to be a pretty nice place, even though it didn't look like much from the outside.

We picked up the battery the next day and drove to Fort Fraser CG. Nice flush toilets and sinks! It was raining so we really didn't do much there.

We then drove through Prince George and stopped for some groceries before continuing down to Ten Mile Lake CG near Quesnal. We had a rest day here and I installed the new battery in the Casita. We visited Pinnacles Provincial Park to see the "Hoo Doo" formations. 

Hoo-Doos!

We left Ten Mile Lake and came back to Sunset CG at Green Lake where we had stopped on our way up! No swimming this time, we did notice that temperatures were finally starting to warm! The next day we traveled to Emery Creek. After setting up we took a side trip to Chillawak to visit the Escape Trailer factory and showroom to get a close look at their trailers. Very nice, we may upgrade to one someday. We had dinner and a beer at Old Yale brewery.

While at Emery Creek we noticed some salmon in the river and a few in the creek itself! It was interesting to that the fish reach this spot. They must have been spawning nearby as there were several dead ones in the creek.

In Emery Creek.

Leaving Emery Creek, we suddenly realized that our time in Canada was almost done! We drove through the mountains one last time before reaching Okanagan Lake, and passed through the border at Osoyoos. We passed through customs pretty easily, although we did have to surrender our avocado! We camped at the Veteran's Park campground at Oroville Washington.

Thus ended the Canadian and Alaskan portions of our trip, but we still had a few more site to see before we got home...stay tuned for part 3!

Here's the link to this trip's photos

Our last day in Canada!

North...to Alaska! Part 1.

On the AlCan Hwy in northern B.C.

For the summer of 2025 we set out for an extended camping trip with our Casita to Alaska. The first part of our ride would follow the path of my motorcycle trip in 2019, (see: My bike ride to Alaska ). That trip covered 7,100 miles in 19 days, but only went to Fairbanks with a side trip to the Arctic Circle, this time we planned on staying at Denali National Park and then go to the Kenai Peninsula. I figured even with the extended mileage we would be done in about 6 weeks. As it turned out, I really underestimated the time it would take, but that's all part of the fun, right?

 

In preparing for the trip, I had the truck and trailer thoroughly prepared. We even carried an extra battery for the trailer which turned out to be a good idea! We had our mail transferred to our Angelo address since we would be gone longer than the USPS would hold mail. This turned into a bit of a fiasco; we were expecting our new tags for the Tacoma the week before we departed but the post Office stopped delivery to our current address a week earlier than we requested so our tags were held up and we could not get to them! I was able to go to the DMV and get a replacement set of tags. After the trip we found the original tags in our mail, so now I have a spare set!

Our first days drive took us to a remote BLM campground in Northeast California, (Ramhorn Springs). Not a bad site and the fee is voluntary! While hiking around, Shelly almost stepped on a rattlesnake, so we had our first exciting encounter with wildlife!

At Ramshorne Springs CG.

We continued north, stopping for lunch at Goose Lake where there is a nice CG and day use area. Then we entered eastern Oregon, following my motorbike trip's course, through Burns and ending up at Idlewild CG in the Malheur National Forest. Then next day we went through Pendleton to get to a very remote USFS campsite. We noticed we were having low voltages in our trailer's battery, we were a little concerned...

The next day we decided to find an RV repair shop in Pendleton and we fortunately found a good one! The guys at Drake's RV service found our problem: the towing vehicles plug had corroded terminals. They quickly replaced that and we were on our way! Thanks to the guys at Drakes!

On northward we continued, still following my bike's trail up to Scooteney Reservoir and campground where we decided to stay for the weekend.

It was at Scooteney that we met a motorcyclist who was also camping. We chatted a while and he mentioned an app he used a lot to find camping spots; "iOverlander". We were able to download the free version. This app turned out to be invaluable for our travels. We found many campsites thanks to it. The free version allows only one state's or province's data to be stored at a time. This worked out okay for us, but paying for access to multiple state's may be worthwhile.

At any rate, iOverlander and the AlCan handbook, "Milepost" were our go-to references for the rest of our trip.

Sunset at Scooteney Reservoir, WA.

From Scooteney we headed to Bridge port, with a side trip to view the Grand Coulee dam. The drive up to the Dam was beautiful. 

On the road to Grand Coulee Dam.

At the dam itself.

After Grand Coulee, we pulled into Bridgeport State Campground. It's pretty nice, not cheap but there were free showers!

The next day was a long one but brought us into Canada! We crossed the border at Osoyoos with no trouble at all, drove through Penticton and finished a long day at the campground at Lac le Juene Provincial Park.

Made it to BC!

First campsite in Canada, Lac le Juene!

From Lac le Juene we drove up to Kamloops and did some shopping there. After that we proceeded up to close to 70 Mile House and camped at Sunset Lake Provincial Park. Nice CG, and we were able to enjoy a swim in the lake as it had been pretty warm.

The next day we drove up to Prince George and stayed at a private campground, "Northern Experience". We encountered the first rain of our trip this day between Quesnel and Prince George.

We then drove to Moberly Lake Provincial Park. Shelly found a huge earthworm at the site!

Yep, that's a big one!

We then reached Dawson Creek and the start of the AlCan Highway! We stayed at a private CG and loaded up with water as we had encountered several parks that had boiled water orders in place. 

