Alaska - July 19 - August 24, 2023 [Join AlpineHippo facebook group to share your hikes! ]

Quick Links: Anchorage prepare and GO! Seward Soldotna Homer Russian River Valdez McCarthy and Root Glacier Backpack Drive through eastern AK, Yukon, and British Columbia

Hiking Log: Exit Glacier Ice Climbing - 6.5 miles (1,850 ft) Harding Icefield - 11 miles (3,775 ft) Russion River Falls - 7.4 miles (840 ft) Grewinck Glacier - 6.1 miles (535 ft) Russian River - 7 miles (700 ft) Worthington Glacier - 3 miles (300 ft) Root Glacier Backpack - 27 miles (4,700 ft) Boya Lake - 5 miles (300 ft) Salmon Glacier Ice Caves - 4 miles (500 ft) Shane Lake (PG, BC) - 10 miles (500 ft) Total: 87 miles (139 km) (14, 000 ft)

Anchorage, Preparations and Start - July 19 - July 21, 2023

Day 1 (July 19, 2023) We woke up before dawn with smiles on our faces as we knew that we had a heck of a journey ahead of us. We quickly cooked and ate some eggs and sausage before getting into our uber and heading to the airport. We flew from DC to Chicago and during our layover we picked up some deep dish pizza for lunch on the plane. When it was time to dig in, our stomachs growled at the sight of this magnificint peace of art made with dedication and care. When we got to Anchorage, we took an uber to our storeage place to pick up the RV. We had to stop at Auto Zone to pick up some new batteries. Everything looked good on the RV as we took off the cover that it had been under for the past 11 months. With only minor cratches and a new batteries we headed to our campground. When we got in, we hooked up our water and electricity and started to de-winterize and put our luggage away. We then headed to the 49th State Brewery to get some dinner and a beer. Well, no beer for me, I got a spruce tip soda. It was sweet but salty at the same time. It was like a mini explosion of spruce tip in a subtle cream like soda. For dinner, I got a seafood mac & chesse it was very creamy. After that, we headed back and went to bed.

Spruce tip soda at the 49th State Brewery.

Day 2 (July 20, 2023) We woke up and got showered, then headed to the Snow City Cafe. It was rated the number 1 place to go for breakfast. I got the Polar Bear Breakfast that came with 2 eggs, reindeer sausage and a plate sized Pancake. I was so hungry that my stomach was begging for me to take a bite. The reindeer sausage was ok, you couldn't taste the reindeer. However, The pancake was like a gift from god. It was light and fluffy, but had a great flavor and it soaked up syrup like a sponge. We then headed off to do some grocery shopping. After multiple hours of shopping for food and fishing gearhe, we finally headed back to the RV. We then went to the 49th State Brewery again for some beer and a snack. We got a Pretzel shared an elk burger. We then went to dinner at an asian restaurant. We got a pangang curry, a noodle and meat dish, and last, but certainly not least, my personal favorite, the General Tso'anders fried chicken. The chicken was perfectly marinated and seasoned with a blend of Nashville hot and asian spices and it was fried to a perfect golden brown outside. The flavor delivered a massive punch to your taste buds and the crispy outside satisfied your teeth with a great crunchy but soft texture. It was amazing. For dessert we went to... you guessed it! The 49th State Brewery!. I got a spruce tip soda ice cream float. Since the Spruce tip soda is like a cream soda, it works well with the ice cream. We went for a walk along the water to burn off some dessert.

Breakfast spot.

Lunch outside at 49th State.

Spruce tip icecream float.

Funky coffe place.

Denali from town!

Seward - July 21 - July 25, 2023

Day 3 (July 21, 2023) We slept in and headed to the Snow City Cafe for breakfast. I got the classic french toast. It was sourdough french toast. It was ok (couldn't taste the sourness) but the unsung hero of the dish was the berry compote that came with it. Papa and Juju shared an egg sandwich and anoter king crab cake eggs benedict. We then headed over to the AK Alchemist for a coffee. Papa and Juju said it was good (I don't like coffee). after we headed to the RV to get packed up and leave. When we ran the generator it ran for a bit but then it died. Papa and I figured out it wasn't getting fuel. We then had to find the fuel pump and the fuel filter. I found it! Then we ordered a new part to arrive in Homer, then we headed to Seward. During the drive, I did some math homework and we stopped at the mud flats. The mud was very firm when stepping fast, but if you step slowly it starts to engulf your shoes like quicksand. When we got to our campsite, we hooked up and got ready to go to the marine aquarium. On our way we stopped at a smokehouse and got some smoked cod, and salmon, as well as some delicious dips. One was a truffle dip and the other was a salmon dip. The marine aquarium was great. We saw the life cylce of a Coho Salmon. We also saw a king crab. I didn't realize they where so big! We saw the seabirds get fed. There where puffins, seagulls, and a lot of other birds. The puffins along with other diving birds looked like fish under water. They swam super fast by flying underwater. We got to touch some sea anemone, starfish, crab, shrimp, and some sea cucumbers. Last but not least, my favorite part, the harbor seals. There where two of them. One was swimming laps and swimming upside down. He swam like Micheal Phelps on sterioids. He was going super fast without even trying. The other one was taking a nap under water! I learned that they only turn on the part of their brain that tells them to breethe. They sleep swim to get some air, then they go back down. Half way down he went limp and looked like a sinking buoy. He would hit the bottom and rebound off the rocks, almost like he was dead. After the Aquarium we went to another brewery and we got some beer and shared some cod tacos. We then made a fire back at our campsite and had some of our fish dips. They where amazing! We cooked some Golden King Crab. The crab was sweet, but full of flavor. We then had some s'mores, we had thin Reese's Peanut Butter Cups as our choclate. It was delicious. It had a hint of peanut butter with a crunchy graham cracker and a soft and gooey marshmallow. We then enjoyed the fire and went to bed.

Alure of alpine glaciers!

Rhino auklet.

Puffins.

Puffin.

Harbor Seal torpedo.

Tufted puffin flying underwater.

Tufted pufin.

Resurrection Bay with alpine glaciers above.

Hanging out by the fire.

Golden king crab.

Day 4 (July 22, 2023) We woke up early and started to get ready for our long anticipated Kenai Fjords tour. We had some breakfast and headed to the marina. We load up onto the Orca Voyager. We pulled into a cove and we saw a bunch of harbor seals sitting on the rock taking a nap. They look so fat and chubby. After a little while we saw three Orcas swimming together. They went right next to us and even under our boat a few times. It felt as if we where under attack by stealthy submarines. They were super cool to see up close and you could see how big they where. After a couple minutes, we saw some humpback whales! They where just swimming and looking for fish to eat. They kept flapping their flippers and tails on the surface of the water. Then out of nowhere, a huge whale breaches the water, getting his full body in the air, and made a huge splash. It looked like a kid doing a canonball off of a diving board. They feed on the fish by blowing air bubbles underneath the fish and then eating them. We then went to our final destination, the Northwestern Glacier. It was a huge glacier that was covering miles of land. We could see the blue ice and all the crevasse. We could see and hear peices of ice breaking off and falling into the water making little icebergs. It was super cool. We saw some seals that where chilling on a iceberg... get it chilling, on the chilly iceberg. On our way back we saw some sealions. They were just sun bathing. A few of them where fighting over a good spot and one ended up getting pushed into the water. The tour provided dinner for us on an island. It was a buffet with salmon, steak pieces, mac & cheese, and some salad. It was pretty good. On our way back to Seward, the crew gave us some warm cookies. They were very good. After we went to shore, we cheched out some fish that people who took a charter caught. We saw a bunch of halibut. We stopped at the visitor center and watched a movie on Kenai Fjords National Park. I learned a lot about the decrease in glaciers. We went to the RV and made a fire and had some dip and smores.

Working on the blog!

Boat ride down Resurrection Bay.

Resurrection Bay south from Seward.

Big mountains rising from the bay.

Harbor seals.

Tufted puffin.

Glaciers gliding in to the bay.

Orca whale!

The Orcas swam right under the boat.

Beautiful whales!

Adult with two young.

Learning to hunt.

Humpback whales!

Happy!

Steep mountians rising out of the bay.

Bubble-net feeding where they all surface through the prey, eating as they go. We heard them call the signal to surface on the hydrophone.

Side swimming to eat more!

So happy!

Slapping the fish.

Seabird chicks.

Glacier carved bay.

Glaciers tumble out of the Harding icefield.

Seracs on the lower part of the glacier. The lines mark time between seasons, between periods of melting and periods of debris accumilation, like rings on a tree.

Glacier flowing from the icefield.

Northwestern Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park

Massive icefall.

Yin and Yang.

Ice falling off of the upper reaches.

Ice entering the water.

Harbor seals on an iceberg.

Many glaciers spilling out from the icefield.

Stellar Sealions.

Bear glacier.

Enjoying some campfire.

Day 5 (July 23, 2023) We woke up and started to pack for our Ice Climbing tour. We had done a lot of rock climbing training in DC to prepare for this. I was super excited, but a bit nervous, too. We got to the meeting point for our tour and got fitted for mountaineering boots, crampons, harnesses, and helmets. We drove to the Exit glacier trail and started to hike up. Once we got to the glacier, we had to get into our mountaineering boots and ut on all our climbing. When I stood up with my crampons, I finally could see the world like a tall person. I felt the air temperature change as my head reached a height it had never seen. This glory ended when the crampons sank into the ice. The glacier was super cool to walk on because you could see all the crevasse and all the blue ice. I really loved cutting through the surface of the ice with what are practicaly knives on my feet. When we got to our first ice climbing spot, I watched the guides place the anchors into the ice. I was nervous to go first, so I let Papa go. Once he went, I was less scared and went next. When I was lowering into the crevasse, it was as if I was getting lowered into the deep sea. It got more and more narrow towards the bottom. To get up, you had to plant your toe spikes then plant your ice tools and pull yourself up and replant your feet. It was super cool to climb up an ice wall. When I got to the top, I felt as if I had just conqured the Romans. I was tired, but it was so awesome I didn't even notice. We went to another crevasse that was more challenging. The ice was harder to get into and the tools where not very sharp. I had trouble getting up, but I made it. For lunch they gave us a brisket wrap. It was super good. The brisket was from the barbeque place right next to the glacier tour place. Going down the glacier was cool because you could see how big it really was. You could see what it had once carved out on the rock walls. When we got back to the trail we switched boots and we noticed that the glacier had melted at its sides by a couple feet. After we returned all of our gear we headed to the Flamingo, which was a cocktail lounge. I was super tired and was about to fall asleep. For dinner we went to another place and I had a tri tip steak. It was very good. Papa and Juju shared some halibut cheeks. For desert we got a choclate dish. It was very salty. We went straight to bed after because we where all tired.

Exit glacier.

Papa lowering in to the crevasse.

Papa climbing his way out from the bottom.

Anchor and belay system.

Juju climbing out.

Inside the crevasse.

Bottom of the crevasse.

Me climbing up an icewall.

Juju climbing another route out.

View off the front of the glacier.

View up the glacier.

Juju in a crevasse.

Clear blue ice deep in the crevasse.

Tunnel in the side of the crevasse.

Falling seracs on the glacier.

Flamingo lounge.

Resurrection Bay from a park in Seward before dinner.

Day 6 (July 24, 2023) We slept in and had some pancakes for breakfast. After breakfast, we decided to go for a hike. We decided to do the rest of the Exit Glacier trail. We started at around noon so it was very late. We got great views of the glacier along the trail. We got to see how far it went back. The trail was exposed for most of the hike. We had a snack and enjoyed the view of the glacier and the scenery around it. When we got to the top, we could see the full expanse of the Harding icefield. We could see how the Exit glacier started from the icefield. We had lunch and sat for a little while before Papa and I decided to try to get down to the icefield. The trail was steep and there was a lot of loose gravel. Howerver, it was worth it because we could walk on the ice. I felt super proud to have made it to the bottom and to touch the icefield. When we got back to the top we enjoyed more views of the Harding icefield which is the biggest icefield in North America that is fully in the US, it is over 700 square miles. You couldn't even see the other side. It looked like a big dessert of trecherous snow and ice. It was super mesmorizing because it looked small but I knew it was huge. We headed down very fast but we still enjoyed the view of the icefield and the glacier. The hike ended up being 11 miles with 3,600 feet of elevation gain. My feet had a lot of blisters and my knee was sore because of the descent. When we go tback to the RV, I made a fire and we had a snack. We then cooked some steaks for dinner. We had potatoes and sugar snap peas as sides with our steak. We had some smores and went to bed.

Pancakes!

Moose!

Exit glacier from the valley.

Beautiful meadow along the hike.

Huge view of the Exit glacier.

Exit glacier down the valley.

Glacier as it begins from the icefield.

Harding icefield.

Full extent of the icefield.

We made it to the ice!

Our campsite just outside of Seward.

Soldotna - July 25 - July 29, 2023

Day 7 (July 25, 2023) We woke up and said our goodbyes to Juju as she was going back to DC to get ready for her trip to Italy. It is now just Papa and I. We got some more truffle and black cod fish dip then headed down the Kenai penninsula. We got there and had some lunch, then got ready for the hike to the Russian River Falls. We where hoping to see bears catching salmon as they jumped up the falls. Unfortunaltely we didn't see any bears, but we did see the salmon jumping. They looked like little torpedos jumping out of the water. They would launch up and land wherever they could. Some hit rocks, trees, even other salmon. As we headed back, we saw some fisherman fishing for salmon. We then headed to our campground and got settled. For dinner we had steaks. We got ready for bed early since we had to wake up early for our salmon fishing charter.

Salmon trying to jump the falls.

Kenai River.

Day 8 (July 26, 2023) We woke up and made breakfast as we jittered with excitment for our super awesome fishing charter. We headed to the boat launch and met our captain. We loaded up onto the boat and headed over to our fishing spot. We put on hip waders so that we could go into the water farther. The water was rushing fast. We learned how to fish for these salmon. They gave us a fly fishing rod that had the right gear for salmon. The method we used is called "tripping" where you drag the line fast and try to hook the fish in its mouth. Its weird, but is how you catch them. The fish don't eat once they are in the river. It was slow at first but then, I hooked 3 in a row in the tail. Unfortunaltely, those are illegal and we had to release them. After those, I got one in the mouth and landed the first fish of the day. It was huge! Unfortunaltely, it was about another 2 hours before I got more fish. I had landed 2 more making our total 3. The limit per person per day was 6 fish. We changed spots where we saw other people land a lot of fish. We got worried because we were not landeing any for a while. Then all of a sudden I hit the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh before finally Papa landed one making the total 8. Papa then hit 2 more and after I hit 2 and we hit our limit. We headed back to the boat where the captain then filleted the fish and we headed back to the dock. After we got our fish in the car, we headed to a seafood proccesing place to get most of the fish sealed and frozen. We took a few fillets with us to eat later during our trip. We then headed to the Captain Cook State Park. We checked out Swanson river, then went over to Stormy lake. We tried to fish for some trout and enjoyed a nice late afternoon relaxing by the edge of the lake. There was a fish dancing in the water, flapping around about half out of the water. Back at camp, we cooked a fresh salmon fillet on a cedar plank. It was sooooo good! We relaxed some more, tried to catch up on the blog, and watched 'Tremors.'

Caught the first one!

The salmon love to fight!

Huge Sockeye!

Cedar planked fresh salmon, so tasty!

Day 9 (July 27, 2023) We slept in late and made breakfast. We then went to the river acces that was next to our campground. We found a spot that I could wade in with my boots and I started to cast out. I had a trout pole that we had re-strung with a stronger line and the same hook set up as the one we used on the charter. The people next to me caught a couple of fish and I wasn't getting anything. After a few more casts I hooked one. The people next to us let us use their net that was bigger than ours. Ours was made for trout, which are a lot smaller. Papa was able to get the fish into the net! We unhooked it and got it on the gill line. This was the first fish we had caught on our own across all of the RV trips! We bled it out to keep the meat fresh. After that, Papa tried a few casts while I went to the RV to get something. He didn't catch anything. After another half hour I hooked another one. This one was the same size as the first, but put up a great fight. I had to let her run, then wrestle her in. She kepted pulling out the line as I would reel in. It felt as if I was trying to pull up a freight train. I finally got her to settle down and Papa got her into our small net. We bled her out and waited in line for a cleaning station. Papa showed me how to clean the first one then I did the other one. I felt proud of myself because I caught and cleaned a salmon on my own. After we put the fillets in our fridge, we headed to the Kenai River Brewery for a very late lunch! We ended up staying for a while so we didn't need dinner. We headed to the cook inlet to sit on the beach and relax. We where hoping to see people dip netting but there where none. There was a lot of fish heads on the beach from all of the catch earlier in the day, so it was a little gross. After the beach, we headed back to the RV. We sat around working on the blog and watched Tremors 3, and 4.

Fishing on the Kenai at our campground.

We caught two salmon all on our own!

I learned how to cut the fillets.

Prepared all on my own!

Beach at the mouth of the Kenai River at the Cook Inlet.

Day 10 (July 28, 2023) We woke up and had breakfast and headed down to the river to do some fishing. I tried a new spot because the one I liked was taken. Some people that had helped me land a fish yesterday had caught a bunch of fish. I was a little sad because for about 3 hours everyone around me were catching fish but I wasn't catching or getting any hits. I was also getting very frustrated because my line was snagging a log. Once the spot that I liked was free, I headed over there. I finally got some hits after a couple of minutes. I then got a fish on the line and I was so excited but then... It broke off. After a half hour I finally landed a fish. After another hour or so I caught another one. I felt proud to finally catch some fish. I then filleted them all by myself. We then packed some snacks and drove up the river and near Skilak lake. We ate the snacks on the side of the Kenai River. There were fisherman coming down on boats, using oars to steer. We headed back to the RV and started to cook dinner. We had Salmon, potatoes, and Sugar Snap Peas. We then watched Tremors 2.

Kenai river at the camping spot.

My favorite fishing location.

Two nice ones!

Continuing to learn how to fillet salmon.

Upper Kenai River (snack spot).

Day 11 (July 29, 2023) I woke Papa up at 5:30 to go fishing. He was a bit mad that I woke him up so early. We then headed down to the water to try to get to the good spots before more people showed up. I tried a new spot. This time I had to wade in a little bit. I was able to do this because I had some rubber boots. It was a little bit before I had my first fish on the line. He fought so hard and I couldn't reel him in. He pulled out all my line but luckily before he ran off with it all, he got unhooked and I was able to keep my rig. After another hour or so I finally caught one. He did not fight as much and was a lot more mellow. He was pretty big and slimy. After I got him on the gill line I let Papa fish some. On his second cast he caught one that had started to turn red. It had a pretty pointed mouth, sharp teeth, greenish head, and reddish body. Not fully turned, but close. We ended up releasing him because the meat does not taste as good, plus we already had a lot of fish. We didn't pause to take photo of it because we wanted to give it the best chance to live. After a few more casts he caught another one but this time it was a foul hook (in the belley) meaning he wasn't allowed to keep it. It was like realing in a log sideways. He finally got one in the mouth, but when I went to net it, I knocked the hook out. I felt bad, so I let him fish until he caught one. He was out of time, and I said that I bet you will catch one on your very last cast. I told him he had 5 more casts left. On the 5th cast, he finally did get one!. It was a bit of small one that came in early. This is also known as a Jack fish. He fought like crazy and was jumping around everywhere, up in the air, twisting and turning. I got him in the net and onto the gill line. I casted out for a couple more minutes, but then we had to pack up the RV. Papa went up to pack it up while I cleaned the fish all by myself. I did really well for my first time without supervision. When I got back to the RV, Papa had cooked a fillet of salmon on a skillet, skin side down only, but with oil salt and pepper on the skin. This made the skin taste like bacon and went really well with our eggs. He also made some pancakes! Quite a brunch feast! We finally packed up the RV, dumped the overflowing tanks, and hit the road to go to Homer. We set up camp and headed to town to check out the Homer spit. We walked around a bit and watched people trying to catch the dancing Coho salmon. One guy landed one with a fly and just drug it up on the rocks. Back at camp, we cooked another salmon fillet on a cedar plank on an open fire. Soooo tasty! After a little frisbee, we called it a night.

First hook of the morning.

Nice looking fish! They are already starting to get their bigger jaws and teeth.

Papa caught some, too!

Iliamna volcano.

Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt across the Cook inlet.

Fishing hole on the Homer spit.

Fresh caught salmon on a cedar plank with an open fire.

