http://alaska.andstuff.com Tales from an Alaskan trip, summer 2006. Mon, 02 Mar 2026 23:21:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en     There's a race of men that don't fit in,     A race that can't sit still.     So they break the hearts of kith  and kin     And they roam the world at will.                            -Robert Service        There's an old bromide to the effect that "an ass that goes traveling doen't come back a ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=14 I'm writing this e-mail in Petawawa, Ontario at Pine Ridge Riverside Campground on the mighty Ottawa River. It's a nice place, but there's no internet connection. Same story last night when we stayed at Brennen's Campground on the shore of Lake Ontario about a mile ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=17 We covered a lot of ground today leaving Petawawa a little after 9:00 AM and traveling roughly along the Ottawa River to North Bay and Lake Nipissing and on into Sudbury before making a decision to push ahead since it was only about 2:00 PM. We ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=18 On the road to Mandalay Where the flying fishes play And the sun comes up like thunder Out of China 'cross the bay.... Yeah, a bit of not-so-free association, but we are on the way tomorrow to Thunder Bay where, I just found out, a private trout pond awaits.  It'll be my first chance to fish ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=19 On Saturday, we thru hauled 450 miles from Sault Ste. Marie to Thunder Bay, a good part of the way in sight of Lake Superior, and what a sight much of it is! The eastern shore is mountainous and I thought we'd reached the Rockies already, but the ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=20 We're looking over our shoulders now, folks! After the customs officers warned us that "one little thing" could get us thrown out of Canada, it was sure to happen!..... Yesterday we started the day at Woody's RV Service in Thunder Bay with an 8:30 AM appointment. Sure ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=21 Wednesday evening..... For two days now, across Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, we've been rolling through the prairies which are quite beautiful in unexpected ways. Montana may be the Big Sky country, but it's none too small out here. In some places the crops are in, while in others the ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=22 It's Saturday, our layover day and planned foray to the Rockies around Banff and Jasper. The weather wizard was rooting for us, and what had been forecast as showers and rain actually materialized as a cloudy morning and then a mostly sunny afternoon.... The morning started with a ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=23 They said you have a blue guitar That doesn't play things as they are. The man replied, "Things as they are Are changed upon the blue guitar.".... - Wallace Stevens( I think) Anyway, up early Sunday morning and off from affluent Calgary to the booming oil area beyond Edmonton. Actually, we took a perimeter ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=24 We had a good drive from Whitecourt to Dawson Creek, covering the distance in about five and a half hours. The morning started out cloudy but quickly turned partly, then mostly, sunny. And temperatures soared, probably up to 70 and maybe a bit more. There is a ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=25 Well, at least we saw a caribou, several deer, and Dave saw a bear, though, I was day dreaming out the other window.... The highway from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson marks the beginning of what is referred to as the "northern wilderness." It's gas and timber country ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=27 We arrived in Whitehorse mid-afternoon in a pouring rain.  No matter, we are now only 300 miles from Alaska were we to continue on our present route--- and actually only about a hundred as the crow flies to Skagway.  However, we're turning north and hope to be in Dawson City ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=28 That's 1898 when the gold rush hit Dawson City.  Today, it's a funky town where the spirit of '98 lives on and you can pan for gold (Dave is doing it as I type),gamble, watch the powerful Yukon River roll by, see the folks in period costumes, and generally feel you're ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=29 We finally have a large cache of pictures from the trip. Click the picture below to see more.... (Sorry, I lost the timestamps, so the pictures are in alphabetical order.) -dan http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=31 Some of you are thinking Lawrence Ferlinghetti, at least the over-60 crowd, but I'm speaking specifically of the never ending daylight in Dawson City. The sun "sets" about 11:15 PM and rises again about 1:30 AM. But it never really gets dark. Just dusky. So you couldn't ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=30 Shortly after we arrived at the campground in Dawson City last Friday night, I was absent-mindedly walking around the corner by the garbage/recycling center when I almost bumped into a guy coming from the opposite direction.... "Daydreaming, eh?" A bit abashedly, I confirmed my guilt. We laughed ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=33 Special Dispatch From The Field....On Monday, June 19th as the sun crossed the yardarm, we crossed from Canada into Poker Flats, Alaska, USA. This time there was no international incident that would cause Homeland Security to raise the alert status. In fact, a very personable and humorous customs ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=32 After logging well over 5,000 miles, we arrived at the Chena Marina RV Park and made camp, as you may recall, on Tuesday afternoon. We're located on a pond a little more than a mile long and somewhat less than 200 feet wide. It would appear to be ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=34 Sorry it's taken so long to get these posted. I believe they're worth the wait. There are two sets, click on each of the photos below to see the rest of the set. -dan Set One Set Two http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=35 PLEASE NOTE THAT TODAY'S WILL BE THE LAST BLOG FOR A WHILE.  THEY HAVEN'T TURNED DENALI INTO DISNEYWORLD YET, SO WE'LL HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE INTERNET UNTIL AT LEAST NEXT TUESDAY, JULY 4TH....  