Alaska by Javelin.

[Keith Clements]

Hi all, well today was not by javelin but by big Green Bus. A eleven hour trip into and back (one road) the Denali National Park. The trip covered 85 miles each way and is the only way to get to see the park proper. You are only allowed to take private cars 15 miles in. I could see why when we travelled over the road, good metal surface (never been or will be sealed) but quite narrow in parts , and sheer drops! The main attraction , Denali, which is the highest mountain in North America at 20,310ft used to be called mt McKinley but Denali is the local Indian name for thousands of years and only McKinley for 100 yrs, and he never even went to Alaska and wasn't important. Debate has raged for years and Obama 2015 made Denali official, as Alaskans used that anyway!
Anyway the trip . We started off at 10am and went up a huge valley with mountains both sides but the left ons of the Alaska range is the highest, starting at 7000ft 12000, up to Denali itself behind the ones in front and towering over them. We were lucky a couple of hours in as the clouds were clear over it and later but closer the clouds were covering the top.
However the other attraction was the wildlife! We were in their patch so the opposite of a zoo. We saw Caribou small and large , a moose, and Grizzly bears in the distance , about six or so, until an hour from home here was one a BIG male about 50 m from. The bus . Ignoring us just grazing. The mountain scenery is magnificent and the river in the valley a trickle on a huge flood plain almost across the valley. It's all huge, hard to describe and photos don't do it justice. We took sandwiches and drink with us as there are toilet stops only about every 20 mls and two display stops but no food. All very pristine and natural.
So that was today, and tomorrow we head back much the way we came turning off at Haines junction to Haines where our ferry leaves from in a few days. . Neil

[Keith Clements]

Just done 7 hours on the gravel Denali road 8 . Brilliant scenery. Just stopped at the first cafe for blueberry pie.

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View from cafe.

[RogerStevens]

Hi All,
be sure to go to Paxon Lake for the beaver dam.
Roger

[Keith Clements]

We arrived at 22.30 at the campsite because the petrol station at the end of the Denali highway was considered expensive so we did a splash and dash (against my advice) as Milepost book indicated another at the Tok highway junction but this was closed. Anyhow we phoned another station that was 16 miles off our route and it was open. We also bought some Thai food there so we could go straight to bed. 10 hrs driving was enough.

The Grizzly lake campground had hot showers which were welcomed to clean off the thick dust from the day.

An early morning picture of swans and a duck on the lake.

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[Keith Clements]

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After 12 hrs driving we made it to Haines Junction. Just 150 miles from catching the ferry.

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Burgers cooked on the collected wood fire.

But campground has no water .

Photo does not show the ice covered mountain behind us.

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[Keith Clements]

Hi all, Saturday evening after a lovely meal provided by the girls , and cooked over a BBQ fire at our campsite. We are now at a campground at Haines Junction after travelling from Grizzley lake campground 50 odd miles on the Tok Cutoff road. We left 8 am as today was along journey and we wanted to get as close as reasonable to Haines where we catch the ferry on Monday. So we are 150 miles from Haines and a day up our sleeve.
The journey today we went the remaining 60 odd miles up to the Alaska highway hwy2 in Alaska , hwy 1 in Canada, and from Tok, headed south to the Canadian border. Stopped a few miles north at a wildlife information place at Tetlin where all the migrating birds from all sorts of parts of the world come to or pass through on their travels annually. Because of the amazing supply of food and almost 24 hr sunlight for a few short months here , everything grows like wildfire and the birds take advantage to breed and raise their young and then fly away back to where they came from.
Then we crossed back into Canada till tomorrow when we go back into USA to Haines. The rest of our day was a stop at Beaver Creek for a quick lunch, and drive south over the rough part of the Alaska highway being repaired, some 70 km which was very dusty.! And rough in places. And this section we had seen anyway on the way up.
The previous day we travelled from Denali national Park south to Cantwell, and turned left on to the Denali hwy , a minor road which was a question mark but was 150miles shorter. Well the 25 miles each side were ok , gravel but smooth, and then we got the middle bit , very corregated and we were down to 30 mph max. Scenery amazing , lakes all over the place and mountains, glaciers, and near the end we stopped at Tangle lake and had Blueberry pie at a cafe camp ground fishing place run by a lady Nadine who had an Alaska mountain named after her! We came onto the Richardson hwy Sth to turn left on to the Tok Cutoff road and Grizzley lake for 10.30 camping.
On the Denali road we should've seen wildlife but saw none. Today we saw 2 moose, and another grizzleybear and her two cubs on the road edge, and a little further on a male Grizzley a little further off the road. A case of being in the right place at the right time ! Time for bed , it's still daylight 11 pm ! Neil

[Keith Clements]

Sunday was fairly relaxed except...We stopped off to get some sandwiches for lunch from the Green Apple store. I noticed the fuel tank was half empty but was assured by Scott that he had filled up and the gauge was faulty. Obviously the long drive had numbed his brain as 30 miles down the road he came to the conclusion he had not. So we did some calculations poured the spare can into the tank and hoped we would make the next 120 miles.

