2012 in Review

August and September, 2012

Yukon River paddle and Southeast Alaska

It seems we can not get enough of the far North!  We left home on August first and drove west through Montana and entered Canada and drove the Ice Fields Highway to the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, Yukon.  On the way we spent a few days in Hyder, Alaska viewing Brown bears feeding on a Salmon run and then a few days in Skagway. 

 We met the Road Scholar group in Whitehorse and geared up and put in for 12 days of paddling canoes and camping along the historic river.  We spent 3 days on Lake LeBarge before we entered the Thirty Mile section of the Yukon River. Lake LeBarge, made famous in Robert Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee" :
        "The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
          But the queerest they ever did see, 
          Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge
          I cremated Sam McGee".

The Yukon River is gin clear with a very fast current.  We could easily travel 30 or more miles a day, and spend some time rafted together and still make progress.  We stopped and often camped at historic Klondike Gold Rush related sites, small ghost towns, paddle wheel  boat repair yards, abandoned boats and trading posts.  Parks Canada is stabilizing and restoring some of the old log buildings.  We paddled almost 200 miles on the river and took out at the town of Carmacks, along the Klondike Highway.

Lake LeBarge

Houtalinga boat yard

Thirty Mile section of the Yukon River

Camping at the Big Salmon town site

Rollin' down the river

A fun Road Scholar group!

It is always bittersweet when a trip comes to a close.

 

2012 in Review

Update Part 2

May 2012:  Owhyee River Raft Trip; Oregon

We have had our eye on this rafting trip with Road Scholar for a while.  The Owyhee River is in South Eastern Oregon, in the lava flow areas of the Columbia Plateau.  We spent 5 days on the river in 6 person paddle rafts.  The white water was not huge, the scenery, geology and desert flora were stunning. On the way to Oregon, we visited the Tetons, Yellowstone, Black Hills and points in between. We just can't pass up an opportunity to explore.

 Enjoy a few pictures of our adventure.

 Raft tripping with an outfitter is always fun, the crew makes plentiful and delicious meals. Camping on gravel bars can be windy and cold at times, but it is all part of the adventure.   

 Others were using the river long before we arrived.

Can't pass up a chance to spend some time in Yellowstone.

We hiked to the top of Harney Peak in the Black Hills. 

 2012 in Review

 An update from 2012-2013:  Still on the move!

Hello!!  We haven't updated our Travels page for a long time.  In fact, I had a good summary of our 2012 adventures  in the works, but as computers go, it all disappeared in an instant and I gave up on it.  So, here goes the next try!  Keep fingers crossed.

March 2012:  HIKE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE GRAND CANYON

After spending the first part of the year getting in shape, by hiking with packs around our trails etc, we drove to Arizona and spent some time in the Sedona area and then met the Road Scholar group on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  We prepped for the hike down the South Kaibab Trail.  At the bottom, we stayed in Phantom Ranch cabins for two nights, then hiked up the Bright Angel Trail.  We started and ended the hike in snow at the top.  Along the Colorado River the temps. were in the 70's.  The scenery here is eye-poping.  Here are a few pictures from that adventure.

 A Grand Canyon

 The first mile or two near the Rim was covered in snow and ice.

 Part of the South Kaibab Trail, endless switchbacks on the way down.  The river is not even in view!

 The River Trail was cut out of rock by the CCC, travels along the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

 The lower part of the Bright Angel Trail.  We hiked along the river then turned up this section, the first of many steep areas in the 9 mile distance and almost 5000 feet gain in elevation on the way up.

 Phantom Ranch is way down there somewhere!!  We liked this hike so much we are going to do it again in September, 2013!  This time we will backpack from the North Rim, down to the bottom, then up the South Rim.  We will spend 5 nights in the canyon.

Ned and I at the start of the hike down into the Canyon.

Ned and I after the hike down to our cabin at Phantom Ranch.  We shared it with 12 others!

Carol and Ned, Still ticking in 2012!!!

Hello all!

