Sept.
Before actually packing up and heading south. we were able to take a quick trip to Denali with our friend Ellie to enjoy the fall colors and be immersed in the beauty of the mountain.
Sometimes it doesn’t seem real!
Bears were absent, but several other mammals made up for them.
Several foxes played near the highway.
An Ermine is starting to turn white for the coming of winter
Never get tired of seeing Denali and the fall foliage.
The three days went quickly in the park and soon we were back in Palmer getting ready to load up the van for our migration to the south.
Fall was in the air and soon the snow would be falling here.
Don was excited about his new movable campfire which we used both morning and evening to take some of the chill off.
With our van packed and the heater fixed we pulled out of Farm Loop and headed South.
It was a beautiful sunny drive with the Wrangels having a new blanket of snow on their peaks. Maybe just maybe we could get far enough south and avoid snowy roads!
As the day turned to evening, the temperature dropped to the teens, guess we will get to test the heating systems. We awoke to a 10 degree temperature and ice on the lake that we had camped next to.
A group of swans were swimming in the unfrozen part.
We stopped at Whitehorse to get gas and noticed that there was snow on the pumpkins. The weather forecast was calling for snow. Guess we will be learning about how the van does in winter sooner than we anticipated.
Oct. 10
Last night we drove several hours and pulled into a rest area with about 4 inches of snow on the ground. Another cold night, but we were able to stay warm.
Full on winter driving, taking it slow and easy. Beautiful landscape.
The Cassiar continued to be snow covered, but at least the truck traffic was gone. A sand truck had sanded some of the hills which helped. Pretty isolated this time of year so glad to get to Dease Lake where the snow was beginning to melt. Not far past Dease Lake the snow covered roads turned to rain covered and the trees still had their fall leaves.
Oct. 12-18
Made it out of the snow and are in full blown fall. Our goal for the next several days is to check out some bike riding areas, First we checked the ones out at Kager Lake.. After looking at the Mountain bike route, it wasn’t hard for us to decide that the trail around the lake was more our style. Mostly flat with a couple of hills and roots. We talked to a couple from Alaska that told us about the trail ways bike paths. We are heading to Williams tomorrow to check out the river trail. Another chilly night and when we finally found the river bike trail, the puddles were frozen. Guess we need to keep moving South. After scrapping ice off the windows we headed towards the Princeton visitor center and got directions to the bike path.
We are excited about the Rails to Trails movement and the great use of abandoned rail road ways.
We did a 24 mile bike ride on this path way. Lots of potential for further riding here.
The sunny fall weather is treating us well
The next day of bike riding found us at Pendicton where the rails to trails winds thu scenic vineyards with a large lake in the distance.
We were definitely in the time of harvest. Wooden crates were filled with green grapes and the purple grapes hung heavily on the the vines.
With a three percent grade it is easy to take in the surrounding scenery.
We didn’t take advantage of the wine tours today, but maybe another day will find us experiencing the harvest.
It is always fun to ride across a trestle and then peddle thru a tunnel.
It was another good day of biking.
Only smiles ended our biking today!
Not sure of this tradition, but it must have some interesting meaning.
Tomorrow we head to Myra Canyon. Sounds like we won’t be disappointed.
Oct. 18
We camped right outside of the park and we were ready to hit the bike trail as soon as there was some warmth in the air. Several people had told us about this ride and that we should definitely do it. The leaves are at peak!
Sure looks like it is going to be an excellent ride. There are 18 trestles that we will get to ride across.
In 2003 a major fire occurred and most of the trestles were destroyed. Fortunately they were all rebuilt which make for an amazing ride.
We often had to stop and just take in the views.
Several rock ovens were beside the trail. They were used when the railway was being built.
It was a round trip of about 25 miles, we never tired of the scenery.
Love those Tamarisk Tree.
Tomorrow we leave Canada and head back to the US.
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