Another two weeks have passed and it seems that now, so close to my return to Germany, summer is coming to Vancouver. I spend the last weeks with climbing and relaxing and also visited friends that I haven't seen in a while.
Currently I am planning a BBQ party for my going away. When that is over, it will be time to say goodbye.
Goodbye to one year full of adventure, road trips, great people, parties, beautiful places and inner peace. So many memories are popping up in my mind right now:
climbing in Squamish, summer BBQs in Vancouver, Bruno's Crew along the west coast, hiking the Chief, Victoria and Vancouver Island, house parties, the amazing Sunshine Coast, Christmas with friends, New Years Eve and Avi's crazy party, Hawaii and the Waikiki Yacht Club, with Alex Supertramp to Yukon and Alaska, sunshine on the deck... .
A lot of people asked me these days how I feel about leaving Canada and going back to Germany. I have to admit that this is a really difficult question but I will definitely go with one sad and one happy eye. I am really looking forward to Germany, to all my friends and family and yes, also to good but cheap beer! Although this will mean the end to my Canadian adventure, I know that there are endless possibilities ahead and millions of promising places waiting to be explored.
Will it also be the end of the path of the maple? I don't think so. This path is endless and has no destination. You never know where it's gonna lead you and even though it might change its name, it will still go on into unknown territory full of new experiences. Today before writing this update I thought to myself: "Wow, that's gonna be the last post on my blog!". But now I realize: "No, it is not the last one! There will be hundreds and thousands to follow!". It makes life so exciting and adventurous because I don't know when the next post will go online or where I will wright it but there will be another one!
Enough of this philosophical bla-bla!
I was often asked about my highlights or my favorite places that I have visited throughout the last year. I will try to answer these questions as good as I can. To be honest, it will be tough to do it because I haven't even realized what happened in the past 12 month. Everything that I have seen and experienced is so surreal that it will take time to fully relive my trips.
What was the deepest experience on my trip?
- definitely the fire walk seminar in the Rockies that gave me a completely new feeling about what my body and mind is able to do
What was the most amazing place that I have been to?
- I guess that would have to be the Grand Canyon; I still remember the first moment we have seen the vast valley in the early morning and the endless time after that when we stood on the edge without being able to speak or even to breathe, overwhelmed by the scenery in front of us; I never had a similar feeling although I have seen other amazing spots (like the Icefield Parkway in Albert or the active volcanoes on Hawaii)
What was the most adventurous trip I have been on?
- driving up to the Yukon and Alaska in winter, spending nights at -30°C, driving through pure wilderness without any cars coming from the front or from behind for hundreds of kilometers
I could go on and on but I think everything is said and done and now I will lean back and relax the next days before going back home towards my next big adventure...wherever that might be! ;)
May 19, 2011
May 4, 2011
North - Part V: The return
With still a few weeks ahead until leaving the country, I decided it would be time to give a short update on the last part of our Alaskan adventure and the time in Revelstoke and Golden where I relived my woofing work of last summer.
But let's get back to Alaska first: To cut a long story short, we took almost the same route back that we went up. We were thinking of following a different highway south - called the "Highway of Tears" - but got rid of this idea pretty quick. Not necessarily because of all the crime that happened and still happens along that route, but rather because the road conditions were really difficult. After arriving in Alaska safely and without major problems, we didn't want to challenge our luck by taking a way back that we actually didn't know.
If you think that taking the same road back would be boring, let me tell you this: We were exactly thinking the same but surprisingly were taught otherwise. Simply because a huge amount of snow melted throughout our journey through Alaska, all the spots we have been before suddenly looked extremely different. Sometimes we were really wondering, if we actually came through these areas before.
Let me tell you the highlights of our way back:
1. Finding work in Whitehorse part I
After getting back to Whitehorse, we immediately applied for jobs up in the north. At that time the whole town was looking for employees: restaurants, coffee shops (they payed a surprisingly big amount of wage compared to Vancouver), diamond mines, oil companies, provincial parks, etc.
2. A weekend in Skagway
We decided to use the time we waited for the reply of the several companies to drive down to Skagway and back into Alaska, this time however to the so called "pan handle", a strip of the State that stretches along the coast in the west of British Columbia.
Only one road leads from Whitehorse to the town of Skagway following a path through the mountains down to the ocean. Halfway we found a tiny little border patrol where we met the friendliest border officer every. We thought that guy would invite us in for a cup of coffee right away. He was a real delight and a role model for all the other officers along the Canadian - U.S. border.
