June 11-12 Travel Update and Road Conditions!

Sorry for the lack of updates while traveling these past few days, but things have been a little hectic. Once I spent the extra day in Fairbanks repairing the trailer brakes things are much easier, the trailer now helps the truck stop which is a huge benefit. It was worth the three hours crawling underneath the trailer. Anyway I spent a restful evening in Fairbanks remaining at the Wal-Mart parking lot, then got an early start for Tok Alaska first thing Monday morning the 10th of June. Easy drive in drizzling rain from Fairbanks to Tok on very good road, no problems. Pulled in to Tok RV Village for the night to try and hook up with some blog followers from the RV Forum, but they had already left. Did manage to find another couple from the forum and made some acquaintances.

Since I have quite a few lower 48ers heading North to Alaska following the blog I will give a road report for the roughest section of the Alcan.

Tuesday morning I left Tok for the long day 290 mile drive to Haines Junction. For North bounders you may want to reverse what I am writing.

Tok to US Border - Good Road with only one or two marked frost heaves.

US Border to Canadian Customs - about 20 miles

This is by far one of the worst sections of the Alaska Highway. Dirt and mud / gravel sections in several places where road construction is ongoing and just plain rough where there isn't construction. The dirt sections are actually graded and smoother than the paved sections. Most bad areas are marked with cones or orange flags but some are NOT due to proposed repair. There is one culvert being replaced and you have to stop and wait for one way traffic and a pilot car. I waited about 20 minutes. Muddy drive and very dusty during dry periods.

Once through Customs the road gets a little better for quite a ways but there are plenty of marked frost heaves and broken pavement. My top speed was about 50 and average speed for the day was about 40. Several sections put me down to 20-25 MPH.

Burwash Landing - just before (or after Northbound) there is a section being repaved that is dirt and gravel, smooth but muddy and dusty it is about 2 -2.5 miles long, not bad.

Burwash to Destruction Bay - fairly good road with well marked bumps and whoop di doos!

Destruction Bay - right in Destruction Bay they are repaving and another 2-2.5 mile stretch of dirt and gravel. Smooth but muddy and dusty.

Destruction Bay to Haines Junction - Good road with only one or maybe 2 marked frost heaves or pavement breaks.

Tip - I know your RV Looks terrible dirty in Haines Junction, don't bother washing it as it will look even worse after your next section of highway. Tok RV Village has an on-site RV Wash station so stop there and wash it down for the remainder of your trip, generally the roads in Alaska are in much better shape than what you are getting ready to go through.


Today I am heading from Haines Junction to Haines Alaska....stay tuned for pics and details of this scenic drive.

Here are a couple pics from the drive from Tok to Haines Junction!

Here is a 5 shot panorama of Kluane Lake....beautiful spot!



And another single shot....



Stay tuned for my arrival in Haines! I am excited to be back here!




Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

June 9th - Fairbanks Update - Repair Day!!

Today is a leisure day after a full morning of work! Yesterday I was determined to fix my trailer brakes, you may recall the snow and slush on the ALCAN tore the wiring lose and I had to cut it free, it was dragging behind the trailer when I pulled in to Llaird Hot Springs. Too much snow and slush and ice to try and fix it there, plus the wire was all frayed and bad from dragging for who knows how many miles. When in Anchorage a couple weeks ago I picked up the supplies I needed to make the repair.

Yesterday afternoon I got all the supplies and my tools out and was all prepared to make the repair, stripped the wire ends in the comfort of the trailer and just as I was headed outside a short rain storm came by and put an end to my effort, no sense getting soaking wet while making the repair. Left the tools out overnight and made it this mornings project. Clear sunny and cool day today with enough wind to keep the mosquitoes as bay. Fresh brewed coffee to start the morning and a nice bowl of oatmeal gave me the energy to crawl my fat old man ass under the trailer on all four corners and get the job done. Had some cleaning up to do with regard to the old wiring so end result is basically 95% new wire for all four trailer wheel brakes.

