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July 19 to August 8, 1999 August 8: Brief report via Ginger (birthday call). They’re back in Fairbanks. From here it’s onto Tok, and then to Eagle. The big news, starting the week of the Aug 16th they will start heading toward Canada and the great trek home. John and Betty are using the Koska (?) highway over the Alaskan Highway. It’s supposed to be a little more remote. They plan to stop at Banff and spend some time in British Columbia. August 5: John and Betty are staying Manely Hot Springs, 150 miles NW of Fairbanks for now. Mae and Pete departed for the lower 48 after the stopover in Valdez. They were welcome traveling companions, as always. They have finally found the “real Alaska”: no tourists to be seen anywhere. Even the local Laundromat comes complete with a bar. They did Denali National Park via the 9 hr bus ride to Wonder Lake; counted 20 bears (7 sows and cubs), moose, bear, and mountain sheep. John and Betty had to wait two days to get tickets for the bus ride. Denali also had sled dog demos along with the other National Park goodies. Talkeetna was the departing point for the plane ride to Mt McKinely; they lucked into a clear view, which is very rare. In Tenana, they got to view a fish wheel in use (the Indians use a big wheel to scoop the salmon right out of the water). Then off to Estes Gold Camp for a quick tour and hung out at the Malamute Saloon (not the one in the Robert Service poems) for the shows. Finally got to Fairbanks and stopped by the University of Alaska where musk ox with fur softer than cashmere, reindeer, and caribou were seen in abundance. Visited the University’s museum where they discovered a photo of a mine just like one John had shot recently; good eye. July 29: From Jim while we were away. Dad and Muzzy completed the Dempser, 456 miles (I guess someone counted) on gravel roads with two ferries over rivers. Top speed was about 30 mph and often slower, you do the math. With the exception of a flat tire and riding a while on one of those donuts, it was a raving success. They did have to buy 2 tires since their size was not available. They now travel around like a bunch of deadheads with a spare tire strapped to the roof. I knew we could be proud of them one day... They crossed the Yukon on a 4 vehicle fairy at Dawson City. Although it rained for 2 weeks, seeing the land of the midnight sun seemed to have them in great spirits! There was much excitement (read Muzzy and the arts) at the Arts Festival in the Eskimo town of Inuvik. Muzzy was very pleased with a picture of a Raven. They drove the "Top of the world" which is a road that goes along the ridge tops of some mountains (big ones, not sure where?). Dad commented that is was by far the wildest place that he had ever seen. This is not to be taken lightly coming from a man who has stood alone atop the Chinese wall in "The Bob". At last sighting they drove the Denali highway and got a clear view of Mt McKinley which statistically is like your chance of seeing Dad at the pool with Muzzy. Usually you get a great view of the base of McKinley disappearing into the clouds which they also had for a few days. They stayed at the Paxton Inn where they saw 2 Grizzlies frolicking in the early morning. They saw two foxes at their den and an eagle which muzzy swears was the size of an Tibetan monk. Dad has been quite impressed with the size and quantity of fish in the waters. Watching the salmon spawn was quite impressive as well. The males were competing for the territory and females (imagine that!) in very shallow water. Dad saw a huge lone bull Caribou which was "much bigger than any that his boys could bring home from Canada". They had a wonderful time in Valdez where they were impressed with the world infamous pipeline. They took a boat trip and saw some large blue (really) icebergs, witnessed some eagles, sea lions, and lots-o-sea otters. Muzzy reminded me they were the cute ones floating around on their backs. Watching the small Salmon fishing boats was also reported as quite cool by Muzzy. They really enjoyed having the May and Pete join them and camped 8 of the 11 days they were together. All in all I get the impression that if it didn't get so darned cold in the winter months, going to visit grandma and grandpa would be a much longer trip at Christmas time. Soon (now) they are taking a park shuttle into Denali so I'm sure that some of their most memorable times are still yet to come! July 19: Catherine talked to Muzzy Sunday; Muzz had called to wish happy birthday. It was a very quick call, as John could be heard in the background "waiting". They're just about ready to take their 500 mile gravel road trek (sorry, Catherine didn't get the final destination of the gravel road, but it's somewhere in Alaska; like that helps). Most vehicles get broken windshields and several flats on this road; Mae and Pete are trailing along behind the Jeep in their rental. The locals told them to be wary of approaching logging trucks. When you see them, you’re supposed to head for the ditches to stay out of the way (just like Larry’s tale from out west with the trucks and looking for flags). The big difference here it's not the trucks it's the debris in their wake. The gravel the trucks kick up can shatter almost anything including windshields, windows, headlamps, etc. The Mosquitoes are intolerable. They have tried to sleep in the Jeep to get away from them, but it stays too hot to keep the windows up. The night is very short, about 3.5 hours right now, adding to agony of the mosquitoes.
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