During the world Pandemic we will be practicing our social distancing
so when we are all able to move around again will be posting more
of the Ramblin Ruis adventures.
Be Safe and Keep and remember to stay Six feet apart.
Friday, April 3, 2020
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Ketchikan and Beyond
Ketchikan and Beyond
January 15,2020
Well the last 3 plus months have been a blur and time has flown by
since our last up date. We have celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas, and we
have lots to be thankful for in 2019. Let’s see if we can get you caught up
with the Ramblin Ruis adventures.
August 30 to September 30
Ketchikan Alaska
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| Creek Street in Ketchikan |
We arrived in Ketchikan at 7:00 am on August 30 via the Alaska
Highway Ferry. Once we off loaded we met Ashley at the local Walmart at around
8:30 am where she picked us up and off to Allen Marine we headed. We agreed to
work for Allen Marine for the month of September as Dock Representatives. So
not wasting anytime we went to the office and met the staff, filled out our
paperwork and went to take our drug test. After completing the paperwork we
picked up our uniforms and officially became members of the “Green Team” which
is the nickname for the dock reps as each member wears a bright lime green tee
shirt and or a lime green rain jacket. After finishing our pre-employment
obligations we headed off to set up our home for the month which was located at
the Clover Pass RV Park and Marina which is located on the island north of
Ketchikan. We were given a great site at Clover Pass which backed right up to
the bay and looked over the Marina.
September 1 was our first day of work so as dock reps we had to be
at work by 630 am so we could meet the arriving cruise ship passengers and
escort them to the appropriate awaiting Allen Marine tour boat. We had 5 team
members Paula and I were filling in as most of the dock reps from the year were
college students and left at the end of August to return to school. As we quickly learned this was a fairly fast
paced job that was on a tight schedule. We usually had 2 or 3 tours going at the
sametime from one of the 4 berths that the cruise ships were docked. We were
divided into 2 teams and dressed in our green shirts and rain jackets we would
stand in front of our assigned ship with a sign for the tour. These tours
numbered any where from 20 to 150 passengers depending on the tour. We would
either gather the tour and walk them as a group to their tour boat or we would
send them down the pier to another “Green Team” member who would direct them to
their tour boat.
One of us would collect their tickets and board them on the
tour. Once the tours left, we would fill
out paperwork for the cruise line to verify the total tickets to be reimbursed to
Allen Marine by the cruise line. Then we would go back to the cruise ship and
reconcile with the ships repersentive. This was pretty much our work schedule while
in Ketchikan.
Besides working and helping Allen Marine out, Ketchikan was the best
part of our Alaska trip. Spending time with Ashley and Tristian was wonderful
as they were great host.
Not only were they great hosts but they spoiled us
several times a week with the great meals and deserts that Tristan made, key
lime pie, cranberry coffee cake, and cloudberry cheesecake to mention a few.
We had wonderful time picnicking and hiking, wildlife watching and gazing at
the northern lights just to mention a few of our adventures.
Needless to say,
this month was a priceless part of our adventure in Alaska.
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| Courtesy of Peter Straight |
We left Ketchikan on September 30 on the historic last ever ferry
from Ketchikan to Prince Rupert Canada. Because of US Customs requirements that
their personnel be armed while on duty, and a refusal of Canada to allow US personnel to be armed, the decision was made to close
the US Customs office in Prince Rupert. So, with no customs no more ferry
service between these cities.
From Prince Rupert we caught the BC Ferry to Victoria Island and
then the Blackball ferry line from Victoria Island to Port Angeles
Washington. Once back in the lower 48 we
spent time at Olympic National Park, Cape Flattery, Oregon Coast and then made
our way back to Las Cruces. We then rented a car and made a whirlwind two week trip
back east to see family and friends making several stops going and coming to
visit with members of our “Yellowstone Family”.
So, from the time we left Ketchikan until we returned to Las Cruces
for the winter we drove almost 8000 miles, were in two countries, traveled
through 18 states ,crossed 7 time zones and rode 3 ferries.
