From boettger@gemini.oscs.montana.edu Mon Jun 16 14:45 EDT 1997
Subject: Alaska'97

ALASKA `97

Here is my report about the Alaska trip.
Jop and me started off right after the finals. Jop is a dutch guy
being an exchange student at MSU for the past 1/2 year. We just met
a couple of weeks prior departure and did'nt know whether we are
going to go along or not. But apart from some minor fights (we
both are pig headed fellows = "Dickkoepfe") we turned out to be a
good team.
The first day we started off late, but still made it across the
Canadian border. We wanted to find Jops uncle who moved to Canada
20 years ago and is now working for the Forest Service. Jop never
met him, but called him up. So we had a rough description where
to find him-apparently
just 50 miles from the border into British Columbia. He is
working in tree planting, reforesting the clear cuts made a few
years ago. These people live in camps for 6 months a year-having
the other 6 months off. Since there is no rent to pay and the pay
itself is pretty high (you can make up to $300-$400 a day!!!) it
is quite an alternative way of life.Eventually we found those
guys in the camp- 20 miles off the main road along a dirt road,
hanging out at the camp fire, playing music , scrabble, drinking
and smoking pot-just having a good time since the coming day
(Sunday) was off. Lot's of them were dutch and they spoke dutch
as well although they have been living in Canada for more than 20
years. People were very friendly and outgoing and jealous about
our trip up north. We crushed out on 2 big sofas in the common
tent being pretty warm by the hot stove (self built from a
barrel).
Next day they took us on a 4 wheel drive tour through the forest
which was the worst one I ever experienced. I was bouncing back
and forth in that Dodge Ram that I hit the windshield once so
badly that it cracked!!! ( I told you I'm a "Dickkopf")...I felt
fine myself though. We were on the way to a starting place for a
parachute-paraglider. One of these guys has a parachute and on
his days off he is flying over the Rockies- using the clear cuts
as starting and landing spots. It was quite impressive seeing the
procedure (it seems quite easy) and seeing him soaring through
the valley as well. The next day we headed further north. The
tree planters started to work by 7am and we enjoyed the breakfast
with them. People were not grouchy at all in the morning, dancing
to the music in the tent while eating french croissants (sp?) and
chating with everyone. They really enjoy their life and in  the
winter they play golf in California, travel the world or hang out
in beach houses in Victoria.. After all I have to say, that the
Canadians are pretty aware of their forests and the rumors of
clear cutting whole forests is not true.. They cut out some
blocks, which will be replanted as soon as possible, usually
within the next 2 years and the replanted forest after 20 years
still looks as wild as the original one- not like in Germany
where trees are planted in straight lines.
Next we drove through the Kootenays into Banff and Jasper
National Park. I have been there twice before but still it is
very impressive- apart from Alaska maybe the nicest mountains in
the Rockies. We did'nt spend much time since hiking seemed
impossible due to the big snow load and  avalanche danger. We saw
some pretty big ones. Past Jasper we drove the Yellowhead highway
towards Prince George (2'nd largest city in British Columbia). On
the way we spend 2 days  at Mt. Robson the highest mountain in
the Canadian Rockies (not the highest in Canada though). A travel
guide told the story that within 22 times he has been to the
mountain it has been out of the clouds just twice! Not for us !
We saw the big fellow out of the clouds and decided to take some
time off to hike around it since there are quite some impressive
glaciers on the back side. Due to its high elevation this
mountain creates its own climate which is in most of the cases
unpredictable. Amazingly you'll find there a rain forest
comparable to the one at the west coast in the Olympics or
Vancouver island. The first day of hiking went alright feeling
good after being in the car, pitching the tent at a esmerald blue
glacier lake with fantastic reflections-bad fishing though. The
next day we tried to get further but got stuck in the snow all
the way up until the hips!- so we returned. We met a german
couple who is taking 3 months off traveling Canada, the Yukon and
Alaska. They were quite nice but all but experienced in camping.
Using a gas fuel stove they almost started a fire to get that
baby running... nevermind. We never met them again on the trip.
