Wolves at the door
Feb
18
2015
Sure, we only had a few days left on our US Visa, but it would have been poor form to leave without visiting Yellowstone National Park. So we took another detour.
Sure, we only had a few days left on our US Visa, but it would have been poor form to leave without visiting Yellowstone National Park. So we took another detour.
After spending the best part of two months in Alaska and Canada we were used to having plenty of daylight as we setup camp and prepared the evening meals. Unfortunately, as we headed further south, the nights got darker and we were forced to start using our head-torches. It wasn’t long before we realised that our head-torches and our single underpowered lantern were not going to cut it for lighting our camp sites.
Having spent far too long faffing about in Utah and Nevada our time in Colorado was short. (That was about the only thing that was short in Colorado—everything else appeared to be of record-breaking height.) After visiting Dinosaur National Monument on the Utah side, we had been considering driving to Echo Park on the Colorado side of the park—but we were told that the road was closed. No surprise there, that had happened a lot lately.
Our initial plan to take a detour south through Escalante—Grand Staircase National Monument was foiled—by torrential rain washing out Cottonwood Road. We formulated ‘Plan B’ when a couple we spoke to in Kodachrome Basin State Park motivated us to pay a visit to Capitol Reef National Monument. A quick look at a map showed an enticing looking road heading south through there, so we decided that would be the best route to take.
After the surreal landscapes of Utah, it seemed like an obvious choice to take a detour through Monument Valley. It turned out to be one of the most memorable drives of our journey so far.
Since we completely failed to be abducted by aliens in Nevada, we felt it was time for some adventures of a different kind.
All trips have their low points. This journey is no exception. Fortunately this particular low point is measured in altitude, not in how many hours we spent plotting to poison each other.
Emma had spent the entire trip through Canada peering hopefully into all the lakes and rivers trying to spot a beaver. Justin Beaver was not keen on making an appearance however. These elusive ‘Justins’ (as they soon became known on the trip) seemed to be hiding from us.
Alaska and the Yukon, the two places are intertwined in history and location. Visit one and you will likely find it hard to resist visiting the other. A shared history of the Klondike gold rush, of wild, adventurous folk pioneering the last frontier of North America, of traditional peoples linked through trade and culture back to a time when the modern borders of the USA and Canada had no meaning. It is easy for the absent-minded traveller to forget which country they are visiting—are you in the USA or Canada? Until you try to buy something.
We can’t by any means claim to be experts on small town Alaska, we’ve only visited a few. But the ones we have visited have all been pretty unique and fun. Three of our favourites in the Alaska so far have been Hope, Whittier and Kennecott. Kennecott will be the subject of its very own blog post due to the large quantity of accompanying photographs that it will involve. But for now, allow us to familiarise you with the two very different towns of Hope and Whittier.