3 hours of effort rewarded with brakes operating at 100% efficiency. Should make stopping a whole bunch easier on the remainder of this trip and beyond. So I am staying in Fairbanks another night and plan to relax and watch some TV this afternoon and prepare a nice dinner for tonight. Thanks Wal-Mart for the nice parking space with electric, although they swear it is turned off!!

No pics again today, nothing special about a Wal-Mart parking lot, but I have plenty of good company! I have visited with a few of my neighbors. Several are here in RV's because the town of Gallena is still flooded and a few here have lost their homes and are waiting for the water to go down and mud to dry up to to go and start to rebuild or repair. Sad for them. But right now this morning there are 12 RV's here and every afternoon about another 5 or 6 pull in for the night.

Tomorrow I will leave here and head to Tok...some RV forum members there and I have been invited to visit, so will spend the evening there and then drive on to Haines Junction on Tuesday or Wednesday. That includes crossing the border back into Canada and one of the roughest sections of the ALCAN, so it will be a slow go and will stop to take some pictures and catch up on some photography.

Thanks for following along! Stay tuned for more Adventures!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

June 8th Fairbanks and the "Rest of the Story"

Well, I suppose I can now tell the rest of the story of my Denali Adventure. We all know when I arrived it was still cold and snowing and tough conditions, but I was not happy with what I saw. The "camp" was a disaster, snow piled everywhere and no running water, thank goodness I had my trailer, because the "crew" facilities were a joke. Beat up leaky cabins all located in literally the middle of a junk pile.

As the snow began to melt the huge piles of snow were actually piles of junk. Old boats, old school buses, old camper trailers, old cars and trucks etc. All used for storage...which was where the tools and extra parts were to try and piece the boats back together for the summer. I understand in remote Alaska you don't throw anything away that may be of use at some point in the future...if you need something it is a long way to get a new part, so you salvage from your scrap pile, but it needs to be organized and not just left in piles to rot away.

I was NOT HAPPY, but bound and determined to tough it out Alaska style. Until the river went crazy and flooded the river camp. At that point in time I knew it was not going to be a good safe summer, so when the owner started talking about money problems and having to cut back...I decided it was time to bail. So I told him I would take some time off and see how things were going and if they didn't get better I would move on...well it didn't get better so he asked me if the offer was still on the table for me to leave and I took the smart and safe way out and told him I would end my season right there, to pay me for time served and I would be on my way, check cleared and was deposited yesterday so I figured I could wrap up the real story.

He took me up on my offer and now I am in Fairbanks at the Wal-Mart parking lot and will catch up on laundry here and do some shopping before heading down to a month long gig at a beautiful campground on the water in Haines, Alaska. It is a 642 mile drive from Fairbanks and it will take me a few days, I am going to enjoy the trip this time with most of the snow gone and ice there should be some interesting scenery along the way, so stay tuned for some more adventure.

Before leaving I took a walk around with my new little GoPro camera to try it out, real wide angle lens so no real close up pics, but this will give you an idea of the "camp".

My trailer beside the crew shack and office - I am parked on top of the septic system, note the vent stack which gave a certain tang to the air around my trailer, but at least I could use my own bathroom and not the porta potti or shared sometimes working bath in the crew shack...





Storage Trailers for tools and supplies...













So I will chalk this up to a learning experience and be happy to move on, I did want to run the river, but wanted to do it safely and in good equipment...the bailing wire and duck tape was getting a little worn.

I am happy to be gone and look forward to the rest of my summer, the change in location will be a welcome relief!

HERE is where I will be soon! Click the word HERE for link!

Stay tuned for more of my adventure....



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

What's the Plan - June 7th 2013.

Well, at least I have a plan. I have had several job offers, but none real appealing. Boat jobs are very hard to find as most have already been filled for this season.

