Hello all, greetings from Tucson. The last several weeks following the Tucson BAC bike ride have been pretty much lazy days in the desert Southwest. The good news is that I have been able to bring the pictures and blogposts back together after the pending demise of Apple's MobileMe service.
We spent a week in Fort Huachuca in the very south of Arizona and visited the old copper mining area near Bisbee, Tombstone (site of the OK Corral -- and yes, we opted to see the reenactment of the famous fight between the Earps, Doc Holliday and the Clanton brothers). We also visited the graveyard. Overall a little like the Wisconsin Dells, Wall Drug and dozens of other "touristy" locales, but interesting nonetheless. We hiked up to seem some petroglyphs before returning to Tucson.
Back in Tucson we rode over Gates pass and the McCain loop again (really can't get enough of that downhill run) -- see video link here:
Generally having a good time, doing some riding, visited the UofA mineralogy museum (fantastic) and the Center for Creative Photography (a disappointment). We also connected for dinner with an old friend and co-worker from my ONR days and had a great time talking photography and other interesting topics.
Since this link is the same place the photos are stored I believe that you can reach the photos directly, in the event that is not the case, here is the direct link. You can also check out some of my other photos while on the site.
Photos: http://jfreitag.zenfolio.com/2012travel
May 4, Cottonwood, AZ
Since leaving Tucson we have moved North to Cottonwood, AZ, between Sedona and Jerome.
I have always been fascinated with Jerome since visiting it close to 40 years ago. It is an early 20th Century copper mining town hung on the side of a hill. The mines closed down in the mid 1950s and it has since become an art colony and tourist destination. Because it does not have a mass tourist draw like skiing, real estate is not up in the stratosphere and it is laid back like Aspen was in the late 60's or Telluride in the mid 70s. The draw here is much more subtle and doesn't attract the mega bucks.
We also drove down to Scottdale to visit Taliesen West, the Frank Lloyd Wright school of Architecture. We had visited Taliesen North, in Spring Green, WI a couple of years ago. The students spend the winter months in Arizona and the summers in Wisconsin. Curiously, we visited Spring Green in October when the students were packing for Arizona and our visit in Scottsdale the other day coincided with the summer packing to go to Wisconsin.
Yesterday we biked up to Sedona, another artsy, and much better known, town in the area. Sedona was dropped into absolutely beautiful surroundings. Wonderful red rock formations and leading into Oak Creek Canyon from the North. Much more popular and built up than Jerome, it has a more Aspen like feel, with large elegant homes to match. We are planning an evening trip up to Jerome next week for dinner and night photos, meanwhile, I have added a few more photos to my Zenfolio site. (see link above)
We will be moving on North from here sometime next week to explore the Flagstaff area before keeping our date with the North Rim of the Grand on the 15th.
Wednesday, 30 May, Logan, UT
New pictures are up. Quite a lot of travel since the last entry. After leaving Cottonwood, we relocated to the Flagstaff area. Since the area is much higher we were able to leave the 90°+ temperatures behind. We visited the Sliderock area of Oak Creek canyon, a great summer park where people go sliding on the water slick rocks in the middle of Oak Creek. We spent a few days biking around the Flagstaff area and a day trip to the South rim of the Grand Canyon.
On the 15 we headed North to the Grand Canyon North rim. The nearest full service campground was over 30 miles to the North rim and we tried to get a couple of days in the North Rim lodge. Much to our surprise we found that there was only one available night in the entire month which, at least, fit our schedule. The North Rim is higher and colder than the South rim and is much less visited -- or so we thought. As it turns out, the opening of the road on the 15th of May brings in a hoard of people who actually run rim to rim. That is, they run down the steep Kaibab trail (7 miles with a 5,000 foot elevation drop), across the river and up the Bright Angel trail ( 9.3 miles, 4,000 foot elevation gain) to the South Rim. A few do the return trip in succession. We enjoyed our brief stay at the lodge and a great dinner overlooking the canyon at sunset.
Moving on we headed to Page, AZ for a stop to take a boat trip to the Rainbow bridge which kathy had never seen. We also had the good fortune to be in prime viewing for the annular eclipse of the sun on 20th May.
Leaving Page we headed for Zion park and the opportunity to hike the Narrows. The Narrows is a slot canyon running several miles with walls several hundred feet high and narrowing to little more than 20 feet in places. The trail varies from rocks to sand to waist deep if the cold spring runoff. We rented dry pants and boots for the hike. I also opted for a dry pack for my camera gear and lunch.
