Haines: about Grizzlies, Bald Eagles and Sockeyesalmon!

Grey clouds and rainy days in Southern Alaska, a big difference after our sunny stay in Valdez but...nevertheless a beautiful place. After a tip from a local fisherman, we took a quick walk through the village and drove off to Chilkoot river and Chilkoot Lake, magnificient.

This is High Alert Grizzly Territory...The salmon travels upstream to spawn and die so the Grizzlies take the advantage of easy food and fat storage for the upcoming winter but so do the fishermen. Man and bear have to share this piece of nature and I can tell you it's hilarious to see tough fishermen run and leave everything behind when the almighty Grizzly arrives, you cannot blame them...A daily confrontation followed closely by the sharp eye of the Eagle. We didn't fish this time but as always, we had frontrow seats!

We were on the lake all day just enjoying the wildlife, the fishermen and the commotion every time the bears smelled easy prey. We saw one guy running in the woods with a big Sockeye salmon, the only fish he caught that day...When he came back, he asked me to warn him if the bears returned while he was cleaning his fish. He survived and gave us two pieces of red and tender salmon, the best you can get!

And if you cook the salmon in your camper near the lake...you get Grizzly's attention. Awesome, I don't think we will ever see them that close next to us again. They are massive and powerful animals, we showed nothing but respect when mother bear gave us that look while one of her cubs was trying to get at us from a nearby pic-nic table, just to let you know...we did not take any risks, haha!

MeetTheMoose met The Grizzly, that's for sure...We had an awesome time in Haines before taking the inside passage ferry to Prince Rupert (BC). We'll be back in Alaska one day...even if it is just to make sure that people are still shooting traffic signs, crazy americans!

Rainy greets from Prince Rupert!
The story continues...
OneLove.
T H and Th.

Whats Cookin' in Alaska tonight?

Pink Salmon is the first Pacific Salmon to migrate to freshwater in spawning season, so you can fish for Pink Salmon on shore were salt meets fresh water, that's basically the whole Port of Valdez. It's a small salmon, easiest to compare to Rainbow Trout...with a finer taste! A three day fish license, a fishing rod and some advice from an experienced American fisherman, thanks Dwayne! Here we go...

Fresher than fresh salmon on our plate tonight folks! This is awesome, we caught three and we missed a whole bunch...haha the unexperienced fishermen from Belgium, we did it! I'm prepared now to go for some Silver and Red Salmon, when they start their migration later on, down in BC...hell yeah!

Goldberg!

The Happy Three.

Alaska Babies, Welcome in the USA!

When I was young, or maybe not even that young, let's say...ten, fifteen years ago-which is a long time- Alaska seemed so far away, so unreachable, unreal even...today, I'm still young and I'm here, thanks to my lovely co-traveller and girlfriend, we made it happen and stranded in Valdez, Southern Alaska. No problems at customs, a healthy dawg -more or less- and a wonderful harbour in the Northeast section of Prince William Sound, we are surrounded by salmon and the Chugach Mountains, the most heavily glaciated mountains in the Northwest! Enjoy.

No trip to Alaska without an exploration of the fjords and their Marine Wildlife. A nine hour trip took us to Meares Glacier and back on an amazing day full of sunshine, drift ice, wildlife and fantastic scenery. Meet Humpback Whales, Steller Sealions, lots of Seals, Killerwhales and many other Pacific Ocean species (Puffins, Bald Eagles, Cormorants, Sea-otters, Porpoises,...). It must have been our lucky day...: )!



Goodnight folks, for y'all goodmorning...I'm gonna try to catch some Salmon tomorrow...see if I can do better than the Eagles and the Grizzlies.

Sweet kisses

T H and Th.

Dawson City Music Festival 2011.

We were not planning of staying that long in Dawson city but then Thurber decided to get real sick! He ate something that he wasn't supposed to eat, got himself a stomach infection feat. a foxtail...looked death in the eye closely but is doing better now, : )! Anyway we ended up staying in Dawson for the famous music festival and we have no regrets, thanks Thurber...What do you have to know about DCMF 2011:

Three days of rock, country, gospel and electronic music,

Mainly canadian artist,

You can only drink beer in the...Beergarden,

Music at 6 different locations in Town,

It's weird and wonderful, just like Dawson - Tim Jones

And again, 24 hours of Daylight!

Shotgun Jimmy (R'n R), Sackville, New Brunswick.

Tim Hus (Country), Calgary, Alberta.

Rich Aucoin (elektro-pop), Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Steve Gates (acoustic songs), Halifax, Nova Scotia.

We had a great time at the music fest, we saw a lot of real good canadian artists at the Gazebo, at the church and at mainstage. Rich Aucoin's show was amazing, Grey Kingdom (Welland, Ontario) is a fantastic singer-songwriter and Tim Hus is a canadian cowboy and hilarious...We enjoyed the workshops were the drummer became leadsinger while the singer was playing the guitar and only God knows who was playing the drums at that point. We're tired but happy thanks to all the weird and crazy people who coloured our weekend. Shotgun Jimmy...was everywhere and the Potluck was the maks!

Awesome

OneLove

The beauty, the hound and the beast.



Dawson City, YUKON.

