So you’ve booked a Grand Canyon Rafting trip. You’ve likely dropped $1,500 to $6,000+ for a 3 to 18 day trip on the Colorado River. And now you have to buy a bunch of gear on top of this. Well, I’m happy to tell you there’s not a need to break the bank. The following post contains some of the Grand Canyon Rafting Gear I bought for my trip and I can recommend. Note: This post is for people who have booked professionally guided and outfitted trips to the Grand Canyon. Doing a self-guided trip to the Grand Canyon has its own unique needs for gear and outfitting. This post contains affiliate links. This website earns a small commission for items purchased through these links with no additional cost to you.
Must Have Grand Canyon Rafting Gear: Rain Gear. YOU WILL GET WET ON THIS RIDE! Some people on my trip had rain pants and coats that cost hundreds of dollars each. I found this inexpensive set of Coleman Rain Gear that worked pretty good at a fraction of the price (although if I did it again I would super glue the “pockets” closed to have less leakage on my hips). An advantage of this set is that it’s mostly tan, so it was comfortable to wear in the sun without baking like black or navy blue sets would do.
Must Have Grand Canyon Rafting Gear: Water Shoes that are appropriate for hiking. While flip flops are handy for wearing around the sandy campsites, they are not recommended for wearing on the boat and while hiking in the side canyons. I spent quite a bit of time searching for the best shoes for my Grand Canyon Trip, considering things like Keen or Teva Sandals, but ultimately, I decided on these inexpensive Water Shoes. The advantages of these shoes:
Inexpensive
Covered my feet so I didn’t get stubbed toes or weird tan lines on my feet
Fantastic traction for hiking (although they didn’t do great on the shiny, vertical marble like rock).
Didn’t take on much sand while walking on the beach
Must Have Grand Canyon Rafting Gear: soft-sided luggage/duffel bag. I was lucky to find a sweet, good as new duffel bag at my favorite Thrift Store in Tucson. But if you’re not so lucky, I had this waterproof duffel bag in my amazon cart at one point:
Optional Grand Canyon Rafting Gear : Waterproof Book of the Grand Canyon. I loved this book! It was fun to follow along the maps as we went and loved the geological and historical info. I also used it to mark where we camped, hiked, and had lunch each day.
Optional Grand Canyon Rafting Gear: Waterproof video camera. If you have a GoPro, take it! It was fun to film shooting the rapids! If you don’t have a camera, you can get some inexpensive versions here.
Optional Grand Canyon Rafting Gear : Pre-reading material:
“THE EMERALD MILE” the story about the fastest, and illegal, river run through the Grand Canyon.
The Best Time to visit Joshua Tree National Park is basically the opposite time to visit most of the other National Parks in the USA – where most other parks are best in the summertime, Joshua Tree National Park is best visited in the Fall to Spring, with Fall and Spring slightly beating out Winter for a visit… see below for why this is the best time to visit Joshua Tree.
This post contains affiliate links. This website earns a small commission for items purchased through these links with no additional cost to you.
Best Time to Visit Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree NP in Spring – My favorite time to visit Joshua Tree is in the spring. The weather is perfect for sightseeing, hiking, and camping, and this is the best time to see wildflowers, including the blooming Chollas and Ocotillo cacti.
Joshua Tree NP in Fall -Fall would be the second best time, also with the best weather for daytime activities and camping.
Joshua Tree NP in Winter – Winter is also a good time to visit, but it can be quite cold for camping. But… if you are lucky, you might get to visit during a rare desert sno storm, which is absolutely beautiful.
Joshua Tree NP in Summer – I don’t recommend visiting in summer, when the weather regularly exceeds 100 degrees F. If you do visit in the summer, make sure you’re prepared for hot weather and bring lots of drinking water.
Must See Spots in Joshua Tree
While Joshua Tree National Park is famous for it’s ancient Joshua Trees, there are a couple other things you must see:
Rock Formations – the rocks are incredible. My favorite rocks are the arch and the aptly named Skull Rock. If you are into camping, you can camp right in the midst of these strange rocks
Cholla Cactus Garden – but beware – very sharp bits of these cacti can actually “jump” and stick you if you get too close. It’s an interesting plant defense mechanism.
Ocotillo cacti – there are some great Ocotillos close to the Cholla Cactus Garden
Best Place to See Sunset in Joshua Tree National Park
If you want to get pictures of the Iconic Joshua Trees, I recommend going to the flat area between Skull Rock and Key’s View. There’s nice flat land to view the sunset and lots of Joshua Trees to get a silhouette of the JT’s.
Other good places to watch the sunset include the Cholla Cactus Garden and Key’s View.
I mistakingly thought that Joshua Trees only existed in this park, but while spending significant time in southern California of the last years, I discovered several other places with Joshua Trees which include:
Mojave National Preserve, especially in the northern part of the park
Death Valley, on the western side of the park off of highway 190
Along California Highway 138, east of I-5.
Other Places to See Near Joshua Tree National Park
I had grand plans when I first planned my Alaska Road Trip. See my original plans here, which involved driving to the Arctic twice! Lots of miles on gravel roads. Well, weather and forest fire smoke got in the way of that plan, so here is the actual Alaska Road Trip Itinerary from my two month trip to Alaska, June-August 2019, with links to all the posts I’ve created along the way.
Before we get to the actual itinerary of my trip, please take a few minutes to read some of the general posts and tips I wrote about the trip:
Now, as for my route. My Alaska Road trip was 10,761 miles in total, and here’s a rough map of my trip (a few smaller detours are not on this map).
Source: Bing Maps
My Alaska Itinerary details:
Friday, June 28
Leave home. Stopped at Bridal Veils Provincial Park in southern BC to have a little hike and see the falls. Bought the Milepost book at a visitor center (wish I had ordered from Amazon, would have been $15 cheaper than I paid). Continued to Williams Lake and went for a short hike at Scout Lake and found a camping spot at the Stampede Campgrounds, $40 CAD for 2 nights, close to all the action and came with a free swag bag!
Saturday, June 29
Hung out in Williams Lake and did all the Williams Lake Stampede activities including the parade, the afternoon rodeo, and the big party at night. Read about my time in Williams Lake here.
Sunday, June 30
Attended cowboy church at the Stampede grounds. Headed over to Quesnel and went for a hike at Pinnacles Provincial park. Traveled with a German woman who I’d been hanging out with at the Stampede to Wells, BC for dinner. We free camped by the graveyard in the ghost town of Stanley. The only thing that bothered us were the invasion of mosquitoes and black flies. The worst on the whole trip!
Monday, July 1
It’s Canada Day! The first Canada Day was called Dominion Day and was celebrated in the historical town of Barkerville. Read about my two-dayvisit to Barkerville here. I camped at the Government Hill campground at Barkerville for $23 CAD, the second night in a row I was camping near a pioneer cemetary!
Tuesday, July 2
Spent another day at Barkerville and left in the afternoon. It’s well worth spending two days there, so much to see, do and learn. I hit the road with a long drive. I had heard stories of women going missing on the “Trail of Tears” of the Yellowhead highway through British Columbia so I wanted to find a safe place to camp. Luckily, a little after 10pm I found a rest area near Topley with several other campers to pull over for a free night of camping.
Wednesday, July 3
Woke up early and drove into Smithers for some Tim Hortons coffee. Caught up on internet as I viewed the glacier from my table. Met a guy that had just come down the Cassiar highway, he said he had seen so many bears! I saw a couple bears on the Yellowhead highway, but then no wildlife on my drive up the portion of the Cassiar to Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. I marveled at the valley and Bear Glacier on my drive into Stewart. I stopped at the visitor center and got the driving map for the auto tour to Salmon Glacier, crossed into Alaska for the first time (no immigration) and had a little leg stretch in Hyder, then drove up to the Salmon Glacier. There were cloudy views of the glacier at the base but the summit/top was completely covered in fog. So I drove down to the Granduc mine, and explored some abandoned truck tunnels that went thru the mountain. Another finger of the Salmon Glacier was viewable at Granduc. I camped at the summit of the Salmon Glacier, hoping to wake up to a magnificent glacier view in the morning.
Thursday, July 4
I woke up at 6 am, drew back my curtain, and… FOG! The 4th of July festivities in Hyder weren’t until 4pm so I decided to make some coffee and wait. And at 8am, the fog descended and the crazy beautiful Salmon Glacier showed itself. The morning was so nice, I drove again to Granduc mine to see the glacier there. It was so temping to walk over to the glacier face, but it was on mine property. Back in town, I stopped at the Fish Creek bear observation (no bears) and went to Hyder for the games. It started to downpour so I ended up at the bar, met a few other tourists. The rain cleared so we watched the games and the really small parade. There wasn’t much going on after the parade, so I headed back into Canada and camped for free at the very nice Clement Lake BC Rec Site. Read more about my 4th of July Celebration in Hyder here.
Enjoying the view at Salmon Glacier
Friday, July 5
Big driving day, drove all the way to Prince Rupert, BC (a bit of back tracking). I was hoping to meet some friends that I met at the Fountain of Youth Spa at the Salton Sea last winter, but they were busy. I did get to camp out in the driveway of a family member.
Saturday, July 6
I went over to visit my friends in Prince Rupert, got to ride to the town dump to see 50+ Bald Eagles that were scavanging for food. Went out to the North Pacific Cannery National Historical Site, was quite depressing, read about it here. Drove back towards Terrace and camped for free at a boat ramp in a provincial park and chatted with some nice people from Alberta who shared more depressing news about fishing on the Skeena River.
