North to Alaska: Kinaskan to the Alcan and the Yukon

June 24th, after another lovely day at Meziadin, we drove to about the halfway point of the spectacular Cassiar, never disappointed by the views or the highway.  Luckily we filled up with gas at the Meziadin Junction store, but didn’t get water, propane, nor did we dump (Jim didn’t want to pay the $10 fee for dumping-BIG MISTAKE).  

We could get propane and water in Bell II which was about halfway to our destination.  En route we saw our first bear.  Sadly, in the distance, we could see it was roadkill in the middle of the highway and a large bird was feeding on it.  As we got closer, it was clear that the bird was a mature bald eagle with a beautiful white cap and tail feathers.  The poor baby bear was only a cub!  

We made it to Kinaskan Provincial Park and lucked out and got a beautiful site right on the lake and by a wonderful trail along the lake.  We stayed the next three days.

Jim fishing with the Tenaka

We had a great time here relaxing, reading, Jim fishing, me painting a little.  Had some Bloody Marys one day, played some cards and befriended the man next door who was catching rainbows like mad and gave us 3 of them for dinner.  Once I even washed my hair and took an outside shower in 50 degree weather!  Had a nice fire, planned for the next few days ahead and met a nice couple from Edmonton, Jennifer and Les and their dog, Trooper, a 6 month old yellow lab.  Boo had the time of his life chasing and being chased the rest of the night.

Selfies-always feels so ridiculous but, what the heck?  Here we were

We woke up with the auxillary batteries dead and had great difficulty moving the slides in on Maxine.  We decided to head north to get some help.  We got gas at a funky little gas station/resort area which took about a half hour, because the attendant had a lot to do (like sweeping the sidewalk) and was in no hurry.  The guy was no help on the battery question but did say that we should look up Charlie, on Boulder St. in Dease Lake.

We found Charlie but he took a look and said that it was not his area of expertise but that something was using up an inordinate amount of power.  The batteries were fine.  He suggested going to an RV place in Whitehorse (some 300 miles away).  

We were depressed.  We grabbed a quick lunch in Dease Lake from what we would call food trucks -Jim got Asian, I went for the Bannock Taco (a Tlingit version of the Navajo taco.  Bannock is a sweet biscuit.)  We got water and a few very expensive groceries.

So, off we went to the end of the Cassiar with the idea in mind that we would stop near Whitehorse and go to an RV place on Monday morning.  As we drove along, exhausted, we decided to make a quick overnight at a place that Gail and Harley had stayed, called Big Creek.   We missed the turn into the campground  and went to turn around a bit up the highway (its never easy to turn around with the CRV hooked up as a Toad).  It was a nice enough place for the night (except for a regiment of mosquitos), so we stayed put, ate simply, and went to bed early with the slides in and the car attached for an early departure.

So, now we are really on the Alcan Highway, or the Alaska Highway.  Surprised that it is still so remote and not many services.  It also is not in the greatest condition- kind of like it was paved and then someone threw alot of gravel and sand over it while it was wet.  

We decided, as we were driving that we didn’t want to miss Atlin and go hang out in the big city to get things fixed.  We think we can deal with the battery problem.   Jim could always crank in the slides if worse came to worse and if that was a problem, we just wouldn't put them out.  We love the idea of "thinking outside of the box."  It has sort of become our motto.

We stopped in Teslin to see the well-advertised George Johnson Museum ( the museum was a bust but they had a wonderful gift shop of Tlingit arts and crafts). Then we went to the Tlingit Cultural Center which was just lovely.  It sits along a beautiful river   I love the fact that the Canadians call their natives "First Nations"- so respectful!  All that I have learned about their cultures stresses their desire to be able to live simply in their native lands, subsistence fishing and hunting and living according to their beliefs, which usually have to do with an appreciation for the land that they were given.

A great mask collection

This sweet young artist was drawing designs for a button blanket that she was
making for her family.  I loved that she had invited members of clan, the Eagle
Clan, to sew buttons on her blanket so that they could participate in the art also
and that would add to its importance.

An example of a button blanket - a frog clan blanket

And, on to Atlin!