Leaving Zion we made a 2 day stop at nearby Bryce canyon. Here it was very windy (50 Kt) and cold which limited our hiking activities.
Onward to Logan to visit John's old friend Kookie Tanner and a chance to catch up on the blog and sort through the photos. Leaving tomorrow on 31 May to Montana.
16 June Fort Nelson, BC
After leaving Logan at the end of May we made our way North through Helena, MT and on toward Canada. We decided to buy a generator in Helena to give us more flexibility in impromptu camping alone the way (like we can get along without WiFi for a day!) and spent the last night testing it our in a state park near Helena.
Moving along we crossed the Canadian border and stopped at Fort Macleod, Alberta for 2 nighted and visited the "Head Smashed In" international heritage site. This was an very early (ca 4,000 BCE) buffalo killing site used intermittently until a couple of hundred years ago. The indians essentially ran hundreds of buffalo over a cliff to kill them. They used the meat, bones an hides. All in all in was a very interesting visit.
Moving along, our next stop was Banff and Lake Louise. Banff, in many ways, could be a twin of Aspen. Beautiful scenery, hiking and skiing in the winter augmented by a variety of boutique shops, coffee houses, restaurants and hot spots. We spent a day hiking at Lake Louise and lucked out with beautiful weather both days. We headed for Jasper on the 3rd day and our luck ran out. It was a pretty cold and dismal ride with much of the mountain scenery obscured by clouds. Exiting Jasper, it was a dedicated journey North.
On 14 June we arrived in Dawson Creek, the zero mile of the Alaska Highway. It is an interesting little town featuring lots of support businesses for those heading up the Alaska Highway.This morning we headed out on the highway in overcast weather and a light rain. Tonight I am writing this from Fort Nelson at milepost 283. Unfortunately the weather is looking like rain for the upcoming 2 or 3 days.
19 June Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
After an intermediate stop in Watson Lake, with a morning delay to change a wearing trailer tire for the spare, we headed on to Whitehorse, home of poet/author Robert Service, the Yukon River as well as the provincial seat. Since we are close to the summer soltice, twilight comes about midnight and lasts for about 3 hours wit sunrise coming at about 4:30. We had a great visit to the local museum today and the sternwheeler Klondike. Tomorrow we are taking a train ride to Skagway, Alaska for the day before getting on the road again the day after.
The Alaska highway has been a surprisingly smooth and well maintained road. Here and there a bit of repair and construction is going on, but no long delays or unpaved sections. The price of diesel has been going up as we move north and yesterday we experienced the first ever $150 fill up. Many of the roadhouse stops along the way are truly isolated and function with their own generators. Surprisingly, there is internet connectivity in most of the towns. A fiberoptic cable has been laid parallel to the highway which carries most of the bandwidth to the North country. Our cell service went out about 2 days ago and the SiriusXM radio in the truck went south yesterday afternoon.
22 June, Still Whitehorse
Well, The Whitehorse stop was longer than anticipated. Got the truck serviced at the local Dodge dealer and found some excessive wear on the trailer tires. Ended up buying 2 new tires for the trailer and the recommend to have the trailer allignment looked at. Turned out to be a bent axle. We were directed to a first rate welding shop where they fabricated a new axle assembly in very short order. We are now on the road again leaving a few Whitehorse businesses better off. Yesterday, being the Solstice, was a big deal in Whitehorse for the golfers. Midnight tee times were reserved months in advance. Seems starting a round at midnight on the Solstice is highly sought after! There are a few very interesting museums here and we spent a very pleasurable couple of days seeking them out.
26 June, FAIRBANKS!
2 days from Whitehorse to Fairbanks. One day boondocking (camping without services) in the Yukon and one day at Delta Junction, AK at an RV park. No issues on the way, just long days on the road. Great scenery as we got close to mountains going NW toward Alaska. The first day weather in Fairbanks started out warm and turned to a cold rain in the afternoon. I called my old Arctic friend Earl who I had not seen since about 1965. We got together this morning to trade old Arctic tales followed by his giving us a great tour of the Fairbanks and environs with an interesting running commentary. I also got new material for my Arctic book. We plan to go to Denali park from here, but we will wait here until we have some chance of seeing Mt McKinley or Mt Foraker. There is quite a lot to see in Fairbanks, a couple of museums, remains of gold dredges and the UofA Geophysical Institute. I will try to upload pictures tomorrow at the latest. Cell service is back!
12 July, Homer, Alaska
It has been a couple of weeks since the last entry. We have not had a lot of fast internet connections until now. I have uploaded a new group of pictures to the site. We had a great time in Fairbanks and moved on toward Denali park. We elected to take the old Denali highway between Paxton and Cantwell. It is 134 miles of rough dirt road, impassible in winter and after heavy rains, but very scenic. We camped on the road for 2 nights as we could make only about 20 to 30 MPH. There are only couple of roadhouses along the road. They are really isolated and have their own generators as there are no power or telephone lines along the route. We woke up one morning and as I went outside to start the generator for coffee I heard a crunching sound. It turned out to be a large moose browsing in the bushes.
At Cantwell we turned north to Denali Park, hoping, of course, to get a view of Mt McKinley. We spent 2 days in the park taking a bus trip into the interior where no private vehicles are allowed. The weather was lousy, bordering on rain the entire trip and cloudy the entire time. We did, however, manage to see some wildlife. Enroute to Wonder lake and back we saw moose, caribou, Dahl sheep and a total of 14 brown (grizzly) bears. Heading toward Anchorage the following morning we hoped to sight the mountain at one of two viewing areas. We were rewarded in the afternoon at Denali south. It looked promising as we pulled in to the parking area so we set up shop for the night and waited. We were rewarded with some excellent views of Mt McKinley. We pulled into Anchorage the following day.
Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and a central supply point for a very large area of southwestern Alaska. By our standards it is not a very large metro area. On the other hand, you can get anything you need here. We were in Anchorage for 3 days doing laundry and stocking up before heading to Seward. I have 3 friends in Seward who I had not seen for some time and was looking forward to the visit. The weather was generally pretty crappy. One evening we were treated to a great seafood dinner at my friend Steve's home and we lucked out on weather the day we took a glacier boat trip. We took a hike up to the Exit glacier, one of many which emanate from the 700 Sq mile Harding ice field. After 4 nights in Seward we headed out to Homer on the other side of the Kenai peninsula. Homer is a fishing capitol and hundreds come here to fish the Salmon and Halibut in season. We did a bit of hiking here and sampled the local oysters and salmon. Tomorrow we plan on returning to Anchorage. New pictures have been uploaded.
Haines, AK, 25 July
Well, here we are in Haines, preparing to take the Alaska Marine Highway (ferry) system south to Juneau and onward South toward home. Since the last entry we have covered a bit of ground. We did return to Anchorage and went onward to Chitina where we took a flight in a single engine plane over the Wrangell mountains to Kennicott. Sound familiar?, as in the copper company. Kennicott is the site of one of the greatest copper finds in North America. Discovered very early in the 20th Century far in the Alaskan wilderness it became one of the greatest copper mines ever--- and it gave the name to the company, not the other way around. The mines petered out sometime in the 1930's and the site was abandoned. It became one of the best preserved ghost town sites because of its isolated location. there was originally a railroad built from the site to Cordova (another landlocked place) to get the ore out. We had a wonderful 2 day visit to the site, which is now a National Historic Site and is being preserved. It provided wonderful views int the Wrangell Mountains and some great exploring and hiking to the mines. The bush pilot who flew us in was friendly and informative about the local geography.
We moved on to Valdez, which many will remember as the site of the 9.2 Alaska earthquake of 1964. The town was ruined and had to be moved to a new location. Halibut fishing is the big deal here and the fish are huge! People bring in 200+ pound fish and have them filleted on the dock for $10 a fish. Very interesting to watch. The workers can do up a fish in about 60 seconds with VERY sharp knives. I was fascinated to watch, they don't even gut the fish. We bought some fresh Halibut and it was really great. ($18/Lb, same price as home in DC).
From Valdez we headed back North toward the Alaska Highway and on to Haines, some 600 miles distant. Here we are boarding the ferry for Juneau tomorrow morning. We Plan on 2 days in Juneau, 2 days in Sitka, a day in Petersburg, 2 days in Ketchikan and on to Prince Rupert where we connect to Canada again for the trip toward home ---- Still a long way out!
I will be loading up some new pictures as bandwidth permits.
Best to all our friends, enjoy the pictures. www.jfreitag.com Look for the 2012 travels toward home folder.
John and Kathy