Day 3—June 7, 2018—Today’s drive was uneventful. We made another 260 miles and reached Wolf
Creek, YT, our campground for the next two days just outside of Whitehorse. Surprisingly we failed to see any wildlife on
the road today. When we got camp set up
we started a nice fire and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon sitting or
standing by it. When our friend Bob
Fredrick arrived, we took a short walk to see the Boreal Owl but were
unsuccessful. We will try again
tomorrow. Other than taking our first
shower in the trailer, the rest of the day was uneventful except for the
stunning scenic drive to get here.
Day 4—June 8, 2018—We once again tried for the Boreal Owl in
the camp nest box, but it failed to show.
Then we headed into town where we stopped at the marsh across the street
from Walmart. Here we found a pair of
Common Mergansers, Herring and Mew Gulls, White-crowned Sparrow and a single Yellow
Warbler. The most interesting thing we
observed was a Red Fox that came ambling by in search of bird eggs. He was successful in the hunt while several
gulls made diving swoops at him to chase him away. We also had 7 or 8 immature Bald Eagles hunting
the area. After a brief visit to the
Visitors Bureau where we found information on local birding sites we stopped
for lunch at a local restaurant. The food
was ok, but the chocolate brownie with two large scoops of ice cream and caramel
on top of that was delicious. Then we
headed out to Fish Lake where Deb got her Red-necked Grebe and there was Common
Loon there as well. Then to nearby Marsh
Lake where we found a fellow photographer shooting pictures of a nice adult
Bald Eagle. In addition to the eagle Deb
added another life bird, Common Goldeneye.
This concluded our day of birding and off to camp we went.
Day 4—June 9, 2018—The morning was spent on chores—laundry,
taking my generator to have it checked out—didn’t get it fixed because it was Saturday
and no mechanic there—and went and washed the pickup. Then back to camp to prepare to move to Walmart
for the night. We met a couple there who
were birders as well. We went to check
out the owl box with them. This time
there was evidently a young bird in the box, but it was unable to look
out. We could see a feather come up to
the opening on occasion, but not the bird.
At any rate we were able to recruit them for a Seward boat trip around
July 1. With us and the Fredrick’s that
will make 8 and I think we can swing the boat with Tanya as captain. I contacted
her, and she is checking with the owner.
Before moving into Walmart with the other campers, we took the
opportunity to fill our tank with water and use the dump at the adjacent gas
station. Then we dropped the trailer,
headed to KFC for a quick meal. Then we
headed south to another birding location.
This one also turned out positive for Deb as we found 4 Bohemian Waxwings,
a bird I find difficult to locate in Alaska.
We made one more run at the Boreal Owl but dipped again. Then back to the trailer and made final preparation
for leaving. As it turned out, the
heater isn’t working, and it was raining hard and cold. We bundled up and went to bed early.
Day 5—June 10, 2018—As we headed out we knew this would be
our last day in Canada. The original
plan was to stop at a campground near Beaver Creek, YT, but when we reached there
it was only 3, and soon to be 2 when we crossed into Alaska, so we decided to head
on toward TOK, AK. Today we drove a total
of 380 miles and made the crossing into Alaska.
Along the way we had a large Grizzly Bear alongside the road and a Black
Bear swimming a creek. In addition, Deb
was able to add Trumpeter Swan, Pacific Loon and Barrow’s Goldeneye to her
list. Her count has now reached about
410. We found a very nice rest area that
is elevated about the highway and has a great look at the large lake
below. There were Barrow’s Goldeneye,
Canvasbacks, White-winged Scoters and a single Artic Tern. We also had a moose and her day-old calf
cross just in front of us. We are camped
for the night at this rest location. It
is in the forties and raining, so we hope for better weather in the morning.
Day 6—June 11, 2018—It rained all night and the temperature
was in the low 40’s. We packed up camp and
headed toward our destination of Tangle Lakes on the Denali Highway. When we reached Tok, AK I stopped at a RV
repair shop there and got our heater fixed.
That’s a VERY good thing because we are now camped on a pull off about
three miles up the Denali Highway. The snow
had stopped turning to slush, so we decided it best to just stop and wait it
out. We have only been here an hour or
so and I’m sure it has snowed 2 to 3 inches.
I called my friends at Tangle River Lodge and Violet said they were supposed
to have a snow plow in the morning, but it might continue to snow through the
day. We will just have to wait and see. I must say sitting here writing this and
watching the snow fall outside the window is quite beautiful. This year the alder bush has only began to
bud out up here. We are still in the
small, stunted Black Spruce area and have not reached the tundra yet. I did hear from Violet that the Smith’s
Longspur is being seen at mile 19 on the north side of the highway beyond the
second hill at a small pond. Hopefully
we will get to see it. I have missed on
it the last 3 years. The drive to our
current location was uneventful all the way to Delta Junction. It did rain on and off. When we started toward Paxon and the Denali
Highway cut off it was intermittent rain but as we approached the Summit Lake
area on the highway it started snowing and snowing hard. The last ten miles were driven slowly and the
when we turned up the highway toward Tangle Lakes it became harder. The roads are still open but with a trailer I
decided it was not worth risking it, so we shut down for the night. So here we sit and will see what tomorrow
brings. I posted a picture of our
campsite on my Facebook page if you want to see it. I guess I will have time tonight to work on
photos and hopefully get them posted.