Quite impressive was a huge avalanche we observed from a save
distance- it wiped out the trees covering an entire football
field and made a lot of noise as you can imagine. Prince George
is a very ugly city, basically living from the timber industry
and some small businesses- nothing to see, but a good place to
fill up the gas and supplies for the Alaska highway, which starts
about 300 miles north in Dawson Creek. Here begin the more remote
areas of BC. You are driving through huge wild forests- basically
consistent of Black Spruce, crossing rivers every once in a while
and when you watch out you can already observe a lot of wildlife.
So I spotted a Black Bear near the road. This guy was digging in
the ground for roots and stuff. We observed him (her?) for some
time- he looked very nice with the black fur shining in the sun
(we were about 30m away). Although he must have noticed us- he
stayed friendly and did'nt  get bothered at all eventually
disappearing in the bushes.  Driving the Alaska Highway from
Dawson Creek (BC) to Fairbanks (AK) (total 1400miles) is a good
experience for getting a feel for the huge country and this
country is absolutely wild and untouched by humans! There are no
cities, just a few little towns and what is marked as a village
in the map is often not more than a cabin with a gas pump. But
they look a kinda cool. Gas is getting extortionate since
competition is missing, but still very cheap for european
standarts (max 72 canadian cents per liter). The Alaska highway
was build during WW II in 1942. It took 16000 men 8 months,
pushing it about 8 miles forward a day! There was no connection
to the lower 48 via land before and afraid by the Japanese it
turned out to be one of the biggest projects in the century to be
carried out. Originally it was all gravel but now the whole way
up is paved (otherwise I could'nt have made it with my car). On
the highway you pass through some very nice regions like Stone
Mountain, the highest point of the Alaska highway. We basically
did'nt take any longer stops apart from cooking a coffee or
something. But it would be definitely worth it to go back and
explore. There are also a lot of designated wilderness areas you
can just reach by plane (bushpilot). I hope it stays this way....
We started off pretty early in the season, so there was not much
traffic going on at all. Sometimes we were the only people on the
road for more than 100 miles. Later on in the season a lot of
RV's are coming through- sometimes a bunch of 20 bumper to bumper
as locals told us. Also we did'nt experience any moscito problem
althrough the trip although we were prepared (nets, repellent).
After BC you drive into the Yukon which became famous at the turn
of the century through the big Klondike gold rush. The Yukon is
as wild as it can get- very beautiful though with huge rivers and
beautiful mountains. There are no sideroads or trails - just a
few major highways and that's where most of  the people live.
A good treat we underwent were the Liard Hot Springs. Probably
the best hot springs in the world. I've been to a few before but
Liard beats them all! They are just beside the Alaska highway and
are non-commercial. To get there you walk on a wooden path and
the hotsprings are in a kind of a little pond. Depending on where
you go in you can "adjust" the temperature and can mellow there
for hours. There are completely natural- meaning no artificial
swimming pools or entrance fees.  Apparently you find there
species like some sorta tropical fish which adopted to the
environment as well as very green and lushy plants. If you are
lucky you can observe Moose feeding on them while sitting in the
hot water. There is also another pond with bathtub temperature
where you can easily swim since it is 3m deep. It's definitely an
excellent place to party although Police is checking every once
in a while as people told us. Watson Lake is the first bigger
place you encounter in the Yukon and people from all over the
world leave a sign there (basically from their home town). There
is a whole park of signs ( I guess more than 20000) and a lot of
german ones amongst them of course. These guys are all over the
place and it is impossible to get away from them....
There is so much beauty in the Yukon that it is hard to put it
down in words- we saw a lot of wildlife just along the road in
form of Moose and Caribou (apparently there is no Elk anymore so
far up north). Once we camped out at a beautiful lake which was
still partly ice covered, but did'nt stop me from fishing. While
fishing it started to rain so I observed the rods from the car
until I saw one of the rods moving into the water. I finally got
it at the edge of the water but the "big" fish was gone- must
have been a big fellow. I did'nt find too much time for fishing
the whole vacation- we were always on the run. Biggest city in
the Yukon is Whitehorse (population 20000) and gateway to Alaska.
For us just a drivethrough although pretty nice situated at the
Yukon river. During the Gold rush prospectors came by boat into
Skagway (AK) and then travelled on the Yukon river all the way to
Dawson City on whatever floatable they could find. A lot of them
drowned in the cold water before they made it. At its peak there
were more than 30000 people searching for Gold in the Klondike.
The next highlite during the trip was Kluane National Park in the
Yukon. Here are the highest mountains of Canada in the St. Elias
Mountain range going all the way up above 5000m. When the sight
is clear you have a good chance to see some of these big fellows
from the road and there are some really awesome glaciers as well.
My guess is that Kluane is very unspoiled-most of the people
(including us) are just driving through on their way up.
Apparently there are a few hiking trails, but most of the hiking
ends up in bushwacking- just using compass and map, which makes
it a real adventure. There are also a lot of Grizzly bears
present. So food storage has to be in bearproof canisters when
you are in the backcountry. Above treeline it is the only way
since there is no tree to pull up the stuff. In Kluane we saw the
first Grizzly from the road at about 15m. The guy looked very
nice and did'nt show any signs of aggression at all. It was a
very nice experience to see a Grizzly from close-up. After all
(I've seen 16 Grizzlies total) I don't have the same fear as I
used to being in the backcountry. You have to follow the rules
since you are in their territory. There are a lot of bear stories
going around and people are scared. Statistics, however, show
that there are more people getting killed in Alaska by dogs than
by bears. Also since the introduction of bear proof canisters in
Denali National Park in 1987 there has'nt been a single mauling
since although every year there are 2500 backcountry permits
issued to backpackers....Beaver Creek eventually is the border
crossing to Alaska. Crossing american borders is no fun at all.
Sometimes you are beeing treated like a criminal and you have to
answer a lot of stupid questions in the style of "Do you wanna
kill the President?". Anyway they did'nt search the car maybe
they already saw the "floating socks" all over the place and we
ourselves did'nt have a shower since the hot springs (and were
going not to have one for some more days to come)... Concerning
the landscape there is not much difference between the Yukon and
interior Alaska. Fairbanks is Alaska's second largest city (more
than 70000 people). It is well developed with highways, Mc
Donald's and all that shit. For us again just a drivethrough on
the way to Denali (Mt. McKinley). In the winter Fairbanks gets
just 4 hours of light at it's worse being so far up north just
200 miles or so below the arctic circle. In the summer though it
never gets really dark. And that's what we experienced and which
has been a great advantage during the whole trip. Time did'nt
matter at all!! Sometimes we were hiking past midnight till 2am!!-
more than 11 hours.. or sometimes when we were lazy we started
our hikes at 7pm returning sometime past midnight. During the
"night" there is so much going on- Caribous are walking on the
road and even the bears do. People told us they followed a
Grizzly more than 1 mile on the road.. And the light is excellent
for photography. When we arrived in Denali National Park the Park
still did'nt officially opened up. This was just an advantage for
us since there was no fee on camp sites and there was no shuttle
bus running. The park is usually closed for cars and
transportation is in form of shuttle buses you have to reserve
during the season since there are too many people coming that
they can't keep up with it. Also during the season you might have
to wait for your backcountry permit for a couple of days since
there are strictly regulations in effect to protect the subarctic
flora and fauna. When we came we were allowed to drive our own
vehicle the park road (gravel), which made it very easy to get to
trailheads and to explore. The backcountry permit was no problem
either and we got it issued for  more than a week choosing the
areas we wanted without any problem. There are absolutely no
trails- it's all bushwacking and when you walk through the wet
tundra you sometimes feel like walking on basketballs. We made 2
very nice hikes with overnight stays ( 3 nights and 4 nights) and
a couple of day hikes. The first trip with backpacks and stuff
went up the Teklanika river . We pitched our tent in the tundra
and used it as a base camp since hiking with all the gear can be
very strenous under these local conditions making not more than 5
miles a day! From our tent we were able to watch Caribous and
Moose grazing pretty close. The following days we explored the
surrounding areas and we found a lot of Grizzly tracks just along
the river. Hiking along the river involves a lot of river
crossings. Since there is permafrost the river changes its
bedding all the time- the result are very broad valleys with
streams flowing along the major river. I guess this is unique to
the north. I have never seen it here in Montana. Fortunately
there was not all too much snow left apart from the mountains
which were still covered and party also with glaciers. The number
of Grizzly tracks already told us that sooner or later we were
gonna see one. So we were very precautious not to bump into one!