Sunday, July 7
Spent all day exploring the Nass Valley, viewing the lava, wildlife, soaking in a very hot springs, and had fish -n- chips at a coastal First Nations village, the most northwest coastal town in BC. Stayed at an excellent free campground called Dragon Lake BC Rec Site. I met a nice couple from Smithers and we drank wine as we listened to the thunderstorms roll in. Read more about my day of exploring the Nass Valley here.
Monday, July 8
It stormed most of the night, but Dragon Lake was beautiful in the morning clouds. Thunderstorms neared again, so I started out on my drive, driving most of the Nass Forest Road in heavy rain (at least the rain made it possible to see the many potholes!). I saw a young male moose in the road and followed him for a bit. Spent most of the rest of the daydriving up the Cassiar Highway, seeing and smelling lots of smoke from the Alaska and Yukon fires. I was finally getting tired south of Dease Lake where I stayed in the Lion’s Club Tanzilla River campground for $10 CAD, which included free firewood. I had a campfire with couple guys from California that had been in Alaska on their motorcycles. Watching their evening and morning routine was exhausting. I’m so glad I’m Van Camping which requires no set up.
Tuesday, July 9
It rained very hard last night – I was even happier I was in the van. I woke up early and decided to make my way to Telegraph Creek, a dead-end gravel road to a historical telegraph station town. This road was incredibly steep and narrow. I barely made it through a path of mud in the road, but I kept driving only to find out mudslides had closed the historical part of Telegraph Creek town, so I headed back thru the canyon and did a short hike for a view of the river. By late afternoon, I found a great free camping spot at Sawmill Point BC Rec Site, where I parked my van right by the lakeside. Read more about my day trip to the Grand Canyon of Canada here.
Wednesday, July 10
I woke up early. The smoke wasn’t too bad this morning so I enjoyed the views and the wildlife seen in the early morning drive which included fox, beaver, moose, and even a porcupine! Continued heading up the Cassiar Highway, and stopped at the Cassiar Mountain Jade Store. The girl working there said there was nothing interesting up the road to the abandoned Cassiar town, but I disagree. Read about my interesting side trip to Cassiar Asbestos Mine here. Back on the Cassiar highway, I crossed into Yukon and eventually finished driving the Cassiar Highway at the junction of the Alaska Highway. By the time I reached Teslin on the Yukon River, the smoke was so thick! I found a highway rest area a little south of Johnson’s crossing that didn’t have “no overnight” signs and several other campers were staying there. I shared travel tips with a couple returning to the USA. After the last couple of days of smoke, I was seriously thinking of going home or going east but decided to drive to Whitehorse in the morning before making any rash decisions.
Thursday, July 11
It was very smoky as I woke early and drove towards Whitehorse. Since I was nearing the largest city in northern Canada, I turned on the radio, finally finding stations other than CBC and religious channels. I heard a commercial for a music festival in Atlin, British Columbia. The woman in the Yukon visitor’s center told me the festival would be sold out, but I headed over to an arts office that was the official vendor of passes and found they had a few tickets left! Paid $145 CAD for a pre-sale ticket for the 3-day festival. I had lunch and filled the car with gas and made the scenic drive to Atlin, arriving in the early evening. Paid $50 CAD for a weekend long camping pass. Not so many people were there yet on Thursday night so I got a prime spot next to a bush with a nice view of the lake and mountain. Overheard some people talking about a film, and turned out there was a pre-festival screening of a Gaida First Nations language movie called “Edge of the Knife” about a native folktale about a guy that turned into a wild man. Was a great way to spend the evening.
Friday, July 12
Slept in a bit as the festival wasn’t starting until the afternoon. Woke up and made some coffee while I enjoyed my view. Did a bit of a walk around Atlin before the rest of the festival goersarrived. In late afternoon, there was a First Nations procession to officially start the festival followed by lots of great music. I discovered some amazing Canadian musicians.
Saturday, July 13
I spent the whole day at the festival. My morning activity was an acrylic painting class, painting a sunset and the Lake Atlin landscape. I spent the rest of the day watching films and listening to music.
Sunday, July 14
The Atlin Arts and music festival ended in the afternoon. I took a short drive to the east of Atlin to visit a waterfall. I returned to town to attend the after-festival party at met some of the friendliest people at the festival. Some of the musicians from the fest had a jam session that anyone could attend. I camped for one more night at the Atlin Arts Festival camping ground. Read more about things to do in Atlin during and after the festival.
Monday, July 15
I drove back to Whitehorse. Since I was in the biggest city for many miles, I decided to get an oil change. The Ford dealer was completely busy so I had the oil changed at Canadian Tire. It was still a bit smoky in Yukon so I checked the regional smoke prediction, finding that my next planned place to visit, the Dempster Highway, was experiencing heavy smoke. So I make an alternative plan to go to Haines, Alaska which was supposedly smoke-free thanks to info found on an Alaska RV group on FB. I stopped briefly in Kluane National Park along the way and was lucky to see a lynx! I found a free camping spot at a picnic area between Haines and the ferry port.
Tuesday, July 16
I spent the whole day in and around Haines. I visited the state park and the cannery. Haines is famous for its bear viewing, although it was a bit early in the season for bear viewing. I drove around unsuccessful for some time but then spotted a Grizzly Bear grazing in the seaweed along the bay. I watched the young bear for half an hour before he disappeared into the woods. I spent another night of free camping at the picnic area between Haines and the ferry port. Read more about driving the Haines Highway and the best things to do in Haines here.
Wednesday, July 17
Excellent drive on the way back to Haines Junction, with viewing of many foxes, including pups, and a bear eating berries. Camped for free at the Deadman’s Lake Campground in Teslin National Wildlife Refuge. Sat on the dock to watch sunset and listen to the wolves howling. Read more about Deadmans Lake Campground.
Deadman Lake Sunset
Thursday, July 18
Started the day with a short, free canoe ride on Deadman’s Lake. Can you believe not only free camping, but free use of canoes! Made my way over to the neighboring Lakeview campground and was thinking of staying the night but got bored after an hour so headed to the visitor center at Tok, got the cheapest gas in the last month, and took the Tok cut-off and part of the Richardson Highway. Viewed the Worthington Glacier, then found a free campsite in a pull-off on the pass to Valdez.
Friday, July 19
Incredible views as I headed into the town of Valdez, arriving very early in the morning. This place was magic – Salmon leaping from the bay, and Sea lions and Sea otters hunting them. I headed over to the base of the Valdez glacier, to get a picture by the iceberg lake. I stopped at the two boat tour companies and decided to take the smaller Lu-Lu Belle boat on Saturday. Visited th town museum, and watched the video of the earthquake. I walked around the port, and camped with someone I met at the city of Valdez Glacier View Campground (yay free shower!)
Saturday, July 20
Had a relaxed morning and then had an 11am departure on the Lu-Lu Belle Boat, one of the highlights of my trip. Saw so many sea otters, Stellar Sea Lions, puffins, and a few Dall’s porpoises on the way to the tidewater Columbia Glacier. Besides Antarctica, I’ve never seen such a sight, with the glacier so long, it was 180 degrees around us. I popped into the Wheelhouse Bar for a cheap beer before camping at the harbor (stealth camping). Read more and see pictures from my day tour on the Lu-Lu Belle.
Sunday, July 21
Had a relaxing day in and around Valdez. I revisited all of my favorite spots, from the iceberg lake to the salmon hatchery. I met a lady camping in an A-frame camper so we chatted into the evening at her campsite near the iceberg lake before I headed back to my much warmer camping spot at the Valdez Harbor. Read more about the best things to do in Valdez.
Monday, July 22
Had a sunny morning in Valdez and had a nice, long shower at the new small boat harbor building. Drove over to the Peter Pan cannery and checked out the shop. Then I returned up the Richardson highway, drove to Chitna to stop at the Wrangell St. Elias National Park visitor center, then drove 3 hours on the terrible McCarthy Road and stealth camped for $5 at the Tour Association overnight lot.
Tuesday, July 23
Did a tour of the fascinating, huge, wooden Kennecott Copper Mill. In the afternoon, I hiked to the Root Glacier and walked out on the glacier in the sprinkling rain – really wonderful! I decided to do part of the drive out of the park, so I drove nearly 2 hours out the McCarthy Road. Camped for free at the old trestle bridge along the McCarthy Road. Read more about my tour at Kennecott and walk on the Root Glacier.
Wednesday, July 24
I stopped at the main Wrangell St. Elias National Park visitor center and watched the park video. Drove onto Palmer for a late lunch and stopped in Anchorage to pick up a new camera (this is the camera I use – Lumix Superzoom Camera) and stop at REI. There were really nice views between Anchorage and where I camped for free at Turnagin Pass rest area. Met some Alaskans at the rest area coming back from a successful net fishing weekend and they offered me free salmon! Unfortunately, I didn’t have any ice in my cooler so I couldn’t take them up on the offer.
Thursday, July 25
All day on the excellent Kenai Fjords tour to Northwestern Glacier – the weather was beautiful and we saw lots of wildlife. In the evening, went to the infamous Yukon Bar in downtown Seward. Camped at the Seward city campground for $10. Read about and see pictures from my cruise with Kenai Fjords Tours.
Breaching Orca
Friday, July 26
A rainy day in Seward, AK. I visited the Kenai Fjords National Park visitor center and watched the park video. Hung out in the library the entire afternoon, catching up on my blog. At 2pm, the museum below the library shows two films in the community room, including a 25 minute film on the Iditarod trail (a trail from Seward to Nome in the gold rush days, that later became the basis for delivering emergency medicines and later the sled dog race) and a film on the 1964 earthquake in Seward that caused mass fires and a Tsunami. I stopped in the Yukon bar again but didn’t really like the bands. I continued to stay at the Seward city campground for $10 after I got a great spot next to the water.
Saturday, July 27
Another miserable day where the rain would not let up. Started the morning at the Alaska Sealife center, not a great deal at $32, but you can return multiple times in the day. Then I drove out to the Exit Glacier. The view from the road was nice and the rain had let up a little so I was going to hike to the glacier, but then the rain started again and did not stop all night. Read more about the things to do in Seward. I was getting sick of the rain so I decided to start driving towards the western side of Kenai Peninsula, where the weather was to be nicer tomorrow. I wanted to camp at Kelly Lake, but the campground was closed due to the fires, and the firefighters staying at some of these campgrounds. So I continued to Soldotna where I camped with dozens of other rigs in the Fred Meyer parking lot. It was surprisingly quiet and warm – I got a really nice night of sleep.
Sunday, July 28
I did a little shopping at Fred Meyer and I saw a flyer for a community picnic that day, so I spent the morning by going to church, then checking out the vendors and the Soldotna Progress Days. At noon, I got a free hot dog, chips and drink and just as I was finishing, it started to downpour. It didn’t look like it was going to let up, so I headed to the cinema to see the new Lion King movie. The sun was out as I exited the theater so I headed to the town of Kenai, visited the museum, Russian Church, and beach before heading south on the Sterling highway. I was lucky to spot two male Caribou with huge antlers grazing along the K-beach road and a female moose in a pond nearby. I kept driving south and spent the night on the beach at Whiskey Gulch campground, a free undeveloped campground with amazing views of sunset and the snow-capped volcanoes across the bay.
Monday, July 29
Headed over to Homer, AK in the morning. Stopped in a couple tourism offices to learn about Grizzly Bear tours, but decided against it since they costed $700+ for a day or a few hours. So I did a driving tour around town, stopping at the end of the famous Homer Spit and driving up Skyline Drive to visit the Russian church and have amazing views of the mountains, bay, glaciers, and Homer Spit. I got an invitation to visit a friend of a friend in Anchor Point, so I went there for dinner of fresh caught Sockeye salmon. Had a trip over to the beach for sunset and eagle watching. Slept in the driveway of the friend, overlooking the Anchor river. Read more about the drive from Anchorage to Homer.
Glacier view from Skyline Drive in Homer
Tuesday, July 30
Visited the Russian village of Nikolaevsk, AK. I had never heard of this place before but my host from the night before said I must visit. Nikolaevsk is located in the middle of hills covered with blooming purple fireweed with a view of the Mount Iliamna volcano. There were 2 churches, one with the most beautiful interiors of all the Russian Churches I visited in the Kenai peninsula. The other one was under construction – it was cool to peek inside one of the domes that was sitting on the ground – it was large enough to be a tiny home. Read more about the Russian Orthodox Churches on Kenai Peninsula. I stopped at the headquarters of Kenai National Wildlife Refuge and ended up camping at the free at Lower Ohmer Lake campground in Skilak recreation area. It was a decent sunset and a nice warm night for camping.
Wednesday, July 31
Visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage. This place has rescued injured animals and those that were once in captivity. They have all major types of animals that can be found in the wild in Alaska, except for polar bears. I went up to Anchorage and stayed with a friend. We went out for a nice dinner at F Street Restaurant – we had appetizers of steam clams and shrimps and I had a Halibut Salad. A great restaurant.
Thursday, August 1
I decide to have a rest day since I had a nice place to stay and a few nights out of the van. I went into town to look for some cold weather gear for my upcoming Antarctica trip, returned something to REI and had a Fred Meyer shopping spree. Hung out at my friend’s and we spent the evening smoking salmon on a Traeger grill.
Friday, August 2
At my friend’s suggestion, I took a day trip down to Whittier, Alaska. While I had originally resisted going there due to the toll tunnel, it was well worth the drive and $13 toll. There were views of spawning salmon and a couple glaciers, as well as the former military compounds – Whittier is certainly an odd place. I also did the hike to the Byron Glacier before returning to Anchorage. Read more about taking a day trip to Whittier.
Saturday, August 3
We went to an undisclosed location and hung out, grilled, and made moonshine.
Sunday, August 4
I drove my friend back to Anchorage and then I headed up to Talkeetna, a small, touristy town off the main road between Anchorage and Denali. I walked around a bit and then had a few beers at the Fairview Inn, the dive bar of Talkeetna – the ceiling had a disco ball AND a grizzly pelt. I hung out with 3 other solo travelers. After a couple beers, I “camped” at the city park in the center of town.
Monday, August 5
I drove up the Parks Highway and arrived in Fairbanks by mid-afternoon. I stopped at the Large Animal Research Station to see the Musk Ox. Then headed over to North Pole, AK to visit the reindeer and the Christmas Shop. It was a little rainy this evening, so I watched the movie “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” Read more about the best things to do in Fairbanks in the Summer.
Tuesday, August 6
I saw a cultural show at the Fairbanks visitor center, followed by lunch at a Thai restaurant. In the afternoon, I visited Creamer’s Field to see the sandhill cranes and the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, which has both cars from the late 1800’s to 1930’s along with clothing and accessories from the same period. I returned to the visitor center to watch a couple films, including one on Aurora Borealis. (Fairbanks is one of the best places to see it in Fall thru Spring). I had a beer at the Boatel Bar while watching the very late sunset.
Wednesday, August 7
I had an action packed day with two of the top attractions in Fairbanks. In the morning, I did the Riverboat Discovery which includes a boat ride with sled dogs and traditional Athabascan culture. I stopped at the Farmer’s Market for lunch, then visited the Alaska Pipeline. My second tour of the day was Gold Dredge Number 8, which included live music, riding a train, learning about and going inside a dredge, and gold panning – I found $16 in gold! Since I needed to be in Denali the next morning, I drove most of the way to the park, camping at a rest area with a small camping area (some of the rest areas on Parks Highway have free campgrounds with a few spots). Read more about my day on Riverboat Discovery and Gold Dredge 8.
Thursday, August 8
Today was to be my big trip into Denali National Park. On Sunday I had looked at the weather forecast and it was showing rain all week with possible clearing on Thursday so I booked the trip for Thursday. I was supposed to do the longest trip, going 93 miles into the park, and a bus ride of 12-13 hours, which would include the prime afternoon bear viewing hours. At check in, I was disappointed to hear there had been mudslides in the rain from the previous days, and I’d only be able to go 1/3 of the way into the park. So, I took the bus ride 30 miles in. I was lucky – Denali mountain was in view, which happens only about 30% of the time. We were also lucky to watch a grizzly bear walking down a hill and scratching his back on a tree. We saw a couple caribou as well. Read more about preparing for a day on the Denali Shuttle Bus. My tour was over around noon, so I decided with the extra time to drive the Denali Highway (not in the park). What an incredible drive! The weather was perfect and the views were constant. Caribou hunting season was starting in a couple days so lots of people were camped out. I found a great free camp spot on a lake, with reflections of the mountains and glaciers and an amazing sunset. Read more about driving the Denali Highway.
Friday, August 9
It was a bit of a grey day, so I finished the Denali highway drive and took the Taylor highway to the weird and wonderful hamlet of Chicken, AK. The town consists of several campgrounds, gold panning, gift shops, gas stations, restaurants, and a saloon. There’s a gold dredge and some chicken statues. I spent the night at “Chicken Downtown” that has free camping, but then I spent more on beer than I would have paid for camping :). Read more about driving the Top of the World Highway and staying in Chicken, Alaska.
Saturday, August 10
I drove over “Top of the World” Highway with great views to Dawson City, arriving by mid afternoon to visit the NWT visitor center to get info on the Dempster Highway. While I was planning to spend the night in DC, the weather was OK and there was rain forecast for the next 10 days along the Dempster, with Monday looking the clearest, so I decided to make a run to Tuk to hope for drier roads as the Dempster becomes dangerous if there is too much rain. The mountains in Tombstone Territorial Park were gorgeous and it eventually started raining, but I decided to motor on if I were to get to Tuk by Monday. The roads were getting quite slippery and by 11pm I was exhausted so I camped at the Ogilvie – Peel viewpoint, which was simply a view of fog. Read about Driving the Dempster Highway to Tuktoyaktuk.
Sunday, August 11
The roads were a little better today. I stopped at the Arctic Circle marker, crossed the pass to the Yukon/Northwest Territories border, the pass had gotten a dusting of snow – on August 11! I crossed on a couple river ferries, and stopped in Fort McPherson, NWT – cheapest gas on the Dempster Highway and had a cute church. Kept on driving and arrived in Inuvik, where I stayed at the Jak Campground. Check out these cool things to do in Inuvik.
Monday, August 12
It was a windy, rainy night so I had a nice, hot shower at the campground before setting out to Tuktoyaktuk. The weather was a mix of rain, horizontal mist, sun, rainbows, sleet, and snow and the roads had some sloppy bits but I made the 140 km drive to Tuk in about 3 hours. I stopped to see the Pingos and stopped at the town spit to see the famous Arctic Ocean sign. I stopped at Grandma’s Kitchen for a snack of dried fish, Beluga jerky, and raw Beluga – yuck! The drive back to Inuvik also took around 3 hours. I did some shopping and visited the Igloo church. I watched a couple NWT movies in the park before going back to Jak Campground.
