“The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.” ~ Alexander Supertramp a.k.a. Christopher McCandless

As I begin this article, it’s an overcast drizzly day in late August as I sit here in a travel-worn, dusty and dirt covered travel trailer I affectionately refer to as “Hobbes”. Friday and I are camped at the Kendesnii Campground located 28 miles up the Nabesna Road in Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve. At 13.2 million acres it is the largest National Park in the U.S. and is approximately 6 times the size of Yellowstone National Park. To get here from Denali National Park I drove the 135 mile long Denali Highway, all of which is two lane, over 110 miles of it is unpaved, gravel, dirt as well as riddled with tire piercing rocks and axle snapping potholes. The Nebesna Road is simply a shorter version of the Denali Highway. But I fear I might be painting a gloomy picture. I am in awe of Alaska and particularly amazed and humbled by the wildness, vastness and raw beauty of Wrangell St. Elias! I could devote an entire article to this one area and I’ve only strayed a few miles from my campsite. 

I have now completed my journey up and back along the Alaska Highway! Much has occurred since my last blog posting when I hinted at the idea of travelling to Alaska. The decision came about as Cindy, Friday and I were hiking in the mountains of Idaho in July. My friend from teenage years, living on Hilton Head Island, Charles had seen some of my social media posts about my travels and invited me to come visit he and his wife on their 10 acre property along Deep Creek in Ninilchik, Alaska (on the Kenai Peninsula). As Cindy and I hiked we discussed the pros and cons of me making the serious decision to turn around, drive back up through Canada and into Alaska. A one way journey covering over 1,800 miles. In the end, I knew if I didn’t do it now I might never attempt it again. Now, over a month later after making the decision I am happy and content to have traveled to this overwhelmingly wild and wonderful wilderness!

Before I proceed with some of the events while in the land of the midnight sun I’d like to take a few moments to touch on the title I’ve chosen for this piece, and how it has impacted me and my Alaska travels. Prior to making the decision to journey all this way and having done very little research, I came to the “Last Frontier” with the expectation of it being the highlight of my big adventure and that all the other magnificent places I’ve been so fortunate to have visited would pale in comparison. And right there in hindsight was my first mistake. I have learned (thanks to a program of recovery that works for me) that it’s better if I identify rather than compare people, places and things with each other. And by placing an expectation on someone, someplace or something greatly reduces my ability to appreciate whoever, wherever and whatever I’ve placed that expectation on. So before I even hooked up Calvin and Hobbes and started the engine I was out of sync without knowing it. This will become more apparent as I relate my travel experiences which followed the next 3 weeks and finds me here in Lake Louise now reflecting back on them. 

Rather than bore you with a detailed account of my time in Alaska (including the twenty days it took getting there and back through British Columbia and the Yukon Territory) I’ll try to paint an overall big picture and simply touch on the experiences which, to me, seem to be the most significant, both in the “awe” factor as well as the “lessons learned” aspect.

First off the Alaska Highway doesn’t even begin until you reach Dawson Creek, BC which is a thirteen hour drive from Columbia Falls, Montana. Then from Dawson Creek to the Alaska/Canadian border (Port Alcan) is an additional twenty-two hours (not accounting for road construction delays, of which there are several) and this is only to the border. From here the next stop is the town of Tok (1.5 hrs). But we’re not there yet! I then drive another 318 miles to Anchorage and 187 miles to Ninilchik located along the Kenai Peninsula. So doing quick math this totals approximately 45 hours of driving time on some of the worst roads I’ve ever driven. Prior to this adventure I had no clue what a “frost heave” was, but I do now! These nasty dips in the road caused by the drastic temperature changes buckling the asphalt can catch the driver off guard and send you airborne. Add a travel trailer and it gets really interesting! Then there are the gravel sections which present another challenge. These patches, if hit at too high of speed will make your vehicle feel like it’s on ice and if dry will send up a cloud of dust so big that it looks like a forest fire in your rearview mirror. And if you really want some excitement you’ll love it when a tractor-trailer passes in the opposite direction going exceedingly fast and sprays a scattershot pattern of small rocks right at your windshield! Are we having fun yet! To the Canadians credit they are diligent about posting signs indicating upcoming frost heave sections, but their part of the Alaska Highway is in worse shape than the U.S. section. Having said this, the U.S. part of the highway is still covered with numerous frost heave danger and the Alaskan Department of Highways doesn’t provide much signage indicating upcoming hazardous frost heave conditions. In fact they pave over much of it in black asphalt which actually makes it much harder to see due to a hindered ability to determine depth perception. Oh, and this is all along a two lane road except for the occasional passing lane.

You might be thinking at this point “He really hates this road”, but please keep in mind I just completed the roundtrip Alaska Highway journey yesterday afternoon and I am exhausted. There is so much solitude and majestic wilderness along this route that it feels like no other place I’ve ever visited. While it has without doubt been the most challenging and difficult driving during this journey, looking back now it was worth the effort.

Once across the Alaska border I spend my first night in Tok and then wake early the next morning to drive south to Bird Creek State Park (just south of Anchorage) where I found a nice campsite adjacent to Turnagain Arm. I had planned to run the Bird Creek Trail, but there had been a recent tragedy involving a 16-year-old young man attacked and killed by a Black Bear (a predatory attack, not a defensive act involving a mother protecting her cubs, which happened back in June). Choosing to run along the paved trail adjacent to the campground I passed a fresh pile of bear scat and a Parks Canada Ranger informed me of a Brown (Grizzly) Bear having been hit with birdshot a few days ago and that they now had an angry bear wandering near this campsite.