Homer - July 30 - Aug 2, 2023

Day 12 (July 30, 2023) We woke up at 4:30 to get ready for our long anticipated Halibut fishing charter. I was super excited, but also nervous as I had never done this before. We got to the boat and meet our Captain, Drew and his Deckhand, Dave. we started to head to the cook inlet which was about a 1.5 hours boat ride. The ride was super cool because the water was glassy and you could see the volcanos that surrounded the horizon. We could see our RV from the boat. As we rode out to the deep sea we saw a bunch of sea otters holding onto kelp. They where not bothered by the boat and would often look at us. Dave was preparing all the rods, bait, and chum bag. When we got to our fishing spot, Drew taught us how to realease the line untill it hit the bottom. we didn't want to drag the bottom however because then Skates bite the hook and they get all tangled up with the other lines. Papa was the first to get bites. He then hooked a fish on and started to reel it up. It was pretty good sized halibut but we decided to get photos with it and throw it back because we wanted to try and get a bigger one. The daily bag limit is 2 per person, but at least one of them has to be under 28" long, so you only get one big one. The other passengers where nice and they caught a few. Then I was starting to feel bites. The fish didn't take the hook just yet and he was playing around with it. Soon, he finally bit it. I could feel its power as I tried to reel it up. We had to reel 400ft through some fast current. This made the fish seem heavier than it was. When I got it on the boat we decided to keep it because it was around 40 pounds. I was pretty proud of myself because I reeled it in all by myself without any help from others. The other group got all of their big fish and 2 of their little ones before Papa and I got anything else. Papa got a huge bite and was working it really hard for a good 10 minutes only to discover it was a Skate and it had tangled all of our lines. The other group caught a Grey Cod but we ended up using it as bait because they are not in season and may have worms. Before we headed to a different spot where it was easier to catch the small ones, we needed to get Papa his big one. We ended getting 3 fish on at the same time and Papa reeled in all of them to pick out which one was best. The one we decided to keep was around 20 pounds and a better quality fish compared to the others that might have been a bit bigger. We then headed out to the other place where you can easily catch the small fish. It only took 5 minutes for the other group to limit out. After a couple minutes I got in a small one and we decided to keep it. Then after a couple more minutes of nothing we decided to pull up the line to check the bait. I didn't realize it but I had a fish on the line and we ended up hitting our limit as well. Papa hit one just at the end, but we let that one go. As we headed back to the dock I watched Dave clean all of the fish that where caught. I think he did a good job whilst still going fast. When we got to the docks, we gave our information to a fish proccesing place as they took our fish. We walked around the Homer Spit and went into a restaurant to get some Oysters and Clam Chowder. We went back to the RV and took a quick nap. We took our Sockeye Salmon Filets to the Proccesing place to get them shipped home with the Halibut. We shipped 62 lbs of fish, and had 5 lbs of halibut and 11 salmon fillets in the fridge. We went home and made some Halibut, Potatoes, and Beans. The Halibut was super buttery and moist. The cheeks werew super tender! It kept the flavor of the cedar plank which made it even better. We made a fire and played some frisbee before going to bed.

Heading out on the Halibut boat.

Reeling in the big one!

Fish on the surface.

My 40 lb Halibut.

Papa's 20 lb'er

View from the fishing spot.

My little guy.

Sea Otters.

Our fishing boat.

Half the halibut fillets from one fish, plus the halibut cheeks.

Halibut on the cedar plank.

Kachemak bay with glaciated mountains calling from above.

Sunset over the Cook Inlet.

Day 13 (July 31, 2023) We slept in, we needed it! The plan was to have a chill day, do some chores, and go fish up the coast a bit. and had some breakfast. We picked up the new fuel pump for the generator in town and went over to the boad yard where the Bristol Bay fishing boats were being parked. They were 40ft or so net fishing boats, some of them would be trucked over a pass to save 400 miles at sea. It would be an interesting lifestyle. After some grocery shopping, we headed over to a new fishing spot - Deep Creek. The Deek Creek river met the Cook Inlet there. It was beautiful on the beach for the Inlet and very nice on the river. I tried to fish for Dolly Varden and Rainbow Trout. We initially set up on a gravel bar after wading accross part of the river. I got to use the rubber boots, but Papa had to go barefoot. However, while standing there, the tide was pushing the river back and our gravel bar was disappearing quickly! Papa had to get back across the river before it got to deep. I was too late, my boots filled with water! We didn't catch anything, but we tried. A nice fisherman showed us where there was a good fishing spot. Papa got a fish on, but it broke off while he was trying to get it onto the bank of the river, since I was busy pouring water out of my soggy boots. After that, I tried to cast. I didn't catch anything. while I was fishing, a familly of Bald Eagles landed about 75 ft away from us. Three of them got a fish in a matter of seconds. I was mad because I couldn't even get a bite and they caught 3 fish first try. They just chilled there whilst we had a snack overlooking the river. They played a few games with each other trying to get fish, but the adults held their ground and made the kids catch their own fish. We headed back to the RV and we made a fire and cooked some halibut. The cedar plank make the halibut cheeks so amazing! For dessert we made a dutch oven berry cobler over the coals. It was super tasty. We then fixed the generator. The generator was the biggest issue from over the winter. With it running, we could now do some off-grid camping later in the trip. The other issues were the air conditioner, which Papa also fixed, and a cracked roof vent cover where a new one is waiting for us in Anchorage. The snow load on the cover probably cracked it and Papa was worried about it flopping around on the long drive later.

Fishing the Deep Creek - my gravel bar disappeared!

Good trout hole.

Bald Eagle jumping to catch a fish.

Nice fish!

Juvenile coming in for some lunch, but the parent holding ground.

Second parent coming in for lunch.

Halibut and berry cobler on the fire.

Looking tasty!

Fixing the generator with a new fuel pump.

Day 14 (Aug 1, 2023) We had a somewhat early morning to be ready for our boat ride, hike, and Grewinck glacier lake kayak trip. We headed to the Homer spit to meet the boat. We hiked to a lake that was made and fed by the glacier. The trip was run by a family. One brother drove the boat and another was our guide. They had lived in that location most of their lives, with some time spent in Georgia during the harsh winters. Once at the late, we inflated the kayaks and headed out onto the lake. The water was cold and silty. We had to Kayak up wind so it was a little bit difficult. We could see the glacier and it was super cool because it looked like it was right there, but it was over 4 miles away. We paddled a bit until we saw our first iceberg. I told Papa that I wanted to run into it. When we did, we almost beached it right on top of it. I broke off a peice of ice and started eating it. It tasted so clean and clear. It was super tasty. We paddled to about a half mile from the face of the glaicer. We were able to get some clear views and photos of the glacier. From the water, we could see how big it really was. The blueness was breathtaking. After a few more final glances, we turned around and headed to a lunch spot. We had to scramble some rocks, but at the end I felt like a Dahl sheep. I kept going up and up. We sat and ate lunch while looking at the glacier. Everything around us was so big, I felt like an ant. When we loaded back on the kayak, we hit an iceberg and it flipped over - we almost capsized. It was scary but also really cool. We headed back and hiked back in. We could just barely see a family of black bears. It sounded like one cub was suckling while the other played around nearby. We could hear the cub sucking and purring. We took the water taxi back to the pier. It was a beautiful day overall, not a cloud in the sky. It was a great day to be on the water. We then headed back to the RV, made a fire, had some snacks, and enjoyed our view out over the Inlet. We made a pizza for dinner, a nice break from fish, and had some leftover cobler for desert.

Morning boat ride!

Calm morning across Kachemak Bay.

Touching an iceberg!

Our closest approach.

View of the glacier from the water.

Nice view from up here.

Look how small the people are!

Upper glacier merging in.

Iceberg that rolled over, tipping the boat.

Pretty blue!

Homer spit harbor.

Some shops and restaurants on Homer spit.

Russian River - Aug 2-3, 2023

Day 15 (Aug 2, 2023) We had breakfast and squared away the RV to get ready for our drive to the Russian River Campground. We stopped in Soldotna to get some fishing gear. We picked up some lighter weights to get ready for Russian River fishing. The Russian River feeds into the kenai river and some salmon go up it. It is fast and shallow so you need lighter weights. When we arrived at our campsite we went and walked down to the river to scope out a place to fish. We headed back and got our fishing gear ready. I set up the weights and special flies we needed to fish the Russian River. After a few casts I got the hook caught on a rock and I had to cut it off. I frustrated and bummed, so I was done fishing for the day. I went back to the RV while Papa walked around looking for bears. He saw 5 bears. Two of them had caught big salmon. They were better fishermen than me. I got a fire going so that we could make cresent roll wrapped hot dogs for dinner. The ring was too tall and the fire couldn't get enough air flow to stay lit. We finally had enough heat to cook our dogs and rolls. After dinner, I decided to go with Papa to go look for bears. I also decided to try and fish a different spot to see if I could catch anything. After a few minutes I had hit one and it jumped in the air. Now I knew that our gear was working. A few casts later I hooked one. I walked to the bank and dragged it up before stunning it. I was super happy, excited and proud to have caught a fish on a new river! I hooked another one, but it broke free a few feet from the bank. It was getting late, about 10:30 pm, so stopped fishing. Since there were so many bears around, the responsible thing to do is to clean fish at special tables in the middle of the river, rather than on the bank. This also kept the fish debris in the faster and deeper waters of the Kenai, instead of littering the shallow Russian. We had to walk a ways down the river and, since the cleaning tables were in the middle, I had to wade out there by myself to clean the fish. It was hard because the table was steel and the fish kept slipping when I tried to clean it. I got fish goo all over my shirt. I got all wet trying to cross back. We got to the RV, put stain remover on my shirt and went to bed.

Black bear nabbed a fish.

Fishing the Russian River.

Sockeye!

Cleaning the fish in the middle of the river.

Day 16 (Aug 3, 2023) We slept in from the late night of fishing. Papa went for a walk by the river and saw a small bear. Unfortunaltely, the fishermen nearby were overly worried about the bear and pulled a big gun. Papa got the RV ready to roll and I woke up just as we pulled out. We had a nice dive up to Anchorage where we restocked on supplies before heading to the 49th State Brewery for lunch since it was so nice out. Papa got a coffe at the Alchemist. He says the roast has a nice carmel flavor. We hooked up and headed up the road toward Valdez. We drove along the Matanuska valley, which included some dramatic views as we headed up the pass. We had a view of the Matanuska glacier. It looked like it was crusing through the trees. We finally made it to our campground, watched a movie, and went to bed to try to catch up on some sleep.

So afraid of a small bear!

Valdez - Aug 4-6, 2023

Day 17 (Aug 4, 2023) Papa started driving while I was still asleep. He started off in a cloud, but eventually climbed above it to reveal nice views of the tundra and muskeg lakes below. I finally woke, ate the breakfast papa made, and did some math school work. We stopped at the Wrangrell St. Elias Natinal Park and Preserve Visitor Center. We stopped here so that we could learn as much as we could about the area surronding where our backpack would be. We saw furs from some of the animals that are in the Natinal Park. There where also some skulls next to them. We could see the size of all the animals. There was even a little pika skull. Papa and I saw a movie about the mountains and the landscape around them. We leanred that they are the tallest coastal mountians in North America. We also leanred that it is super hard to climb these mountains because they capture all of the storms that come off of the Pacific. There is always bad weather near the top. This national park is the size of six yellowstones, bigger than Rhode Island. We then headed down the road a little bit more before stopping at the Klutina River to have a last shot at fishing for salmon. I tried a few different spots before finding one that seemed good. I snagged a couple of branchs that where on the bottom. Then I thought a had snagged another branch but It was actually a Salmon. Unfortunaltely I had hooked it in the tail. This is an Illegal snag so I released it. It was also very red. We then stopped fishing because all of the fish had turned already and it wasn't worth it to eat them. We then drove down some more until we got to the Worthington Glacier. We read some signs along a boardwalk path that lead to a viewing platform. We decided to hike to the foot of the galcier. It was super blue but getting there was hard. There was a bunch of loose rock that made you slip. There where people climbing on the glacier. We saw one guy almost get hit by a rock slide just ahead of us. We headed back and hit the road to Valdez. We got settled at camp. For dinner we had Salmon and made a berry cobler with drop biscuits for dessert.

Tundra with boreal forest, permafrost, and muskeg. The small trees are indicative of permafrost areas.

Fishing in the Klutina River off of the Copper River.

Road snacks!

View during the drive! Worthington Glacier.

Worms do live on the ice!

Lower part of the Worthington Glacier. Beta is that the slope is walkable with crampons, without rope, a small crevasse field is above, which is navagable, then a larger crevasse field. There was evidence of camping above.

We can see glaciers in the mountains from camp.

Another cobbler method.

Day 18 (Aug 5, 2023) We woke up and got prepared for our Columbia Glacier Kayaking Tour. We got checked in and got our gear before heading to the watertaxi. Our guide's name was Amanda and we where with 3 other people. There was also a couple that was doing a 2 day trip and a familly that was doing a multiday trip. The couple, the family, and one of the people in our group where all from DC! We dropped off the couple then headed to our beach. We saw lots of sea otters and stellar sealions. The sealions where taking naps on this big rock. We leanred that Valdez is a big Oil port because it doesn't freeze. This is due to the sea water and the tides. The tides happen 4 times a day and they change up to 20 feet. All this water moving keeps the ice away. We got to our drop off place and got the kayaks off the boat. We got our kayaking gear and headed out onto the water. We had learned some lessons from our last kayak - wearing more layers, opting for the hand coozies, and the help of spray skirts, kept us try, comfortable, and worry free about splashing water. We paddled a bit to our first glacier view. It was this giant blue ice wall. We where able to get close to it because it was moslty over the beach and any calving wouldn't be to dangerous. It was super cool to be this close a galcier face. We couldn't fathom how big it really was. We enjoyed it for a while them headed to our lunch spot. The guide brought hot choclate and tea with our lunch. We could see how fast the tide moves becaue we needed to move out boats up every 5 minutes. We headed to the second glacier view. This was my favoite becasue it was the tallest and the bluest. The tide was bringing us in closer to the glacier. We could not even understand how huge it was. It was 500 feet tall!!. We sat there for a good 20 mins waiting for a piece to fall off. Then a piece did. It was small but it was so loud - booming its way in to the water. The guide said that there is never any thunder, so all of the lound sounds we could hear was the ice falling, moving or simply cracking. This was unbelivable - it sounded like a thuunder storm. It was crazy how often the Glacier makes a sound. The piece that fell made a pretty big splash and sent a surge our way that pushed us away from the glacier even before the waves from the splash arrived. Our last galicer view was super cool because we could see how far the galcier went. How long and tall it was. It was crazy. It looked so small but I knew it was so big. We had a few final views of the glacier faces as we headed to our pickup spot. We could see how much the tide moves because the rock that had the sealions was fully submerged. We got to town and had dinner. We had a buffalo chicken pizza and fish tacos at the Fat Mermaid. The pizza was a bit too spicy! The live music was nice and chill. We got to the RV and did some chores. Then, we enjoyed a nice fire because it was going to rain the next day and finished watching Paul.

Valdez oil terminal.

Sea otter!

So cute!

Sleepy Stellar Sealions.

Anderson falls from the Anderson glacier. 300 ft free fall, tallest in Alaska. In the winter, there is an iceclimbing competition.

Salmon!

Clear ice underbelly of an iceberg.

Fallen giant.

Where there are icebergs, there is a glacier!

Main face of the Columbia glacier.

Seracs at the top of the east face.

Far east face.

Paddling through small icebergs.

We were able to get pretty close!

Middle east face.

Far east face of the Columbia glacier.

Riding an iceberg!

Iceberg shows the scale of the face of the glacier.

Day 19 (Aug 6, 2023) I slept in till noon! Then we made up some food. We did some chores and got ready for our backpack. We did osme laundry and then we got some firewood. We then headed to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. We saw a bunch of Pink Salmon gathered near the entrance of the fish ladder. They where all piled onto each other and it looked like there where millions and millions. Everywhere you looked it was just an ocean of fish. They changed the color of the water. There where 4 sealions right there enjoying the salmon buffet! They would dive down and get a fish and then slurp it down. It was like a fish massacre. We then walked around the fish ladder and read a bunch of informative signs. We learned that the pink salmon spend the least amount of time at sea, only one year. We learned that they artifictially spawned more fish. They do this to sustain the fisherman and provide a food source. We saw the end of the journey for the salmon and where they spawn. It seems that this stream was developed as an artifical salmon run, with the salmon returning to the hatcher to become the broodstock for the next generation. The smolt live at the hatchery until ready to go to sea. The hatchery fish also return about a month earlier than the wild population, allowing for a fishery that can target the hatchery fish with minimal impact on the wild population. We got some groceries and then headed to the Nat Shack where we got some delicious Halibut tacos. They where super good because they had this nice chipotle sauce. We then headed back to the fishery and we could see how much the tide had changed. The fish now had more room the swim around. The Sealions where so full they where taking a nap in the water, noses in the air, leaning on each other. We stopped by a small stream that had some salmon in it, where natural breeding would occur. We got back to our RV and packed for our Backpacking trip. We watched a movie and went to bed.

Stellar sealion slurping salmon.

So many salmon!

Salmon as far as you can see! These are mostly pink salmon.

Seagull standing on a sealion slurping salmon!

McCarthy and Root Glacier Backpack - Aug 7-10, 2023

Day 20 (Aug 7, 2023) We headed out of Valdez, stopping in the Keystone canyon to enjoy the waterfalls along the way. We stopped at the Wrangrell St. Elias National Park visitor center. They had some furs and skulls, including a pika skull. We woke up and got packed up and headed to the RV park where we would store the RV while we did our backpack. We got our stuff into our car and started to drive to McCarthy. It was 60 miles on a crappy dirt road. It took us about 2 hours to get to McCarthy. You can't drive into the town because there is no car bridge that gets there. So you have to walk over to a footbridge. We met our guide, Caroline. She helped us carry gear across the foot bridge and drove us in to town. We headed to our hotel and got checked in. It was just a backpackers hotel so it is a shared bathroom and shower and it is just one bunk bed. It was very comfy. We went over to the guide company headquarters where we upacked all of our stuff, to figure out what layers and other gear we really needed, pulling out duplicate items Caroline already had covered. We got to get snacks from their inventory and we took some of the group gear in our packs, including a large bear canister for Papa and pots and cook shelter for me. We then put our bags in our hotel room. We walked around town and had our homemade meals. We had buffalo meat and potatoes with peas. We did not want to have pub food before heading our for the backpack, but we planned to eat at a local restaurant when we returned instead. We walked around the small old town. There where a bunch of cool old cars from the 1910's-1930's. They where super interesting. The old town was also cool. I learned that only 28 people stay there year round. They have limited resources. As we went through our trip, we learned that our guide Caroline had recently graduated from Washington Lee in Lexinton, VA. She had been working at St. Elias Adventure Guides for 3 summers. She was a lacrosse star, with her team finishing second in the country. She was not sure what she was going to do in the fall and winter or whether she would guide again next summer. She said guiding was very rewarding and learning to live in a remote town like McCarthy was very fun.

Bridal vail falls.

Downtown McCarthy

Day 21 (Aug 8, 2023) Backpack Day 1: We woke up not to early and got our last minute packing done before heading to breakfast at the Salom and Bear, which was a nice restaurant in the center of town, free with our hotel stay. Our guide picked us up and we drove up to Kennicott. We got fitted for ice climbing boots and crampons. We put the crampons on our packs and headed down the trail. There was an old mine that was run down. It was interesting to see the old buildings. We hiked the approach trail quickly, excited to get on the ice. Caroline explained some of the history of the area. There was a huge rock that was created in the San Andreas fault, moved to Alaska by plate techtonics, shoved out of the ground to make a mountain, then moved by a glacier to its current location. It is a glacier erratic. When we got to the Root glacier we had to put on our crampons so that we could walk on the ice. We got on the ice and started to head up the glacier. We walked a bit until we saw our first moulin. This is a hole in the glacier that water can go through to get to the bottom of the glacier. We then walked some more before we stopped for lunch at this awesome blue lake. For lunch we had hummus, peppers, and cheese wraps. We then crossed the medial moraine. Then we walked to the end of the glacier. We had to find a place to get off because it was so wavy, with big fins that directed your travel. It was either to steep or the ground would have been to muddy. There is a type of glacial silt mud that could swallow you whole. We had to walk up the glacier more to find a fin that headed in a good direction and we finally found a spot to get off and headed to some camp spots. We set up camp then we went on a little hike to a lake in the tundra at the base of Mt. Donohoe. The lake was calm and was fed by the glacier overflow. We then got back to camp and went to get some water. Caroline made dinner in the mid cooking tent becaue it had started to rain. It was a Pesto Pasta with Chicken. It was good and not that hard to make. It was raining a bunch. We then found a lull in the rain and headed to bed. We were going to play some cribbage, but quickly fell asleep.

Mt. Blackburn, 16,138 ft tall, looms over the Root Glacier.

Moraine down to the glacier

Starting off up the glacier

Glacier mice, a moss that reportedly eats rocks and is able to move on to new locations.

Moulin, which is a hole that the water drills through the glacier

View up the glacier to the 7,000 ft icefall

Winding water moves toward a moulin.

Helping with some cleaning

Day 22 (Aug 9, 2023) Backpack day 2: It rained hard all night. At 6 am it was pouring. We slept well, but were not looking forward to getting out of the tent. We had agreed on 8 am breakfast. At 7 am, there was a bit of a lull and Papa got out first. He made his morning walk with the ice axe. Caroline was already in the cook tent. She made us grits with raisins, walnuts, and Bacon. The bacon and walnuts were sauted in butter first. It was ok. Adding some brown sugar made it a little better. Caroline was pretty good at cleaning the pots with just a bit of hot water and campsuds. We then saw a nice waterfall. It was pretty. Since the raining had let up, we stood on the bluff and enjoyed the view of the glacier for a bit of chill time talking before heading back to break camp. It felt good getting back onto the ice. We walked up the glacier again. We saw a canyon that had been carved out by water. It was super blue. We then headed up and turned around. For lunch we had PB&J wraps, enjoying a nice view up the glacier. We had walked up about half way to the icefall. We saw a bunch of blue pools on the way back and I almost jumped into one. Unfortunaltely, I didn't have my swim suit, bummer! We threw rocks into the moulins to see how deep they where. It was cool that we were seeing features that were also new to Caroline. I then found a sabor tooth mouse in the ice. It might be a new species and the specimen could be worth $1M dollars! I would give Papa 10%. I \ put it in a bag. We then got off the glacier and headed to our next camping spot. We had just hiked 7 miles on the ice - it was tiring! We set up camp then got some water. We had a nice view of the Root and Kennicott glaciers. The sky had started to clear and we could see distant Mt. Blackburn. For dinner we had chili. It was ok. Papa thought it was great. All the ingredients were freeze dried, but it was not a pre-packaged meal. It was all of Caroline's recipie. We learned a few things about backpacking cooking options. Maybe we will try more than just our pre-packaged, freeze dried meals. We then went to an ice cave. It was hard to get down to it because of loose gravel. It was super blue. There where screw marks in the ice. It was super cool to be in the ice cave. It was a little scary to look deep in to the ice as you could see pockets of white ice with air in it. Something could be lurking in there! On the outer edge of the cave there was a part that if you moved a single piece the whole side of the wall would shake. It was super interesting. After making it back to camp, we thought of playing cribbage with Caroline, but again, we were sleepy.

'Caroline Falls' near our first night camping spot

Ice crystals in a small blue pool.

A new species!

Ice canyon! A new feature that Caroline had not seen before either

Big blue pool, which is like a moulin that does not drain yet

Cool river with a tunnel

Big blue pool

Mt. Blackburn shows again

Camp at the foot of the glacier

The cook tent was nice when it rained on the first night

Helping with a little cooking

Ice cave

Awesome clear blue walls

Eerie blue from special areas in the ice.

Day 23 (Aug 10, 2023) Backpack day 3: Breakfast was couscous. It had fruit, coconut, and other spices. It was super nasty. It tasted really weird. There was no protein so it was just carbs. It was a nice morning and dry. Our ice climbing guide met us at the glacier. He brought our boots, harness, and special crampons meant for climbing. Victor liked the breaky couscous. We put on our boots and crampons and headed out to our ice climbing spot. We saw our guide Victor climb the ice wall without rope. He did this so that he could build the anchor for the top rope. He repeled down and then we got set up to climb. Papa went up first and he made it look easy. He climbed up fast and made it to the top. The top was overhung, so he had to lean back to get to the edge to check that the plastic bag was holding the rope still. I went next and I did ok. I made it to where it was overhung. Papa went again. Then our backpack guide did it. Then our ice climbing guide was only going to do it if I belayed him. I was excited since I was belay certified at the rock climbing gym back in DC. I did pretty good. He was messing around so it was a bit hard but it was also very fun. I climbed it again and Papa belayed me this time. We packed up and headed to our first moulin. We set up the anchor then we had lunch. We had pizza rollups. It was a tortilla with cheese, sauce, and salami. It was good, but the sauce tasted weird, too many herbs. Even Victor said he was burping up the sauce flavor. However it was very good with the tortilla. Papa went down the moulin. It looked pretty blue and hard to climb up so I was not going to do it. Papa had a blast and said it was super awesome down in the icehole, so he did it again. Victor offered to set up an another location, so we headed to another moulin. Papa said that this one was less cool and we only had time for one climb so I let papa do it. We headed back and put back on our hiking boots and headed back to camp. We finished breaking camp and headed back to town. Papa carried all of the climbing boots. We got back to town and we returned the gear we had borrowed and headed to our car. Caroline brought us back to town where we said our goodbyes. We went to the Potato which is a little restaurant, famous in the world of McCarthy, but known for having a good chef. I got a pizza and papa got a Sake marinated cod filet and local soy brined soft boiled egg. We also had garlic curley fries, eating way too many. My pizza felt great after a long hike and Papa said his cod was good. We then went to the saloon where papa got a sour black beer and I went to the local general store and got an ice cream. There had been talk of a live band playing, but they did not start till later and we needed to hit the road toward civilization and the RV. I took a final look at the old cars as we headed back to the car. We drove back to the RV, unpacked our bags and went to bed. It had been an awesome trip. One that I will always remember. My favorite part was walking on the glacier. The features were cool, and the ice climbing was fun. Caroline's guiding and cooking was a nice experience. We were totally lucky with the weather as the forecast had been much gloomier. We only had rain the one evening, night, and morning, so we were mostly dry the whole time and no rain interfering with our views on the ice. Amazing!

Ice climbing!

Getting some belay practice in

Bottom of a moulin

View up from the bottom of the moulin

The copper mine near the end of the hike

Sunset on the drive back from McCarthy

Drive through East Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia - Aug 11 - 24, 2023

Day 24 (Aug 11, 2023) We packed up the RV, arranged some of our gear to air out and dry and prepared for a week of off-grid camping at out-of-the-way campgrounds on the way back to British Columbia. Our first stop was the Sourdough Creek campground on the highway to Delta Junction. We set up camp in a very nice campsite and went for a walk around our campground. We were in the middle of the boreal forest with nice access to a river. We saw some people trying to fish for salmon. We headed back to the RV and had a cheese snack. I then made a fire whilst papa got the steaks ready. We enjoyed some fire before it started to rain. We sat under the awning and enjoyed more of our snack while it poured rain on our fire. We cooked our steaks on a pan on the grill so we didn't need the fire. We made potatoes to have with our steaks. Our steaks where great. They had a great crust. The steaks were our tradition as an award for a great backpack. We then made more of a fire. It was probably one of my best ones. We decided to try and cook cookies over it. Papa had accidently bought vegan cookies so they didn't really cook. They more melted and smeared everywhere. They still tasted good. We enjoyed the fire for a bit more. Papa decided that it was a good idea to take me for a driving lesson. I drove around the campground, including parking by the river. Then we headed out on the highway. I felt comfortable since I had driven a lot of golf carts, Razrs, 4 wheelers, and other motorized things. I didn't crash. It was low risk becasue there was no one on the road and I wasn't going very fast, but I did get up to 60 mph. I had my first driving lesson on the Alaska highway! We got back to the RV and watched a movie and went to bed.

River near camp

Boreal forest

Campsite, cooking steaks

Celebration steaks

Gooey cookie dough

Driving on the Alaska highway!

Day 25 (Aug 12, 2023) Today was our last full day in Alaska! So sad! We drove 3 hrs to Tok and stopped to get groceries and gas. We also wanted to do laundry, so we went to the Sour Dough Campground where we started our laundry and had lunch at their cafe. We had been there last year and we had sour dough pancakes. However, it was past breakfast time. We got Reindeer chili in a sourdough bread bowl. It was good. The chili was a bit spicy but it was good. We finished our lunch and put the laundry in the dryer, then headed out to get gas, propane, and fire wood. After the laundry finished, we continued down the Alaska highway toward Canada and to our campground at Deadman Lake. We where only 38 miles from the Canadian border. We did a lap of the campground and we found a spot. We set up camp and decided to go check out the boat ramp. We saw canoes and paddles that where free to use. We went back to the RV and got ready to go on the water. We launched our boat and head towards the end of the lake. The water was not too cold. It was windy so it was hard to paddle. We hit a patch of lillypads and decided to hang out here and chill. It was super cool. It was sunny and we could see some mountains in the distance. The lake was surounded by boreal forest. We chilled for an hour then decided that it was time to head back. We got back and had a cheese snack and made a fire. We had hot dogs wrapped in cresent rolls for dinner and a "Backpackers Hand Pie". It is something that I invented. It is just a biscuit flatened and berries with sugar in it. Then you but another buiscuit on top of it and pinch the edges. It tasted really good. We enjoyed our fire before going for a walk through the forest. It was super cool to be in the boreal forest. We walked to a viewing platform and enjoyed the sunset. We saw a muskrat swimming through the water. We headed back and enjoyed some more fire. we then went inside and watched a movie. We were staying up late to try to see northern lights, but clouds had moved in.

