Southwest Roadrunners North to Alaska

We then arrive at Yukon Motel & Lakeshore Resort on the Nisutlin Bay June 12. Teslin has one of the largest Native populations in Yukon. The Heritage Center here focused on the Tlingit tribe, the first to roam this vast wonderland. Everyone is getting to know each other and it is such a kick to have so many to mingle with. There are always groups of people scattered around the camp groups snacking, talking, playing games and just enjoying each others company, sharing LTV secrets that they have created to make life easier!

Mucho Lake on the trip to Watson Lake stretches for miles and is the most beautiful azure blue. Many of the groups stopped at Liard Hot Springs to soak in this natural wonder. After the wild kick ball game the previous day, sore muscles were soothed! This stretch going into the Yukon was packed with wildlife; moose, porcupines, stone sheep, brown and black bears with cubs, caribou and bison and their calfs. it is Spring up here and wildflowers are everywhere!

On June 11, we arrive in Watson Lake and visited the Watson Lake Sign Post Forest, which was started by a U.S. army soldier working on the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942. Travelers are adding signs, which numbers more than 75,000. At Baby Nugget RV Park we were treated to a spaghetti dinner by our club, Southwest Roadrunners. The delicious spaghetti dinner made by Chef David Greg, who is also the local sheriff, was written up in the N.Y. Times. The most memorable part of this evening was the stories told by the owners, Linda and Scott Goodwin. Their stories of hunting moose and elk and the long snowy winters and how you fill your time with wood carving and such were enchanting.

We arrived at The Poplars Motel & RV Park in Toad River, BC on June 9, for a two-night stay. This property was spacious with a green lush meadow and numerous hiking trails. The lucky ones to visit the office/home of this Park were greeted by Vicky & Dan Clements and the smell of home baked bread and wild orange, heavenly! Vicky made a rhubarb cake for all 43 of us one evening, which Dan hand-delivered. Dan also gave a wood mill demonstration. One evening we played ladder golf and the next day one of the gang found a soccer ball on the property and a memorable kickball game was played with lots of laughs and a friendly competitive spirit! The days are getting longer and we play, mingle and talk until around 11:00 pm. Blackout shades are now the rave! The snow-covered mountain backdrop here is inspiring!

June 7th & 8th were spent at Triple G Hideaway in Fort Nelson, BC. This was our first encounter with serious mosquitos and no see ums. We got our netting out! Knitting lessons and dog grooming were enjoyed here! The highway to Toad River winds through the northern Canadian Rockies, with dense forests and rivers meandering through this wilderness.

Mile 0 Campsite in Dawson Creek was a lovely campground with lots of green grass. This destination is our second Rally Point – the first was in Bothell, WA. Kirk Kearl and his drone took a group shot of everyone at Milepost 0 Alaska Highway monument. The Dawson Creek Art Gallery is located here housed in a renovated grain elevator, the last of Dawson Creek’s heritage elevators. Everyone stocked up on supplies here in Dawson Creek as the next 4 destinations only have small markets. We had a club bbq prepared by our official club grill master, Chic Degregorio,  with entertainment by our cowboy poet Scott Scott.

An organized group effort out of Prince George to Dawson Creek on June 5, took us along more majestic views over the mountain pass. Traveling on Highway 97, we passed McLeod Lake, the first continuously inhabited European settlement west of the Rockies. Lake McLeod was big and blue! The Bijoux Falls Day Use Provincial Park was beautiful and you could feel the mist from the falls on your face as they came crashing down. This is a good halfway point from Prince George to Dawson Creek. Up Highway 97, we spotted our first mama bear and 2 cubs in the high green grass while another group had their first moose sighting. Chetwynd, along with this route, is home to the International Chainsaw Carving Championship. The carvings from years past are displayed all over this town and along Highway 97. They were amazing!

The trip to Prince George the following day a group stopped at Barkerville, where the rush for gold brought prospectors in 1860 to establish this historical gold mining town. Other groups spent time at 108 Mile Post Ranch, another historical village with a huge Clydesdale barn. Then there was the adventurous group of LTVs that went on the “3 Hour Tour” — think Gilligan’s Island. They were in search of Hixon Falls and traversed a gravel, dusty road for 3 hours and never did find the falls? Needless to say, there were a lot of laughs and even a thought that they would have to dry camp as they were having trouble finding their way out to Hwy 97. They finally did make it to Sintich RV Park in Prince George with many a story to tell and their sturdy capable LTVs dusty but all intact (mostly)! In Prince George lively morning walks were enjoyed and a potluck where stories of the trip were shared.