Skagway is a wild western-like, quiet little town.When we arrived it seemed like no one would live in that town - a ghost town awaited us at the ocean.
However, by the number of shops, cafes and restaurants you could tell that in the summer time, when all the ferries up to Alaska arrive in town, it would suddenly come to life and fill with tourists from all over the world.
Not so when we arrived in town. That was why we took a small gravel road further along the coast line into a recreation area where we spent the night.
At this spot the salty water from the ocean meets the river water from the mountains and creates a sanctuary for seals, otters, bald eagles, bears, elks, moose, etc.
The next days we hiked a little bit of the famous Chilkoot trail, visited a real old ghost town and finally drove back to Whitehorse.
3. Finding work in Whitehorse part II
Since we haven't heard back from any of the companies that we sent applications to, we thought that it would take to much time to call or get there in person. So we continued on our way home.
4. Old friends
In the Interior of BC we met several of old friends within days: First we hit the town of Quesnel again where we met our lovely Swiss family again. They invited us over to stay for another night and we spent the evening watching movies, eating crepes and drinking beer.
At the town of "100 Mile House" we met up with Nicole, my former roommate form Vancouver. At that time she worked as a social worker on a farm not far out of town.
5. Highway 99
Instead of going further south to finally hit highway 1, we turned west on highway 99, a winding, steep road through canyons towards the Coast Mountains of Whistler and Squamish.
This road is beautiful and if anyone of you might take this route in the future, make sure to stop at the first rest area to the left. It is like a small camping ground right at a little lake. This spot is beautiful and ideal to spend a night or more.
Vancouver welcomed us with tons of rain and we arrived at Rob's place where we stayed for several nights where Richard and I prepared for going to the Rockies to wwoof.
I chose the same spots as last summer (Amble Inn, Revelstoke and Goldenwood Lodge in Golden).
We stayed at the Amble Inn with Stephanie, her new boyfriend Dusty, Rene and Thomas, another wwoofer from Bavaria.
Within these two weeks we had lots of fun but also a load of work to do in and around the house. Although the temperatures were warm (sometimes even up to 20°C), there were piles of snow all around the house....some of them around 2m high.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell the story about the Amble Inn Flood of April 2011:
At one night around 3am I woke up and heard what I thought was heavy rain. I still remember my first thought: "Oh, no. The day before has been cloudless and nice! Too bad weather changes so quickly here!". I decided to get back to sleep but was interrupted by Rene who came running down the stairs to the basement where Richard and I slept.
He yelled and screamed and I - still half asleep - heard him in the next room where he twiddle with a switch. Out of a sudden the sound of "rain" stopped and I knew that my suggestion was completely wrong.
When I got out of the bed, I realized it right away: A water pipe broke and flooded the basement within half an hour. The water stood two inches from the ground.
We immediately started pumping out the water and taking it out in buckets. The whole process lasted for three hours until we finally had everything under control and could go back to bed.
Besides fighting water we also went for a short hike to the Frog Falls which we never arrived because we always heard them but with all that snow couldn't figure out the way to go.
Lots of bonfires, delicious meals and apple crisp stood in contrast to the work and the swimming in the pools of Revelstoke.
When we arrived we prepared a house concert for "Sisrter Girl", the country band of Stephanie and her friends.
Their show was awesome and helped to raise some funds for the production of their new album.
In between I hitchhiked to Golden where I spent a night at the Goldenwood Lodge with Barbara and Andy.
Apparently, they had a lot of visitors (all Swiss!!!), friends and former wwoofers at that time. We made pizza in the evening and went to a concert of country singer Tim Hus. I really had a great time with them again and wish I could have had more time to stay with them.
Now being back in Vancouver again, I have to decide what to do within the remaining few weeks. I am not going to tell when exactly I will be back. Apparently, the date of my return was not kept secretly enough by those who knew it. I still hope that I can surprise at least some of my friends with my arrival in Germany.
But that is future talk! :-)
But let's get back to Alaska first: To cut a long story short, we took almost the same route back that we went up. We were thinking of following a different highway south - called the "Highway of Tears" - but got rid of this idea pretty quick. Not necessarily because of all the crime that happened and still happens along that route, but rather because the road conditions were really difficult. After arriving in Alaska safely and without major problems, we didn't want to challenge our luck by taking a way back that we actually didn't know.
