What Alaskans Won't Tell you

  

 



Alaskans will tell you that Alaska is beautiful. And it is.  Drive down almost any road and mountains rise up before you with lakes shimmering at their feet.  

What Alaskans won't tell you is that an impressive number of Alaskans are deeply religious.

 



 

Yes, many Alaskans worship Detritus, God of Junk.  Yard after yard proudly displays rusting dishwashers, delaminating campers, burial mounds of tires, cadavers that were once cars, junker pickups, fractured toilets and mushroom farms of upholstery.

And if your Alaskan neighbor has more junk in his yard than you have in yours, no problem. Go down to your local friendly neighborhood junk store and buy more junk.

The Road to Telegraph Creek

There's just one road into Telegraph Creek.  Towards the end of its 70 miles it runs high above the Stikine River.  For scale, the lodge pole pines along the edge are 50 to 70 feet high. 

Telegraph Creek has more ghosts than inhabitants.  Its rich history, of which my Uncle was a part, hides behind locked doors

The only road out is the 70 mile road you rode in on.  500 feet below, The Stikine has a Niagara roar. Think of Arizona with Seattle's rain.

Back on the highway, my rear tire was shot.

Driving On Top of the World

At first there was a lot of traffic.  I was nervous because a guy from Minnesota said he'd driven the Top of the World Highway once and never again. "Too dangerous" he said.  Plus, "the snow was 12 feet deep on the Dawson side," everybody said.

Climbing up to the top the landscape was so beautiful it was distracting.

Up on top it was like flying, slowly, across the top of the globe. (click pics enlarge)

It was easy for 60 miles.

Still, I was glad to see the Yukon down below.

 

A ferry took us across the river for free.  I was so happy and the crew was so pretty, I said "let's dance."  "GET BACK IN YOUR TRUCK," they screamed.





And today's question is. . .

Campsite on the Dennison Fork of the Forty Mile River.

 Would you rather camp in a beautiful spot alone in the wilderness where the hawks and eagles soar and the bears, wolves, moose, and caribou run free? Where you can feel the vast indifference of nature to you and your fate?

Gold Panner's RV, Chicken, Alaska

 Or would you rather spend $27 to camp in a dirt parking lot with wi-fi, hot showers, drinking water, and  30 amp hookup?

Chicken, Alaska Airport

  Before you answer, remember that in Alaska, civilization is just a patch on the landscape.  And that out in the wild, as any bear will tell you, anything goes.

Starving in Chicken

3,498 miles after I left Bozeman, I arrived at Chicken, the tiny town in the middle of the wilderness where my Uncle and Slim Williams staggered out of the forest starving.

(click on pics to enlarge) 

There were days when I didn't think I'd make it.

The truck was way overloaded.  Sure, I'd added air springs and anti sway bars, but it was evil on ice.  There were times when I thought it would end up upside down.

When I arrived in Chicken 2 days ago they said, "the food truck hasn't come yet.  It was supposed to be here last week. Maybe next Friday."  In the meantime you can't buy a bite.  Except for little bags of potato chips, two bucks each.  Meanwhile, the border to Canada won't open for another 3 days. Problems with the ferry. The only other way to get to Dawson is to drive 735 miles down to Whitehorse and up on the east side of the Yukon.

 

 

I have a small stash of canned food. I had one can for lunch today.  Pea soup.  Any Questions?