Another smooth departure on June 1, from Willow Springs RV Park coordinated by each group leader heading a caravan of 4 to 5 LTV’s onto Highway 97. The 2 way radios are great and a must for these 22 magnificent LTVs. The trip to Williams Lake was continuous green fields with wildflowers, lakes, and rivers. We even spotted an osprey with a fish in its talons flying over us. At Williams Lake Stampede Campground Darleen & Dennis hosted an impromptu happy hour for all to enjoy.

On May 3, we headed out for a 2-night stay at Willow Springs RV Camp in Clinton, BC. The Fraser River Canyon was a highlight on the route here. This campground has a small lake with common loons mating. In the morning everyone enjoyed an impromptu pancake breakfast.

Nearby Attractions

Fraser River Canyon (Hell's Gate)

After crossing the border on May 30, we arrived at our next stop, Hope, BC. Holiday Trails RV Resort in the Sunshine Valley was a one night stay on the Sumallo River, which was raging and beautiful. This was the site of a Japanese Canadian interment camp during WWII.

Our first rally point was Bothell Washington @ Lake Pleasant RV Resort for 3 days starting on May 27. This was a beautiful resort with a lake and plenty of wildlife. We had informative sessions and an orientation BBQ put together by our Pit Master, Chic Degregorio. At one of the sessions we organized our packs into groups of 4 and 5 LTVs and we headed out.

Nearby Attractions

Adjacent to Lake Pleasant, Seattle, Boeing Aircraft Factory

As we drive further into Yukon Territory the roads are rough and we move slower with caution. These LTVs are magnificent driving machines! We cross a gold rush era bridge made of hand-hewn logs on our trip to Whitehorse. LTVrs go on the railroad to Skagway, Alaska, while others visit the SS Klondike, once the longest stern-wheelers on the Yukon River. Other caravaners visit the Yukon Nature Preserve and then soak in Takhini Hot Springs. There are great breweries in Whitehorse, our favorite was Yukon Brewing.

On June 15, we head out to Destruction Bay and the anglers stop at Haines Junction to buy fishing licenses. The backdrop with our LTVs lined up here is spectacular! The landscape changes around every corner and our generous LTV windshield and windows afford us magical scenic views. We have our first siting of Grizzly Bears and arrive at Cottonwood Park on glacier-fed Kluane Lake and the anglers fish to their heart's content. Walks along the beach are breathtaking and relaxing and one ambitious couple hike 6 miles to a glacier and back. There is a great deck at Cottonwood and we gather to play cards, board games or just bask in the sun. In the evening the owner cranked up the music and he and our grill master, Chic, start a dance party. The strong downslope winds are strong this night and many thought they would be in the lake in the morning but our heavy duty LTVs withstood.

The road to Tok, Alaska, was incredibly beautiful with wildflowers in bloom everywhere, the locals say this is a phenomenal year for the dandelion. Another day of grizzly bears, moose and calves and trumpeter swans, one sitting on the largest nest we had ever seen. We are on the Purple Heart Trail after leaving the Alaskan Highway and arrive at Sourdough Campground, have a pancake toss contest and our own Kim Kearl wins a free breakfast! The laughter from this event can be heard over the entire campground. Our shiny LTVs are a bit dusty by now but we are well grounded and capable maneuvering these crazy roads and we get thumbs up from other folks all along this road to Alaska

On our journey to Palmer Alaska, we are so close to Matanuska Glacier it looks as if we drove upon it! Highlights of Palmer are the musk ox and reindeer farms. We visit a farmers market, stock up on supplies and are treated to another Southwest Road Runner sponsored dinner!

