Travels with haRVy

Leaving Huck’s Hobbit Homestead was bittersweet, but there is lots more to see and do here in Alaska before the short summer season is over. The next leg of our journey takes us south towards Valdez.

Only got a quick photo of this couple through haRVy’s windshield as we passed the on the highway. Wish we could have stopped to hear their story.

Pausing to be grateful that we’re not traveling in that buggy.

Probably won’t see a dog sled made into a flower planter anywhere other than Alaska.

Downtown Copper Center

We’ve seen dozens of these abandoned roadside businesses. Each makes me a little sad. How long ago was gasoline only $1.45 a gallon?

A competitor in a the Fireweed 400 bike race across Alaska.

Worthington Glacier

This photo and the following ones were shot at Blueberry Lake Campground. Described by The Milepost publication as, “Tucked into an alpine setting between tall mountain peaks, this is one of Alaska’s most beautifully situated campgrounds.” We couldn’t agree more.

View from our windshield while in campsite.

Alpine tundra a short hike from our campsite.

Back on the highway to Valdez we soon reach Bridalveil Falls.

Scraping the bugs off. 

Horsetail Falls and a famous photographer.

This is the shot I was taking.

Welcoming committee at Valdez Glacier Campground.

HURRAY!!! I am caught up with my blog postings. Hope you are enjoying them. I welcome your comments. Thanks for following us.

Joy & Steve’s beautiful home of nearly 30 years on land they homesteaded in Slana, Alaska.

After a couple of days spent on logistics in unremarkable, but extremely RV friendly Tok, Alaska, we headed south down the Tok Cutoff highway. On the recommendation of a fellow Westy owner (thanks David), we found our way to an exceptionally unique vacation spot.

Turn right off the main road onto 4-mile road, right at the church, down the rough gravel road for a couple of miles, then right at the fork, over the small wooden bridge, and up the hill.

Even though we were not expected, Joy and Steve greeted us warmly upon arrival. They homesteaded the property 28 years ago during one of the last opportunities to do so in Alaska. Steve told us that approximately 400 people moved here during that time and only about 30 of the original homesteaders remain.

One of several ponds on Joy and Steve’s 85 acres.

Joy and Steve have flourished here. They were fascinating people to meet. I could have listened to their stories for days – raising three daughters here before electricity and running water were brought in, subsisting on trapping and hunting, building their own beautiful log home plus cabins for guests, running a hostel, crafting hats and other apparel from animal skins and pelts, growing an abundance of vegetables during their 19-hour summer days and subsequent canning. No slouches here.

One of the guest cabins.

The interior of the largest cabin.

I forgot to ask Joy if she made these beautiful mukluks, but I assume she did.

They have his and hers greenhouses. Here Steve works in his.

We spent hours watching the expansive ever-changing sky.

Steve’s trapping gear.

A bundle of caribou antlers.

Sign on the road out.

Don’t search for a Huck’s Hobbit Homestead website because there is none. Steve prides himself in never having touched a computer. They take bookings the old-fashioned way – by telephone or mail. We had a truly unique and quintessential Alaskan experience here. Probably should have stayed longer. Maybe we will return someday.

Almost forgot to include this final photo (below), which illustrates what life in Slana is all about. In case you’re wondering about the snow, I got this photo off the Internet. I did see the sign alongiside the road, but didn’t stop to read it.

Still playing catch-up on my postings. I didn’t get the blog totally up to date in Tok and haven’t had good Internet access until arriving here in Valdez. Will try to bring our report up to date here while the weather is gray and wet.

The printed propaganda says that the trip from Whitehorse to Dawson City is a pleasant and scenic six-hour drive. Well, it took us a LOT longer than that and it wasn’t even very scenic. Oh well, we are not in a hurry and not all the roads in life are memorable.

Just had to stop at Mom’s Bakery on the gravel road back to the highway from our campsite on Lake Laberge. It wasn’t open on our way in the day before. Mom was a pistol. 85 years old and still baking bread for the surrounding areas. I bought a loaf of rye. She also still helps her husband and sons prospect for gold. There is still a lot of that going on up here, but it doesn’t look like many are getting rich from it. Mom’s house is actually one of the nicest ones we’ve seen.

The remains of an old roadhouse.

Mud, what mud?

Typical obstacle course on way to buy fuel or a cup of coffee.

Five Finger Rapids. Sorry photo isn’t better. There was quite a lot of smoke building in the area due to a multitude of wildfires throughout the state.

Don’t remember the name of this lake. Just a quick stop along the road.

Why would anyone need to tow this much stuff all the way up here?!? Surprisingly typical though.

Campsite view of Tatchun River

Long stretch of bumpy dirt road.

Roadside attractions

Dawson City, Yukon has its charms. Parks Canada has done a great job of bringing a town on the brink of extinction back to life. A few decades ago they bought 21 historic buildings, which they are carefully restoring. Costumed guides offer informative and fun tours.

We actually stealthily camped overnight right there in the historic district.

For a brief and romantic period at the end of the 19th century, Dawson was the largest city west of Winnipeg and north of Seattle, boasting a population of 30,000. Today, a somewhat quieter Dawson rolls out the red carpet to visitors who come to the Klondike to relive the rush for fame and fortune that gripped the world in 1897 after gold was discovered on Bonanza Creek in 1896.

We went to a presentation in the Palace Grand Theatre.

Before the highway (calling it that is a bit of a stretch in my opinion) was built in 1978, most goods and visitors arrived by paddle-wheel steam ship on the Yukon River.

This one has been restored and is available for public tours.

A few local characters telling stories.

A houseboat on the Yukon? Not sure.

This was the wealthiest bank in town during the gold rush. The municipality recently purchased the building and plans to restore it.

Currently occupied semi-restored miner shack.

Lots of rusty stuff around. this one was planted with zucchini.

Beautifully restored bank.

Jack London’s cabin.

This building reminded me of the TV program Northern Exposure. Remember that?

We have now traveled the Klondike trail from where the prospectors started their journey in Skagway, Alaska all the way to where the gold strike occurred near Dawson City.

The road we took upon leaving Dawson City was definitely memorable… but not for the right reasons. Stay tuned!