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The Adventures of Smiley

Alaska 2008

Woofs! It`s official! Dad formally selected his vacation today and picked 5 weeks starting in August 2008. All his previous Alaska visits have been in Sept save for one in Aug 1995 with his old dog,Butch. On that trip with Butch,my dad and Butch made it all the way to the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay. Sept is a nice month for travelling to Alaska as campgrounds are much less crowded,but often Dad has had to endure cold rain and even snow. There is too much snow along the upper sections of the Dalton Highway which parallels the Alaska Pipeline to reach the Arctic Ocean in Sept. By doing his next trip this comming August, Dad and I hope to return to the Arctic Ocean! We`re eagerly awaiting the trip!
Smiley

Conclusion of 2007 Alaska Trip

Day 27 Friday Oct 5

Early in the morning, dad and I awoke to the sound of crashing waves. Fox Lake, which had been calm and placid the night before was now being blown into a frenzy by strong winds! Waves were crashing onto the shore with powerful force and we were fortunate that the campsite sat at a good elevation above the beach or our tent would`ve been inundated with water! Light snow was also falling and this continued as we broke camp and headed on back down the Alaska Highway. The snow lasted till early afternoon and while the road was mostly clear,grassy areas and parking areas had an inch or 2 of new snow. We stayed tonight again at the Liard Hotsprings.


Conclusion of trip


Dad and I travelled the remaing distance back down the Alaska Highway encountering dense fog after leaving the Buckinghorse River campground on the morning of sun Oct 7. There were few vehicles out and about on the Alaska Hwy and it was eerie driving in the silent dense fog.

We stayed in motels for the remainder of the trip as a bit of a treat from all the nights of camping out. In Lethbridge,Alberta near the Montana border, we stopped for the night at a Super 8 motel. This motel had a 2 story high waterslide and Dad enjoyed his first ever experience with one. Once you enter the waterslide, the smooth plastic walls of the tube coupled with the stream of water running down it eliminate all friction and you shoot thru the dark twisty tube at lightning speed! Then a circle of light appears in the distance and rapidly grows larger and in a split second you shoot out of the tube and splash down in the pool! It`s just like an olympic luge run!

In South Dakota,as we travelled home, Dad and I did some hiking in the Badlands walking past folded hills and twisting fractured canyons in the ground.

It was a great trip and Dad plans his next trip for August 2008. We shouldn`t encounter any snow then and Dad hopes to reach the Arctic Ocean as well as try a new route thru Canada`s Northwest Territories.

Alaska 2007 Days 25---26

Day 25 Wed Oct 3

We left the Glenallen campsite this morning and began our drive up the Glenn Hwy towards the small town of Tok. The road was icy in spots which made the drive a bit scary,but the mountain scenery was awesome! There were snowcapped peaks set against a brooding dark cloudy sky that was spitting snow from time to time.

Travelling south from Tok towards the Canadian border, we encountered quite a bit more snow. The Alaska Highway was covered with an inch or 2 of snow and this continued for about 100 miles on into Canada.

The winds really picked up late in the day and were quite gusty as we neared Kluane Lake,the snow however was mostly gone by this time. It was really windy and cold as night was comming on and rather than struggle to erect the tent in the howling winds, Dad decided to just camp in our car. We found a nice gravel spot to park in by the shore of Kluane Lake. Dad had to crouch behind the car using it as a wind block in order to open my can of dog food and prepare my supper. It was a super neat campsite. We were snug inside the car and the powerful winds were sending waves crashing onto the beach below us!



Day 26 Thurs Oct 4

We explored the King`s Throne and Cottonwood trails today in Kluane National Park near the town of Haines Junction. The Kings Throne trail began in the forest surrounding Kathleen Lake and after a following an old logging road for a few miles,began to switchback up into the mountains. Once the trail emerged above treeline we encountered snow which got deeper as we climbed upward. The King`s Throne trail followed rocky switchbacks across a bare boulder field as we climbed upward. There were stunning views of Kathleen Lake far below us. Finally the snow got deep enough that following the trail became difficult. Also it was becomming increasingly slippery so we didn`t hike all the way up to the King`s Throne. We hiked back down below the treeline and set off on the Cottonwood trail which branches off from the lower sections of King`s Throne and circles Kathleen Lake high up in the forested mountains. We came upon a bare rock clearing on this trail and had our lunch while viewing Kathleen Lake far below. The weather was partly sunny today,but cool and Dad used his small campstove to warm us as we had lunch.

Late in the day we drove up the North Klondike Highway near the town of Whitehorse and came upon the scene of a wildfire several years past. The land was covered with blackened trees as far as we could see. We hiked a trail here and stood atop a cliff. A small stream flowed thru this area hundreds of feet below the cliff and the fire blackened forest continued on the other side. It was eerie!

We stayed tonite at Fox Lake campground near Whitehorse. Fox lake is huge as are many lakes here in Canada`s Yukon Territory.