If you think that taking the same road back would be boring, let me tell you this: We were exactly thinking the same but surprisingly were taught otherwise. Simply because a huge amount of snow melted throughout our journey through Alaska, all the spots we have been before suddenly looked extremely different. Sometimes we were really wondering, if we actually came through these areas before.
Let me tell you the highlights of our way back:
1. Finding work in Whitehorse part I
After getting back to Whitehorse, we immediately applied for jobs up in the north. At that time the whole town was looking for employees: restaurants, coffee shops (they payed a surprisingly big amount of wage compared to Vancouver), diamond mines, oil companies, provincial parks, etc.
2. A weekend in Skagway
We decided to use the time we waited for the reply of the several companies to drive down to Skagway and back into Alaska, this time however to the so called "pan handle", a strip of the State that stretches along the coast in the west of British Columbia.
Only one road leads from Whitehorse to the town of Skagway following a path through the mountains down to the ocean. Halfway we found a tiny little border patrol where we met the friendliest border officer every. We thought that guy would invite us in for a cup of coffee right away. He was a real delight and a role model for all the other officers along the Canadian - U.S. border.
Skagway is a wild western-like, quiet little town.When we arrived it seemed like no one would live in that town - a ghost town awaited us at the ocean.
However, by the number of shops, cafes and restaurants you could tell that in the summer time, when all the ferries up to Alaska arrive in town, it would suddenly come to life and fill with tourists from all over the world.
Not so when we arrived in town. That was why we took a small gravel road further along the coast line into a recreation area where we spent the night.
At this spot the salty water from the ocean meets the river water from the mountains and creates a sanctuary for seals, otters, bald eagles, bears, elks, moose, etc.
The next days we hiked a little bit of the famous Chilkoot trail, visited a real old ghost town and finally drove back to Whitehorse.
3. Finding work in Whitehorse part II
Since we haven't heard back from any of the companies that we sent applications to, we thought that it would take to much time to call or get there in person. So we continued on our way home.
4. Old friends
In the Interior of BC we met several of old friends within days: First we hit the town of Quesnel again where we met our lovely Swiss family again. They invited us over to stay for another night and we spent the evening watching movies, eating crepes and drinking beer.
At the town of "100 Mile House" we met up with Nicole, my former roommate form Vancouver. At that time she worked as a social worker on a farm not far out of town.
5. Highway 99
Instead of going further south to finally hit highway 1, we turned west on highway 99, a winding, steep road through canyons towards the Coast Mountains of Whistler and Squamish.
This road is beautiful and if anyone of you might take this route in the future, make sure to stop at the first rest area to the left. It is like a small camping ground right at a little lake. This spot is beautiful and ideal to spend a night or more.
Vancouver welcomed us with tons of rain and we arrived at Rob's place where we stayed for several nights where Richard and I prepared for going to the Rockies to wwoof.
I chose the same spots as last summer (Amble Inn, Revelstoke and Goldenwood Lodge in Golden).
We stayed at the Amble Inn with Stephanie, her new boyfriend Dusty, Rene and Thomas, another wwoofer from Bavaria.
Within these two weeks we had lots of fun but also a load of work to do in and around the house. Although the temperatures were warm (sometimes even up to 20°C), there were piles of snow all around the house....some of them around 2m high.
Oh, I almost forgot to tell the story about the Amble Inn Flood of April 2011:
At one night around 3am I woke up and heard what I thought was heavy rain. I still remember my first thought: "Oh, no. The day before has been cloudless and nice! Too bad weather changes so quickly here!". I decided to get back to sleep but was interrupted by Rene who came running down the stairs to the basement where Richard and I slept.
He yelled and screamed and I - still half asleep - heard him in the next room where he twiddle with a switch. Out of a sudden the sound of "rain" stopped and I knew that my suggestion was completely wrong.
When I got out of the bed, I realized it right away: A water pipe broke and flooded the basement within half an hour. The water stood two inches from the ground.
We immediately started pumping out the water and taking it out in buckets. The whole process lasted for three hours until we finally had everything under control and could go back to bed.
Besides fighting water we also went for a short hike to the Frog Falls which we never arrived because we always heard them but with all that snow couldn't figure out the way to go.
Lots of bonfires, delicious meals and apple crisp stood in contrast to the work and the swimming in the pools of Revelstoke.
When we arrived we prepared a house concert for "Sisrter Girl", the country band of Stephanie and her friends.