WOW
NO wonder we were worn out and haven’t done much exciting since we
returned to Las Cruces.
Closing out 2019 were have been very blessed with the adventures we
have been able to take, the new friends we have made, renewing old friendships
and spending priceless time with Ashley and Tristan along the way. As we look
forward to the new decade, we will leave you with a review of 2019 in pictures.
Until Next Time
Ramblin Ruis
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| Matanuska Glacier |
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| Break Time in Whittier Alaska |
Until Next Time
Ramblin Ruis
Saturday, October 5, 2019
Rambling Ruis Alaskan Adventure
Ramblin Ruis Alaskan Adventure
September 29, 2019
Well the past two months or so have been a real whirlwind so I
apologize for the time delay between blogs, but let’s see if we can get you
caught up on our travels.
As our time ended in Skagway the last week of July the whole
crew had a going away dinner for us at the campground clubhouse where we got to
see everybody at one time to say our goodbyes. It wasn’t easy to see the whole
crew when we were working as we were scattered in five different store
locations. The food was delicious and even Nancy and Dennis the company owners
were able to attend. Paula and I worked right up until Wednesday night before
we left on August 1st but we were able to get all packed up and
hooked without much problem.
On August 1 the adventure began bright and early as we were at
the customs gate which opens at 7 am and we were first in line. This is
important as we were driving to Tok on this day 450 plus miles away and if you
get a late start you get caught behind all the tour buses headed to Carcross
and beyond and the wait at the Canadian Customs can be long as they check each
bus, so thankfully we beat them and made it through customs with no problem.
The drive on the Alaskan highway to Tok was nice along the way as we had large
snow-covered mountains to our south most of the way. The glaciers in these
mountains which are 12 to 16 thousand feet high hold the largest ice fields in
the world except for the ones at the north and south poles. As we made it back
to the Alaskan border for the interior, we cleared US customs with ease. The
next few miles of road were a rude welcoming committee as we hit the dreaded
frost heaves in the road which make the asphalt contort and crack up from the
frozen tundra underneath. You have to drive slowly and pay attention to the
road as these frost heaves can appear at any time. If you don’t see it you
certainly will feel it when you hit them. We have heard stories of people
breaking axels and blowing tires when they hit one of these. Advise from a
visitor to Alaska don’t ever buy a vehicle from Alaska because it has been
through the ringer driving on these roads. We made our first night stop in Tok
which is located at the intersection of the Alaska Highway and the Tok Cutoff
Road. Remember this is the last frontier and it is called that for a reason as
they only have 11 major highways in the entire state and they are numbered AK 1
to AK 11. Our goal over the next month was to cover them all.
After a good night’s sleep, we got up on August 2nd
and headed to Anchorage to get supplies and pick up Ashley who was flying in to
spend the first week of August with us. The Tok cutoff road lead us to Glen
Allen where it intersected with the Richardson Highway and the Glen Highway.
After a refueling and a picnic lunch at the Hub of Alaska Fuel stop, we got on
the Glen Highway which would take us to Anchorage. The Glen Highway is
considered one of most scenic drives in Alaska and it lived up to its billing
as the deep glacier carved valleys were surrounded with high rocky peaks with
snow covered caps. We arrived in Anchorage in the afternoon and found our
campground which was no more than a parking lot next to a motel in the downtown
area. We setup and then went to a Walmart Supercenter for the first time in 4
months to resupply and then had a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse before picking
Ashley up the airport.
The week of Aug 3rd thru 9th we spent in the Kenia
Peninsula with the 3 of us now sharing our 17-foot home. Thankfully we all love
each other and all like a good adventure. As we left Anchorage driving toward
Seward we stopped for a breakfast break at Beluga Point which is located on the
Turnagain Arm a body of water off the Gulf of Alaska. We did not see any Beluga
Whales but did have a nice breakfast view. The drive toward Seward was around the
coastline of Turnagain Arm and then into the evergreen mountains over to the
coastal town of Seward. We set up camp at Stoney Creek campground. Our
adventure began as we loaded back up and drove the 85 or so miles from Seward
back to the Turnagain Arm to see a rare phenomenon the Bore Tide. But before
seeing the Bore tide we had a great dinner at a Southern Style BBQ joint called
Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ complete with southern sweet tea. After filling our bellies,
we found a viewing spot along the Turnagain Arm to watch the Bore Tide.