Tuesday, August 13
It rained all night, and the roads were super sloppy, so I decided to delay my trip back down the Dempster by a day. There were a couple activities in Inuvik that sounded interesting. I spent a couple hours at the library and took an art class in the afternoon, making a small dream catcher. This was a free cultural program by the Western Arctic visitor center. I also watched a film on the last year of the ice road between Inuvik and Tuk – a road on the Mackenzie river and Ocean to Tuk, only open in the winter. I was hoping to do a tour at 5:30 of the community greenhouse but found a sign on the door that the tour was cancelled, but luckily they let us in to have a look around. At this moment, I decided to hit the road. The rain had stopped by mid-afternoon and the roads were much drier so I wanted to get as far as I could. I made it through most of NWT, making both ferry crossings, being the only vehicle on both ferries – not many people traveling in the evening. I finally decided to camp in the abandoned Midway caribou camp as there was a couple from Switzerland camping there too.
Wednesday, August 14
There was a bit of rain in the morning but it was dry for the rest of the day, so the only really bad part of the road was at Rock River. I made it all the way to Tombstone Territorial Park, where I camped in the gravel pit on the north end of the park. I was awoken by strange noise, and went outside to discover three owls swooping my head. Read about my crazy adventures on the Dempster Highway.
Time for a wash, at the Arctic Circle
Thursday, August 15
I spent some time at the park as the weather was OK, then drove back to Dawson City. It was such a relief to be back on paved roads. I did a little dance at the Dempster Highway interpretive sign, but no one was there to see it. At Dawson City, I had a free dinner at the community BBQ for Discovery Days. I went to Diamond Tooth Gerties where I watched the 8:30 and 10:00 show and talked with a real gold prospector – he certainly had and interesting life – 73 years old with 4 ex wifes, in the summer he works 12 hours a day 7 days a week. I camped up at the Midnight Dome viewpoint.
Friday, August 16
There was quite a bit of rain overnight and the morning was completely foggy so I headed back down to the “city”. I saw a show at the Theater, a play about who is the best Yukoner. It was cute and it showed some history. I needed a shower so for $5 I had a shower and did water aerobics and the town’s indoor pool. I parked my van for the night at the Dawson City visitor center parking lot. I hung out with some German people who were also camped there. I headed back to Diamond Tooth Gerties where I chatted with people and saw the 10:00 and 12:00 shows.
Saturday, August 17
I watched the Discovery Day parade in the morning. Afterwards, I did my own walking tour of Dawson City and watched a fast pitch softball game. I decided another night of drinking and hanging out with 20-somethings wasn’t my choice so I started driving south, stopping at the excellent free campground at Pelly’s Crossing. See why Dawson City is one of the 12 best things to do in Yukon.
Sunday, August 18
Drove to Whitehorse to consider alternatives, as the Alaska Highway in Northern BC was getting a freak snow storm today and tomorrow. The lady at the visitor center convinced me to take a day trip down to Skagway, so I started driving south. I visited the the world’s smallest desert in Carcross and ended up camping at a boat launch on Tutshi Lake.
Monday, August 19
I drove into Skagway and did a tour at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site and had a look around town. It was busy as there were 3 cruise ships in port. I drove out to the historical site of Dyea before doing a long drive back into Yukon and nearly all the way to Watson Lake, where I camped at a rest area about a half hour west of town. See the things to do between Whitehorse and Skagway.
Tuesday, August 20
The whole day was spent driving the Alaska Highway. I stopped at Watson Lake at the sign forest (1,000’s of signs that have been collecting since the Alaska Highway was built) and the visitor center, where a very cute and friendly fox was hanging outside. The visitor center informed that Liard Hot Springs, the main reason I wanted to drive the Alaska Highway was closed due to fallen trees from the snow storm. I saw lots of wildlife after entering northern BC, including bears, deer, reindeer, moose, a whole herd of Wood Bison, and fox. Muncho Lake was beautiful, it would be amazing to visit this jade lake on a sunny day. There was lots of snow and super heavy fog north of Fort Nelson. I kept driving and spent the night at a rest area north of Dawson Creek – lots of oil trucks here so very poor sleep – worst sleep of the trip.
Wednesday, August 21
Since I missed the Liard hot springs due to the storm damage, I did water aerobics and used the hot tub at the excellent aquatic center in Dawson Creek. I visited the art gallery in the grain elevator and the markers that are the start of the Alaska Highway. I did lots of driving in the afternoon and arrived at La Salle BC Rec Site, and amazing free campground to have some excellent sleep on the shores of the lake.
Thursday, August 22
The Yellowhead highway was busy with trucks so I took a road less traveled drove the Dunster Highway and went to Dunster General Store for coffee and fresh garden veggies and then drove the forest road for the next hour to rejoin the yellowhead. Along the way, I picked wild blueberries and saw a couple bears. Back on the highway, I turned a corner and then saw it – the giant Mount Robson in all it’s glory. I did the hike out to Kinney Lake on such a nice day. Mount Robson is a great alternative to the very busy Banff. I drove down to Wells Gray Provincial Park and camped at Silvertip Falls Rec site (of course, free).
Friday, August 23
I visited three of the waterfalls of Wells Gray – Dawson Falls, Helmcken Falls, and Spahats Creek Falls. This was a great thing to do on a rainy morning. From here, I drove to Kelowna for the Kelowna Ribfest. I had BBQ chicken (Costco’s is better) and listened to a couple bands. Coming into town, I was listening to 100.7 new country and they said stop by the booth for a free ticket to a concert in town that night so I ended up at the OK Corral, a honky-tonk in Kelowna to hear 3 more bands, including the Chris Buck Band. I camped out in the OK Corral parking lot.
Saturday, August 24
Woke up pretty early so hit the road after some Tim Horton’s coffee. The fruit and veg stands in the Okanagan valley were awesome, but sadly I couldn’t bring it across the border. Just before the border, I stopped at Spotted Lake, I had wanted to see this for some time, but the water level was a little too high to properly see the spots. After about 6 more hours of driving, I arrived at home!
I hope you enjoyed the summary of my Alaska Road Trip… hope you found some tips for your own Alaska road trip.
I didn’t have a strict budget when I took my 2 month (58 day) trip to Alaska, although I was hoping to spend less than $100 per day. I knew I would have days that cost more than $100 per day, like the days I took boat rides to glaciers. But I also knew I would have days where little was spent, and all my activities were free. I also knew that gas would be one of my biggest expenses, and there would be little I could do about that. The following is my road trip to Alaska cost plus tips on how to save money on your Alaska Road Trip.
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Glacier view from Skyline Drive in Homer
My Trip to Alaska Cost
I spent $3,130 total on my 58 day trip to Alaska,
a cost of $54 per day. The breakdown of
costs are:
Gas = $1,350. Notes: my biggest cost by far. As a solo traveler, this is the cost that stings the most. See my “how to save money in Alaska section below to see how this could have been lower. I drove 10,731 miles and got around 27 miles to the gallon. The most expensive gas was in Yukon on the Dempster Highway.
Activities = $655. Notes:
There are so many things to do in Alaska that are free, but there are
also loads of super expensive bucket-list type activities (Like $300 to go
Halibut fishing or $700+ for a float plane ride to watch Grizzly Bears in Katmai). Included in the $655 was:
Eating Out = $65. Notes:
I didn’t eat out much. I did have
a couple meals bought for me (I was sponsored as a blogger in one city, and had
a first date) and I had a couple free meals at community festivals (hot dog +
sides)
Groceries = $131. Notes: this includes about $60 of groceries that I had as I started the trip, purchased on sale at my local grocery. I also was on a restrictive diet for the duration of the trip, restricting calories to around 1000 per day, as a variation of my very own “3E Diet” – see details here.
Other = $341. Notes: incidentals, an occasional snack, beers (beers were probably the biggest portion of this 😊 and I stuck to the cheapies – Rainier and PBR)
Car Insurance = $200. Notes: this is my normal insurance cost. Make sure you have insurance and call your insurer to make sure you’re covered. I ended up with a cracked windshield so I’m happy I had coverage with $0 deductible.
Camping = $156. Notes: this was the category where I spent the least compared to what I expected to pay before my travels. Nights I paid for camping included 2 nights at the Rodeo, 1 night at Barkerville (no free spots super close to Barkerville and I was visiting for 2 days), 4 nights at the Atlin music festival, 1 night at Dease Lake (cheap campground and I was tired), 2 nights in Seward ($10 tent camping right on the water), and 2 nights in Inuvik, NWT.
My camping spot at Whisky Gulch
Souvenirs = $42. Notes: I try not to collect much, but I have
to get a new fridge magnet in each new state or province/territory.
Car Maintenance = $118. Notes: Two oil changes – once in Whitehorse
and once shortly after I returned home.
Communications = $74. Notes: 2 months of cell phone + $5 skype credit. But I found my cell phone coverage was worthless – my cheap t-mobile plan didn’t work in Canada or Alaska.
Now, I’m excluding a few big-ticket items here – rent at home (hypothetically a person could go nomadic and live out of the van), health insurance (covered mostly by my employer), and depreciation on my vehicle. But all other expenses are included.
Just a random view on the Denali Highway
How To Save Money in Alaska – Specifically an Alaska Road Trip
Camp for free!!! If you know where to look, there are lots of places to camp for free. This is the main reason my Alaska trip expenses were well under budget. Check this post for some of the best Free Campgrounds on my Trip to Alaska.
Save on meals – don’t eat out often and stock up when the goods are cheap. I often ate canned soups or chilis. I stocked up when I could get them for close to $1 per can. At more remote places in Alaska or Canada, the same canned soup was over $3.