I was all set to make a very leisurely trip back down to the lower 48 with "time to smell the roses" so to speak this time around and land in Montana and spend the rest of my summer along the river fishing and hanging out with my good friend Jim Flinchbaugh, but another opportunity got in the way, at least a short term delay anyway.

Today I hope to head up to Fairbanks, do a little shopping for the trip and get myself refreshed. Then I am heading down to a place I swore I would return to - Haines, Alaska. It involves about a 742 mile drive from Cantwell and back through Canada as far as Haines Junction. I have been invited to work as a camp host for about a month which will give me time to explore the area and take a few pictures. I was in Haines several years ago while on a cruise and swore I would return someday and when this opportunity came up it was just too hard to refuse. I will also take the opportunity to visit Skagway and hopefully get some face time with any available openings for this season or just as importantly for next season. I love this area of Alaska and would love to spend a season on it's waters. My ideal position would be either a photography tour or a whale boat / sightseeing tour...both type tours are prevalent in Skagway due to the huge cruise ship presence.

No pictures today but expect a few on my drive North later tonight.

Just wanting to keep people updated as to my plans.



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

June 3rd - Season Ends before it Starts!

Time to regroup and try and salvage what is left of the summer. Sadly my position here in Cantwell came to an end yesterday. The river camp is flooded and the main cabin is now under water and as of yesterday it was raining and the river was continuing to rise. The real dilemma is the fact the extremely early very warm weather has begun to melt the snow with a vengeance and the melt which normally takes months is now happening in weeks. Which means although the river is extremely high now it will be very low in another few weeks and almost impossible to run. So the owner of the company decided it was best to trim down and plan on maybe just running one boat and if that doesn't work shut it down completely for the season and try and minimize his losses.

As a business person I can fully understand the decision, it will take 3 weeks to clean up the mess from the flood and hard to justify payroll with no income....so I am left trying to salvage the remainder of my summer.

I have checked and virtually all of the boat captain positions around Alaska are filled. I do have an opportunity at and RV Park in Anchorage and maybe one in Skagway but it is not much money and quite frankly Anchorage is not very appealing. It just may be time to enjoy a very leisurely drive back to the lower 48 and seek something down there. I have all my feelers out and many inquiries have been made.

This very well may be an opportunity to get South and be in prime position for a great winter job someplace special. Generally when finishing the season up here in late September it is too late for the good winter jobs....may be a sign to make some changes in my itinerary. Then again, who the f... knows??

Forgot to mention it is raining like a bastard out which ain't gonna help and my plans to crawl under the trailer and re-wire my trailer brakes and plug on the truck is not very appealing...laying in a mud puddle to fix the trailer may just have to wait.

No pictures today I am too pissed off...which needs to change!

Oh alright, a bus driver emailed me this yesterday of me holding one of the puppies at the dog sled camp!





Stay tuned changes seem to be happening daily!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Mother Nature is killing us - and pissing me off! May 31, 2013

Mother Nature and I have not gotten along well this year at all and it just seems to keep getting worse. I experience the coldest winter in Arizona in 60 years and then the latest spring in Alaska in well over 40 years and now above average warm temperatures with snow and ice melting with a vengeance and now we have flooding....Two weeks ago we still had ice on the river and freezing temperatures every day, the past two weeks it has been bright blue skies and sunshine and 70 plus degrees!

We had to move the Fur Trapping display from the river camp down to the dog camp because the river is over the banks and for a while was threatening the cabins....today only "Fort Relief" the porta potties are under water and we can't make our guests wade through 3 feet of water to get to the cabin so we moved everything...

The only good news is now the river is so high we will be able to do some exploring in the airboat tomorrow, but it will be difficult to see how the river will be running when the water goes down, but it looks like we will be running the boats in a day or so, once all the logs and debris and remaining ice gets out of the way.

I took a few picture today so you can see what we are dealing with...

The road into the river camp!



The River Camp



The river...



