The Start of Our Odyssey (21 June 2009)
Sharon and I (With our dog Ewok and cat Amadeus, both 15 years old) actually started driving north on 24 May 2009. However, we want the “Las Americas” adventure to start as far north as possible for us. That is the Arctic Ocean (Photo 1) on 21 June 2009. This is in Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska at the north end of the Dalton (Pipeline) Highway. Our plan, of course, is to now drive south to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina at the southern tip of South America.
Photo 1. Me with my finger in the Arctic Ocean (21 June 2009)
We traveled to this northern-most outpost with two other couples. Judy and Walter joined us in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 10 June 2. They traveled with us in our motor home until 3 July. The other couple was Mary and Ralph who drove all the way from Virginia. We met up with them in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada on 15 June. Walter and Ralph are long time field buddies. We have done extensive field biology research in Guatemala.
The weather in Deadhorse on this summer solstice is very cold, windy with sleet. There are reports of grizzly bears in the town and musk oxen have been seen nearby. We saw neither. There were a lot of birds: snowy owl, parasitic Jaegers, white fronted geese, arctic buntings, American Golden plovers, and Brants, among others.
The Arctic Caribou Inn is where we stayed (we had electric hook ups and slept in the motorhome). The food is pretty good at the inn. There is no alcohol available in Deadhorse. We brought ours. There is only one small general store in town (Photo 2).
Photos 2. From left: John, Walter, and Ralph at the general store (I tried to turn the photo, but the program would not allow it).
We left Deadhorse the next day. As we drove out we saw several heard of caribou (Photo 3) and musk ox with babies (photo 4).
Photo 3. Caribou on the Tundra just south of Deadhorse.
Photo 4. Musk ox in Tundra just south of Deadhorse.
We drove north on the Dalton Highway, through Atigun Pass (Photo 5 and 6).
Photo 5. Dall sheep beside road at Atigun Pass.
Photo 6. Atigun Pass.
We crossed the Arctic Circle (North 66o 33’) on 21 June (Photo 7). Every time we stopped we were attacked by hoards of mosquitoes. I see why they can drive a caribou to dementia. They are relentless in their pursuit of blood, my blood.
Photo 7. Sharon and me at the Arctic Circle.
We spent five days in Fairbanks, AK to attend the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists. Ralph, Walter and I presented two posters on our research in Guatemala.
We visited a very nice little hot springs just outside of Fairbanks, Chena Hot Springs. We camped there for the night. We saw moose along the way. Photos 8-
11.
Photo 8. Moose in pond on the way to Chena Hot Springs.
Photo 9. Setting camp at Chena Hot Springs Camp,
Photo 10. Sharon with our motorhome at Chena Hot Springs.
Photo 11. Judy and Sharon in Chena Hot Springs.
Walter, Judy, Sharon and I visited Denali National Park for two days 1-2 July where we saw grizzly bears (Photo 12), caribou, and red fox. The way in was via a shuttle bus. We were able to get very good views of Mt. McKinley (Denali), Photo 13.
Photo 12. Mother grizzly with two cubs on a snow bank to cool off.
Photo 13. Mt McKinley on a relatively clear day.
We left Judy and Walter on 3 July and headed towards Canada by ourselves (Sharon Ewok, Amadeus, and I). We drove the Glenn Highway back towards the Yukon Territories. We passed the Matansuka Glacier/Ice Field (Photo 14).
Photo 14.
On our trip south through the Yukon and Northern British Columbia we saw more wildlife than in all of Alaska (nesting trumpeter swans, black bear, bison, woodland caribou, moose, Stone sheep, elk, white-tailed deer, hoary marmots, porcupine, red squirrels, and (Photos 15-20).
Photo 15. Black bear on Alaska Highway in Yukon Territory.
Photo 16. Bison on Alaska Highway in Northern BC.
Photo 17. Red Squirrel at camp in Liard Hot Springs.
Photo 18. Stone sheep in Muncho Lake Provincial Park, BC.
Photo 19. Woodland caribou in Muncho Lake Provincial Park, BC.
Photo 20. Trumpeter swans on nest in pond in Northern BC. Look close toward the bottom center of the nest, three chicks.
Our trip to Powell River, BC was interesting but nothing to report, except a lot of mosquitoes until we reached the drier areas of the south. We are spending 2 weeks in our Powell River home to re-outfit. We have decided to not take our motorhome south. Instead we will modify our Mercedes Benz ML 350 to do the job. We have bought a tent to fit the back hatch. It has a screen room which should make it a bit more comfortable. We took out the back seat of the ML 350 and put in a piece of plywood to act a bed frame. On this we will place a 4 inch memory foam mattress topper. We have a cook kit, propane stove, and small refrigerator. Sharon made screens to cover the back windows to allow airflow. Hope this works. We leave on Friday 24 July.
End of Log one (21 June – 23 July 2009).
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