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| Bore tide rolling in |
The
Bore tide is only found in a couple of places in the world and because of the
16 to 20 foot change between tides in Alaska, Turnagain Arm is one of those
places. The Bore tide is unlike a normal high tide that slowly will cause the
water level to rise, with the Bore Tide a large wave rushes in from the Gulf of
Alaska at one time and the wave can be 10 to 20 feet high depending on the
winds and moon cycle and will fill in the Turnagain Arm with one fail swoop. In
one spot the locals will try and surf or paddle board with the tidal wave as it
progresses up the Arm.
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| Bore tide surfers in the distance waiting on the wave |
One of the coolest things I have ever seen and well
worth the back tracking to see it. While in Seward we also visited the Exit
Glacier and hiked the trail up near the bottom of the glacier.
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| Ashley with Exit Glacier in the background |
We took a sightseeing
boat ride out in to the Kenia Fjords NationalMonument to the Alalik Glacier,
where we saw puffins, sealions, birds and of course the Alalik glacier. Oh and
I failed to mention the fog on the boat trip, because of the warm temperatures
this summer in Alaska we had a thick marine layer (aka FOG) which forms from a
clash between the cold water and warm air which limited our sight distance
somewhat. But when we got close to the
Alalik Glacier we broke out of the marine layer into clear blue skies and
bright sunshine great for viewing the glacier.
We also visited the Alaska sealife center. And we had a picnic along the Exit glacier river.
We also visited the Alaska sealife center. And we had a picnic along the Exit glacier river.
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| Ramblin Ruis lunch break |
We then loaded up and headed off to the westside of the Kenia
Peninsula and the Homer area. As we drove along the road toward Homer we began
to see three Volcanos come into view Mt. Redoubt, Mt. Iliamna, and Mt.
Augustine.
These massive volcanos are on the west coast of the Gulf of Alaska as we drove south they dominated the skyline. All are active with Redoubt last erupting in 2009 and Augustine in 2006. We arrived at our KOA campground in Homer which sat on a high bluff above town with breathtaking views of the mountains and overlooking the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Reserve. From this vantage point we saw a whale slapping its pectoral fin in the water and could watch the fishing boats as they came back from a long day of fishing. We also visited the[aapr1] Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Reserve visitors center. Ashley had arranged a boat trip over to Seldovia, an old Russian fishing village which was almost destroyed by the 1959 Earthquake.
The quaint village sat on a small boat harbor that lead to a creek that ran through the middle of town. During low tide the water level in the creek was 20 feet below the wooden sidewalks and docks of the old town. Along the boat ride out we saw some sea birds, and lots of sea otters which grow to be about 100 pounds.
Once back to town we wanted to check out a local seafood restaurant, after some discussion we settled on a local restaurant located in a small utility building with outdoor seating. AK Fish Fryers is the name and it is located on the Homer Spit but don’t blink or you will miss it. The halibut was so good that we eat dinner here a second night before we left Homer. So, if you ever make it to the Homer Spit you gotta give AK Fish Fryers a shot. While in Homer we also checked out the moose preserve where we saw three bull moose and one cow grazing in the tall tundra grasses. After Homer we packed up and headed up to the Portage glacier area with a side trip to the town of Katmai where the Katmai river meets the Gulf of Alaska. The Katmai river is also renowned for its dip net salmon fishing for Alaska residents which is only the first week of August. This allows the locals 24 hour fishing for one week with a large circular net to fish for salmon to stock up for the winter.