CHEESE BALLS!

Campsite, lucky number 13

Peacefull canoe on Deadman lake

Sunset on our last night in Alaska. It has been epic!

Best fire so far!

Backpackers Hand Pie

Day 26 (Aug 13, 2023) We packed up and hit the road. It was about 40 miles to the border. We stopped at the sign for Alaka and Yukon. When we crossed the border, we had traveled 1,300 miles with the RV in Alaska on this trip, 2,400 miles in Alaska across the two seasons, covering nearly all of the paved highway in Alaska! We got to our campground and set up camp. we started a fire and got ready to make sheperds pie. The fire was hot enough to make the pie right on it. The pie tasted really good. For dessert we made a berry desert with papa's vegan cookies. It tasted good. the cookie was a little sweet. The fire was really good and we sat around it untill midnight.

Sad to be leaving Alaska! It has been so much fun!

A clear path, north and south, to mark the boarder

Pine lake campground near Haines Junction, Yukon

Made some shepherd's pie on the fire

Pine lake

Blueberry pie cookies!

So gooey!

Day 27 (Aug 14, 2023) Before heading out of town, we went to the village bakery to get some tasty cinnamon rolls. They were very sweet. We then made our way to Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. We stopped and got some gas and groceries. We stopped by the fish ladder to try to see King salmon going through. It had been a slow year, only 24 so far. It is a tough swim from the bearing sea! We continued our drive to our next camp at Teslin lake. I wasn't feeling very well and ended up puking in the empty cheese ball barrel. Ewwwww! We made a fire but I ended up going to bed early.

Trembling Aspen

Teslin Lake

Day 28 (Aug 15, 2023) After a short walk on the shore of Teslin lake, we hit the road and headed down to Boya Lake. We made a detour to Watson Lake, where we left a NASA sticker with our names on it last year. We looked for it for a while before referencing an old photo and realizing that the entire pole was missing. Sometimes we salvage the signs, but not sure. We headed back to the main road and turned off the Alaska highway and started down the Stewart-Cassiar highway. This is the highway that goes straight down BC. We got to Boya lake and chilled before walking around. We saw that there where canoes that you could rent. It was getting late so we decided to do it during our rest day. We made a fire, roasted hotdogs and made some more Backpackers Hand Pie.

Nisutlin Bay bridge

Sign post forest in Watson Lake. There are over 100,000 signs now.

Weiner wrap

Day 29 (Aug 16, 2023) We woke and went for a run. I needed to see where my starting point was for cross country. We then made a late breakfast. I set up the hammock and sat in it for a little bit. We decided to go out on the canoe. We headed down the lake. The wind was pushing us really fast so I decided to put my line out and troll. I didn't get any bites. The water was super deep. There where a lot of hidden path ways around the lake. There where a lot of islands. We paddled around them and fished a bit more. We saw a couple of beaver lodges and dams. The canoe was very relaxing. We headed back to the shore. The wind was howling so it was hard to paddle. We made it though. I stayed and fished off the dock while papa read in the hammock. I caught a small trout. It was very small so I let it go. We made a fire then we got ready to make steaks. The steaks where awesome. The crust was perfect. We then made another berry dessert. This time it was with a smores brownie mix. It was good. We then chilled a bit before Papa went on a hike to a beaver dam to see the sunset. I was about to fall asleep when Papa came rushing back and was yelling "Jack you gotta get up!" so I got out and there was a bear waiting for me at the door... just kidding, he woke me up because there where the Northern Lights! I was super excited to see them. Before the clouds rolled in, we could see the ribbon of the gree lights. It looked like a flowing river of energy. It was super awesome. The light was taking over the sky. We could see the milky way thru the green. It was super cool. Then the clouds rolled in and the lights died down, so we went back to the RV, it was 2 am!

Boya Lake

Sourdough french toast

Beaver lodge with underwater entry points

New desert with fresh blueberries and brownie smore cookie toping

Cooked up well!

Porcupine!

Beaver dam keeps the upper lake 4 feet higher than the rest of the lake!

Northern lights!

Aurora with the Milky Way

Day 30 (Aug 17, 2023) We had a 7 hour drive ahead of us, so we got started early. We drove a couple hours before stopping at Kinaskan lake. I tried some fishing while Papa made us some pizza. I didn't catch any fish. The pizza was super good. It was like highway pizza only without the bumps and potholes that make it hard to stand. We continued our drive and we saw our first highway bear. He ran into the bushes. I slept for 4 hours and Papa said that he saw 2 more highway bears. Only a few minutes later we saw another one. We stopped and looked at the bear glacier. it was maybe our last glacier view. We pulled into Stewart, BC and set up camp. We had some dinner and walked around a boardwalk that went over a plain. It led to a road that we heard had a bear hanging around it. We walked a little bit, down a service road. Papa stepped in super fresh bear poop! Luckily it didn't stick. We heard some rustling in the bushes next to us, but could not see anything. We walked along the highway where we saw a car stopped. We then saw a bear face staring at us from the bushes. He watched us and we watched him, but then he got scared and ran away. We headed back. I was too tired to make a fire, so we watched a movie and went to bed.

Fishing at Kinaskan lake.

Highway pizza!

Bear glacier

Bear glacier

Red squirrel eating a pinecone.

Day 31 (Aug 18, 2023) Bonus day in Alaska! Hyder, AK is just around the corner from Stewart, BC. The American side had no border control, so we cruised in and head to a bear viewing place. On the way, we stopped the harbor as it was the only place with cell coverage. The bear viewing area had a wooden platform that looked over a creek where salmon go up into to spawn. There where mostly Chum slamon and Pinks. The chum that go in this creek are larger than the average chum. Some of them can get to 40lbs!!! There were a ton of fish in the creek, mostly pinks, with the occasional huge chum scrambling by. We saw a chum grab a pink by the tail. Unfortunaltely, there were no bears. After the creek we decided to go to the Salmon Glacier. There was an overlook that we stopped at and learned that there might be a trail that gets to the glacier if you drive down a dirt road and scramble down the steep side. The glacier was huge and came down the upper valley straight at us. We found the dirt road and started driving it until there was a section that our car could not go over. We tried to wheel it over some big ruts and lips from a rock slide, but the tires were spinning and it was risky to possibly blow a tire. We still needed the car to get home! We decided to walk a little bit down the road to see if there was a trail. We made it untill the road was washed out and we couldn't go any further. We hiked down but toward the glacier about half way, but we realized it was too steep. We could also see a possible ice cave, but part had colapsed, so all too risky. We had some snack and enjoyed the view before heading back out to the car. I talked to Papa about plans for the next school year. I decided I am going to apply myself more at school. We found a rusty CAT bolt. We chilled at the overlook for a bit before heading back down to town. We got some Halibut Fish and Chips. The woman's husband catches it fresh every day. We didn't have enough cash to get 2 so we shared one. It was super good. We went back to the RV and had some weiners and chilled. We then headed back to the bear viewing. They said that there was a bear a minute before we got there. We waited more than an hour, but didn't see anything. We headed back to the RV and watched Phat Beach!!!!

Nurse log

Fresh bear poop! Where is the bear?!

There is the bear.

Pink salmon fill fish creek.

Helicopter picking up some mine supplies

Salmon glacier.

Salmon glacier view from the ice cave area

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