Needless to say the river is ripping...still quite a bit of debris washing down and some huge chunks of ice occasionally. However we are better off than some whole towns along the Yukon are flooded and they expect more flooding downstream and if you look in the mountains there is still quite a bit f snow to come down...we will have plenty of water for quite a while!

Stay Tuned the excitement continues to build...



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

May 30th 2013 - First Visit to Denali National Park

Had yesterday and today off, yesterday was housework and cleaning chores, myself included, but today I headed North for a little photography and recreation...also picked a couple needed items at the local market.

It was a beautiful day and I went to the visitor center at Denali and inquired about the bus tours and when spring really hits and the wildflowers start to bloom and things get green around here, I intend to take one of the bus tours, you can't drive past mile 15 in the park, you are required to take a bus....not my favorite, but oh well....

Anyway, I managed a few shots in and out of the park....

So on with the Pictures!



This is a 5 shot panorama in the park....



A couple fun signs just outside of the park...





Along the Nenanna River I managed to get a few shots at the rapids of some brave souls on the river!!















On the way back to Cantwell, I stumbled on this scene...a favorite!



A little further down the road, was Mrs. Bullwinkle!!





Stay tuned in for more adventures....the summer is just beginning!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Finally the ice is beginning to move!! May 28th, 2013

Some changes are finally starting to happen on the river...the river by our camp cleared out a couple days ago and the water is starting to rise with the snow melt, but there are several very large ice jams above our camp and we are patiently waiting for them to break up...the nearest one finally let loose today and we did a fly over of the others and they should begin to break up in the next day or so....it is almost 80 degrees here today with bright sunshine, so warm in fact I have a fan on in the trailer, so things are melting quickly....we hope to put the air boat in the water in a couple days and go do some exploring...

Took a few pics today!



Another one of the Beaver Dam - you guys may get sick of this....



Getting ARTSY!!





Panorama Mountain!



Some caribou!!





Stay tuned for more adventures hopefully on the River!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Update May 26, 2013 - Cantwell, Alaska

Time for an update, sorry I have been remiss, have been busy since my 3 days off and return from Anchorage. Did quite a bit of shopping down there and stocked up on supplies which should hold me for the next 45 days or so...I will eat well anyway!

Drive back was uneventful, Denali was shrouded in clouds and they were not even pretty clouds to get a decent picture, so just made the drive with no real stops.

Since returning, spring has sprung with a vengeance...bright clear blue sky warm days and ice and snow disapperaing rapidly. This is a good thing, the river at the river camp is nearly clear and we hope to get the air boat in the water this week to do some exploring, we are waiting for some ice to break up in a canyon up river from us, we hope to see some big chunks of ice coming down the river any time now, which will indicate it is breaking up, once that happens we will hopefully be good to go. Just need to see how much damage to the river was done during last falls big flood, hopefully it opened up some shallow areas...we should know this week, I am anxious to get running.

On the way to the river camp the other morning, I saw this nice big Cow Moose beside the highway.





Took a few pics today at the river camp....







All in all things are going very well, weather is amazing and beautiful scenery everywhere you look!

Stay tuned the big adventure on the river will be soon!



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest

Mount McKinley - Denali in all it's Magnificance May 21, 2013

Have a couple days off, since no boat tours due to ice, so I packed up the car and made the drive from Cantwell to Anchorage, with the wonderful clear skies and weather it was the perfect time to stop along the way and catch an unobstructed view of Mount McKinley!! This is a fairly rare occurrence since it is usually shrouded in clouds, so the trip was worthwhile for that alone.

Had a wonderful dinner and a cocktail or two at Outback last night and will shop dry goods today and a few items I need to repair the brakes on the trailer...then frozen and fresh/refrigerated food in the morning before driving back to Cantwell.

May check out a few sights around Anchorage today and take a couple more pics.... but here is what I got of Denali!







Stay tuned for updates later today or tomorrow....



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest