On to Denver and then Virginia

September 23: :  Generator problems last night and this morning. Think it is the altitude (8,600+ feet) with the carburetor not set for this height. Took us all day to get south of Jackson. Not many miles but lots of pull off and fantastic scenery. We loved the majestic Tetons and lots of wildlife. Saw a grizzly taking a nap, herds of elk and bison. Tonight we are camping at Hoback, a NFS campground. We had our back in the USA celebration a steak, vegetables, potato and a bottle of wine. Nice night and days have been back in the 60’s with colder nights. One more night in WY and should hit Denver next day. Tomorrow we hit interstate and that is the end of boon docking and NFS campgrounds.

September 24: Today was a day if driving. We took the scenic route. That translates to open range land and cattle guards on state roads. There even was a cattle guard on the interstate ramp. Today was our first time on and interstate since leaving Reeder and Barbs on July 31, other than a stretch from Canadian border and Great Falls. On the open range we saw golden eagles, hundreds of antelope, cows and a band of wild horses. Tomorrow will be Denver and it has been a long time since we been here.

It's back to interstate. note cattle guard.

We will be in Denver for 2 days and then on to home.  The last days will be driving 13 to 14 hours a day and staying in Flying J's.  This has been a wonderful trip and we are looking forward to Denver, seeing friends and then home.  In summary we are very glad we went to Alaska and the experiences were exceptional. 

Yellowstone Park

September 21- 22: We saw lots of horses and black angus cows in Montana. The drive down highway 89 was gorgeous. We saw antelope and fenced bison. I guess you would call them farm raised. Saw a few hawks, red tail and rough legged hawk. The road went alongside the Yellowstone River It is the longest free flowing river in the US. We followed it right into Yellowstone National Park. Of course, we had to drive through the Teddy Roosevelt stone archway. The park seems to be run by concessionaires. They are very efficient, but not as happy and cheerful as volunteers or seasonal rangers. We got in on my Golden Age Passport Card, this is a wonderful card.

Stopped at Mammoth Hot Springs, and then headed for the only campground that wasn’t full and would take reservations. Stopped along the way for a close up encounter with a few bison. They walked down and into the turnout where we were parked. They went by Escape To not two feet from my window.

When we got to our campground, it was a disappointment. No picnic table, no fire pit, no electric, and water pressure that spiked to 100PSI. You needed a pressure reducer to connect to the water. The worst part of all was the no generators until 8AM rule. Therefore, no coffee till then.

Next morning we had our coffee at 8AM and went to look at the next campground. If it had been the same we were leaving the park. It was actually quite nice with fire ring and trees that separated the sites.


Yellowstone Lake by our campsite

Went to Old Faithful and spent most of the day in that area. We saw Old Faithful erupt, as well as numerous geysers and some beautiful boiling pools. It is a very strange landscape, but very intriguing.

Old Faithful

Even Yellowstone Lake has some thermal activity. This activity causes some open areas in the ice during the winter. The otters take advantage of these holes. I felt very rough after dinner and went to bed a 8 PM. I guess it,s too much vacation or too much hiking in this altitude. We plan to go on to Grand Tetons and Jackson WY tomorrow. Time is getting tight.

Back in USA

September 20: It started out raining so we did not linger. We just kept driving and crossed the border with no problems. Took about 2 minutes, only questions were where are you from and how long have you been in Canada. The first question seems strange as they have our passports in their hands. Observation: Canadian customs agents are very friendly and pleasant. US customs officials are not warm and fuzzy but very business like and curt.


The day cleared up after crossing the border. Now we understand the slogan “big sky country” for Montana. They were cutting wheat and bailing hay, a pretty picture with these huge gorgeous blue skies. We are camping in Lewis and Clark National Forest. Typical NFS campground. Edna met a couple from Helena and their cat Spot. He is a seasoned camper and has been all over the country, including Virginia. It feels good to be back in the lower forty-eight.

Tomorrow we should be in Yellowstone National Park.

End of the Alcan Highway

September 19: Left the campground late as we were working on the blog and making postcards for the grandchildren to mail from Canada. It rained all day and we drove all day.


We did see a Swainson Hauk and lots for flocks of geese overhead as we drove thru Canadian horse country. We drove by a town that was hosting Alberta Provincial Horse Trials. I didn’t stop as it was raining very hard.

Every town has a large RV dealership that are well stocked and a rodeo. Seems everybody has and RV or horse or both. Stopped at Park Lake Provincial Park for the evening which had a nice lake, and as it stopped raining we walked to the lake and took a few pictures.

September 18: Today was mostly driving. Drove by bison, elk, horse, lama and alpaca farms along the road. Stopped at Dawson Creek at mile post monument 0 on the Alaskan Highway and said goodbye to the Alcan. Stopped to photo Beaverlodge big beaver. We had lunch at Williamson Provincial Park beside Sturgeon Lake. Saw some ducks and geese on the lake.

As we got closer to Edmonton we realized that commercial campgrounds were few and far between. We wanted wifi and to wash cloths tonight. Ended up a Glowing Embers near the Edmonton Mall (largest in the world), it was very nice and professional. The laundry was the most reasonable we have used to date.

Canada gong south

September 16: Up and off at a decent time for us, about 9:30 AM. Stopped at Watson Lake and what a friendly visitor center, the best yet. They had a great movie explaining about the origin and building of the Alaskan Highway. Both the politics and history and we learned a lot. The signpost forest is just outside the information center. In 1942 it started with a lonely soldier putting up a sign for his hometown and today it has 71,000 signs. Now 70,001 as we put up our sign that we made before we left on this trip.

Adding our sign

The lady at the visitor told us that the stretch of the Alaskan Highway from Watson Lake to Fort Nelson was the prettiest on the highway. We now agree. The road followed the Liard River to the Hot Springs. We stopped, but could only walk part of trail as they were having bear problems.

Hot Springs

We had been told to watch for bison by the visitor center and sure enough, we saw one then another and another down the road.  Finally, we ran into a whole herd!  They were fun to watch and one was dusting just like our horses do at home.



Dusting like our horses

Decided to drive a little later than usual and we were rewarded with lots of animals. Our goal had been to reach Summit Lake Campground, but it got dark and we had to stop. Found a “former provincial park at 115 creek” We read about it in Churches Alaska Camping. It was not marked but the pull off was just after crossing the bridge.

September 17: Woke up to freezing temperatures, frozen puddles and frost on the windshield. We walked to a beaver pond by the campsite. It’s such a pretty spot that I understand why people still camp here. It’s a good thing we did not make Summit Lake. When we drove by, it was closed. This was an early start day and we were rewarded with sightings of Stone Sheep, lots of caribou, elk and deer. The drive was gorgeous. We went up and around Stone Mountain with the Northern Rockies on one side and the Stone Mountain Range on the other. That is where we met the stone sheep.







Stone Sheep

Note frost on side of pond

 We were making good time toward Fort St John s following a fifth wheel in front of us. Edna smelled smoke and I pulled over. Got out and walked around and popped the hood- nothing. Got back in the motor home and drive off again. No smell. A little ways down the road is the 5th wheel off to the side of the road. He has the hood of his truck up and a fire extinguisher in his hand. Edna says pull over and I get out and go back to him. The fire extinguisher was used to put out the fire in his alternator. Belt is also melted. Of coarse we are near nothing. We take the man, his son and dog into Fort Nelson 35 miles away. Stop at the GMC dealer and they only have a belt for his truck, but no alternator. The truck is a 1992 model. NAPA is closed and he tries Canada Tire and they have the alternator. What luck, and we then take him back to his truck. It’s getting late and not a lot of daylight left as we head down the road again towards Fort St. John where we plan to drive to a provincial campground the other side of town. We didn’t make it as it got really dark and the road was mountainous. So, we pulled over into a trucker “chain up area”. Not as nice as a rest area because you are right on the road, and hear the trucks downshifting all night as they started down the mountain. By morning, we had a 5th wheel behind us and an 18 wheeler also. It was even colder than the previous night.

Sonw from previous day still on platform