Their show was awesome and helped to raise some funds for the production of their new album.
In between I hitchhiked to Golden where I spent a night at the Goldenwood Lodge with Barbara and Andy.
Apparently, they had a lot of visitors (all Swiss!!!), friends and former wwoofers at that time. We made pizza in the evening and went to a concert of country singer Tim Hus. I really had a great time with them again and wish I could have had more time to stay with them.
Now being back in Vancouver again, I have to decide what to do within the remaining few weeks. I am not going to tell when exactly I will be back. Apparently, the date of my return was not kept secretly enough by those who knew it. I still hope that I can surprise at least some of my friends with my arrival in Germany.
But that is future talk! :-)
Mar 29, 2011
North - Part IV: Alaska, Alaska!
Chased Bear Day, March 16, 2011 - 251 km
While heading out of Whitehorse we came closer to the Elias Mountain Range, the highest mountain range in North America and the second highest coastal mountains in the world. I count this day as one of the most amazing on the trip as far as the beauty of landscape. The Alaska Highway follows the mountains for over 400 km, always keeping distance to the huge mountains as trying to show its respect and without ever making the attempt to cross them or find a way through. To the right, frozen rivers and lakes came in and out of side, home to herds of caribous that we spotted along the way.
Although the good weather of Whitehorse didn't leave us, we were not able to get a glimpse on Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada (5,950m).
We found a nice rest area with a great view on the mountains and the Kluane River where we spend the night.
Oh, yeah, the chased bear: ummh, guess there is not much to tell about that. Of course, we haven't seen a bear, probably because most of them might have been in hibernation still. Nevertheless, we imagined it would be funny as hell crossing a bear's way that is actually chased and attacked by a swarm of bald eagles.
You might not think this is funny, at all, but we laughed our heads off...I suppose these things happen when you spend a week in the wild without any other form of entertainment around.
-30 Day, March 17, 2011 - 390 km
We finally hit the border to Alaska. My concerns of being harrassed by the officers again- as it happened the two times before - proofed to be needless. In fact, the officers were surprisingly friendly and entertaining, asked us a couple questions about the purpose of our visit to the U.S. and finally let us pass.
Alaska, here we come!
We came to the little town of Tok, the first settlement after crossing the border where we were disappointed by the "high" prices on gas (4.19$/gallon)...who would have thought of that, in a state sitting on a huge amount of oil! Tok also has been the town where we decided to leave the Alaska Highway.
It actually continues to Delta Junction, close to Fairbanks in Interior Alaska but we checked the road conditions to Fairbanks. Due to the mild temperatures the snow started to melt but would freeze through the evenings again which made the roads really dangerous at that time. So we decided to take the route to Anchorage first, right at the coast in order to wait for better road conditions.
With still mild temperatures of around -5°C, we found a neat spot to sleep along the highway.By that time we were so used to lower temperatures than that which made us sleep in underwear and t-shirts.
Damn mistake!
The sky cleared up throughout the night and all the cold air settled to the ground, dropping the temperatures to -30°C within hours. We literally froze our butts off that night and had a tough time getting up the next morning. This definitely has been the coldest night we experienced so far.
The Walmart Lie Day, March 18, 2011 - 592 km
In best weather conditions we drove further south passing by Mt. Sanford and Mt. Drum, both covered in thick layers of snow that didn't even show a piece of rock - white giants.
Through a wide plateau with only a few trees but lots of snow and ice we came down to the ocean with Anchorage ahead.
After all the small villages and towns we have been driving through - some of them not even exceeding 100 inhabitants - it was quite a shock to be confronted with Anchorage, a 400,000-residents city, right in the middle of nowhere.
We finally got a couchsurfing host, Kelvin, who agreed to host us for two nights some days after our arrival in town.
So we were trying to find a place to sleep which is damn difficult in a city like Anchorage. I heard a lot of people saying that camping/overnight parking on Walmart parking lots is allowed and pretty convenient. Anchorage Walmarts are probably the only ones putting on signs that explicitly warned not to use the parking lot for camping, otherwise all vehicles would be towed. I am pretty sure that this is the case with almost all other store locations in the country - ergo: the a.m. statement is definitely a lie!
After spending half of the evening searching for another good spot, we decided to drive into an RV park. Fortunately, we found one that was still open but without someone around to pay for the night.
Happy as we were, we fell asleep just to be woken up by the RV ranchers who friendly told us that the park is closed for camping in winter and open for day-use only. However they also suggested to spend the night right in front of the gates of the park where we should not be bothered by anyone.