On June 21, the longest day of the year, we travel to Seward and the Kenai Fjords National Park. Just when you think the views from our LTV could not get any better, they become even grander and more astounding! We hike to a glacier here and head to Homer, Alaska, for two days. This is an ocean town and we smell the sea as we enter Baycrest RV Park. We are greeted by one of the park mascots, a bald eagle! It is a beautiful sunny day and the park trolly takes us to any destination in the area and many headed to get their fill of the Kachemak Bay oysters. Yum! There are bear viewing trips here where you get up close and personal with bears and their cubs. One hearty group of anglers headed out on a charter boat and caught their limit of halibut. It was agreed upon among this seaworthy crew any embellishments during the recounting of the fish tale can be at the discretion of the presiding storyteller!

We arrive in Anchorage on June 23, and the ladies of the caravan are ready for a spa day. Diana Brannon drives eight ladies to a salon for hair trims, pedicures, manicures, and massages! A trip to the Ulu Knife Factory and we find gifts for family and friends back home.

On June 26, we drive to Denali National Park for a 3-day stay at Riley Creek Campground. The Alaskan Range with the magnificent massive sky is our backdrop for this drive! Everyone takes a shuttle to Eielson Visitors Center and we are among the 5% of visitors to see an unobstructed view of Mt. McKinley (Denali). It is bigger and more incredible than words can describe. This mountain takes 3 to 4 weeks until the summit! The next day; plane tours, zip line tours, and hikes with surprise happenings of a moose and her calf right in front of us on the trail! Our last evening here we are treated to a dinner theatre performance where our own Scott Scott plays a bit part in Dangerous Dan McGrew, with thunderous laughter!

We reluctantly leave Denali and embark on our trip to Rivers Edge RV Park on the Chena River in Fairbanks. We take a 2 lane road lined with enormous white spruce and wild irises to Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum with Appletinis in ice martini glasses. Fairbanks is a lovely town and so easy to maneuver around in our LTVs, visiting a farmers market, the auto museum and a wonderful visitors center. Several in our group take the stern-wheeler down the Chena River and another camper takes a helicopter tour to the Arctic Circle! Our golfers do midnight golf and make memories with good cheer in the thunderstorm and mosquitos that follow them around the course. This LTV caravan knows how to have a good time. After leaving Fairbanks, we stop at the North Pole and, of course, shop!

We head out to Watson Lake after a one night stay in Teslin, home to the Tlingit First Nation People. A sweet native family came around the campground selling their smoked salmon. At Baby Nugget RV Park in Watson Lake, we are treated to another club sponsored dinner and a great bear story from the proprietors. Before leaving, an innovative group hung a sign they created here (Border Busters) in the Sign Post Forest. It is springtime in this Great North and the pitter patter of rain lulls us to sleep in our LTVs. The drives have been a wildflower spectacle. In early June the roadways were filled with yellow and blue lupin, dandelion and bluebells. Now, in late July we are among fireweed, daisy, cow parsnip, buttercups, Indian paintbrush and clover!

We visited Telkwa, BC (the name means “meeting of the water”) located at the confluence of the Telkwa and Buckley rivers. This is a charming Dutch, Swiss village and the hand-hewn Alpenhorn player greets us at Main Street as we refurbish our supplies at The Sausage Factory and Paul’s Bakery. We traveled back to Prince George, Williams Lake and have a farewell dinner @ Brookside RV Park in Cache Creek, BC. After a one night stay in Hope, BC, we said goodbye to many of our group members while the remaining head on to Bothell, Washington. Our Chief and Leader, Dennis Thorig, visited each LTV during these days and asked if there were things that could have been improved upon. I think the most agreed upon the subject was when and where will our next Southwest Runner adventure take us. Dennis will travel to Winkler Manitoba, Canada, home of Leisure Travel Vans, this fall and share his Alaska Bound Southwest Roadrunners LTV Caravan Manual, our feedback and much about the Alaskan Adventure we will never forget!

The 4th of July was celebrated here and campground host, Loren, prepared a dinner of Baron of Beef, baked potato salad, and a green salad to die for. Apple Crisp with whip cream for dessert. There was live music that evening at Destruction Bay RV Park and many took to the dance floor. The following day before heading for a two-night stay at Cottonwood Park, our LTV caravans lined up to form the letters “LTV”. The event was captured by a drone operated by Kirk Kearl, our videographer. On the road from Kluane Museum, a few of our LTVrs helped a young girl broken down on the side of the road. She was traveling from Anchorage, Alaska, to Provo, Utah, to attend college. That evening at Cottonwood Park, we provided dinner for Simone, spent time getting to know her and even took up a collection to help with her travels. The owner of Cottonwood Resort called this group, The Highway Angels! Two three-year-old bear cubs named Fuzzy & Wuzzy frequent this campground on the spectacular Kluane Lake where our anglers fish for trout and grayling. The last evening at Cottonwood in Destruction Bay our Diana Brannon leads LTVrs around the campground to tour and explore each participant’s creative, innovative additions to make life easier and more efficient. There are 5 different models included among our 22 Vans. After this event, we gather on the deck with appetizers and beverages and play Poop the Potato, a relay game. Another laughter filled the evening.

Before the drive to Stewart, we stayed one night in Iskut, BC, at Mountain Shadow RV Park, true to its name in the shadow of a snow covered mountain! The large lawn provided a place to exercise our four-legged friends and visit with our LTV family. When you have been together 2 months LTVing, you become a big happy family! There is a picturesque lake to fish in and we don’t want the evening to end! Stewart-Hyder Access Road junctions with Cassiar Highway as we wind through scenic Bear Creek Canyon into the magnificent Coast Range mountains snow-topped but velvety green! There are lots of provincial parks with scenic lakes to take road breaks. These LTVs are made for provincial, national and state parks! The cascading waterfalls, glaciers, rivers, creeks and more lakes are astounding. We camp at Bear River RV Park and head out to see the Grizzlies pick the salmon from this river. The salmon is late this year so only a couple of sightings of a handsome male grizzly. We also saw mergansers, eagles, and a beaver. The hikers get another great hike in and the anglers came in with a large salmon and crab for everyone!

On June 8th, we arrive in Haines, Alaska, after a memorable drive through the coastal mountains, many flurries of snow covered with misty clouds surrounding them. This was the first heavy fog that we have traveled through. The quaint seaport town of Haines welcomes us with a crab feast at Oceanside RV Park, WOW! In the evening the beautiful lit up cruise ships heading to Skagway and Juneau entice us but these cruisers do not get the views that we get in our LTVs. We took a trip to the cannery and purchased fresh halibut, shrimp, salmon and caviar to fill our freezers for our foodie potlucks! The shops and galleries here are fun and eclectic. Chikoot Lake is home to the hooded merganser with eight babies in tow. We passed the salmon weir counter whose daily count for 7/9/18 was 277, cumulative since June 3, 4,415. Haines, Alaska has the largest migration of eagles in the fall. Many stays and they flew over our heads to their nests high above in the white spruce trees. Haines is home to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.

If you do not like border crossings, you would not enjoy this trip because we crossed through many of them, the Mounties and American officials are all very skilled at what they do. No small talk here! This Klondike Highway to Highway 2 is the most picturesque yet since the beginning of our travels. Photographs cannot capture the serene, varied and glorious landscape that we will have imprinted in our minds as we cruise this land in our LTVs. Bear sightings and emerald green never-ending lakes, waterfalls, rivers and creeks greet us on our travels to another lovely seaport town, Skagway. The cruise ships love this town, but we never felt crowded on the street walks. The Red Onion Saloon, an old brothel, is a must and there is a super cool hardware store that we spent more time in that the gifts shops. The museums are full of information about the great Klondike Gold Rush (1896-99) and the treacherous climb these stampeders took. The hike took an average of 3 months to transport the required “ton of goods” (a year’s worth of supplies and equipment) over the White Pass and Chilkoot trails to the Yukon goldfields. Our hikers in the caravan took a hike on part of this 33-mile trail. The Skagway Visitor Center is located inside the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, easily identified by its elaborate driftwood facade. It has more than 8,833 pieces of driftwood sticks arranged in a mosaic pattern with the Brotherhood’s AB letters and symbols, a gold pan with nuggets. On the way back out of Skagway, we stop at Jewel Organic Gardens and Glass Blowing Studio. As we pass Tutshi Lake on Highway 2 the snow-covered mountain was majestic and reflected on the crystal still lake. There are more waterfalls with pools below as we come to the small town of Carcross to have homemade waffle cone ice cream and shop in the native gift shops. Our hikers take this route in the evening and were rewarded with sunset views that had every color of the rainbow before them.