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| MT. Redoubt in the background to right of the tree |
These massive volcanos are on the west coast of the Gulf of Alaska as we drove south they dominated the skyline. All are active with Redoubt last erupting in 2009 and Augustine in 2006. We arrived at our KOA campground in Homer which sat on a high bluff above town with breathtaking views of the mountains and overlooking the Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Reserve. From this vantage point we saw a whale slapping its pectoral fin in the water and could watch the fishing boats as they came back from a long day of fishing. We also visited the[aapr1] Kachemak Bay National Estuarine Reserve visitors center. Ashley had arranged a boat trip over to Seldovia, an old Russian fishing village which was almost destroyed by the 1959 Earthquake.
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| Ashley looking for wildlife |
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| Soldovia at low tide |
The quaint village sat on a small boat harbor that lead to a creek that ran through the middle of town. During low tide the water level in the creek was 20 feet below the wooden sidewalks and docks of the old town. Along the boat ride out we saw some sea birds, and lots of sea otters which grow to be about 100 pounds.
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| Sea Otter with pup on her chest |
Once back to town we wanted to check out a local seafood restaurant, after some discussion we settled on a local restaurant located in a small utility building with outdoor seating. AK Fish Fryers is the name and it is located on the Homer Spit but don’t blink or you will miss it. The halibut was so good that we eat dinner here a second night before we left Homer. So, if you ever make it to the Homer Spit you gotta give AK Fish Fryers a shot. While in Homer we also checked out the moose preserve where we saw three bull moose and one cow grazing in the tall tundra grasses. After Homer we packed up and headed up to the Portage glacier area with a side trip to the town of Katmai where the Katmai river meets the Gulf of Alaska. The Katmai river is also renowned for its dip net salmon fishing for Alaska residents which is only the first week of August. This allows the locals 24 hour fishing for one week with a large circular net to fish for salmon to stock up for the winter.
Once in Portage we found a campsite at Williwaw National Forest
campground just 2 miles from the Portage Glacier visitor center. Once camp was
set up, we set out to explore the area. We checked out the nearby stream which
was full of spawning salmon, then we went to the Portage Glacier Visitors
center where we found out it was Smokey the Bears 75th birthday and
the National Forest Service was throwing him a birthday party complete with
cake. (we were too late for the cake)
That evening we snuck back to Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ and had another wonderful southern BBQ meal. The next day we got up and ventured to the town of Whittier which can only be accessed by boat or through a 2.5-mile-long tunnel under the mountain which was dug during World War II. The Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel which is the world’s longest highway tunnel was originally built as a train tunnel and only opened to vehicle traffic in 2000 after years of study and research the highway was paved and cars drive the one lane tunnel over the train tracks which are still used today. In Whitter we found a very small fishing village that sits on the Prince William Sound. We toured the few shops and then visited a neat little museum that outlined the military history of Whittier and specifically World War II history of Whittier and Alaska. Lost in most history books is the fact that after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they expanded their Pacific Ocean campaign efforts by trying to occupy Alaska along with other location in the Pacific region. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska were actually occupied by the Japanese and several major battles took place for control of these islands. Hence the need for the railroad and Whitter’s deep-water port to quickly get supplies into the interior of Alaska. This probably goes unnoticed in most history books because Alaska was just a territory and not one of the 50 states at the time of World War II but Ashley and I found the museum to be a wealth of information with some great pictures and articles about that time.
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Happy Birthday Smokey and I did not know it was his birthday
when I put this shirt on that morning.
|
That evening we snuck back to Turnagain Arm Pit BBQ and had another wonderful southern BBQ meal. The next day we got up and ventured to the town of Whittier which can only be accessed by boat or through a 2.5-mile-long tunnel under the mountain which was dug during World War II. The Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel which is the world’s longest highway tunnel was originally built as a train tunnel and only opened to vehicle traffic in 2000 after years of study and research the highway was paved and cars drive the one lane tunnel over the train tracks which are still used today. In Whitter we found a very small fishing village that sits on the Prince William Sound. We toured the few shops and then visited a neat little museum that outlined the military history of Whittier and specifically World War II history of Whittier and Alaska. Lost in most history books is the fact that after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor they expanded their Pacific Ocean campaign efforts by trying to occupy Alaska along with other location in the Pacific region. The Aleutian Islands of Alaska were actually occupied by the Japanese and several major battles took place for control of these islands. Hence the need for the railroad and Whitter’s deep-water port to quickly get supplies into the interior of Alaska. This probably goes unnoticed in most history books because Alaska was just a territory and not one of the 50 states at the time of World War II but Ashley and I found the museum to be a wealth of information with some great pictures and articles about that time.
After a picnic lunch at a remote parking area overlooking the
sound, we headed back through the tunnel to pack up and get ready to move the
next morning. P.S. after we stopped so Ashley could get her picture made
standing in the water of Prince William sound.
August 10-30
The next morning, we took Ashley back to Anchorage to the
airport so she could fly home and we would begin our trip toward the north.
Interesting fact is the Anchorage airport supports the world largest float
plane airport in the world with a lake for landing and even taxiway ramps from
the lake to the terminals.
After leaving Anchorage we traveled to Trapper Creek Alaska
which is about 100 miles south of Denali National Park for a few easy days
before moving on. We spent a bit of time visiting Talkeetna which is a small
little tourist town that is most famous for being the town used to base the TV
show Northern Exposure Talkeetna is 100 air miles from Mt. Denali and from here
on a clear day you can see the mountain. Unfortunately, the evening we were
there you could only see it barley as a ghostly figure in the clouds. But at
the Talkeetna Road and The Parks highway intersection we found a little bit of
southern comfort at a local drive thru coffee shop. Believe it or not they had
a sign out front Krispy Kreme Doughnuts so we had to
check it out. Now there wasn’t a Hot and Ready now sign but they had real
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Come to find out the coffee shop owner drove 120-miles
one way to Anchorage every other day to pick up the doughnuts from a Krispy
Kreme store.
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| Denali peaking through the clouds |
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| Denali Mountain from 40 miles away |
After we left Trapper Creek, we headed up the Parks Highway to
Denali National Park where we had reserved a back-country camp site at a
campground in the park 31 miles from the entrance. Denali is different than
most National parks we have been to as it has only one road and it is 92 miles
long the first 15 miles are paved and open to all traffic but to go beyond mile
15 you either have to take a bus (School Bus) or reserve one of the back-country
campgrounds.
The only rule was you had to make a three-day reservation to camp in one of these campgrounds and once you got to the campground you were not allowed to drive your vehicle until you were ready to leave. This is because Denali is a protected remote wilderness area and the way the park service maintains this wilderness is by controlling vehicle travel. We stayed in the Teklanika campground located on the along the Teklanika River it had about 45 campsites and no services. After getting camp set up, we did some exploring to the river and then went to a ranger program on the northern lights. Up to this point we had had great weather and had been able to avoid any wildfires, but in Denali we got rain and more rain. The average rainfall in Denali is 15 inches a year and they got 10 the week before we arrived and 5 or 6 the week we were there. They got so much rain that part of the park road was closed the week before and the week after we left due to mudslides. Now this leads me to the park transportation, we had made reservations for a bus trip into the park on our second day at Denali which would carry us to mile 92 and back.
Of course, road is a kind term to describe the mountain trail that these buses(School Bus) travel every day. The rain was pretty heavy and we had a very low cloud cover but we were able to see some Brown bear as the grizzly is called in Alaska, some mountain goats and some caribou.
The park was beautiful and vast array of
glacier carved valleys and large mountain ranges. On one of these areas known
as the “pretty rocks” is where the road is sliding, because the
permafrost is thawing at such a fast rate the road bed in this area dropped 9
feet last year and had to be rebuilt.