And another lie: In the middle of the night, a police officer woke us up and told us that camping is absolutely prohibited. We explained the situation to him and then something weird happened. He demanded to get our names and dates of birth to check and - at least this was our suggestion - to write a ticket for us. When he heard we were Germans however, he got back to the police car and headed off without returning that night.
He left us puzzled but glad and we got our rest that night, at last.
Ocean Walk Day, March 19, 2011 - 174 km
Since we had a couple days until we could stay at our host's place in Anchorage, we decided to drive down to Kenai paninsula for the weekend. Alaskans I met in Canada suggested to visit the town of Homer for seafood and the great view that the town is supposed to provide.
The highway leads along the coast following an arm of the Cook Inlet that narrows more and more the longer you drive on the highway. The water at the coast was still frozen and icy so that we actually could walk on the ocean at that point.
Suddenly a strange wave stretching from one side of the inlet to the other came from the ocean and made its way through the narrow straight. We couldn't figure out what it caused but it we tried to follow it in the car. It was moving pretty fast until it reached the far end of the inlet.
We continued on the highway and spend the first night 80 km out of Anchorage in the mountains.
21 Pieces Day, March 20, 2011 - 384 km
After we left the Kenai Range towards Homer, the landscape, for the first time being in Alaska, became kind of boring. Flat land with farms and small towns, some moose occasionally crossed our way and we spotted more and more bald eagles as we came closer to the coast again.
10 km before we reached Homer we came on top of a hill and were blown away by the scenery that suddenly opened up before us without a warning: high-up mountains, a coast line that bend around the neat town of Homer to the foot of the mountains and the rough ocean (the weather changed dramatically that day).
We were driving through town and reached the Spit, a small strip of land in the sea, where all the fishing boats come in to unload the catch. That was exactly the spot where we decided to have seafood. Fresh Alaskan salmon with Parmesan, actually the best salmon I have ever had, and loads of deep fried cod (we ended up eating 21 pieces of it).
After that we drove to town trying to get into the Pratt Museum. It was almost closing when we arrived, so they let us in without paying and we rushed through the exhibits of Alaskan history and nature before leaving the town again.
And again we chose the same spot we spend the night before to sleep under a star covered sky.
Chill-out Days, March 21-22, 2011 - 50 km
We came back into Anchorage and even within these two days the mild temperatures caused a lot of melting of snow, walking on the ocean was not possible any longer.
Kelvin, our couchsurfing host, has been really hospitable and amazed us with his huge collection of movies - the number of DVDs should be around 1,000 by now, he told me!!!
Guess what we did while being in Anchorage these two days?!
Besides walking through downtown there is not much to do in town. There are some really interesting museums about the native history of Alaska that I was quite interested to visit. Unfortunately, most of them were closed.
We said goodbye to Klevin, not knowing that we were going to see him again pretty soon.
Spring Day, March 23, 2011 - 219 km
Spring was completely arriving in Alaska the coming days: day-time temperatures were around 10 to 15°C and only -10°C overnight. This was exactly the reason why we decided to drive to Fairbanks in the Interior Alaska.
Since we couldn't move our butts off the couch while watching some more movies, we only got half way close to Denali NP.
The question that I asked this lady at the gas station if we could spend the night on the parking lot behind the house, came so surprisingly for her that she agreed before even noticing what she was saying.
"Magic Bus" Day, March 24, 2011 - 361 km
This day has been pretty exciting for me because it was the day that we would be driving through Denali National Park which is important in two ways at the same time: it is the place where Christopher McCandless decided to "live off the land", where he found the "magic bus" and where he finally died of starvation; secondly it is also where Mount McKinley is situated, with an elevation of almost 6,200 km the highest mountain in North America.
As far as the bus, we already read blogs and other information on the net saying that it is a pretty tough hike of around 50 km round-trip and is best to be done in winter because a hiker could easily walk over the ice of the river. On the other hand, winter in the Interior Alaska means hiking and most of all sleeping at temperatures around -30 to -40 °C. Obviously we decided against it; nevertheless, it has been an interesting feeling to be that close to this particular spot.
In the late afternoon we arrived at a rest area with a great view over the vast valley below and the mountains in the distance.
We decided to drive to Fairbanks the next day (the town was only 40 km ahead).
After we had dinner, an old guy on a bike approached us and we started chatting a bit (it turned out that his German was pretty good).
