Trip log: RV Trip to Alaska 2014 |
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7/10/2014 Day 64 float plane flight from Ketchikan to anan bear observatory
Ketchikan and Prince Rupert are two places we are visiting that we have previously been to multiple times by boat 10 years ago. We love both of them and have fond memories of spending time here. We are rescheduling the return ferry from Ketchikan to PR for Sunday, which is a day trip getting in at 6 PM rather than at 2 AM, so where to stay is no longer an issue.
Anan (pronounced Ann-Ann) Bear Observatory has been on my bucket list since we were here on our own boat Four Seasons in 2004 and were unable to see it. We are working with Hiram at the visitors center on getting a flight. Hiram called this morning and he had a plane that would drop us off at Anan, and then come back to get us at 6 PM. But we would be by ourselves and we couldn’t take anything in with us. Didn’t think that was a great idea. He called back an hour later and he had found a tour with room for us with a guide. Much better idea, but we had to be ready at 11:30—which we were, after wolfing down a quick bowl of chowder and racing back to the tour center.
There were six of us plus AJ, our guide, and Michelle Masden, our pilot, in a DeHavilland Beaver owned and operated by Michelle’s company, Island Wings. It took most of an hour each way to Anan Creek (see arrow, left) where Michelle dropped us off for a high-tide beach landing at the Forest Service cabin about 1 PM. The arrow on the map to the left shows the flight path. We walked probably a mile and a half to the trail head, then another 30 minutes to the viewing platform where we spent about 3 hours watching a total of 16 black bears come down to the creek, sometimes 4 or 5 at once, catching salmon negotiating the rapids upstream. On the way back down the trail we saw one 3-year old brown bear by himself at the mouth of the stream.
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7/11/2014 Day 65 dinner at the yacht club; bear watching at herring creek in Ketchikan, Alaska We drove out past Saxman to the other end of the road. At about mile 8, Herring Creek, there’s a place where you can watch bears fishing for salmon at low tide. Since it wasn’t low tide until around 7 PM, we went back into town, went for the walk along Salmon Creek and up past the fish ladder to where we had played with our beloved German shepherd, Gracie, many years before in the creek. Ate lunch in town, then decided we had time to come back, get the coach and do the dump-and-fill routine in preparation for Sunday’s ferry. The gas station ($4.29/gallon) allowed us to fill with water, and we dumped at the waterworks which, inexplicably, does not have potable water. The free city operated dump station is right in the employees’ parking lot, and it was shift change so they were pulling out as we were dumping.
After replacing the coach in the campground, we drove back into town and had dinner with the folks at the Ketchikan Yacht Club where we have been several times before in our boating life. Roger, former Alaska State Trooper, and his wife sat with us and we had a fine time while devouring excellent hamburgers with a splendid smorgasbord of side dishes.
At 7 PM we drove back out to Herring Creek where there were several cars already parked for bear watching. Within 10 minutes a bear appeared across the creek and laid down. Then he disappeared, then came back and finally charged into the creek after salmon. He chased them up and down the creek, scattering panicked fish everywhere, finally caught one and loped back up into the grass.
There had been a bear on our side of the creek just minutes before we got there, and you could track his trajectory among the residences by the dogs barking up in the houses. Hiram at the visitors’ center told us he went out around 10 PM and saw the mama black bear with two cubs. |
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7/12/2014 Day 66 drive up revilla road; bear watching at herring creek in Ketchikan We drove up to Lake Harriet Hunt on Revilla road beyond where the campground is. There were a couple of branches off the main road which we took and some proved to be a little Jeepy, which we like. One ended up at about 1300 feet altitude before ending in a turn around. There were several other cars on the road, sightseeing, hunting, target shooting, etc. We have now driven to the end of just about every road on Revillagigedo Island, putting over 200 miles on the Jeep. Hard to do in Ketchikan.
Returning, we finally found Pioneer Café on Mission Street which serves a fine breakfast. Breakfast places are scarce in Ketchikan, but this proved to be a local hangout and good food. Parking is also no problem, especially on weekends, but really OK during the week too. My personal Parking Fairy flies ahead of us and opens up prime spots right next to where we want to be. |
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Note: This is the same slide show listed on the home page of this website. If you have previously seen it, you may want to skip it here. |
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We strolled around, looked at some jewelry and sat on the dock watching ships and airplanes for a while. Finally someone told us where we could buy “fresh” fish, a place called Alaska Seafood, which we found and purchased a pound of frozen halibut cheeks for $25 and a frozen crab for $14. We were told there is no dry ice on the island, so we have to make it to PR on the ferry with the freezer intact somehow. Actually, it turned out that Safeway sells it, so we bought three pounds for the trip back. Not enough. Should have been about 5.
After dinner we went back out to Herring Creek one last time for bear sightings. Boy, were there ever bears! There were also lots of people coming and going. We got there about 6 PM and stayed until 8:30. Many bears feeding on the plentiful salmon in the creek. Three girls old enough to know better climbed down below the overlook where we stand to watch into the tall grass at the bottom. We thought that was a really bad idea, but what can you do? No more than a minute after they climbed back up, a large black bear galloped past, right through where they had been standing, up the bank and across the road behind us.