So we kept yelling all the time "Hey bear! (Jop) and
"Hejoejoejoejoejoejo" (me). Apparently the human voice is best in
bear country since the bear can identify you as a human whereas
he has some trouble if you use bells alone. Also we were both
carrying pepper spray to have at least some sort of weapon. A
park ranger told me that this stuff is in fact very good and has
been proven to work. You just have to watch out that you are
standing with the wind in the back. So imagine the situation
where you see a bear who is unfortunately upwind.... Just tell
him: "hey bear wait a minute I have to go around you!" Nevermind,
we never used that stuff and if you make noise you are not likely
to see a bear at all anyway. Hiking and yelling at the same time
is very exhausting and in the evenings our throats were soar! One
evening we were about to explore the river bedding when I spotted
something peculiar. Using the binoculars it was clear that we had
4(!) Grizzlies down there at the river digging in the ground. We
were in a safe distance (more than 200m) up a hill and good
hidden behind bushes, so that they did'nt  realize us even if we
were talking. Apparently it was a sow with 3 cubs, which is
pretty unusual. The normal case is 1 to 2 cubs. The cubs were
already more than a year old and by this time they are pretty
close to the size of their mother. Well hidden and with a bottle
of whiskey we watched them for more than an hour and this was
problably my nicest experience I ever had so far in wilderness.
The mother was BIG and must have had a weight of about 500 pounds
or so. By Alaskan standards however Denali bears are small
compared to the coastal bears. This is in particular due to the
fact that they mainly feed on roots,
berries and squirrels whereas the coastal Brown Bears get a lot
of protein in form of salmon and can get a weight exceeding 1200
pounds!! (Kodiak island) For our second big trip in the park we
had to take the shuttle bus since the park opened up in the
meanwhile. Unfortunately the park road is opened up step by step
and not all the way open from the beginning. This is why we
could'nt get all the way to Wonderlake which is just at the
bottom of Denali (Mt. Mc Kinley). Apparently Alaskans call the
mountain Denali which is the Athabascan word for the great white
one and is much more suitable for the mountain than McKinley who
was some sort of an US senator. Alaskans don't like Mc Kinley and
so am I (by now). However we did'nt see the giant yet since it
was covered in the clouds and still a distance of about 50miles
away. Taking the shuttle we ended up in Toklat which is as far as
we could get. In the bus we met a whole bunch of other hikers
getting off the bus here and there. The bus stops wherever you
want and on the way back you can flag down any bus. They go in
intervals of 30 minutes. Whenever a backpacker was leaving we
said " Have fun and make noise!". There was another American
heading the same direction as we, but he was not in shape, a bit
fat and he had a very heavy pack I almost could'nt lift up.
Nevertheless he was very talkative in the bus. So we started off
about 6pm along the park road to get closer to the mountain.
After hiking a few miles we got hungry and started cooking
dinner. When the sun goes down it gets pretty cold- I would say
the temperature drops from like +15C to -4C in less than 20
minutes. So if you are not moving you better put on all your
clothes. While having dinner the American came by and joined us.
In his backpack he had a water pipe for smoking pot, which he was
hiding in a sealed plastic bag in his pants while being in the
plane. Crazy!- you can get into jail for that! Last year 2
Germans had Marihuana in their pockets while trying to pass the
Canadian-US border. Very stupid- They got deported and don't get
the permit to reenter the US and I don't know what else.