There were some pretty lakes and bold mountains with flowing glaciers en route. We made it through the border unlike the previous day when Neil and I were accused of illegal entry as our passports had not been stamped on the Glacier park border. No doubt because the guard was preoccupied by Scott 's lack of passport.

We coasted down the long hills to conserve gas and made it to a very rusty petrol pump where we only put 3 gallons in the spare can in case of bad petrol.
We made it into Haines and a gas station then looked for a camp site. The camping park sign sent us to a hotel for registration. Pressure from Neil and I convinced Scott to get a room so now we can have a shower.

Slap up meal of salmon tonight and the ferry tomorrow.

[Keith Clements]

Hi all, well it's our last day on land in Alaska, and it's bright sunshine at 8am with the sun at approx 45 deg, it's been up a lot longer than I have! I'm in the foyer of the Halsingland hotel where we stayed the night last nite, in a real bed, shower, and far too much luxury. This is where the wifi is.
Yesterday: we had made Haines Junction about 8 pm after a long day to get the road works out of the way and leave an easy 150 miles to Haines itself. We found the only campground reasonably deserted as it turned out their water supply had broken, showers next door and the toilet flushed with a bucket of water . Didn't worry us much after long drops and no water in some state parks, so set up under some trees, and the girls started a fire, they were self contained in the RV so not a big deal no water. They were trying to empty their freezer ready for the boat( LPG has to be shut off) so we had hamburgers over the fire and toasted(roasted) squash in various colours, new to me, like small marrows and very tasty. A beer and all good!
Next morning early pack up , breakfast, and off about 9.30 around the corner to the Green Apple grocery shop beside the petrol station . Well we were too early, it was Sunday , and the lady owner hadn't made her very nice filled rolls yet. We had some on the way north and returned for more. So we waited while she whacked some together for us, and the back to the car. Well a local very German accented lady who served in the petrol station came over to us recognising the car from two weeks before and said she had our plastic 2 gal petrol can we had left behind! All embarrassed , we had to explain to her that because it was leaking from the from the vent cap(lost ) we had bought a new 5 gall one and emptied the small one and because we didn't want to put an empty, broken petrol container in a rubbish bin, had left it beside the bin on the forecourt. Probably should've spoken to somebody I guess , and it had come back to bite us ! She was ok, laughed, and said she would dispose of it. So on our way, a few stops for photos and then a discussion on whether the petrol gauge was dodgy or we hadn't filled up. We hadn't filled up!? So put the 5 gals in the tank!! And then it rained, no worry but the cloud base spoiled photos, but the geography was still amazing , snow, glaciers, big ice formed valleys , and more mountains, and no petrol, until we went through the Alaskan Border again and got a dash at the 33 mile cafe , after a short debate and returning a mile for it! Alls well that ends well! And after really. Filling up in Haines , found a campsite, but were required to check in at this hotel beside it, and on enquiring the price for a nite, outvoted Scott and stayed!
The girls turned up, and decide to book in as well, and we all dined in the Restuarant like kings and queens on some of Alaskas finest . And finished off with some local liqueurs , I tried Moonshine, Mmmmmm , bit like clear smooth whiskey but no idea of its origin. Still standing! So a walk around the parade ground of Fort William Seward (Google it). And off to bed. Still daylight!
Today , a browse around the town, and ready for to its boat at 6 pm Thro the inside of Canada's coastal islands down to Bellingham just in side Washington. No more epistles till then as no Wifi on the boat for the next 4 days! Regards Neil

[Keith Clements]