We had heard from locals that there was a mama with three cubs that frequented the creek, but we hadn’t seen her. We did see one with two cubs, and that was pretty good, we thought. Donna said we should wait until 8 to leave in hopes mama +3 showed up. Exactly at 8, here she came. She marched down through the creek, caught a salmon instantly and headed back up into the grass, cubs in tow, to eat it. I got great shots of mama +2 and mama +3.
One slightly retarded bear waded out into the creek and sat down. Salmon jumped and frothed all around him and he just looked at them. Finally he made a half-hearted lunge at a bunch of fish, missed, and trudged back up into the grass. Another one came down and tried several times, salmon all around, and at last caught the biggest salmon I have seen any of them catch. Everybody cheered! Tonight we saw about 15-20 bears. I think we’ve finally gotten enough bears but it sure is fun watching them. |
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7/13/2014 Day 67 Ketchikan, Alaska by ferry back to Prince Rupert, BC; 30 driving miles We ate breakfast in the campground then boarded the Alaska Marine Highway ferry Taku at 10 AM and had a very pleasant 6 hour ride back to Prince Rupert, arriving at 6:15 PM Pacific time, 1 hour later time change. It was “severe clear” and calm seas all the way. After clearing Canadian customs with no problem, we drove out to Port Edward where we dumped the tanks and filled with water, then proceeded on to Prudhomme Provincial Campground where we had stayed just a week before. |
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7/14/2014 Day 68 Prudhomme Campground to ‘KSAN Campground in Hazleton; 160 miles There was nobody here to collect money and no envelope or drop box when we arrived at Prudhomme last night, so we just took a vacant campsite. This morning we left money in an envelope clipped to the campground site post. It’s hot in ‘KSAN! We took a full hookup site for $33 CDN so we have air conditioning. Donna spent the afternoon doing laundry. At 4 PM we had an appointment with Randy Adams at the Gitxsan replica village and museum. Randy is a local Gitxsan Master Carver who does carved rings, bracelets and other jewelry. We each bought one, custom made; Eagle for Russ, Wolf for Donna, delivery after we get back home. These will replace our wedding rings both of which are worn out. See photo on right.
Several interesting vehicles pulled in late in the day. They’re called Earthroamers, built on a 4wd Ford 350 chassis like a pickup camper but built on rather than set in the bed. Donna found a used 2013 one for $500K!
Since we have only very expensive cell phone service in Canada, Donna managed to use the cell phone of one of the campground people to call for reservations at Whistler Campground in Jasper. She secured three nights in two different sites with no hookups. Jasper is a very popular place. |
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7/15/2014 Day 69 ‘KSAN to Beaufort Provincial Campground, BC; driving miles 180 We stayed here on the way up, just about 86 miles west of Prince George. Nothing eventful today. Gas is getting a little cheaper; $1.35 now instead of $1.45/liter. Beautiful road, this Yellowhead Highway. We’ve been at about 2500 feet altitude all day.
It was 85 degrees here and no mosquitoes so we could sit outside for dinner. Generator hours are 6 to 8 PM and we wanted to eat about 2, so I tried using the Cuisinart griddle on the inverter to make paninis and it worked just fine. It draws 165 amps full on and we ran it about 20 minutes. It cycles once it gets up to temp so the average is much less. We had fully charged batteries when we pulled in, so the voltage never got below 11.0 while using the griddle. The display shows about 22 amp hours used which feels about right. Methinks the toaster oven would work as well, probably for about an hour. |
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7/16/2014 Day 70 Beaufort Provincial Campground, BC to McBride, bc; rv miles 200, no report |
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Ketchikan Yacht Club |
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Note: This is the same slide show listed on the home page of this website. If you have previously seen it, you may want to skip it here. |
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Bears would just suddenly appear out of the forest, walk down the rocks to the creek, snap up a salmon and disappear. Most of them didn’t have to work very hard and took less than 5 minutes to get a salmon. In some cases salmon were congregating so thick they were jumping on each others backs. There is a viewing platform, and then below that is a viewing blind that you access through a canvassed-in tunnel so the bears don’t see you. It’s right at the water, so bears are directly across the stream about 20 feet from you. Some come down right under the platform. It is quite common for bears to be found on the trail you walk to get there. They also like to bring their fish up to the level place in front of the outhouse to eat them, thereby trapping anyone inside until they leave.
Our guide told us several stories of bear confrontations, all of which were resolved peacefully but sometimes requiring pepper spray. Some of the bears he encounters regularly know him and all he has to to do is hold up the can of pepper spray and they go the other way. He’s a retired Alaska state trooper and carries a shotgun but has never had to use it.
Michelle returned at 4:30 to pick us up on the beach, now exposed at low tide, at the trail head--a much shorter walk than all the way back to the cabin. On the way back Michelle spotted a pod of whales bubble-netting and circled for us to get a good look. |