Nevertheless the guy invited us and Jop as beeing dutch could'nt
resist of course. The onset on Denali appeared out of the clouds
while we were smoking and having a good time. The American  was
completely wet from sweating and he even took his T-shirt off at
temperatures below freezing. Jop got completely stoned doing all
kinds of weird dances while we were hiking further along the road
whereas I was sober pretty quickly.. As time went on Denali
appeared in a nice evening red- clouds spiraling around the top.
Many say Denali is the highest mountain in the world at least as
far as elevation gain is concerned. Starting out at 2000 feet it
rises above 20000 feet! Looking out for a suitable place to pitch
the tent a car was approaching and we decided to try to hitchhike
further in. The car which was a delivery for Kantishna (former
mining town) took us along. The guy in the car knew the park by
heart and gave us some very valueable information on what to do
the next days. He must have taken us about 20 miles and Denali
appeared out of the clouds by 1am (still bright!). We were know
pretty close to the mountain and probably the only people as well
out there. We pitched the tent by 2am and took some nice shots (I
hope they come out!). The next day we established our base camp
having a view of the mountain right out of the tent!! It's hard
to describe in words what I felt this evening (night)- it is the
nicest and most impressive mountain I've seen so far (haven't
been to Nepal yet). Luckily the weather remained stable- having
no cloud at all for the following days. The next days we explored
the surrounding valleys which all ended up in glaciers and the
valleys themselves can be described the same way as the Teklanika
river valley- apart from the fact that we were now in the
subarctic Tundra having no trees at all anymore. Hiking was good-
no bushwacking. Here and there a river or snowfield crossing.
Animalwise we saw Caribou and Mountain sheep. The best
impression, however, was Denali- seeing the giant in all kinds of
light. Surprisingly we were not the only people out there. We
spotted a tent on the way back of one of our hikes. The guys
Rupesh and Vikash were both indian origin but Americans. They
made it all the way up from Texas! We became good friends and
spent the coming days together. After being out in the
backcountry we were all urging for a shower! By the way we saw a
lot of grizzlies just along the park road from the bus. The bus
driver told us it's pretty unusual not to see one! After Denali
the next stop was Anchorage. We drove there along with Rupesh,
Vikash and an  Australian girl who is travelling for 2 + years by
now. On the way to Anchorage we had a nice view from the highway
onto the back side of Denali. Anchorage is a beautiful city (pop
237000!). I would'nt mind living there! The climate is moderate
due to the sea whereas Fairbanks gets pretty harsh in the winter
with temperatures of  minus 30F. It even get's so cold that when
you throw a glass of water down from the second floor it turns to
ice on the way down. Also cars have problems since the tires
"freeze" resulting in being teared off the rim.... We spent the
night in a hostel for $15 including free food! which is pretty
good. We all went out to "Chilkoots Charly" a well known bar in
Anchorage with life music. The atmosphere however dodgy, a lot of
white trash (probably people who work in fish canneries) and
hookers. Anyway interesting to see, also the decoration inside
with moose heads, fishing nets and so on. We basically just
played pool. We also had a ferry booked taking the inside passage
back from Haines AK to Prince Rupert BC with two stopovers in
Juneau (capital of Alaska) and Ketchikan each of 2 day length. To
get to Haines it is a 900miles drive from Anchorage we had about
3 days time for. Being in America for a while you get used to
distance especially out here in the west...  The way to Haines
was basically "hauling ass". We wanted to be there early, so that
we could spend at least 2 days hiking. The drive however
beautiful. But all I can say is you can't see everything. At
least it is a good excuse to come back and according to the
Alaskans "If you see Denali you come back" it looks pretty good.