Plan your gas purchases ahead. The Gas Buddy App or website is your friend. Check the gas prices at the places you’re
visiting the next day and plan where you might fill, top up, or just fill enough
to get to the next, cheaper spot. I didn’t
do a good job at this, but I suspect I could have saved $50-100 by planning
ahead a little bit (for example I filled gas in Whitehorse, Yukon before
driving to Skagway, Alaska where it was considerably cheaper, I could have
saved over $15 on that single fill-up.
Shop at Fred Meyer in Alaska – I LOVE Fred Meyer! On my way up to Alaska, some nice people gave me a sheet of coupons for RV Travelers to Alaska in 2019 that included two coupons for 20 cents off per gallon of gas and $10-30 of purchases of $50-150+ in store. I saved over $10 in gas and $20 on in-store purchases from these amazing coupons from Fred Meyer. Ask for these at campgrounds or ask the gas station attendant at the Fred Meyer Gas Stations. Fred Meyer has some of the best prices on groceries and gas even without the coupons.
But the Milepost
Guidebook before you go –A must have for driving the Alaska
Highway is the Milepost. This book is
the self-proclaimed bible of travel to Alaska.
It contains nearly every point of interest on any route you might take
to Alaska, all around Alaska, plus many interesting detours. It contains mile by mile attractions,
campgrounds, motels, and other points of interest along the entire Alcan. It also hints where you might have an extra
good chance to see wildlife, where you might find wild berries, etc. It helped me plan my days and find lots of free
things to see and do. You should buy
this book before you travel to Alaska -not only can you plan your route, you
save about $15 from buying it from a visitor center or gas station in Canada or
Alaska. Buy your Milepost Guidebook now at amazon
to start planning your trip up the Alaska Highway.
Avoid the Ferry (Alaska Marine Highway) – I had so many people ask me if I were taking the ferry to Alaska. I also attended a talk on the ferry at the Seattle RV Show and the ferry looked really great. Then I looked at the prices. Bellingham to Seward one way = $3,000 for my 14-foot van plus me. That’s the cost of my entire trip! And that didn’t even include a sleeper cabin and you cannot sleep in your vehicle. It definitely is a faster way to travel, but there are two distinct routes to Alaska by driving and they both have interesting sites to see along the way – the Cassiar Highway and the Alaska Highway.
Valdez Glacier Iceberg Lake
Do you have any other suggestions to save
money in Alaska? Leave your comments below.
Most of the world has been locked down for at least 8 weeks for social distancing, the National Parks in the USA are slowly opening on a limited capacity. I happened to be isolating in Billings, MT when I heard the announcement that Yellowstone National Park would be opening at noon on Monday, May 18th. I decided to make a trip over to the park for a day on May 19th, the first full day of opening.
What is open? As of late May 2020, only the Wyoming entrances are open – those from the south thru Grand Teton Park and east from Cody, WY. Montana and Idaho have quarantines for non-essential out of state visitors, therefore they are discouraging tourists from going through their states. Within Yellowstone National Park, only toilets, trails, and gas stations are open. All overnight accommodation, including campgrounds, are currently closed. Check the Yellowstone NP page under nps.gov for latest updates.
Old Faithful – Yellowstone’s most famous Geyser
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First, a bit of my history – I have been to Yellowstone previously four or five times in my life, the first time visiting on a family road trip in 1988, which was highly impacted by the major wildfires that summer. I have also visited several times during my adult life – always in the shoulder seasons of May or September. While I love the sights of Yellowstone, I don’t love the crowds – recently over 4,000,000 visitors in a year.
Yellowstone closed for the COVID-19 pandemic on March 24, 2020, so having the chance to visit on the first full opening day after a nearly 8 week closure, also on a weekday, was my hope to see the park without the crowds. I was hopeful and cautious that the wildlife would be more abundant than usual – as car traffic often scares the animals to the more remote places in the park.
Yellowstone has an abundance of beautiful pools
After a 3 hour drive to the park, we arrived at the east entrance around 9:00 am. There were two entrance booths open and about 6 cars waiting to enter the park. After a short wait, I flashed my $80 annual national park pass I obtained in Denali National Park last year, and we were given a map. There is no physical contact with the park rangers, they have fashioned a contact-less swivel pad, with an attached credit card machine (they are encouraging use of credit and debit cards instead of cash to pay the $35 entrance fee).
What Did We See?
We started the ascent to the top of the Yellowstone caldera – most of the attractions in Yellowstone are at the top of a super volcano. With the outer north and west sections of the park closed, you can only drive the circular drive through the middle. We chose to make the drive counterclockwise, but it looked like over half of the cars were heading clockwise around the circle, by heading straight towards Old Faithful. Along this counterclockwise route we saw the following:
Yellowstone Lake – The lake was vastly covered in ice with polka dots on May 19th, but the ice was retreating fast! Many feet of ice had disappeared between our drive by in the morning vs. the late afternoon.
Mud Volcano – this isn’t shaped like your typical conical volcano, but the mud is super active here. You can also see the Dragon’s mouth spring.
Hayden Valley – this is supposed to be one of the premier spots for wildlife but there wasn’t much fauna during my visit.
Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and upper and lower falls – from Artist Point and Inspiration point. Artist Point is the classic view of the waterfall. Inspiration point has great views of the colorful canyon.
Artists Paint Pots – we had a brisk 1 mile hike, some uphill, to view the colorful, muddy pools
Fountain Paint Pot – about a half mile walk to see small geysers and a beautiful pool
Grand Prismatic Spring and Excelsior Geyser
Black Sand Basin
Old Faithful, and other geysers in this area. Old Faithfull used to erupt more frequently, but now it goes off about every 90 minutes. Usually you can find out what times the geyser are expected to erupt, but there were no such signs with the limited opening of YNP. If you have some time to wait, it’s worth taking a walk to visit other geysers such as Castle or Grand Geyser. If you have a little more time, you can hike over to the morning glory pool.
Grand Geyser across an angry sky.
Was the Wildlife Spectacular?
It wasn’t long after entering the park before we pulled over for a seasonal waterfall from snow melt and we spotted three Bighorn Sheep on the hillside. A bit further, we were driving along the partially ice covered Yellowstone Lake when we spotted our first Bison along the roadside – we would later see 100s of Bison (sometimes called American Buffalo) throughout the day. Near Grand Geyser, we saw two yellow-bellied Marmots playing as the geyser erupted. But the biggest wildlife highlight of the day was seen just a few miles west of the eastern entrance, just as we were leaving the park. We saw a few cars pulled over and folks with big lens. So we joined the few people to see a Grizzly Bear having a spring feast – digging something from the ground and eating it. It’s a good think the bear was occupied by food because the spectators were much closer than the recommended 100 yards from the bear.
How cute is this baby bison?
I recommend you get a camera with a great zoom so you don’t have to be so close to animals, yet still get decent shots. All photos in this post were taken by me with a FZ80 Panasonic Lumix Superzoom Camera. I recommend this camera if you want a good balance between quality, zoom, and a reasonably small camera size and weight.
Grizzly Bear
Was Anything Closed at Yellowstone?
Yes – much of Yellowstone park was closed – including most of the shops, all of the visitor centers, restaurants. All of the short, one-way, scenic drives around the main road were closed – I could see the roads full of animal feces and fallen tree limbs. Other spots at higher elevation were still closed due to snow cover, but it looks like the snow will be quick to melt this year.
How many visitors were in the park?
Not many. While it seemed there were quite a few cars entering around the same time – about 8 of them were pulled over to see those first Bison along the road, the total number of cars was by far the fewest I’ve seen in the park. It was amazing to stop at a parking lot that normally allows 50-100 parked cars and there were three. The only parking area that was a bit busy was the small lot at Grand Prismatic Spring. Thanks to this being a major Instagram spot, it gets many visitors. This lot was about 1/3 full on the day of my visit. But the people came from all over America – I saw license plates from California, Washington, Kentucky, Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, and more.
A nearly empty parking lot at Yellowstone
Is it possible to Social Distance in Yellowstone?
There are signs at most trailheads and viewpoints to be vigilant in the days of COVID-19. The signs remind us to recreate responsibly – Stay on Trail, Cover Your Cough, Wear a Mask if you can’t keep 6-feet distance, and Don’t Touch your eyes, nose and mouth. Other spots simply have a sign reminding you to keep 6 feet distance. At some of the trails, there were one-way signs so you wouldn’t have to cross so many people. The peoples’ reactions were mixed – many people without masks would say a quick ‘hi’ as I passed, others started up conversations, and a small percentage seemed to wear masks on every trail. People did their best to maintain distance but one lady did angrily point at the 6-foot sign as I crossed a boardwalk to get a picture.
Any other recommendations?
While there weren’t many visitors so early in the season, I can see the numbers increasing greatly, especially after school lets out and people get sick of staying home. Bring a Face Mask if you are some of the more crowed walkways, such as Grand Prismatic Spring.
Bring Hand Sanitizer – it’s easy to put your hands on a railing and most of the toilets in Yellowstone are of a vault toilet type – so no sinks to wash your hands. There are sinks at the bathrooms of the major visitor centers, but I imagine these will eventually be busy.
If you are visiting from the eastern side of the park, absolutely DO NOT MISS a visit to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. This is an absolutely beautiful park that is little visited (except the marina which can be moderately busy). But it’s possible to do short hikes to viewpoints where it feels like you have the park to yourself. It’s also possible to see wildlife such as Bighorn Sheep and wild mustangs. It’s super easy to social distance here.