From here I headed for my old friend’s place in Ninilchik located on the Kenai Peninsula. Adrienne and Charles were most gracious letting me camp on their beautiful property. We fished and caught Halibut, Silver Salmon and Rockfish,

paddled along the Upper Kenai River

and enjoyed long conversations about past follies, friends and life in general.

And the added bonus of arriving the day before the 2017 SalmonFest made my stay even more fun!

Not being able to secure a campsite at the Teklanika Campground located approximately 35 miles inside Denali National Park I stayed at the Denali Grizzly Bear Lodge and RV Resort. And as I believe that everything happens for a reason I am grateful to have stayed here because I would never had crossed paths with a unique German fellow by the name of Jock. A recently retired mechanical engineer who worked for a major oil company for something like forty-eight years and travelled all across the world, Jock was now embarking on an epic journey! He had just lost his wife and having settled all the funeral and estate affairs he has made the decision to explore one of the last remaining parts of the world he has not seen. Equipped with the coolest RV I’ve ever seen Jock has just begun his trek by driving to the most northern part of Alaska and plans on ending his journey in Patagonia in four years!

But what really made my meeting with Jock so special was his outlook on life, relationships with others and nature. His insight in how we, as humans, treat each other and the sad circumstances caused by the intolerance of those who only see the world from a narrow perspective with no regard for others professing a different viewpoint struck me with such force. Quality not quantity comes to mind as I reflect on our conversation which only lasted a 1/2 hour, but will stay with me the rest of my days. One of the last things we discussed was my intention of donating a dollar to an organization for every mile I run/hike/walk during this adventure. He posed the idea to me that perhaps I should consider volunteering my time to a worthy cause that helps others rather than simply writing a check and patting myself on the back for doing a good deed. As Jock pointed out “time is a much more valuable commodity than money” and the personal interactions with others benefits them as well as the one volunteering their time much more. I am grateful to Jock who I most likely will never seen again , but through his kindness (he wanted to say hello to Friday and loved her spirit, pure joy at simply going for a walk in the campground, and the fact that she was doing so on three legs) took a few minutes to talk with a stranger and share his thoughts and feelings on topics many might not share with their closest friends. Thanks Jock!

With every Alaskan resident I met and discussed my desire and intention to run along some trails up here I was informed of the unusual amount of bear encounters that have occurred this summer. And as the days passed, while I fished and paddled along the Upper Kenai River

I could sense a growing uneasiness within me. Looking back now I recognize the cause as stemming from a combination of a lack of contact with others in a similar recovery program as well as from a lack of carefree trail running. Every time I attempted a trail run a small and nagging fear (much of it imagined, but some of it based in fact) of a bear encounter robbed me of my ability to simply enjoy the feeling of running through some of the most magnificent wilderness I’ve yet to experience.

 

So, while I did successfully log runs in Bird Creek (along a paved bike/jogging path), Ninilchik (along ATV tracks and unpaved back roads), Palmer (north of Anchorage), Denali National Park (where I dropped my one and only key to Hobbes… never to be seen again) and in Wrangell St. Elias (along the unpaved Nebesna Road) I never felt in sync. I found myself thinking that I’m letting all this “bear” stuff steal my joy and serenity. This in turn skewed my expectations of what Alaska was going to be like for me. But once again my repeated attempts at trying to uncover the root of my “out of sync” attitude revealed to me that perhaps I just needed a break from trail running for a few weeks and rather place an expectation of my time here to fully appreciate the opportunity I have to be present in the moment and truly see all the beauty that surrounds me.

 

The return trip back through Canada proved a challenge as well, but of a different sort. I now knew what to expect regarding the frost heaved and gravel covered Alaska Highway.  My desire was to return to the “Lower 48” to reconnect with other like-minded people recovering from the disease of addiction and run some long mountain trails. I spent many long days of driving with few layover days along the way. But I did enjoy several stops as I headed southeast (I intended to take a southern route down into Washington State, but the threat of rampant wildfires in British Columbia deterred me from taking that course). Congdon Creek in the Yukon Territory is a little known, but spectacular Provincial Park offering beautiful wooded campsite for only $12 CAD a night!

Liard River Hot Springs is a Provincial Park in British Columbia that not only offers spacious and heavily wooded campsites, but a beautiful hot spring fed pool deep in the forest. Walking along a boardwalk for approximately 1/4 mile brings one to this peaceful setting. 20 minutes of soaking in these healing waters did wonders for my stiff and road weary muscles.

Charlie Lake in British Columbia (also a Provincial Park) was equally charming and if ever I have a chance to pass this way again I will plan to spend more than a single night at all three of these parks.

 

The Alaska adventure is in my rearview mirror now and as I had expected (watch out for those expectations!) I am glad I made the decision to travel over 3,600 miles there and back to Montana where I now sit writing this article. And while Calvin and Hobbes suffered a few slings and arrows they both performed like champs! Feeling back in sync and being vigilant to not place expectations on the remainder of this journey, I can only hope, seek and take the proper actions which will allow me to fully appreciate what adventures, joys, situations, predicaments, wondrous vistas and interesting people await me around the next bend on the trail, road, river and mountain!

HAPPY TRAILS!!