Haines is famous for it's Bald Eagle preserve. Here is the
highest population of Bald Eagles in the world. On the way to
Haines you have to pass through the Yukon following the same way
through Kluane NP to Haines Junction. When you reenter Alaska you
get into green, lushy forest almost like rainforest due to the
sea whereas the mountains are covered with glaciers. The road
follows the Chilkat river with nice pullouts- it is one of my
favourit spots! You drive through the preserve but we did'nt see
much of the eagles so far. Haines itself is a fisher town living
basically off the salmon which runs up the rivers in July/August
and the Halibut. Haines is situated on a peninsula and the tip of
the peninsula is a state park with a very nice trail. You are
allowed to camp out and also to have fires on the beach. Some
whitewater rafting guy in Denali recommended to go on the hike
there and so we did. It's like a nature trail with signs here and
there explaining flora and fauna. The trail winds through lushy
forests along stony beaches and offers gorgeous views on the
surrounding mountains partly covered with glaciers and belonging
to Glacier Bay National Park. We spotted a few Bald Eagles
soaring over the sea. One little piece of the state park is
private land and we found there a very nice simple cabin, the
doors open. And there was a second little cabin which functioned
as a sauna having a big woodstove in it. The only way to get
there is by canoe unless you wanna hike the 5 or so miles. The
cabin was very well hidden behind trees and bushes and only to
see if you are very close by. We spend the whole day on this
peninsula watching the sea. Our own camp however was also very
well hidden. Searching for a good place to camp we ask the
locals. When we arrived we found a nice spot with firering and
even the wood provided. Usually you find signs with private
property keep out but this one had a sign saying: "Please do not
trash the camp, enjoy!". We were close to the beach watching
snowcovered mountains and Purpoises a kind of whale (size of a
dolphin) playing in the bay- the perfect spot to hangout. Even
though we were in Alaska seafood was very expensive- although
tempting (salmon $9.00 per pound!). But we could resist. The last
part of our trip was the ferry ride from Haines to Price Rupert
with two stopovers in Juneau and Ketchikan. On the ferry on the
sun deck you are allowed to pitch your tent, showers are free and
I guess later in the season there are a whole bunch of
backpackers on the ferry. When we took it there were not many
people at all and we were already on the way back before the main
season was going to start. The ride itself is fantastic! It is a
bit like being in a fjord in Norway surrounded by big mountains.
The difference however is Alaska is wild... Even from the ferry I
could spot a Grizzly! We arrived sometime around 3am at night in
Juneau and drove up to the Mendenhall glacier and just pitched
the tent on Mendenhall lake. The next day we hiked along the
glacier and got some excellent views of it even though it was
drizzling. Mendenhall is one of the most impressive glaciers I
have seen so far. Shimmering blueish there are a lot of crevasses
and it did'nt look very safe to hike on it. The next night we
spend in a hostel in Juneau. Hostels are always good places to
meet other backpackers, get a shower and relax. The following
afternoon we went further to Ketchikan. The ferry ride is along
Admirality island the island with the highest bear concentration
in the world- there is about one Brown bear (Grizzly) per square
mile! You can reach the island only per kajak or bushplane.
Ketchikan gets more than 165inches of rain a year meaning that
there is usually no day where it does'nt rain. When we were there
we got a little rain too but overall we had even sunshine.
Ketchikan to me seems even nicer than Juneau. It exhibits an old
quarter and people live basically from fishing and timber and
last not least from tourism... We had an excellent hike in the
rainforest. Because it is so muddy the whole trail was on wood,
even with stairs and stuff. One thing I almost forgot mentioning
about Ketchikan are the Bald Eagles, sometimes we counted more
than 30 (!!!) in one spot. Amazingly they are not disturbed by
the people that much. Most of them we spotted near a fish cannery
feeding on the leftovers. Locals told us sometimes there are more
than 100 of these guys around. The Bald Eagle is probably one of
the most majestic birds on earth, seeing him soaring it is an
awesome picture.. From Ketchikan we took the ferry to Prince
Rupert in British Columbia. From the ferry we spotted some whales
unfortunately in the distance, so I could'nt tell whether
Humpback, Grey or Killerwhale. All you could basically see was a
huge fountain of steam when they were exhaling. But we saw a lot
of Purpoises who were sometimes following the boat diving up and
own and showing the same behaviour as dolphins. From Prince
Rupert on there is not very much to tell you. We drove the
stretch back home (1600 miles) in 2 + days... The car did a good
job-no problem at all, not even a flat tire or cracked windshield
(even though it was very close sometimes). We put on close to
6000 miles...