At mile 0 of the Alcan at Dawson Creek.

The next few days were spent driving into the Canadian Rockies. We were a little disappointed by the lack of wildlife on this stretch, but the scenery was pretty amazing! We stopped at MacDonald CG near Muncho Lake. Cloudy and cool so we didn't swim, but we took some nice photos

Muncho Lake in the Rockies.

We had a very short day following Muncho Lake deciding to stop at Laird River Hot Springs Provincial Park which was less than 40 miles down the road. It was a wise choice since this is a very popular campground thanks to the lovely hot springs. We were able to snag a nice campsite and then enjoyed a dip in the hot springs.

At Laird Hot Springs.

The Canadian Rockies.

 The weather at this point turned rainy and cool but we did finally encounter wildlife! We came upon a small herd of Woodland Bison along side the road. 

On the way to Watson Lake.

We arrived at Watson Lake fairly quickly. It was rainy and wet. We viewed the "Signpost Forest" and got gas. I had to slog through mud puddles to fill up. Watson Lake is not a great place to stay, and it was early so we moved on, eventually stopping a Tilsen Lake after a long 300 mile day.

Signpost Forest at Watson Lake.

The next day we drove to a Yukon Provincial Park just outside of Haines Junction, (Pine Lake). The weather had cleared and it was good to see blue skies again. There was a very nice bike path leading from the campground to the town which we walked along. However, the warning signs for bears was a little disconcerting!

We were now getting close to Alaska! Past Haines Junction, the road condition deteriorated quite a bit! We had planned on one more night in Yukon, but the site we planned to stop at was pretty dismal, so we opted for a place just about 12 miles inside Alaska, a free USFWS campground at Deadmans Lake.

Welcome to Alaska!

The border crossing was easy and we were soon at Deadman Lake, which is operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Deadman Lake, Alaska. (BTW, the canoes are available for free for the campers' use!)

We enjoyed a relatively short drive today, driving from Deadman Lake to Tok. We stayed at the Tundra RV Park which was reasonably priced. The park had an RV washing station which our trailer badly needed. There were also showers which we also needed! After dealing with limited water supplies across BC and Yukon, it was nice to have access to potable water, and we filled our tank and a couple of  water bottles. Tok is a fairly large town with most of the amenities you need. It gets a lot of RV traffic so there are a lot of facilities. 

We had dinner at Fast Eddy's and they happened to have a prime rib special that night that was great. They also have an old fashioned salad bar, something I haven't seen since COVID!  

From Tok we proceeded to Fairbanks and spent a couple of days there. We stayed at Riverside CG. It was a nice enough place with showers and near most facilities, but it is also near the freeway so we got a bit of traffic noise. 

While in Fairbanks I found a place that stocked Curt sway bars at online prices! Our old sway bar had lost a brake pad so I needed a replacement.

When we arrived at Fairbanks, we noticed there was a bit of smoke in the air. This was disconcerting because there had been a lot of wild fire activity and that could impact our trip to Denali.

Smokey skies in Fairbanks.

Fortunately, some rain moved through the region during our stay in Fairbanks, and that knocked back a lot of the wildfire activity! We left Fairbanks, heading south with cloudy skies and light showers and arrived at Nenana for a very short day. There was no sign of wildfires at all. Just outside of Nenana is the Mears Memorial Bridge, one of the largest simple truss-type bridges in the world.

The Mears Memorial Bridge is just outside Nenana.

The next day we left Nenana and drove a short distance to Tatlanika. We arrived early and since there wasn't much going on at Tatlinka we decided to drive down to 49th State Brewery. We had tried their beer at Fast Eddy's in Tok and enjoyed it so we thought we'd check it out. Pretty nice place and actually not far from Denali.

At last, we headed for Denali National Park! For much of the trip we had been concerned about actually arriving in time for our reservations but here we were! After Denali, we wouldn't be concerned about hitting any particular dates.

We made it!

Denali covers a vast area, there would be no way to see all of it, so we had to pick a few things to do. First of all, we hit the Visitors' Center and gathered some useful information.

We wanted to hike a bit, so the next day we took a the trail to the Mt. Healy Overlook. It was a tough little hike after spending so much time driving, but the view from the overlook was worth it! 

Mt. Healy Overlook.

After the hike we went for a drive up to the Savage River trailhead. While heading out there we were able to spot the snow capped peak of Denali itself! We were lucky to spot it on a relatively clear day.

That's Denali in the center!

We decided to take a tour bus to the "end of the road". This is where a washout has cut off the old Park Road. We hoped to spot some wildlife. While we did see some mountain goats and a couple of caribou at great distances. we were again a bit disappointed by the lack of animals! The scenery though, was still gorgeous! 

On our last morning, I looked out of our trailer's window and saw a moose roaming through our campground! So, at least we had one close encounter with wildlife here!

The moose at our campsite!

We left Denali and headed for Talkeetna to meet up with our friend Frank who was on his way up to Fairbanks with his sister! We camped there and met up with them the next day. It was fun to run into a familiar face!

Frank and his sister! So neat to meet up with them!

Now that we were through Denali, we were pretty much free to schedule anything for the rest of our trip. This next leg of our adventure will be continued in Part 2! 

Link to Part2!

In the meantime, here are the pictures!:  Alaska photo album