Right after he left, two police cars drove onto the rest area and Richard and me were sure they would tell us that over-night parking and camping was not allowed and send us away. Instead, they asked us for our passports, about our travel plans and finally asked us about a white van with three black guys in it that they were looking for (that was when we also spotted the helicopter in the air).
We denied seeing them and tried to get to sleep, even though the fact that three criminals were on the run didn't really help to calm us down.
Nice Lady Day, March 25, 2011 - 120 km
In the morning while still being on the rest area, Richard told me about the nightly visit we apparently had: Someone stopped his car right next to ours in the middle of the night, knocked on the roof of our camper calling for us and finally went away; additionally, some animal surrounded our van at night but Richard couldn't figure out what it was. He tried to wake me up while these occasions took place but was able to do it. :D
Without being harmed by both animals and humans, we came into Fairbanks, checked out the town (we found out about the International Ice Sculpture Championship that was going on at that time) and really needed a laundry and a kitchen to wash our clothes (this being the first time on that trip) and to precook pasta and pancakes (you can see: our culinary menu was pretty diversified).
That's why we made it to the next hostel to ask for these things.
We ended up meeting the owner of a Bed and Breakfast Hostel who immediately allowed us to use the laundry and the kitchen for as long as we would like to. She only asked for 7 bucks!!! Sweet little lady.
In the evening we drove back to that same spot because it was still close to town and we could sleep there undisturbed - well, kind of, haha!!
We decided to visit the ice sculpture championship the next day. We also got a message from a couchsurfer in Anchorage who agreed on letting us stay. We thought spending some more days in Anchorage would be quite relaxing. We should soon enough find out that this was in deed the case - but in a different way than anticipated.
We ended the day with a badminton match on ice.
The Ice Question Day, March 26, 2011 - 160 km
As planned, we went to the ice sculpture championship which was amazing. Some of the artwork is made out of one ice block only. Sometimes we were wondering, if some of the sculptures were actually made out of glass instead of ice. But let the pictures tell you more.
After that we were heading out of town back on that particular spot for the third time where we spent the night in order to make it to Anchorage the next day.
Bad Couchsurfer Day, March 27, 2011 - 560 km
When we hit Anchorage in the afternoon after a long drive through Denali NP, we still had no answer by that couchsurfer. In order to do the final check, we decided to get back to Kelvin's place to use his internet access.
He welcomed us and - after finding out that we had no answer and with that no place to stay - he offered us right away to stay again for a few days.
And that was how the marathon of movie watching went on.
While watching we talked about food in Alaska and I mentioned that we were really stoked on eating moose meat as we heard it's supposed to be very lean. "Hey, you know what?! I still have some moose meat in the freezer! Why not make it for dinner tomorrow?!".
And that was exactly what we were doing. We had moose steak with mashed potatoes and veggies.
Chill-out Days vol. 2, March 28/29, 2011 - 20 km
Besides watching DVDs, eating moose and relax we actually didn't do anything. I went to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art one day just to find out that it is closed Mondays.
On March 29 we decided it was time for the way back to the Yukon. We planned on staying in Whitehorse with the option of applying for jobs. But this will be part of my next update.
While heading out of Whitehorse we came closer to the Elias Mountain Range, the highest mountain range in North America and the second highest coastal mountains in the world. I count this day as one of the most amazing on the trip as far as the beauty of landscape. The Alaska Highway follows the mountains for over 400 km, always keeping distance to the huge mountains as trying to show its respect and without ever making the attempt to cross them or find a way through. To the right, frozen rivers and lakes came in and out of side, home to herds of caribous that we spotted along the way.
We found a nice rest area with a great view on the mountains and the Kluane River where we spend the night.
You might not think this is funny, at all, but we laughed our heads off...I suppose these things happen when you spend a week in the wild without any other form of entertainment around.
-30 Day, March 17, 2011 - 390 km
We finally hit the border to Alaska. My concerns of being harrassed by the officers again- as it happened the two times before - proofed to be needless. In fact, the officers were surprisingly friendly and entertaining, asked us a couple questions about the purpose of our visit to the U.S. and finally let us pass.
Alaska, here we come!
We came to the little town of Tok, the first settlement after crossing the border where we were disappointed by the "high" prices on gas (4.19$/gallon)...who would have thought of that, in a state sitting on a huge amount of oil! Tok also has been the town where we decided to leave the Alaska Highway.
It actually continues to Delta Junction, close to Fairbanks in Interior Alaska but we checked the road conditions to Fairbanks. Due to the mild temperatures the snow started to melt but would freeze through the evenings again which made the roads really dangerous at that time. So we decided to take the route to Anchorage first, right at the coast in order to wait for better road conditions.
With still mild temperatures of around -5°C, we found a neat spot to sleep along the highway.By that time we were so used to lower temperatures than that which made us sleep in underwear and t-shirts.
Damn mistake!
The sky cleared up throughout the night and all the cold air settled to the ground, dropping the temperatures to -30°C within hours. We literally froze our butts off that night and had a tough time getting up the next morning. This definitely has been the coldest night we experienced so far.
The Walmart Lie Day, March 18, 2011 - 592 km
In best weather conditions we drove further south passing by Mt. Sanford and Mt. Drum, both covered in thick layers of snow that didn't even show a piece of rock - white giants.
We finally got a couchsurfing host, Kelvin, who agreed to host us for two nights some days after our arrival in town.
So we were trying to find a place to sleep which is damn difficult in a city like Anchorage. I heard a lot of people saying that camping/overnight parking on Walmart parking lots is allowed and pretty convenient. Anchorage Walmarts are probably the only ones putting on signs that explicitly warned not to use the parking lot for camping, otherwise all vehicles would be towed. I am pretty sure that this is the case with almost all other store locations in the country - ergo: the a.m. statement is definitely a lie!
After spending half of the evening searching for another good spot, we decided to drive into an RV park. Fortunately, we found one that was still open but without someone around to pay for the night.
Happy as we were, we fell asleep just to be woken up by the RV ranchers who friendly told us that the park is closed for camping in winter and open for day-use only. However they also suggested to spend the night right in front of the gates of the park where we should not be bothered by anyone.
And another lie: In the middle of the night, a police officer woke us up and told us that camping is absolutely prohibited. We explained the situation to him and then something weird happened. He demanded to get our names and dates of birth to check and - at least this was our suggestion - to write a ticket for us. When he heard we were Germans however, he got back to the police car and headed off without returning that night.
He left us puzzled but glad and we got our rest that night, at last.
Ocean Walk Day, March 19, 2011 - 174 km
Since we had a couple days until we could stay at our host's place in Anchorage, we decided to drive down to Kenai paninsula for the weekend. Alaskans I met in Canada suggested to visit the town of Homer for seafood and the great view that the town is supposed to provide.
The highway leads along the coast following an arm of the Cook Inlet that narrows more and more the longer you drive on the highway. The water at the coast was still frozen and icy so that we actually could walk on the ocean at that point.
21 Pieces Day, March 20, 2011 - 384 km
After we left the Kenai Range towards Homer, the landscape, for the first time being in Alaska, became kind of boring. Flat land with farms and small towns, some moose occasionally crossed our way and we spotted more and more bald eagles as we came closer to the coast again.
10 km before we reached Homer we came on top of a hill and were blown away by the scenery that suddenly opened up before us without a warning: high-up mountains, a coast line that bend around the neat town of Homer to the foot of the mountains and the rough ocean (the weather changed dramatically that day).
We were driving through town and reached the Spit, a small strip of land in the sea, where all the fishing boats come in to unload the catch. That was exactly the spot where we decided to have seafood. Fresh Alaskan salmon with Parmesan, actually the best salmon I have ever had, and loads of deep fried cod (we ended up eating 21 pieces of it).
After that we drove to town trying to get into the Pratt Museum. It was almost closing when we arrived, so they let us in without paying and we rushed through the exhibits of Alaskan history and nature before leaving the town again.
And again we chose the same spot we spend the night before to sleep under a star covered sky.
Chill-out Days, March 21-22, 2011 - 50 km
We came back into Anchorage and even within these two days the mild temperatures caused a lot of melting of snow, walking on the ocean was not possible any longer.
Kelvin, our couchsurfing host, has been really hospitable and amazed us with his huge collection of movies - the number of DVDs should be around 1,000 by now, he told me!!!
Guess what we did while being in Anchorage these two days?!
Besides walking through downtown there is not much to do in town. There are some really interesting museums about the native history of Alaska that I was quite interested to visit. Unfortunately, most of them were closed.
We said goodbye to Klevin, not knowing that we were going to see him again pretty soon.
