Driving To Alaska....Minter Gardens

If you are ever close to Hope, British Columbia, and have plenty of time for a long walk, go to Minter Gardens. If you like flowers and beautiful landscapes, you wont be disappointed. 

Our last day in Canada we had a long walk at Minter Gardens. What a beautiful place, even in the rain. 

Two months and 8000 miles after leaving home, we made it back home once again.
 We did this trip to Alaska in 2002. We enjoyed this trip and always planned to go back but so far haven't.
But we still can hear Alaska calling us back.
This concludes the "Driving To Alaska" series.

Driving To Alaska....Bear Glacier

Near Stewart, British Columbia we found this beautiful sight and walked the trail to Bear Glacier.

                           

                                                                 

The marina at Prince Rupert British Columbia

Driving To Alaska...Hyder

Main Street, Hyder, Alaska

 

                                                                                        This horse was grazing just off of the main street in the little community of  Hyder.

He came over to greet us and seemed to want to get in with us.
We didn't see any people in Hyder but I'm sure there were some people there.

It took us about five minutes to drive around the little town and then we headed back into Canada.

I'm not sure about the ghosts, but the horse was sure friendly.

Driving To Alaska...Cassiar Highway

Last weekend I posted pictures from our visit to Dawson City and after we left there we headed south and back to Whitehorse. After a nice two days there we set off for Watson Lake and the Cassiar Highway shown in red on the map above. 

Cassiar Highway has some paved sections and long stretches of dirt and gravel which is not bad unless it is raining, which it was. Four wheel drive came in handy several times on our journey south.  We didn't see many other vehicles on this road but  beautiful scenery was abundant.
We saw several bears along the road. This young black bear was with it's mother but stopped to take  one last look at us. We also saw a couple of grizzly bears.

This red fox was not happy because he had to move out of the middle of the road where he was napping.

This is how you can expect your vehicle to look after a few miles on the Cassiar Highwy.

We were on our way to visit Stewart, British Columbia and Hyder, Alaska on our way back south to the lower 48.

Driving To Alaska....Dawson City, Yukon

Driving To Alaska.....Dawson City

Last weekend I posted pictures of the "Top Of The World Highway". Just across the Yukon river is Dawson City, Yukon. When traveling this road in early spring or late fall it is advised to check ahead to make sure the river is not frozen because this is the only way to cross.

Dawson City is a picturesque town on the banks of the Yukon River.

The old buildings and gravel streets made us feel like we had stepped back in time.

How about a stroll down the wood plank sidewalk or a night's stay at the Flora Dora Hotel?

Driving To Alaska....Top Of The World Highway

Yesterday's post had us in Chicken Alaska where we spent the night. In the morning we started off on the 108 miles of dirt and gravel road that would lead us back to the Canadian border and Dawson City, Yukon. Along this route we only saw about ten other vehicles and some beautiful scenery.

This is the international border station on the "Top Of The World Highway".

The bare patch of land in the picture to the left is the border between the United States and Canada
 (Alaska and Yukon)

Along the Top Of The World Highway

Driving To Alaska....Fairbanks

Continuing the Alaska road trip, after Denali, we headed for Fairbanks where we spent one night. It was cloudy and rainy and I guess that is why I didn't take any pictures there.  We had wanted to drive up the Dalton highway to Coldfoot, just north of the Arctic Circle. Dalton highway is not paved and about thirty miles into the 260 mile trip it started to pour down rain. Then lightening struck the road about 20 feet in front of us so we found a wide spot and pulled over to discuss our options. As soon as we stopped, thousands of tiny mosquitoes blackened our windshield and then started coming in through the dash air vents. We turned around and hightailed it out of there. I guess you could say we got cold feet.

Big Delta State Historical Park

Rika's Roadhouse at Big Delta Sate Historical Park

So we made our way to Taylor Highway and headed for Chicken, Alaska.  This road was not paved either but we found this place to spend the night and the next day was bright and sunny.

This is the town of Chicken. We learned that the founders wanted to name the place after the many ptarmigan that they found in the area but they didn't know how to spell it so they just named the town Chicken.  We camped here over night.

Driving To Alaska....Denali

We spent three days camping in Denali National Park. It was the most peaceful and quiet place although alive with wildlife. It was the highlight of our journey. In this picture, just behind the dark mountains,  you can see the snow covered Mount Mckinley or Denali, the highest mountain in the US at 20,237 feet above sea level. Usually covered with clouds, we were lucky to get this view for a few minutes before it was once again hidden from view.

Leaving Denali, we felt like we were leaving one world and entering another. Once you have been there, there is something about the place that calls you back.

Driving To Alaska....Anchorage

Spring in Anchorage in early June, the municipal building has flowers and trees in bloom. 

 

I thought this was a perfect mural for this city. 

Driving To Alaska....On The Way To Anchorage

Just north of Homer, we stopped at a State Park where there was a family of eagles teaching their young about fishing.

They put on quite a show grabbing fish from each other while flying high above us. I guess they are encouraged to play with their food.

 This little Russian Orthodox church is in Kenai, Alaska close to the Cook Inlet.

Driving To Alaska...Homer

This weekend I have a few more pictures from the town of Homer. It was cold and cloudy all the days we were there but fishing boats went out every day.

The Salty Dawg Saloon was a log cabin lighthouse combo. Kind of unusual.

Lots of signs posted all the rules of the boat harbor at the end of the boardwalk.

Wednesday Window....A Quiet Moment

Relaxing on the roof in Skagway, Alaska

Driving To Alaska....Homer

I liked the little town of Homer, Alaska. It was a quiet fishing town.

Businesses along the water's edge were built on stilts. 

We saw a young moose grazing in someone's yard. 

The marina had too many boats to count. 

This one was my favorite. 

And this is the hospital where we found out that the sprained ankle that Chet had been walking on for over a week was actually a broken ankle. 

Driving To Alaska....Seward

Continuing our trip to Alaska...We spent Memorial Day weekend camping on the beach in Seward, Alaska watching boats of all kinds and sizes sailing by.

The Coast Guard came by.

Pretty little sailboats quietly floated past us.

Then we saw these young girls having a fast dip in the freezing water. They didn't stay in very long.