ALASKA
Alaska was one of the last two states to be admitted to the Union. It is hard to portray the expansive natural beauty, breathtaking sights, and variety. It is by far the largest state, and except for people, dwarfing even Texas.
The trip to Alaska was one of the most exciting family trips that the Rossmans took and included Linda’s parents. In the fall of ‘72 shopping for a van began and we located a new Dodge Van, white and merely a shell, for $2500. A steal today. During the winter, Linda and I worked hard on insulating the walls and then covering the insulation with blue kitchen carpeting. We made a mattress of styrofoam and also made a platform for the back seat to the front so that all five of us could sleep in the van. Linda’s parents rented motel rooms along the way and we were all able to shower and clean up and play bridge after the kids went to sleep.
After school was out in early June, we left Fridley with our van and the in-laws. We crossed the northern U.S., crossed into Canada at Waterton Lakes National Park. We continued up the backbone of the Canadian Rockies and across British Columbia to Prince Rupert on the inland waterway of the Pacific Coast. Linda’s parents had booked us passage on the ferry from Prince Rupert, B.C. to Skagway, Alaska. The panhandle of Alaska is full of breathtaking scenery from Wrangell, Sitka, and Juneau, the capital that has been threatened with its title from time to time. No roads connect the panhandle with the rest of the world as the most rugged mountains in North America separate this part of Canada and the U.S. from the rest of the continent. The mountains are covered with glaciers.
The first cities are Ketchikan and Wrangell. Both very colorful fishing villages with wooden clapboard houses and only several streets. The houses are painted colorful blues and greens as well as weathered siding. The first stop where we could disembark is Sitka, originally a Russian settlement. There is the orthodox church and the influence is pronounced. We made a beeline for the Sitka Totem Pole National Monument, a park not far from the center, where you can walk through the beautiful scenery and view numerous totem poles carved by the Tlinket Indians. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, glaciers and large trees the view is breathtaking. The hike is level. In the midst of all this grandeur Nathan discovers one of the real wonders. While everyone is oohing and awing Nathan is totally engrossed with one of the largest ground slugs I have ever seen.
The ferry continues up the inland waterway and we do see one killer whale. Still relaxing in breathtaking scenery we arrive at Juneau. Juneau is the capital of Alaska but has had to fight to hold on to this title. It is not easily accessible from the rest of the state. There are no roads into Juneau from either Alaska or Canada. The airport is unreliable because of frequent fog and storms. The marine highway is dependable but not fast. It does have a flavor of a frontier town and the boat takes about an hour or so. The state capital building, the bars and the setting are worth the trip. There is a glacier that one can drive to about six or seven miles out of town, but the number of road miles one can travel overall makes bringing a car hardly worth the effort.
The ferry continues up the inland highway and we terminate at Haines, where we disembark for the brief portion of the Haines Junction connection to the Alaska Highway, only a short portion of which is in Alaska before entering the Yukon and one or two more days on the famed Alaska Highway before we enter Alaska again. The boat also passes Skagway, the beginning of the famed Klondike trail, of gold rush fame. The jumping off point for the men who carved out a place in history, many losing their lives, to reach the goldfields of Dawson, Yukon. One of the major tourists items are the books and poems of Jack London and Robert Service, including his famous “Face on the Barroom Floor” which was frequently quoted in many restaurants and bars we visited. Thus concludes the panhandle of Alaska.
Although we spent nearly two weeks in Alaska we barely touched the surface area wise. Most tourists spend their time in the small section of southwest Alaska, which is the only area readily accessible by highway. The Alaska highway enters Alaska at Beaver Creek. We proceeded to Tok Jct. where the highway divides. Straight ahead one heads for Delta Jct. and Fairbanks and points north. To the left one turns south to Glenallen and the turnoff to Valdez. Continuing ahead at Glenallen you will come to Anchorage, Portage Glacier and onward to the Kenai Peninsula, Homer and Seward.
First day driving in Alaska we ended up in Valdez. The road from Canada to Tok Jct. goes through lots of scrub forest and unimpressive low mountains. not terribly impressive. We turned south to Glenallen where things improved. At one roadside stop for lunch, we were literally driven out by the tremendous hordes of mosquitoes. The road from Glenallen to Valdez is quite spectacular and traverses breathtaking mountains and canyons, skirting the Valdez Glacier. As you enter the beautiful city of Valdez, site of a recent famous oil spill, the spectacular beauty will overwhelm you. One aspect of Alaska, is not a strong impression of people and culture, but beauty.
Back at Glenallen the next day, we continued on to Anchorage. Anchorage and Fairbanks were the only cities that were real cities. Shopping malls, many streets with real traffic, familiar fast food restaurants of the lower 48, factories, ice cream parlors, amusement parks etc. It is an interesting city but nothing outstanding. I noticed here and in Fairbanks, that when we slept in the van in July, the sun was beating on the windows and it would be too hot to sleep at one or two in the morning, with little or no night. It must be very difficult to live in almost total darkness during much of the winter.
