2007 Road Trip to Alaska

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When Matt first invited me on this trip back in February, I was faced with the decision of taking a required math class or going to Alaska. I decided I didn’t want to do school forever, so I told Matt I wasn’t going to be able to go. It was kind of disappointing, because it was the trip of a lifetime...read more.

Me ready to leave our house Saturday morning.
All three of us at Matt's - packed and ready to hit the road!
Christina and her friends at Trinity. They were here for the summer, studying with linguistics with Wycliffe. This picture was taken just before they went on a weekend hike.
Working on Ben's glasses at Christina's.
Using a cigarette lighter for soldering.
Ben working on his glasses.
It took three of us to solder. We were successfull after about three tries!
Stretch break somewhere in B.C.
Ben admiring the beautiful scenery.
Dawson Creek, BC.
The visitor's center in Dawson Creek. Look at those storm clouds!
Fixing lunch on the handy-dandy platform.
Ready to hit the Alaska Highway.
We took a wrong turn and did some sight-seeing after leaving Dawson Creek.
One of the first grizzlies we saw on our trip.
Another griz.
Caribou! This was a first for all three of us.
Mountain goats crossing the road.
Beautiful scenery.
Muncho Lake. This area was spectacular.
Me taking pictures.
Muncho Lake at sunset.
Ben taking pictures on the shores of Muncho Lake.
Me videoing.
Matt fixing himself a bowl of cereal on day two.
We stopped at a hunting camp to eat breakfast.
We had a view of the lake.
The cereal is good!
Matt resting up for his turn driving.
Eating lunch near Whitehorse.
Ben cutting the honeydew. We had plenty for three guys!
A group photo, just out of Whitehorse, Yukon.
Info signs.


We crossed the great Yukon River.

Ben did a good job driving.

Me in the rear view mirror.
Rapids on the Yukon. The paddle boats used to go up that!
Matthew and Ben taking pictures.
Ben and Matt taking pictures.
Me riding in the backseat.
There were quite a few bugs - we had to wash the windshield often.
We began seeing tailing piles as we got close to Dawson City.
An old dredge. The Provincial Park system is taking care of this one.
Pretty amazing piece of machinery.


An old car alongside the road.
A street in downtown Dawson City.
Buildings in Dawson City.
An old steamboat.
The hotel in Dawson City.

Matt fixing bacon for dinner.
Ben and Matt fixing dinner.
We camped on top of a hill above Dawson City.
Flowers near camp.
Matthew cooking dinner.
Matthew taking pictures of the sunset at 12:45 p.m.
A HDR photo of the sunset.

A bird's eye view of Dawson City.
Waiting for the ferry just outside of Dawson City.
Free ferry service over the Yukon River.
Top of the world highway.
Check out the moose catcher grill.
Poker Creek border crossing. The most northerly land border in the USA.

Giant pancakes in Chicken, Alaska.
An old dredge near Chicken, AK. We took a tour of it a little later.
Blue Bell Flowers
A drive-by shot of downtown Chicken, Alaska.
We took a tour of the dredge. These are the caterpillar engines that run it.

Slush box type things.

I don't really understand all this stuff, but Ben can fill you in on the details.



The captain's controls.

Outhouses in Chicken, AK: Hens and Roosters
Swamp Spruce
Mountains on the way to Fairbanks.
Ice on some river.
That was one big bug.
The Alaska Pipeline.
Moutains
The firestation where Matt used to work. This would be our camp for a few days.
Matt checking out the trucks.

Ben and I mailed postcards from nearby North Pole, AK.
Old mining equipment.
Ben fishing the Chatanika River.

Deadend road up the Faith, Hope, and Charity creeks area.
An old cabin.
River crossing, the old fashioned way.

A curious beaver.
He came pretty close, trying to smell us.
Blood sucking mosquito.
A picture perfect day to go fishing.
Grizzly sightings near where we're going hiking today. Yikes!
Organizing our stuff in the firehouse.
Preparing to hike up to Angel Rocks.

Ben is quite the photographer.
And so is Matt...
Climbing up one of the rocks.
Matthew climbing up the rock.
Matt and Ben taking pictures.


Ben eating a snack.
Man, coming down is much more scary!
A cool looking flower.
Matt waiting for us photo nuts.

Nearing the top.
Matthew cresting the top. Our final destination for today's hike.
360 degree views.


The thunderstorm never did make it to us, but we could hear it in the distance.
The Alaska Pipeline.


Matt touching the line.

It's hot around here.

Today is summer solstice, so we headed to town for the festivities.



Lots of people.
Headed south toward Denali. It doesn't look like good mountain viewing weather.
Matthew and Matt preparing to hike up to Kesugi Ridge.
A swinging bridge.
Matthew crossing the swinging bridge.
The view back down where we started.
Matt on top of the ridge. Nice weather, eh?
Time to put on more layers, before we freeze to death.
Matt cooking dinner.


Mmmm, this stuff is good!
Denali National Park
Heading into the visitor's center.


Driving into the park.


Cooking lunch alongside the road.

Our room at the Buckinghams.




Church the next morning.
Ben reading the Bible while driving.
Downtown Anchorage.

Mountain goats alongside the road.

The Kenai Peninisula

Fishing for salmon in the Russian River.
Matthew trying his luck at Salmon fishing.
Matt caught a dead one!

Quite a crowd, but the fish aren't very thick right now.




What is this, a tourist fishing spot?
Filling our water at a trailer park.

Breakfast time again.
Matthew videoing the scenery.

Cereal is pretty good.

Our breakfast view.

Lots of construction up here.
50 miles of gravel to McCarthy



Now this country is pretty!
An old railroad trestle.
Endless gravel...
Beautiful scenery
Hales let us park on their place for free.
Re-organizing our stuff again. It's nice that the sun came out to dry us off a bit!
Ready to backpack in the Wrangell / St. Elias National Park.



We had to cross a footbridge, then catch a shuttle buss into Kennecott.

Kennecott made for some pretty pictures.
The lodge.

Talking to the ranger.

Kennecott is an old copper mining town.




Setting off for the Bonanza Mine.
More blue bells.
Hope there's no bears around here.

Wow, these mountains are amazing!


It's like hiking in the Alps!

Brrr, is it going to rain or not?


Old mining equipment.
The Bonanza Mine.
Ben taking the switchback route.
Matthew videoing again.
Picture time!
Wow, isn't it amazing?


Matt on top of the world.
Matthew looking down on the glaciers.




Matt likes heights.
Hope that rock doesn't break off.


No caption needed.



Matt made us camp on the ridge.



Pretty amazing camping spot, huh?


Ben checking out the rocks.




It's still light about midnight around here.
We had frost on our sleeping bags.




An HDR photo.
Not sure what mountain that is, sorry.

Heading back down.




Matt taking a break.











Three packs, taking a break.
The power plant at the mine.



An HDR photo of the Kennecott Mine.
The glacier - there really is snow/ice under all that rock.


Another HDR.

The McCarthy Airport.


Visiting the Worthington glacier.



Self portrait at the Worthington Glacier.


Valdez

Walking around the docks.











Sending more postcards.

Crossing 100,000 miles.

Woah, think we can eat them all?
Bear on the side of the road.
Yikes! It's time to go Ben....drive!!







Christina friends.

When Matt first invited me on this trip back in February, I was faced with the decision of taking a required math class or going to Alaska. I decided I didn’t want to do school forever, so I told Matt I wasn’t going to be able to go. It was kind of disappointing, because it was the trip of a lifetime...read more.

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