Adventures at Mt McKinley

We have had a whirlwind of activities since we arrived at Mt. McKinley. When we pulled in on May 8 we were greeted by several very friendly fellow campers who helped us get situated. Along with nine other rv's we are parked in a parking lot where they provide full hook-ups and cable tv. They scraped the snow away to make room for us, but there is still a big pile of snow across from us. It's slowly melting away. We are on top of a hill and walk about one half mile down to the lodge where we work and eat our meals. Of course, what goes down must also come back up so we're getting lots of exercise. This is a view of Mt. McKinley that we see on the way to work.



We had ten days of training which included many wonderful experiences. Their theory is to expose us to many of the same adventures that our guests will encounter so we can explain to them what it is all about.  One day they took us to Talkeetna which is an Alaskan town about a hour away where many of our tours take place. On another day all the vendors who book tours with us came to describe their tours and give current information. We took a trip to the Denali Princess Lodge by rail to attend the Music of Denali, a dinner and musical show. Both the food and the performance were excellent. The rail car that we traveled in had glass all around for a marvelous view of the countryside. The trip was a dry run for the folks who work on the train and at the lodge. We were happy for them to practice on us.

On our day off we were given the opportunity to go on a river raft tour and airplane flight to the glaciers at Mt McKinley. The boat tour took us along a calm river where we saw lots of beaver, beaver dams, eagles and eagle nests. The guide was a life long Alaskan resident with lots of interesting information. They offered us rain gear and since it was cloudy we decided to use it. Here we are ready for the trip.



And here are the rafts we used.



Words can't describe the flight to Mt McKinley and the glaciers. The spectacular scenery kept changing as we got closer to the mountain. We were across from each other in the plane and kept passing the camera back and forth. We were in awe of the beauty of it all. Here we are in front of the plane.



When the plane started out the pilot flew over the lodge property. In the next picture our motorhome is right above the "r" in the word our. The lodge where we work is on the right side of the picture. The rest of the buildings are where the guests stay.



It was difficult choosing which picture to include of the glaciers because there were so many different scenes. But I think this one will give yo an idea of what a glacier looks like. Unfortunately we were unable to land and walk on the glacier because a cloud settled in and the pilot said it would not be safe. We hope to try again later in the season.



Misc info: Our coworkers and supervisors have been very friendly and helpful. Our job has quite a bit of variety. Mostly we work at the tour desk booking tours and answering questions. One day I drove two people to Denali because they missed their bus. We have a small office in Talkeetna where we are scheduled some days. Yesterday was my first day there, and part of the job was to meet the train that came from Anchorage, get the guests organized in the correct lines, help guests from the train to find the correct bus, and help the ones waiting to get on the train. It was quite hectic but fun. Sometimes we get scheduled together, sometimes we work part of our shifts together, and some days we go in different directions. But they give us the same days off together, and on those days we play tourist and take tours that we book. On Saturday we get to go to the train in Anchorage and ride back on the train.

The temperatures are consistently in the 60's now during the day and dropping to the 40's. All the grass and trees are turning green and we are beginning to see the wildflowers pop up. In a week things have gone from brown to green very quickly. Even though the growing season is short the hours of daylight are long. Today the sun rose at 4:23 am and the sun sets at 11:22 pm. It's really neat to have all this daylight.

So far the food has been quite good. Every breakfast includes hot food such as bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, french toast, and oatmeal. Also there are cold cereals, fresh apples, oranges, bananas, yogurt, juices, coffee, tea, and hot chcocolate. At lunch and dinner there is a good salad bar, a variety of hot foods, cold cuts for sandwiches, and sometimes dessert. If Dan doesn't like the hot food he has a sandwich or cereal and fruit.

Our Verizon cell phones are working fine, but our internet service is not dependable. But we are getting by. If we take the computer down to the lodge there seems to be a better connection, but it is more convenient using it at the rv.

I have more pictures to edit of other trips we took and will work on them and write again when I have time. All in all we are having a great experience here in Alaska.

Dawson Creek, BC to Wasilla, AK

View BC to AK in a larger map

We made it to Alaska!!! I'm delighted to report that I don't have any horror stories about breaking down, blowing out a tire, or getting lost. We thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. The Alaskan Highway starts at Dawson Creek, BC and ends at Delta Junction, AK. which is 1390 miles.  We traveled 1279 miles to Tok, AK because we decided to go south to Anchorage instead of north to Fairbanks.  The roads were clear and mostly good . As we traveled along we followed the Milepost 2011 book which gave us mile by mile facts about the cities that we were passing through and background information about where the cities' names came from, population, elevation, and services available. Every time I wondered about something we passed I looked in the book and usually got my answer. I was able to inform Dan of many neat trivia points about the countryside.

Dawson Creek, BC is unique because it begins the Alaskan Highway. We took a walk around town where murals were painted on many buildings. Unfortunately the Visitor Center was not open because of flood damage that was being repaired. When we took pictures at the mile 0 post there was no one around to ask to take a picture of both of us together.



We enjoyed another sunny day as we traveled along viewing the gorgeous scenery. After passing through many small towns we stopped at Fort Nelson, BC. (Historic Mile 300) The campground where we stayed was beside the Fort Nelson Museum which also was not opened. We walked around the outside where there were many artifacts of interest. We were just a little too early. From what we could gather most places along the way don't open until middle May. At least we found campgrounds open so we could be pampered with electricity for our electric blanket and computer connection!

 

The trip between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, YK was unbelievably breathtaking. There were miles and miles of wilderness. Words and pictures can't describe the spectacular views of the Canadian Rockies. We ascended, descended, and curved around the mountains. During this section we had our first moose and bison sightings. What a delight! There were warning signs for stone sheep but we did not see any. Later in the journey we met a couple who drove that part of the highway two years ago and had to stop for several nights because of snow storms. We are thankful that the roads were dry.

 

The city of Watson Lake, the Gateway to the Yukon, is famous for its Sign Post Forest. It began when an Army soldier who worked on the Alaskan Highway in 1942 left a sign with his name. As the years went by others left license plates, personalized signs, and  even a Steeler sign. There are more than 70,000 signs there now. We spent quite a bit of time walking through and marveling at the ingenuity of the signs. It was an amazing sight to see. Another amazing sight was the price of milk at the local grocery store - $6.99 a gallon. Talk about sticker shock!



The drive between Watson Lake, YT and Whitehorse, YT was full of hills and curves and beautiful scenery. The hymn "How Great Thou Art" kept going through my mind like it did last summer when were visiting the National Parks. One breathtaking sight was crossing the Alaskan Highway's longest bridge.



As you see the river was still frozen. Whitehorse, which is the capital of Yukon , has a population of over 26,000 and the whole Yukon has only 35,000 people. The road to the city goes down  two miles to the Yukon River. I wouldn't want to drive it in the snow! After stopping at the visitor center we took a walk along the river where they have a three mile walkway. Part of the river was flowing, and there were ice chunks all around.



Although the stretch of highway between Whitehorse and the US border had magnificent scenery, the road deteriorated. The frost heaves that we heard about appeared in abundance. Orange flags were placed as warnings to slow down. At some areas it was not as bad as Pennsylvania roads, but there were a few spots where it was very rough. Dan covered the Blazer during this time, and we had no damage to it. There was not much traffic so we didn't have the problem of stones being thrown at us. They have a research team trying to resolve the problem and have several places where they are experimenting on solutions.



We drove past the Kluane National Park Ice Field Ranges which includes Mt. Logan, Canada's highest peak at 19,545 ft. Mt. McKinley where we will work is 20,320 ft which is USA's highest peak. There were so many white mountains around that it was somewhat overwhelming.



And then at last we traveled back across from Canada to the United States. At the border besides asking to see our passports the man asked if we had any fruit. We told him we had apples and bananas. He asked to see an apple. He looked at it and smiled and told us to have a safe trip. The first thing I did was turn on the cell phone, but we were too far away from any city get a signal. I had to wait until we arrived at Tok, Ak to make a call. Fortunately Verizon has service all through Alaska. After staying overnight at Tok we left the Alaskan Highway and proceeded down the Glenn Highway toward Achorage. Once again we went up the hills, down the hills, and around the curves. The road was decent but not great in some sections. We passed very close to the Matanuska Glacier which was another beautiful sight.



We chose Wasilla, AK as our stopping point because it is on the highway only 83 miles from Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge. We gave ourselves plenty of time for travel in case we experienced problems or bad roads. Since neither happened we have a bonus of time to clean up the RV and Blazer, do some sightseeing in the Anchorage area, and relax before we start our jobs. We will drive up on Sunday to get set up and start training on Monday, May 9.

As far as the gas prices go we developed an "it is what it is" attitude. We have to accept the things that we cannot change. The price in Canada was outrageous along with the exchange rate. Here in Wasilla it is between $4.12 and $4.19. The price of food is more expensive here also from what we have seen. We're glad that the lodge has the meal plan so we won't need to shop or cook. 

Misc. info: We have traveled 5327 miles so far with 83 to go. The temperatures are in the 50's during the day and 30's at night. We have over 16 hours of daylight at this point. Last night at 10:30 it was still light out!

We will write again from Mt McKinley.