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| Park Transportation 13 hour round trip from the Park entrance to mile 92 and back |
The only rule was you had to make a three-day reservation to camp in one of these campgrounds and once you got to the campground you were not allowed to drive your vehicle until you were ready to leave. This is because Denali is a protected remote wilderness area and the way the park service maintains this wilderness is by controlling vehicle travel. We stayed in the Teklanika campground located on the along the Teklanika River it had about 45 campsites and no services. After getting camp set up, we did some exploring to the river and then went to a ranger program on the northern lights. Up to this point we had had great weather and had been able to avoid any wildfires, but in Denali we got rain and more rain. The average rainfall in Denali is 15 inches a year and they got 10 the week before we arrived and 5 or 6 the week we were there. They got so much rain that part of the park road was closed the week before and the week after we left due to mudslides. Now this leads me to the park transportation, we had made reservations for a bus trip into the park on our second day at Denali which would carry us to mile 92 and back.
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| Denali Park Road view from a rest stop looking back down where we came from |
Of course, road is a kind term to describe the mountain trail that these buses(School Bus) travel every day. The rain was pretty heavy and we had a very low cloud cover but we were able to see some Brown bear as the grizzly is called in Alaska, some mountain goats and some caribou.
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| Grizzly in the fog |
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| Mama and 2 cubs |
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| King of the Ridge |
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| 2 Caribou taking a break |
Because of the rains and the potential of flash flooding in the
park we decided to skip our last night camping in the park and moved to a
commercial campground just outside the park entrance. We were able to visit the
park visitors center here and drive the 15-mile part of the park road open for
travel in search of wildlife. We saw sheep, moose and bear but my favorite of
all was the granddaddy bull moose we followed for almost an hour as he grazed
in the forest about 100 feet off of a hiking trail.
The shear beauty and remoteness of this place is once again a reminder that man is not in control but God is and if earth is this amazing what will heaven look like?
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| Big Bullwinkle |
The shear beauty and remoteness of this place is once again a reminder that man is not in control but God is and if earth is this amazing what will heaven look like?
Because of the forecast of continuing rain, we changed our plans
a bit instead of continuing north to Fairbanks we decided to head back to the
Valdez area which was not getting rain nor any forest fires. Before getting to
Valdez we stopped at the Grandview campground located on the Glenn Highway.
Here we visited the Matanuska Glacier which we were able to hike out onto. It
was amazing to be walking on a glacier that was melting and see the cracks and
crevasses up close and get a real sense of how massive one of these moving
rivers of ice really is.
After leaving Grandview we drove to Valdez. Now Valdez
was just a last-minute throw in choice to our trip planning but we are so glad
we included it because the drive was stunning. I described it as looking like
Hawaii with lush green mountains rising from the sea that were snow capped with
huge glaciers and massive waterfalls around every corner. Valdez itself is most
famous for the Exxon Valdez oil spill March 24, 1989 in which an Exxon oil
tanker ran aground and spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil that effected
1300 miles of coastline. Today Valdez has recovered from the spill and is a hub
for sportfishing in the Prince William Sound as well as a tourist destination
for whale watching and glacier tours. We took a boat tour to the Columbia
Glacier and saw some amazing icebergs floating in the sound from their calving
off the glacier, we also saw a humpback whale and other sea life.
After saying goodbye to Valdez, we headed north to Fairbanks.
Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska and has two major military bases
and is the major supply base for the oil fields on the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe
Bay. One of my goals in coming to Alaska was to go north of the Arctic Circle.
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| Matanuska Glacier |
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Yikes!!!