It has been a long time since creating a blog message, so I thought it about time to let you know that we are still around and still up for a good adventure that might come our way. (This may sound like a Christmas letter in July!!)

Ashton in the drivers seat!

Our first grand child arrived August 10, 2011.  Ashton Frank Pozanc will soon be a year old and is the light of our lives!! He lives in Winona , Minnesota with his mom and dad, Tim and Gretchen.  We just love to visit!!


September in the Maritime' s

Last Fall, we did a month long road trip to Quebec, New Brunswick, and Maine.  We had intended to include Nova Scotia, but ran out of time!!!  That will be our next trip East!!  Here are a few highlights from that trip.

We enjoyed a paddle on the St. Maurice River in Quebec.

Our mode of travel, with kayaks and bikes.

Eastern most tip of the Gaspe Peninsula, also the end of the international Appalachian Trail

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Another Alaska Trip, March 2011

Hello!!
Well, we did it again, Alaska is becoming habit forming. On  this trip, we wanted to see Alaska in winter.  So, we signed up for an Elderhostel/Road Scholar trip to Fairbanks and Coldfoot and into the Brooks Ranges on the Dalton Highway, of Ice Road Trucker fame.  I've sent along some pictures and commentary that sums up the trip.  It was another fantastic time of learning about and exploring a fantastically wild State.  Maybe we should just move there!!!

This is our first clear view of Mt McKinley, locally known as Denali!  It was taken from our flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  We have tried to view this mountain on our two other trips, but in Summer the clouds take over and a good sighting is rare.
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Our trip centered in Fairbanks for 5 days where we took in the local , as they call it "Spring" events.  The temperatures were still a bit below zero in the mornings, but the sun is high and warmed up the afternoons.  The day light increases about 6-8 minutes per day, much faster than at lower latitudes, so we gained about an hour and a half of daylight in the 15 days that we were there. We took in the Ice Art sculptures and dog sled races.

 This is an Ice Maze, really amazing! I was impressed by the clarity of the ice that was cut from a nearby pond. There were sculptures from all over the world. 

 Night time was another magical time!!!

The sprint sled dog races were held over 3 days with  each team traveling 25-30 miles each day, winner was the team with the fastest combined time.  The top two teams were 30 seconds apart!!!  These are sleek dogs bread for speed, they are not the typical sled dog.

Now it is North along the Dalton Highway, North of the Arctic Circle to the farthest north truck stop in North America, Coldftoot, Alaska.  This is where the History Channel films Ice Road Truckers!!!  We spent five days in and around Coldfoot, mainly in search of the Aurora. 

This is Roller Coaster Hill of Ice Road Trucker fame.

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We visited an old gold mining community from the early 1900's, Wiseman.  The book "Arctic Village" by Bob Marshall is a good sociological case study of the folks who live is this isolated community off the grid.

Then we took a day trip further North into the Brooks Range to Atigun Pass.  The road goes along the Alaskan Pipeline on the way to the Prudhoe Bay oil fields.

While in Coldfoot, we had a chance to meet real Alaskan Husky sled dogs!!!  Oh what fun!!   They loved to be petted and took us for a nice ride into the wild!

As for the Aurora, we did see them each night we were in Coldfoot.  Coldfoot is located right under the Auroral Oval, an area around the North Magnetic Pole where the solar wind energizes the molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere to create the Northern Lights.  We had to look straight up to see them!!  The first night, the Aurora was a green belt from horizon to horizon with swirls of green and pink over head, it was quite the sight!  My camera was not good enough to pick up much of the action.  The lens needed to be open at least 30 seconds to capture enough light, ours went to 8 seconds.  I did realize that the camera can 'see' more of the Aurora than our eyes can!!  That realization was a bit disappointing!  My minds eye has done the recording.

 

This is what our camera saw.  We saw much more!

Travel to Alaska has been a great adventure for us.  The State is calling us back again--sometime.

Thanks for sharing our trip with us, stay tuned for more Travels with Carol and Ned!