Travels of Geo Nova: Alaska Caravan Finishes Up

We have several exciting stops before us along the march to Prince George where we have a final banquet and the caravan participants disperse. Even though there is a whole bunch of driving it goes by quickly. The scenery is spectacular. We managed to stop at several interesting places and sneaked in some short hikes.

One of our one night stands was at Destruction Bay. Back when the CanAm Highway was being constructed our campground was the site of the camp for both military and civilian workers and one night a hundred mile per hour wind completely destroyed the camp thus the name Destruction Bay. This “town” is located in the Yukon Territory where winter temperatures routinely plunge to minus 60. The nearest town with the most rudimentary services is 100 miles away. In this rudimentary town we managed to find a great bakery that made a fabulous soup. Unfortunately there was no brewery to be found! The ride from Destruction Bay to Haines Alaska passed through Kluane National Park.The best way for me to describe this Park is that it is Parks Canada’s version of our Denali NP but without the crowds. The scenery was spectacular and around every curve there was a more spectacular view.

Haines was a nice small town located in the costal temperate rainforest region of Alaska. We boarded a ferry to the Alaska capital Juneau. Juneau is a typical cruise ship port of call with loads of tee shirt and jewelry stores and restaurants. The best part of the trip was the sighting of humpback whales. The next day we hiked out of town through the rain forest to a point of land looking back up the Fjord.

Whitehorse the capital of the Yukon Territory is one of our stopping places on the march back towards the lower 48. We received the treat of a lifetime, a view of the Northern Lights. Before bed at 11PM I stuck my head out the trailer door and saw a green glow to the north. From there it was a scramble to get my camera set up. This was my first attempt at photographing the night sky. I got a picture but not the best.

Stewart BC and the closely associated town of Hyder Alaska were also located in the rainforest. The drive in included steep mountains on each side of the road and multiple glaciers and waterfalls. The population today is only about 500 people but at the beginning of the 20th century it was home to 10,000 people who lived in houses supported by pilings over the wetlands adjacent to the head of the Fjord. At that time the community was known as Portland. Gold mining is making a comeback. The multiple helicopters ferrying supplies was ongoing throughout our visit. The highlight of this stop was our drive up (30 miles up a pothole ridden narrow dirt road with sheer drop offs deep into the canyon below not to mention the lack of guardrails) to Columbia Glacier, said to be the worlds 5th largest glacier. It was enormous.

After several more one night stands we arrived in Smithers BC. Smithers is a small town of 5000 people surrounded by mountains glaciers and loads of wildlife that offers many of the amenities found only in larger cities. What made Smithers special for us was meeting up with sailing friend from our time in the Caribbean. We had lost contact with these folks about 10 years ago. We remembered their first names but not last name because in the boating world you are know by your first name and your boat name. Before entering town we agonized over how we could look up our friends. The first night we went to the Smithers Brewing Company to try their brew. While there we asked the people there if the knew a John and Jennifer that had two daughters and sailed in the Caribbean about 20 years ago. As it turns out they did know them and John was the one who designed and built the beautiful new brewery. Armed with a phone number we tracked them down. As it turns out they split up some time ago. We ended up having lunch at Jennifer’s place and dinner at John’s. It was so great to meet back up with our dear friends.

Prince George BC, our final stop, is where we all disperse but not before a final banquet. Along with several other people Diana and I have been organizing this event for many weeks. The highlight will be a slide show and the special gifts we have for the caravan leaders.

Tomorrow morning we head off to the lower 48 for the next leg of this adventure.

By the way I believe we have identified almost 100 birds with at least 15 of them new for us!