Congratulations if you’ve already booked your trip to Antarctica, and if you’re thinking about booking – just do it AND if you can afford it, do a longer trip that will visit South Georgia and Falkland Islands. So you’ve likely already spent $6,000 or much, much more, so how much should you spend on your Antarctica Clothing? The good news is you can find some basic Antarctica gear on a budget – I probably spent less than $100 after seeing what I had in my own closet, borrowing a few things from a friend, and my tour company, Quark Expeditions, included use of loaner boots and a jacket we were allowed to keep.
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Waterproof Jacket
Many of the ships provide a “free”, i.e. included jacket. Each company has it’s own special design. On my trip with Quark Expeditions, we all had yellow jackets – easy to spot us on land if we were stragglers. They won’t force you to wear their jacket, but they will require you have something waterproof, for inclement weather and if you fall in the near freezing water (note: despite big waves in South Georgia, no one took a fall in the water during my cruise). But you may get splashed by waves and you may get rained or slushy snow so the waterproof is essential for staying warm.
If your ship provides, you’ll definitely want to use that one, but if you don’t have an included jacket, check out these waterproof jackets.
Muckboots
Like the jacket, many of the Antarctica cruise companies provide boots. This is a great advantage as it saves so much packing space. If you want to take your own boots, pick up the type most of the cruiselines use – Muckboots. They are rough and tough for the rocky, snowy shores of Antarctica and the wet landings.
Waterproof Pants
It’s likely your cruise line will require you bring your own waterproof pants. These can be quite expensive, but I was happy with my $20 pair. Check out Waterproof pants at amazon.
Sliding down the hill in my waterproof pants…
Good, Thermal Socks
While Muckboots are waterproof and provide some insulation, you will want to wear some fast drying, thick, thermal socks. This is one that you might want to “invest” a bit, as cold feet are not fun and these socks may be your most valuable Antarctica Clothing. I would bring 2 pairs – so you have a spare set if one set is wet. As we had a couple excursions per day, I was really happy I had an extra set when my boots got wet at one of the rough South Georgia landings. These are the exact Thermal Socks I used.
Under Layer
I wore a single, thin pair of thermal leggings under the waterproof pants. Due to sweating and moisture, this is another item where you should have 2 pair so you have time to dry wet things.
I also had some thermal tops, but I didn’t wear them. The provided jackets were so warm, I typically wore a T-shirt underneath.
Ski Gloves
Gloves is another thing you will want quality. I tried several pairs of gloves in Antarctica and even though the temperatures were around freezing, my hands were cold in all except the ski gloves with hand warmers.
Hand Warmers
I suffer from Reynaud’s syndrome which cases extreme pain in my fingers when my hands get even a little cold. I bought some inexpensive hand warmers. These hand warmers last about 10 hours, so you only need 2 for each excursion day of your trip (one for each hand). I didn’t need them on the non-excursion, cruising days.
Photography Gloves
When you’re hanging out on the deck and taking lots of photos, it’s handy to have a small, inexpensive pair of gloves that you can store in your jacket pocket. I had one of those cheap pairs of stretchy gloves, which worked fine, but if you’re taking lots of photos, you might want to get some photography gloves.
Hat with Ear Covering
Head covering is another important thing to stay warm. You will want to keep your ears covered, especially when you’re zipping around in Zodiac boats and moderately high speeds in windy, chilly environment. Hot tip: I like the kind with a snap, and this hat has also been great for me for sleeping on chilly nights when I’m van camping.
You need good head/ear protection while riding around in the Zodiac boats
Other Antarctica Clothing – Must Packs for the Ship Journey
You should be able to “shop” for the non-excursion parts of your cruise in your own closet. Some things I brought include:
Sunglasses – the white of the snow and bright sun can be blinding. For better views, consider investing in Polarizing Sunglasses.
Sweat Shirts and T-shirts
Yoga pants and other comfy pants
Pajama tops and bottoms, nice to be warm in the bed
Workout clothes if you want to
Swimsuit – if you want to do the polar plunge and if your ship has amenities like pool, whirpool, steamroom or sauna.
Is there any other Antarctica Clothing you’d add to this list?
As readers of my blog, you may notice by now that I absolutely love the Salton Sea. This place is undiscovered by most, and that’s what I like about it. In addition to the many things to do at the Salton Sea, in the southern California desert, and one of my favorite pastimes here is Salton Sea Birding – searching the near the shoreline and the surrounding desert for interesting birds. There are dozens of types of birds, both permanent and migrating, that you can find near the Salton Sea.
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All photos in this post were taken by me with a Panasonic Lumix Superzoom Camera. I recommend this camera if you want a good balance between quality, zoom, price (I only paid around $300) and a reasonably small camera size and weight.
Burrowing Owls
Owls are one of the coolest birds, ever, but the thrill of spotting burrowing owls is one of the highlights of visiting the Salton Sea. They look like little brown ovals with big yellow eyes and feet! Like their name, you can imagine that they live in hole in the ground. One of the best places to spot these cuties is on highway 111 between Niland and Calipatria, and on Sinclair Road heading from 111 to the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Reserve.
California Quail
California Quails like to hang out in bushes and dart around when you go by. A really easy place to find these is at the visitor center at the Sonny Bono National Wildlife Reserve, where they hang out in the bushed and by the bird feeder.
Water Birds
There are lots of wetlands around the south end of the Sea, near Sonny Bono. I recommend you drive around the side roads and look for these makeshift ponds chock full of birdies! Other great birding spots can be found along the east side of the Sea, from the Salton Sea Rec Area, to Bombay Beach.
Snow Geese
This is a flocking bird, it’s amazing to see 1000’s of these black and white Snow Geese in flight. It’s common to see them near the sound end of the Salton Sea in the winter.
Sandhill Cranes
I’ve seen Sandhill Cranes as far north as Churchill, Manitoba and Fairbanks, Alaska in the summer, but you can see them this far south during winter time.
White Faced Ibis and Other big beaked Birds
These birds have some impressive beaks. Check out this ibis flying with another crazy beak in the background
Check out some of my other favorite birding spots in the world:
In summer 2019, I drove solo from Seattle to Alaska and the Arctic Ocean – 10,761 miles in two months. These are my top Driving to Alaska Tips:
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Marmot
General Driving to Alaska Tips
#1 Most important – BE FLEXIBLE – 2019 was an atypical year. June was particularly dry, which caused many forest fires in July and August. August had some big rainstorms that caused mudslides in Denali National Park. My trip didn’t follow my original plan – heavy smoke led me in a different direction, but I still had a great time. Not having tours and accommodation booked in advance allowed me to stay longer at the places I liked and leave earlier when the weather got bad. And don’t be disappointed if your plans change. I was super disappointed when I arrived to Denali for an all day tour only to find out the road was closed 30 miles in, so I took a shorter tour and then spent the day driving the Denali Highway, which was one of the highlights of my trip. I also avoided the smoke by hunkering down at a 3-day music festival in Atlin, BC.
#2 Best Time to Drive to Alaska – The best time is June to August. These months have the warmest weather and most attractions are open. May and September are shoulder months, but many campgrounds are closed by September. I had seen snow twice on my drive home in August – in Yukon and again in northern British Columbia.
#3 Don’t trust the Weather Forecast – if I had trusted the weather forecast, I would have been in boots and ponchos the whole time. Many days with rain in the forecast had barely more than a sprinkle. That being said, it’s worth planning your big and expensive activities on the days with awesome weather planned – for example, I booked a Wildlife and Glacier Cruise on the morning I arrived into Seward because the weather was great, and the next 2 days were miserable and rainy and cold (and the only time it rained for two days strait on my whole trip).
Volcano steam?
Driving Tips for Going to Alaska
#4 Drive with Your Lights on at All Times – It’s the law in both Alaska and Yukon to drive with your lights
on at all times, so it’s worth doing for the whole trip so you get in the habit
if you don’t have lights that automatically turn on.
#5 Yield to Trucks
If there’s room to pull over to the side and no one behind you, move over when trucks pass. You may avoid a costly crack windshield this way.
Camping/Sleeping Tips for Driving to Alaska
#6 Use
Apps to Find Camping
On the first couple days of my trip, I had a nervousness that I wouldn’t be able to find camping, so often I would start looking for camping at 6 pm and occasionally didn’t find a spot I liked until 10 pm or later. Then someone told me about the iOverlander app. I downloaded it when I had wifi, and it worked great offline to identify places to camp for free or cheap. Maps.me is also a useful free app, as it has all public roads, many trails, and many attractions.
#7 Be Prepared for Chilly Nights
I don’t have a heater in my van, so having a fleece blanket, a heavy comforter, and a hat that covers my ears helped me stay warm on the nights it was close to freezing.
Imagine camping here, with a view of the Alaska Range
Money Savings Tips for Driving to Alaska
#8 Tim Horton’s Loyalty Card – not everyone is a fan, but I like the coffee at Tim
Horton’s. Make sure you pick up the card – after 7 purchases you get a
free drink of choice.
#9 Shop at Fred Meyer in Alaska – I LOVE Fred Meyer! On my way up to Alaska, I had some
nice people give me a sheet of coupons for RV Travelers to Alaska in 2019 that
included two coupons for 20 cents off per gallon of gas and $10-30 of purchases
of $50-150+ in store. I saved over $10 in gas and $20 on in-store
purchases from these amazing coupons from Fred Meyer. Ask for these at
campgrounds or ask the gas station attendant at the Fred Meyer Gas
Stations. Fred Meyer has some of the best prices on groceries and gas
without the coupons.
#10 Use Gas Buddy, Time Your Gas Purchases,
but Don’t Run Out!
Plan your gas purchases ahead. The Gas Buddy App or website is your
friend. Check the gas prices at the
places you’re visiting the next day and plan where you might fill, top up, or
just fill enough to get to the next, cheaper spot. I didn’t do a good job at this, but I suspect
I could have saved $50-100 by planning ahead a little bit (for example I filled
gas in Whitehorse, Yukon before driving to Skagway, Alaska where it was
considerably cheaper, I could have saved over $15 on that single fill-up.
#11 Avoid Money Exchange Fees
Whether you’re an American driving through Canada or and International traveler going to Alaska, accessing money that isn’t your home currency can cost quite a bit. I have a credit card that has zero international transaction fees, so I use that as much as possible, and most retailers take credit card. However, I did get cash from ATMs for small purchases (less than $5) and the few places that don’t take CC (mostly small shops or cafes). Nearly all ATMs charge an exchange fee plus a transaction fee. With the transaction fee, get the ATM maximum or the largest amount you’re comfortable withdrawing to avoid paying multiple transaction fees.
Glacier view at Granduc Mine
Staying Connected
#12 Get Appropriate Cell Coverage
I have a prepaid cell coverage that operates on
the T-mobile network without roaming and I had zero cell phone service and data
from the moment I crossed the border into Canada, until I returned home. Zero.
No phone coverage for 2 months.
Your best bets for cell coverage in Alaska are GCI, AT&T, and
Verizon. Check the status, as more carriers are
extending their coverage. That being
said, there are many remote places in northern BC, Yukon, and Alaska where you
will have no coverage despite your carrier.
I purchased some Skype calling credits before my trip for making calls
when I was connected to wifi. If you
want to carry a phone for emergencies and you’re going to be traveling in remote
areas, consider purchasing a satellite phone.
#13 Finding Wi-fi
There are loads of places to find free wifi. The top two places for wifi, with fast coverage if you need more advanced needs, are city visitor centers and libraries. Occasionally these are locked so check at the main desk for logon details. If I needed coverage off hours, I would go to McDonald’s or Tim Hortons, although their wifi has less bandwidth. A few other places you might find wifi include some city harbors, cafes, National Park visitor centers, and Fred Meyer.
Spotting Wildlife
#14 Don’t Expect to See Loads of Wildlife
I was expecting to see lots of wildlife in
Alaska. For some reason, every time I
crossed a bridge, I looked in the river or stream hoping to see a bear fishing
for salmon, but I didn’t see any this way.
The viewable wildlife is almost non-existent in Alaska and Yukon. If you saw 1 or 2 animals in a day, that was
a good day. There are some exceptions –
for example, you’re almost guaranteed to see larger animals like Grizzly Bear,
Caribou, and Moose in Denali National Park.
The largest concentration of animals by far was in northern British
Columbia. In one day, I saw herds of
Bison, reindeer, moose, and half a dozen black bears on the Alaska
Highway. The Cassiar Highway is also a
good place to see wildlife, but I only saw a few animals there.
#15 Always Slow Down When You See Someone
Pulled Over
I slowed down every time someone was pulled over on the road. About 20% of the time they had spotted wildlife so it was a great way to discover wildlife I might have missed.
#16 But don’t get out of the car!
Animals may look like their minding their own business but they will turn on you. I was by my car taking photos of a couple caribou on Kenai peninsula when a nurse dropped buy and said caribou attacks were the most common animal attacks she say in her hospital.
#17 Know the Best Times to Spot Wildlife
Early morning and evening are traditionally the best time to see wildlife. Some animals particularly like these times, like porcupines, deer, and beavers. Animals that I commonly saw in the middle of the day were moose, foxes, and bears.
A berry content bear
OtherDriving
to Alaska Tips
#18 Recycling
Recycling is mostly non-existent in northern
BC, Yukon, and Alaska. The most common
thing accepted is aluminum cans, but I only saw a few places to deposit
these. I tried to keep a bag for recycling in my van
but I didn’t always find a proper place to deposit so some of it went in the
trash.
#19 Stay Entertained
One of my biggest mistakes on my road trip to Alaska was not bringing enough material to keep me entertained while driving. When possible, I listened to local radio as you can hear about local events. As a result of listening to the radio, I found out about and attended the Atlin Art Festival. I also got a free ticket to a country music concert at a Honky Tonk in Kelowna, BC. But for the many, many times there was no radio reception, I had about 20 CDs and a few audiobooks, but I found that I went through these CDs really fast – I probably listened to some of these CDs at least 25 times. So, I will download more music, podcasts, or audio books next time.
Unfortunately, I’ve been on dozens of diets in my lifetime – losing weight isn’t really a problem, but keeping it off is. If you have the key to keeping it off please let me know!!! Anyways, I have formulated different foods over the years and some of those diets left me plain tired and hungry. Over the last few years, I formulated the 3E Diet below, which keeps me mildly energetic, not hungry, and allows me to lose weight for travel and health. I continue to have low cholesterol and blood pressure on this diet.
I’ve been having some leg pain lately and decided my ability to fully enjoy travel in the future depends on my ability to lose weight and keep it off. I’ve also had some poor experiences while traveling in certain countries, like this time lots of things went wrong while traveling fat in Indonesia.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight for better health, or better mobility, please try the diet below and let me know how it goes.
Disclaimer: check with your doctor before starting this
or any other diet.
3E Diet – Overview
Brace yourself – your goal calorie intake on this diet is 1200 calories a day. You can expect to lose 2 pounds a week on this diet.
The 3E Diet Breakfast
Breakfast
has to be easy, I’m usually up, want a quick bite, then get into work. Breakfast is around 200 calories and consists
of one of the following each day:
Cheerios – 2 cups. This is by far the best choice for breakfast cereal, gluten free with only 2 grams of sugar and over 6 grams of protein in 2 cups. Plus 22% of your daily fiber and lots of added minerals.
A small to medium avocado. If I’m craving fat, and avocados are on sale, this is a good, quick breakfast.
If I need a protein pick me up – A pre-made protein shake – the newer keto-like shakes come in around 165 calories and have lots of protein, vitamins, and a little fiber. I especially like these gluten-free, low sugar, but tasty Atkins Protein Shakes.
The 3E Diet Lunch
I target 400 calories at lunch. Here’s where the 3 eggs come in – it’s lunch time so now’s your chance to eat 3 eggs.
During
the work week, my typical packed lunch is:
3 hard boiled eggs. Hint: I boil a dozen at a time so it’s easy to pack lunch. It’s fine to season the eggs with various spices or squirt a little mustard or low sugar salsa to make them more interesting.
2 tablespoons of flax seeds. These have to be ground to get the full effect but I put a few in my mouth and chew them up really good, they taste like nuts. A great way to get omega oils and fiber.
A veggie salad or bunch of raw vegetables. The veggies I like to eat raw include:
Celery
Radishes
Carrots
Peppers – bell and mini sweet
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kohlrabi
Green beans
Cabbage
During
the weekend, I typically have 3 scrambled eggs and vegetables. Here’s my easy, no fat added scrambled egg method:
Consider adding veggies such as diced onions or peppers, or a sliced turkey link sausage, and stir. If adding sausage, you may have to cook a little longer.
Put in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir at 1:00 and 1:30 so get the runny spots cooked.
If you’re craving dairy, add a slice of cheese when you have about 15 seconds left, it will melt on top.
Staples of the 3E Diet
The 3E Diet Dinner
I target 400 calories at dinner. As you can see above, there isn’t a lot of variety in this diet, so dinner is your chance to get a little more creative. I buy frozen chicken breast and vegetables in bulk, and then supplement with fresh things. Some things I will eat for dinner include:
Grilled or Sautéed Chicken, Pork, Fish, or Steak and vegetables
Grill Chicken Salad – greens, chicken, other low-carb toppings and light dressing
Chicken Taco Salad – greens, chicken, a scoop of cottage cheese (decent sour cream alternative), salsa.
Stir-fry with riced cauliflower
Fried Cabbage with sliced link turkey sausage
Cottage Cheese and vegetables
If I’m in a snacking mood, I’ll pop a bag of butter flavored microwave popcorn and eat that as my meal – I especially like this on a weekend when I’m enjoying a movie.
Canned Tuna Ceviche – tuna with lime or lemon juice, onions, tomatoes, and cilantro
If I’m on the go, I try to make my own microwave meal of some of the above, but I do occasionally eat prepared foods such as a microwave meal or chunky soup or chili.
The 3E Diet Other
If you’re doing the math, the above only adds to 1000, so you have 200 calories to spare. You can either have a light snack, a drink, or add it to one or more of your meal allowances.
Allowable Beverages in on 3E Diet
With
limited calories it’s important to stay well hydrated on this diet, it also
helps prevent the hunger. Here are the
drinks I have on this diet:
Unlimited – Water, tea (black, green, herbal) without added
milk or sugar, black coffee. Spruce up
water by adding a slice of lemon, lime, strawberry, etc.
Limited – diet soda and sugar free drink mixes. I try to only have diet soda a couple times a
week. It helps with my sweet tooth but I
know the chemicals are not the best for you.
My favorite soda right now is
Pepsi Zero (formerly Pepsi Max).
If
I know I’m going to a social event, I might save up some calories so I can have
a beer or glass of wine.
Food No-No’s on the 3E Diet
You
should try to avoid these foods on the 3D diet –
Sugar – this is the biggest no-no. You will likely see an immediate change in
your body and mental health if you can cut out added sugar. I do eat fruit, with natural sugars, but in
limited quantities. This includes all
kinds of food – all your traditional desserts, candies, sodas, fancy coffees,
as well as some sauces that have loads of added sugar.