We spent one day driving to Homer on the Kenai. Beautiful drive. You can stop at the Portage Glacier, a national monument, and hike to the foot of the glacier and get a close up view. You are never far from the coast. We visited Seward on the east side of the peninsula and then ended up spending the night in Homer.
Homer is a very picturesque town at the tip of nowhere. Its most significant structure is the Salty Dog Saloon, with sawdust, readings of Jack London and a real frontier feel.
We return to Anchorage, supported in population, by a major airforce base. The highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks was not completed in ‘73 so we needed to retrace our steps to Glenallen, left on route 4 to Paxson and the start of the Denali Highway, the route to famous McKinley National Park. One of the thrills of traveling the Alaska Highway is the occasional sighting of a moose or grizzly or other wildlife, particularly on the Denali and in Mt. McKinley National Park. We purchased a tank of gas and within 1/2 hour we would have a mile or two of chugging along this gravel isolated highway. We struggled through to Cantwell, where we stayed overnight and were informed we probably had water in the gas and the attendant suggested we try heat. We bought several bottles and it was several months before the problem slowly resolved itself. The Denali Highway, except for the sections in the park, is all gravel. The road skirts the north side of the mountain, and we did see moose and the thrill of a grizzly bear in the distance. There are many stories and books written about Mt. McKinley (Denali to the Native American). It is rare to see the peak as it is usually shrouded in clouds. Indeed we did not see it until much later in Fairbanks. When it was clear we got a glimpse; overwhelming.
In 1973 to get to Fairbanks from McKinley one had to retrace the Denali Highway to Paxson, although there was a train from Anchorage to Fairbanks. On the way to Fairbanks we passed through Delta Junction where we chitchatted with the mayor, a woman, as we reviewed the Fire Engine Museum. Back on the Alaska Highway which officially terminates in Fairbanks, we passed Hardy Lake where Amelia Earhart took off on her fatal flight. Further down the road, near Fairbanks was the village, North Pole, which sold all kinds of Christmas googaws. Fairbanks is a lot smaller than Anchorage and more like a big village. We visited the Natural History Museum, with its famed stuffed grizzly and did the usual sights. Here I remember waking at 2.00 am, sweating a great deal with the sun beating on the roof. The next morning we began our trip to Circle and a visit to the resort of Cheena Hot Springs.
The road was a very difficult gravel road and shortly down the track the gasoline sputtered for about two minutes. The distance was several hours to the town of circle, on the Yukon River and just shy of the Arctic Circle. Not much of a town, but we were able to hire a small, emphasis on small, plane to fly all of us to Fort Yukon, an Indian reservation just north of the circle. The wilderness and river from the plane is breathtaking. The pilot gave us a long contorted story about the plane dipping at the Arctic Circle and indeed he did make it make a bump. The town of Fort Yukon was fascinating. It is on the Yukon River and gave us a chance to see the famous fish traps that the natives use. Pictures of these fish traps are in every social studies book I have seen. They are a large reed wheel into which the fish swim and are then trapped. The old fort and the local houses are well worth seeing in this wilderness town.
We returned to Circle and drove to Cheena Hot Springs. The resort is operated by the parents of a friend of mine who was a teacher in St. Paul. Getting someplace before dark in this part of Alaska is never a challenge as it doesn’t happen. We also were well aware that a large portion of the population has small “bush” planes for getting around the state. Although some of us drove to the springs, the majority of visitors flew in for the experience. The springs were hot and refreshing and the trip gave us a different perspective of Alaska. These bush planes are usually equipped to land on water and is the only link between many alaskans and modern civilization. I understand that the snowmobile has dramatically changed this situation.
Back in Fairbanks my father-in-law tried to book a trip to Point Barrow on the Arctic Ocean, however weather conditions did not allow it. Depending on planes, is very weather sensitive. One needs to marvel as to how Alaskans can survive the long dark and bitter cold winters. Temperatures often plummet to more the -60 degrees. I imagine people don’t wander too far with this danger.
Linda’s parents left us to fly back to New York at this point. It was Linda, I, Jeff, Anne and Nathan to make the 5000 plus miles back to Minneapolis. On the way back we left the Alaska Highway to take the mostly gravel road to Dawson City. We left Alaska by the town of Chicken, which is close to the Yukon border. It is a small, former mining town, which is predominantly now a ghost town, on the Yukon River.
This is the last of my contacts with Alaska, except for several trips to the orient. The plane from San Francisco to Japan flies along the coast including Alaska. A Plane’s view from 35,000 feet of the Yukon river and curving along the Aleutian Islands is an unforgettable experience. The plane from Minneapolis will also head in this direction, with breathtaking views of the Canadian Rockies and the glaciers. Thus ends my Alaska experience.