I don't want to find out how deep this crevasse is
|
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| Columbia Glacier |
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| Iceberg from Columbia Glacier |
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| Stellar Sea Lion |
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| Artic Circle checked off the bucket list |
You can only do this by flying or driving the Dalton Highway which runs 400 miles from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay. The Arctic Circle is 200 miles from Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway which was made famous by the TV show Ice Road Truckers. Now the Dalton Highway is nothing like any highway in the lower 48. It is 70 to 80 percent dirt and gravel road with the other 20 to 30 percent being paved road but the paved road is full of potholes and frost heaves and is rougher than the gravel and dirt portions. The Dalton Highway is primarily for truckers to move equipment and supplies from Fairbanks to the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and is very remote with only one or two gas stations and a couple of other services along the way and that’s it. One local told me that if you break down or have a wreck north of the Yukon River there’s a lot of things that will eat ya roaming in the woods. So, to check the Arctic Circle off by bucket list we decided to rent a 4-wheel drive from Artic Outfitters. GOOD MOVE!!!! The Artic Outfitter vehicles were Ford escapes stocked with two spare tires, emergency equipment and a CB radio. So, to make sure you have time to drive to the Article circle you have to pick your vehicle up at 7am no later than 9am so you can get up and back in the same day. Can you say adventure. After getting our SUV first stop was for at McDonald’s for an Egg McMuffin and off, we go. We were very lucky there wasn’t much traffic the day we drove the Dalton, but even with that top speed was 40 to 45 miles per hour or less because of the rough road surfaces. The road was built to support the Alaskan Oil Pipeline when it was built 50 years ago to move the oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to the Valdez oil terminal where its loaded-onto oil tankers. Most of the 800 miles of pipeline runs above ground and right beside the Dalton and Richardson Highway. It is built on supports 17 feet off the ground and it has elbows and bends designed in it to allow some flexibility in extreme temperatures.
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| View from under the trans-Alaskan Pipeline |
The supports are also built to sway and flex during an earthquake. It was amazing to watch the landscape change the further north we got as the trees started to fade and the scrubs and tundra took over. We crossed the Yukon river on a one lane 2000-foot wooden bridge and bought gas at a remote road camp, restaurant, hotel, repair shop and gas station where we paid 5.00 dollars plus for 87 grade gas. We arrived to the Arctic Circle without incident took our picture at the Arctic Circle sign had a picnic and then had an uneventful drive back to Fairbanks. Very thankful we made the choice of renting the Artic Outfitters vehicle as I didn’t have to worry about a flat or breaking down on our truck.
After leaving Fairbanks we headed down the Alaska Highway toward
Tok. After an overnight in Tok we headed to Haines where we would catch the
ferry to Ketchikan. This was another breath-taking drive with more beautiful
scenery all around. We had to cross back into Canada to get from Tok to Haines
and did so with ease. Once in Haines we stayed at a small campground right on
the harbor. We had moved our arrival up one day in Haines and I’m glad we did
as heavy rains set in after our arrival in Haines and a major mudslide blocked
the Haines Road the day we were supposed to arrive. Haines is just 16 miles
across the Lynn Canal from Skagway where our Alaskan Adventure began. It is
another quite seaside village centered around tourism and fishing. But unlike
Skagway and Ketchikan it only gets one or two smaller cruise ships a week. The
whole trip since the salmon have started spawning in mid-July I wanted to see bears
fishing and even considered a float plane tour to Kodiak to see the bears but
who knew that in the Chilkat River in the Chilkat State park in Haines you
could see this for free and very much up close and personal. We spent several
hours watching the local Brown bears catching and eating salmon to fatten up
for the coming winter.
Bears are one of Gods most powerful creations but are very graceful and majestic in the wild doing bear things like fishing for salmon. Haines is home to the Bald Eagle refuge where in the winter thousands of eagles will gather and hunt the river in the reserve which doesn’t freeze in the winter.
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| Ah.....lunch at last |
Bears are one of Gods most powerful creations but are very graceful and majestic in the wild doing bear things like fishing for salmon. Haines is home to the Bald Eagle refuge where in the winter thousands of eagles will gather and hunt the river in the reserve which doesn’t freeze in the winter.
After a few days in Haines we boarded the Alaska Marine Highway
System for the 36-hour ferry ride to Ketchikan. The Alaska ferry system is the
life blood for a lot of the isolated communities of South East Alaska. We were
on the M/V Malaspina ferry.
These ferries are like small cruise ships with staterooms, a restaurant, movie room, lounges and a solarium on the top deck and the lower deck being a drive-in parking garage. At 10:30 pm August 28 we were the first to load the ferry in Haines and as we drove down the ramp and into the belly of the beast down one side around the back and back up the other side for our first spot inside row parking. It is amazing how the ferry workers load these vessels like a puzzle based on your destination port.