DAN MAY POST A FEW PICTURES FOR US, THOUGH, ASSUMING WE GET THEM TO HIM..... Yup, it's farewell to Fairbanks, ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=36 SPECIAL DISPATCH....Yesterday a grizzly bear was shot and wounded near a campground where we will SOON be staying and in the EXACT location we're (or at least we were) planning to catch huge salmon.  The bear was  reportedly   plugged five times by a .44 handgun,  near the Russian River Ferry in Cooper Landing ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=37 Its a great big, broad land up yonder, It's the forests where silence has lease, It's the beauty that fills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace.... Denali is an overwhelming park. At six million acres, it's roughly the size of Massachusetts. Without argument, it's centerpiece is Mt. ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=38 3 sets, from the past few weeks... Set One (Denali) Set Two (Fairbanks + Riverboat Tour) Set Three (River Boat Tour) http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=39 Exhausted from a round of newpaper and TV studio interviews, I still feel compelled to share with my faithful readers the dramatic events which unfolded in the upper drainages of the Sustina River this morning.  For several weeks now the fishing has been poor, to say the very least.  In fact, the situation ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=40 A lot of loose ends here, things I've thought of but never- at least to my rapidly failing memory- included in the blogs.... Weather:  Everyone talks about the weather, right?  Well, the sky in Alaska is tough to read for a small town boy from Connecitcut.  The cloud formations are just ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=41 Anchorage Daily News:  July 12.  The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) today announced they have reached agreement with a Connecticut angler to restrict his capture of  salmon.  On Sunday, in less than five hours of stream time, the angler in question managed to land two huge king salmon.  As ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=26 Faithful Readers:  I'm sure you all anticipated the blog slow down once Charmi joined us in Anchorage.  In part, this was due to our separation of six weeks and the need to catch up on the latest doings back home.  Beyond that, Dave and I needed to do some real sightseeing so Charmi would think we ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=44 The pictures have arrived and we should be able to wrap up the debate over Carl's salmon stories. Below is a set of 3 photos of the second fish 'caught'. Forensic analysis proves that this evidence has not been altered in any way. Is that a bear swimming in ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=45 Matsu Salmon Delaini from Talkeetna Anchorage Zoo Earthquake Park Ships Creek Botanical Garden Downtown Anchorage Native Indian Cultural Center Seward Carl & Charmi at a Glacier http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=46 If you've been following the blog at all, you know that Alaska is expensive. You have a pretty good idea how tourists help keep it that way. But how did it all start, and what else fuels the economy ? The answer to that question is probably ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=47 Monday morning, or more accurately, Sunday night, I rolled out of the sack at 3:00 AM, quickly washed, dressed to the nines in my finest, and driest, saltwater gear, and began the 78 mile drive in a light drizzle to Homer, "the halibut capital of the ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=48 Soldotna had a population of 0 in 1946. Yup, zero, an untouched forest of sorts, or at least unpeopled and unnamed, since the Dena'ina natives had vacated a century or more before, for whatever reason, but probably because they were tired of eating salmon. ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=49 Yeah, I guess I'm a contrarian. So here's a rose, by some other name.... I want to begin by qualifying what I write here. It's specific to the road system and areas we've traveled through, and at the times we visited. But there ain't ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=50 This past Tuesday evening we boarded the Alaskan Marine Ferry "Tustemena" for  Kodiak Island off the southern coast of Alaska.  Kodiak: as in bears, the grizzlies (brown bears) that are reputed to be a third larger than those on the mainland!  But that's getting ahead of the story.....Owing to security checks, and ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=51 Monday evening Dave Friez and Paul Glinski arrived in Anchorage without problem or delay anticipating a week of fast and furious fishing in Cooper Landing. We were mostly slated to fish the mighty Kenai River whose aquamarine waters flow from a glacial lake of the ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=54 A Picture is Worth 182 Pounds! Carl "Shooter" Sundell nailed this halibut 40 miles out in the Gulf of Alaska while fishing with Dave Friez and Paul Glinski on the Pro-Fish-N-Sea on Thursday, August 17th. When it was weighed in Seward six hours after capture, it ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=57 Gold! We leapt from our benches, Gold! We sprang from our stools. Gold! We wheeled in the furrow, Fired with the faith of fools. We landed in wind swept Skagway. We joined the weltering mass, Clamoring over their outfits, Waiting to climb the pass..... Robert Service "The Trail of 'Ninety-Eight" We came over the infamous ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=58 Kenai River (23) Cooks Inlet (4) Unknown (147) Homer (106) Cooper Landing (74) Russian River Falls Trail (18) Juneau Falls - Resurrection Trail (3) Skilak Lake, Sterling Hwy (21) Kenai Lake Overlook (16) Glenn Hwy - Palmer to Tok (8) Tok, AK to Haines Jct, Ca (16) Approaching Whitehorse (3) Skagway Ferry and Haines Eagle Museum (20) Haines Museum and Fetty ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=59 This is a blog about heading home, but thinking of my home state reminded me of a scene in Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks" where an oily hustler offers to 'help' a couple of newly wealthy ignoramuses, one of them Woody Allen, with their cultural education.  "Is there ANYTHING you ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=60 On Labor Day we stayed over in Calgary. We used the day to visit the Terrell Dinosaur Museum, an absolutely fascinating place which not only features dinosaurs but traces the various ages of the earth. It's located in the Canadian Badlands, which are fairly amazing ... http://alaska.andstuff.com/?p=61