Spring Day, March 23, 2011 - 219 km
Spring was completely arriving in Alaska the coming days: day-time temperatures were around 10 to 15°C and only -10°C overnight. This was exactly the reason why we decided to drive to Fairbanks in the Interior Alaska.
Since we couldn't move our butts off the couch while watching some more movies, we only got half way close to Denali NP.
The question that I asked this lady at the gas station if we could spend the night on the parking lot behind the house, came so surprisingly for her that she agreed before even noticing what she was saying.
"Magic Bus" Day, March 24, 2011 - 361 km
This day has been pretty exciting for me because it was the day that we would be driving through Denali National Park which is important in two ways at the same time: it is the place where Christopher McCandless decided to "live off the land", where he found the "magic bus" and where he finally died of starvation; secondly it is also where Mount McKinley is situated, with an elevation of almost 6,200 km the highest mountain in North America.
As far as the bus, we already read blogs and other information on the net saying that it is a pretty tough hike of around 50 km round-trip and is best to be done in winter because a hiker could easily walk over the ice of the river. On the other hand, winter in the Interior Alaska means hiking and most of all sleeping at temperatures around -30 to -40 °C. Obviously we decided against it; nevertheless, it has been an interesting feeling to be that close to this particular spot.
In the late afternoon we arrived at a rest area with a great view over the vast valley below and the mountains in the distance.
After we had dinner, an old guy on a bike approached us and we started chatting a bit (it turned out that his German was pretty good).
Right after he left, two police cars drove onto the rest area and Richard and me were sure they would tell us that over-night parking and camping was not allowed and send us away. Instead, they asked us for our passports, about our travel plans and finally asked us about a white van with three black guys in it that they were looking for (that was when we also spotted the helicopter in the air).
We denied seeing them and tried to get to sleep, even though the fact that three criminals were on the run didn't really help to calm us down.
Nice Lady Day, March 25, 2011 - 120 km
In the morning while still being on the rest area, Richard told me about the nightly visit we apparently had: Someone stopped his car right next to ours in the middle of the night, knocked on the roof of our camper calling for us and finally went away; additionally, some animal surrounded our van at night but Richard couldn't figure out what it was. He tried to wake me up while these occasions took place but was able to do it. :D
Without being harmed by both animals and humans, we came into Fairbanks, checked out the town (we found out about the International Ice Sculpture Championship that was going on at that time) and really needed a laundry and a kitchen to wash our clothes (this being the first time on that trip) and to precook pasta and pancakes (you can see: our culinary menu was pretty diversified).
That's why we made it to the next hostel to ask for these things.
We ended up meeting the owner of a Bed and Breakfast Hostel who immediately allowed us to use the laundry and the kitchen for as long as we would like to. She only asked for 7 bucks!!! Sweet little lady.
In the evening we drove back to that same spot because it was still close to town and we could sleep there undisturbed - well, kind of, haha!!
We decided to visit the ice sculpture championship the next day. We also got a message from a couchsurfer in Anchorage who agreed on letting us stay. We thought spending some more days in Anchorage would be quite relaxing. We should soon enough find out that this was in deed the case - but in a different way than anticipated.
We ended the day with a badminton match on ice.
The Ice Question Day, March 26, 2011 - 160 km
As planned, we went to the ice sculpture championship which was amazing. Some of the artwork is made out of one ice block only. Sometimes we were wondering, if some of the sculptures were actually made out of glass instead of ice. But let the pictures tell you more.
Bad Couchsurfer Day, March 27, 2011 - 560 km
When we hit Anchorage in the afternoon after a long drive through Denali NP, we still had no answer by that couchsurfer. In order to do the final check, we decided to get back to Kelvin's place to use his internet access.
He welcomed us and - after finding out that we had no answer and with that no place to stay - he offered us right away to stay again for a few days.
And that was how the marathon of movie watching went on.
While watching we talked about food in Alaska and I mentioned that we were really stoked on eating moose meat as we heard it's supposed to be very lean. "Hey, you know what?! I still have some moose meat in the freezer! Why not make it for dinner tomorrow?!".
And that was exactly what we were doing. We had moose steak with mashed potatoes and veggies.
Chill-out Days vol. 2, March 28/29, 2011 - 20 km
Besides watching DVDs, eating moose and relax we actually didn't do anything. I went to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art one day just to find out that it is closed Mondays.
On March 29 we decided it was time for the way back to the Yukon. We planned on staying in Whitehorse with the option of applying for jobs. But this will be part of my next update.
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