 

A small town with a big history. The discovery of rich gold deposits in Rabbit Creek (now Bonanza Creek) in 1896 led to the Klondike Gold Rush. Some estimates put as many as 100000 stampeders heading for the North in the years immediately following the Bonanza Creek discovery. At the end of the nineteenth century, Dawson City became the largest settlement west of Winnepeg, with a population over 30000. By 1902, they were fewer than 5000 residents left.

You can still pan for gold in the creeks and rivers around Dawson and hardcore golddiggers still claim stakes today digging for gold all summer. You can't pass through this town without visiting the unique casino that combines gambling with live, cabaret-style entertainment...Meet Lady Luck at Diamond Tooth Gerties.

And have you ever heard of the "Sourtoe Cocktail". It's about alcohol, an old legend, crazy people and a real human toe! And this guy is about to join the long list of true Sourtoers, disgusting...

Established in 1973, the Sourtoe Cocktail has become a Dawson City tradition. The original rules were that the toe must be placed in a beer glass full of champagne, and that the toe must touch the drinker's lips during the consumtion of the alcohol before he or she can claim to be a true Sourtoer. The rules have changed in the past twenty-seven years. The Sourtoe can be had with any drink now (even ones that aren't alcoholic), but one rule remains the same. The drinker's lips must touch the toe. " You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow-- But the lips have gotta touch the toe."

The Dempster Highway.

734 kilometers of gravel, shale and clay, starting 40 kilometers outside of Dawson, passing over the Artic Circle and ending in Inuvik (Northwest Territories). We weren't planning on doing it, but when you're that close...you want to do it! The first part was amazing, the second part was aweful, we made it to the Artic Circle but we hate the Dempster Hwy...probably because of the bad weather conditions, the bad and muddy road and the expensive 'Eagle Plains' gas station.

An interesting detail about our stay up north: 24 hours of daylight minus a few minutes when the sun switches from dusk to dawn and even then, it barely gets dark, mindf*cking business!



 
 
 
 
 

 

Howdie

T H Th.

Whitehorse: Capital of The Yukon.

In our eyes, coming from Europe, it's hard to believe that this is a capital city! It's very nice though, Wilderness city! We promised Abbot Peter (Muenster, SA) that we'd say hellow to his niece Donna in the Klondike Rib and Salmon Restaurant, zogezegd zoge-diggy-daan! We had some fun waiting for a free table...

So we've met Donna, a very nice active woman who serves some awesome food in her cozy-I assume-worldfamous restaurant. Cozy town, some cool local shops, traditional arts and crafts and a nice pitstop on our way up North!

The Moose Creek Lodge has a nice collection of local stuff to attract the average tourist! That's more than halfway up North between Whitehorse and Dawson City! So coming up soon: 24h of Daylight, Dempster Hwy, Alaska and Top of  The World.

Greets from Dawson City, the end of the road!

OneLove

T H&Th and the big adventure.

MeetTheMoose Highlight Up North!

We left Prince George (BC) for Whitehorse (YU)! 1619 kilometers of stunning landscape, mountains, mixed forest, rivers, ospreys, black bears, evergreens, rocks, mushroom buyers, mosquitoes, lakes, coyotes, meadows, blackflies, loons and a few strange, sometimes almost abandonned villages. It's a whicked world that's for sure...and as we drive we meet the moose!

It's baby moose season! A few clicks before this mother and calf, we saw a big bull crossing the forest and guess what...already he had one foot velvet antlers, beautiful! We will reach Whitehorse tomorrow, this campsite was our luck tonight...

I took this shot through the window of our van around midnight, that's what we call sunset up north! Goodnight folks, it's almost dark now, crazy sh*t! Enjoy your breakfast...

T H and Th - Exploring Yukon...

NPs: Kootenay-Banff-Yoho-Jasper.

The Rocky Mountains: Beautiful Wildlife Scenery vs. Expensive Tourist Trap?

A roadtrip through the mountains, from Kootenay to Jasper. One thing is for sure, the first week of July is a very bad timing to hit the National Parks between Alberta and British Columbia. Canada Day on the 1st followed by the worldfamous American 4th of July turns the Rockies into the biggest tourist attraction in North America! Nevertheless: amazing scenery, great hikes, wildlife and wonderful times...enjoy!

Hoodoos, Yoho NP, British Columbia.

 

Young Grizzly, Kootenay-Banff NP, Alberta.

Lake Moraine, Banff NP, Alberta.



Juvenile Moose Cow, Kootenay NP, British Columbia.

Bear jam, Bow Valley Parkway, Banff NP, Alberta.

Female Black Bear and cub (Black Bears are occasionally brown,
cinnamon or blond), Banff NP, Alberta. 

Snowy Hike, Eifell Lake, Banff NP, Alberta.

Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana),

Lake Louise, Banff NP, Alberta.

Saskatchewan Glacier, Icefields Parkway, Jasper NP, Alberta.

Up in the clouds, Icefields Parkway, Jasper NP, Alberta.

Wapiti Campground, Annabel vs. 50 Rental RV's 

(Parking lot - $33/night incl. power), Jasper NP, Alberta.

Sulphur Ridge (2070m) - steep hike, awesome view! Jasper NP, Alberta.

Hot tubs, here we come! 

Rocky Mountains, Jaspr NP, Alberta.

Last years Grizzly, Icefields Parkway, Jasper NP, ALberta.

Sunset Magic, Jasper NP, Alberta.

Current destination: Prince George, British Columbia.

Current status: Tired but happy!

Next target: Whitehorse, Yukon.

OneLove

THTh.