We gathered our overnight bags and headed upstairs to find our stateroom. We had a nice room which had 4 single bunks, a sink, a shower and a potty. At around 11:15pm the ferry pulled away from the docks and headed south. Finally, around midnight we settled into our individual bunk beds for a much needed goodnights sleep. Funny how when you are in a new place you hear everything around you well no exception here, we could hear the light roar of turbines turning the propellers, we could hear the shake and rattle of the door of our room so finally after a bit I dozed off to the sounds around me. Evidently Paula did not fall asleep as quickly as I did as at around 2am nature called and as I walked to the bathroom, I could see in the shadows what appeared to be a note or paper in the crack between the door and the wall. I pulled it out thinking we had a message from the staff or a meals schedule much like you get in a hotel, but to my surprise it was a folded drinking cup Paula had at some point after I went to sleep stuck in the door to help with the door rattle. Obviously, we had a good chuckle over this at around 3:30 or 4 am when we arrived in our first port stop at Juneau. All the sounds stopped and we were awakened by quiet and the bright lights from the dock shining in our window as we didn’t have a blind on our window. We were able to doze back off and finish our night’s sleep but were up by 7am as we pulled out of Juneau so we could get a good viewing location as Ashley had told us this was a beautiful stretch and there would be lots of whales. She was right on both accounts. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the cafeteria aboard the ship and surprisingly the food was good and not very expensive. Our second night on the ferry we retired at around 8pm after the sunset and had a great night’s sleep to prepare us for our 7am arrival in Ketchikan on August 30 and the next stage of our the Ramblin Ruis Alaskan Adventure.
These ferries are like small cruise ships with staterooms, a restaurant, movie room, lounges and a solarium on the top deck and the lower deck being a drive-in parking garage. At 10:30 pm August 28 we were the first to load the ferry in Haines and as we drove down the ramp and into the belly of the beast down one side around the back and back up the other side for our first spot inside row parking. It is amazing how the ferry workers load these vessels like a puzzle based on your destination port.
 |
| Car deck on the Haines to Ketchikan ferry |
We gathered our overnight bags and headed upstairs to find our stateroom. We had a nice room which had 4 single bunks, a sink, a shower and a potty. At around 11:15pm the ferry pulled away from the docks and headed south. Finally, around midnight we settled into our individual bunk beds for a much needed goodnights sleep. Funny how when you are in a new place you hear everything around you well no exception here, we could hear the light roar of turbines turning the propellers, we could hear the shake and rattle of the door of our room so finally after a bit I dozed off to the sounds around me. Evidently Paula did not fall asleep as quickly as I did as at around 2am nature called and as I walked to the bathroom, I could see in the shadows what appeared to be a note or paper in the crack between the door and the wall. I pulled it out thinking we had a message from the staff or a meals schedule much like you get in a hotel, but to my surprise it was a folded drinking cup Paula had at some point after I went to sleep stuck in the door to help with the door rattle. Obviously, we had a good chuckle over this at around 3:30 or 4 am when we arrived in our first port stop at Juneau. All the sounds stopped and we were awakened by quiet and the bright lights from the dock shining in our window as we didn’t have a blind on our window. We were able to doze back off and finish our night’s sleep but were up by 7am as we pulled out of Juneau so we could get a good viewing location as Ashley had told us this was a beautiful stretch and there would be lots of whales. She was right on both accounts. We had breakfast, lunch and dinner in the cafeteria aboard the ship and surprisingly the food was good and not very expensive. Our second night on the ferry we retired at around 8pm after the sunset and had a great night’s sleep to prepare us for our 7am arrival in Ketchikan on August 30 and the next stage of our the Ramblin Ruis Alaskan Adventure.
TO BE CONTINUED…………….
I will leave you with this quote we found on the wall of the
laundry room in our Trapper Creek campground and It goes like this:
“You have brains in your head
And feet in your shoes,
you can steer yourself in any
direction you choose! “
Dr. Seuss
Until Next time,
Allen and Paula
Ramblin Ruis
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