Friday nite on coast at Lincoln City . This morning we arrived in Bellingham, the final stop of our trip on the Alaska marine highway ferry from Haines. This is a remarkable trip , nothing like the cruise ships that ply up and down the coast. The ferry is basically a bus that connects the small towns on the islands of the lower part of Alaska, and while some of them are visited by the cruise ships, the others are inaccessible to them . The ferry goes in some very narrow channels well inland and without a chart it's difficult to describe. The ferry draws 16ft so that's why it can go those places. It's a car ferry and is a smaller version of our Cook Straight ones. We had a cabin and evening meals in the restuarant but a lot of the other passengers doss down on seats or erect tents on the rear upper deck with tape to hold them down. Because the trip was all on inland passages it's calm as a millpond and not much wind so tenting or sleeping on the deck under the solarium roof works well. The stops we made at Juneau, Sitka , Peterburg, and Ketchikan were short, but we had a couple of hours in Sitka and 1 hr in Ketchikan. Sitka was the original Russian capital of Alaska and after USA bought it from them in 1867, the handover was done there, and it remained the capital for many years after. Quite a few Russian things still there. On the last day thurs, we three were given a tour thro the engine room by the 2 nd engineer. Very interesting for an old navy marine engineer! 2 x 9 cyl diesels 7500hp each driving a 3:1 reduction gearbox, driving two variable pitch props. Shafts go same way all the time , blades twist to give reverse. All very clever and engines only 2 yrs old, made in Finland. The scenery was brilliant all the way down the coast and the Mountains!!
Today we had fun getting out of Bellingham and further along at going past Tacoma as its a long weekend for 4 th July celebrations in USA and we decided to go along the Portland coast , with all the other Americans going there! About 3 hrs of 20 mph driving , so it was along day. Late this afternoon we stopped briefly at a huge aircraft museum where Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose is on display, and a 747 is mounted on the roof of one buildings! Amazing collection,shame it was shut but probably as well , we didn't have time to do it justice. Tomorrow an early start, and a long way to go yet. Car going well! We're still talking to each other! Regards Neil

[Keith Clements]

After 14hr drive arrived a day early at Roger and Colleen's so as to miss the 4th July rush back into San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Saw the redwood forest on the way down.

More pictures.

[Keith Clements]

Saturday with two days to go. 8 am start this morning. Hotel last nite quite nice included breakfast. We have been in Oregon State since pm yesterday, strange mixture of contradictions. You can buy Mariajuana(wacky weed) in special shops but aren't allowed to fill your own car petrol tank . And at breakfast it was on paper plates and plastic cutlery, every thing else was posh?
The trip down the coast this morning was pretty but a coastal fog over most everything, pity, but little traffic so are making good time. Stopped on noon for a break and lunch and a very nice mid blue MGTF 1500 1955 was in the car park. Met the couple in our cafe they were returning from an MG rally North of there and we drove together more or less down the coast to the California border at 2.30 pm where they turned off. Then into the Giant Redwood forests along the main road, past a few groups of Elks grazing, and now sea mist along the coast again 4 pm. Going well 215 mls to go for today. Stopped for fuel in Eureka , a stretch etc and off again. 186mls to go. The mist is now fine drizzle on the windscreen. Another petrol stop and on into the dark , yes dark!! We are back in the real world again, daylight and night. On, following our French lady on the Garmin Sat-Nav (which in computer terms is as old as the Jowett!-8 yrs). To Roger's place 60+miles north of San Francisco and she led us right to the door! Not bad for a french lady in California!
Well we arrived at 10 pm to a roaring party, not at Roger's, the neighbour's , who were celebrating a wedding. Wow! So we talked and eat and drank a beer till 12 ish when they reduced the noise, and we retired to bed.
Tomorrow a relaxed day, a few checks on the Jav to see why we've got so far without any major problems! And then on to the last 2 x 250 ish mile days to LA, and trip end. Neil.

[Forumadmin]

Now drinking lots of craft beer in Paso Robles CA just 250 miles from LA.

[Keith Clements]

We made it to Los Alamitos after an overnight in Paso Robles to give us just 250 miles to drive. As it happened the 101 and 405 were clearer than Scott had ever seen them so we did not have to even slow down.

We covered somewhere between 6000 to 7000 miles on the road and another 1000 by ferry.
I will have to recalculate the mileage as the speedo had a funny moment in Jasper and we switched to GPS mileage recording.

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[RogerStevens]

A Yankee, a Limey and a Kiwi drove a Jowett to Alaska............

Congratulations on completing an epic journey. You have earned

your place in the annals of Arctic exploration.

Roger

[p.p.]

Well done Boy's!!!!
a great journey....with a great car!!!
you deserved a big beer and more!!!
peter