Bread and Pasta – bread is basically sugar – carbs with
little nutritious value
Chips – again, no nutrition and difficult to not overeat on
salty snacks.
Tracking Calories on the 3E Diet
Consider downloading an app that keeps count for you. I personally estimate calories so don’t exactly hit 1200 a day. If you want to be more exact, you may consider purchasing afood scale.
3E Diet Exercise
You
should try to exercise at least 3 times a week.
It’s important to lift weights/use your muscles and do weight-bearing
exercises to keep your legs in shape for travel, which includes lots of walking
if you want it to.
Cost of the 3E Diet
I’ve
heard of some crazy expensive diets, with lots of prepared foods that aren’t
that much easier to prepare than this diet.
The 3E diet is one of the cheapest diets you can do. Eggs are one of the consistently cheap
sources of protein. If I watch for sales
on chicken, eggs, veggies, Cheerios, etc., you can spend $5 or less per day for
food on this diet. Think of all the
money you will save! If you wish, keep a “piggy bank” to store
your savings and then use it for a fun trip or to buy some new clothes
after/while you lose your weight!
What
do you think of this diet? If you try this diet, I’d love to get your
feedback and share your success stories below!
I had a chance to go through Yukon twice in 2019 – once on my way to Alaska and then again on my return. There was something wild and different about Yukon. These are the 12 best things to do in Yukon.
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Best Time to Visit
Yukon
Late Spring to early
fall is the best time to visit Yukon. On
days around the summer solstice, you will have 24 hours of light in the
north. Mid-summer usually brings loads of biting
insects to the point it is unbearable.
Although, in 2019, a dry spring caused wildfires and the mosquitos and
black flies were almost non-existent!
Winter is really,
really cold. Unless you’re going to see
the Northern Lights, I personally would not want to go during this time
although if you do go you might want to go during a festival such as the
Available Light Film Festival, and take the advantage to soak in the Takhini
Hot Pools outside Whitehorse… you can sit in the hot spring and let your hair
freeze!
Now, for the top
Yukon Attractions and Activities:
#12 See the Sign Forest in Watson Lake
Yukon’s biggest roadside attraction is the Watson Lake Sign Forest just off the Alcan Highway, aka the Alaska Highway. A description of this magical place can be found on a placard at the sign forest that says “The Watson Lake Sign Post Forest is the oldest and most extensive site of it’s type. It represents the longstanding tradition of “leaving your mark”. Carl Lindley started the Sign Post Forest in 1942 when he was a homesick soldier from Danville, Illinois. While working on the construction of the Alaska Highway, he added his hometown sign to an army mileage post. A tradition of adding signs gained momentum and the single signpost grew to a forest. People from all over the world continue to add signs connecting their faraway homes to the town of Watson Lake. The Sign Post Forest illustrates the historic and universal relationship between a traveler, their journey and their connection to home. The Alaska Highway was constructed during the Second World War to provide a land based route to Alaska and ground support for the construction of airstrips for the Northwest Staging Route. Now designated an event of national significance, the Alaska Highway changed the landscape of the Yukon by providing year round access to the rest of Canada, increasing transportation routes, improving communication systems and altering settlement patters. It brought new services and expanding economic opportunities throughout the territory. While the tangible aspect of the Forest will continue to evolve, it is the intangible values, such as the emotional connection people make with the site and the stories and memories they conjure, that give the Sign Post Forest its enduring qualities.”
Planning a stopover in Watson Lake? Check the selection of hotels in Watson Lake on booking.
Watson Lake Sign Forest
#11 Attend A Festival
If there’s one thing I learned about Yukoners after traveling around during the summer is that they LOVE their festivals. There are a couple good music festivals, like the Dawson City Music Festival and the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival. The Atlin Arts and Music festivalis technically in British Columbia but due to its proximity to Whitehorse, over 90% of its attendees are from the territory to the north. Visit a festival like this to see some undiscovered Canadian talent.
#10 Go For the Gold!
Yukon Territory was practically built upon the business of gold mining with the Klondike Rush. If you want to try your luck, you might try gold panning. One of the best ways to experience the history is to visit one of the gold dredges. Visiting Gold Dredge Number 4 from Dawson City is one of the best dredges you can see (if you’re visiting Alaska, the Gold Dredge Number 8 from Fairbanks is a great trip).
#9 Go Camping
Unlike the amazing free campgrounds of Alaska and British Columbia, the territory has few free places to camp, and camping in rest areas is generally not allowed (although I found a few had no signs prohibiting it). Yukon has a wide selection of great public campgrounds, at a cost of only $12 CAD per night. All campgrounds have vault toilets, picnic tables, and free firewood for your campfires. Some of the best campsites include Conrad Lake, Congdon Creek, Kathleen Lake, and Dezadeash Lake on the drive to Haines, Alaska.
#8 Do Some of the Many Things to do in
Whitehorse
The population of
Whitehorse is just over 25,000 and makes up approximately 70% of the total
territory population. So, you can image
if you’re looking for goods or services in Yukon, Whitehorse is the best place
to find it. It’s home to several
supermarkets, Walmart, Canada Tire, Movie Theatre, Car dealerships with
servicing, and lots of restaurants including the chains of KFC, McDonald’s and
Tim Hortons. Make sure you stop into the
visitor’s center in the center of town to get local travel tips. Make sure you check out the forecast – I narrowly
avoided a fluke August snowstorm based on a tip here. As for Attractions, you can pay a few dollars
to take a tour in the S.S. Klondike, a riverboat that ran up and down the river
from 1929-1950 and is now part of the Canadian National Park Service. If you’re into museums, check out the Beringia
Interpretive Centre.
Other services I
recommend in Whitehorse: there are a couple laundromats, for wifi stop at the downtown
visitor center or library.
Planning a stay in Whitehorse? Check the selection of hotels in Whitehorse on booking.
#7 Enjoy the Yukon River
Whether you stop for a photo op or canoe the Yukon River for a week or more, viewing the Yukon River is an absolute must when visiting. This legendary river actually starts in British Columbia in Lake Atlin and makes its way out to the Bering Sea in Alaska. If you’re driving the Alaska Highway, you will have multiple chances to drive parallel and cross the Yukon River and its lakes multiple times. If you’re looking to canoe the mighty Yukon River, Yukon Territory is the best place to do it. Several outfitters will rent you the gear and give you a ride.
#6 Dip Your Toes in the Sand in the World’s
Smallest Desert – Carcross Desert
I’ve visited some of the world’s best deserts, like the Sahara in Egypt, Danakil Depression in Ethiopia, the Gobi in Mongolia, the outback in Australia, and the incredible gas crater in the middle of the Turkmenistan desert. But I never knew that the world’s smallest desert is in Yukon and there’s a nice little pullout along Highway 2. I highly recommend walking in the dunes in your bare feet… so relaxing.
Carcross – The World’s Smallest Desert
#5 Kluane National Park
There are three Canadian National Parks in Yukon, but only Kluane is readily accessible. You can camp and hike easily at Kathleen Lake. Alternatively, take to the skies from Haines Junction for a scenic Glacier flightseeing tour. Keep your eyes open for wildlife – I had an up close and personal run in with a lynx here! From Kluane National Park, it’s an easy drive down the Haines Highway to visit Haines, Alaska.
Lynx in Kluane National Park
#4 Drive the Top of The World Highway
From Dawson City, you can take a ferry to cross the mighty Yukon River, and then drive the gravel road all the way to Alaska on the Top of the World Highway. The road quality is pretty good, but if it’s been raining, your vehicle will be very muddy! Enjoy the amazing views and if you’re lucky, you may come across the Porcupine Caribou herd.
Views on the Top of the World
#3 Live Like a Yukoner in Dawson City – and Hit
the Nightlife!
Dawson City is like
an old west gold mining town. It’s definitely
worth staying a day or two or three, there are plenty of attractions. You can visit the homes of Robert Service and
Jack London of “Call of the Wild” fame. There
are plenty of historical sites around town including a retired riverboat and
the historical theater where you can see a show for a few dollars (it’s well
worth it!) For nightlife, go to the
government run bar, casino, and can-can show at Diamond Tooth Gerties. Or head down the street to have a sour toe
cocktail (it’s a shot with a real human toe!)
Planning a stay in Dawson City? Check the selection of hotels in Dawson City on booking.
Diamond Tooth Gerties dancers
#2 Drive the Dempster Highway to Cross The
Arctic Circle
The Dempster Highway is one of North America’s best road trips. It’s the only place in North America to drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean. I almost included the Arctic Ocean in this list, but technically, the ocean visit is in Tuktoyaktuk which is in the Northwest Territories. But on the Yukon side of the border, you can stop on the Arctic Circle and get your photo taken by the interpretive sign. You can also visit my #1 Yukon attraction on the Dempster Highway. Read here for more info on Driving the Dempster Highway.
Time for a wash, at the Arctic Circle
#1 Be Awed by the Views in Tombstone Territorial
Park
What can I say about Tombstone Territorial Park? It’s probably one of the most beautiful spots
in all of Canada, with views that rival the world class Torres del Paine in
Chile. This park is only a couple hours up
the Dempster Highway and good, gravel roads go all the way to the park.
If you have only a few hours to visit, hike the beautiful Goldensides Trail, then stop into the visitor center to check out the exhibits and sit by the fire and sip some Labrador Tea. If you have more fitness and time, do one of the more strenuous hikes in the park, like Grizzly Lake. But whatever you do, enjoy the pure beauty of these ragged mountains.
Tombstone Territorial Park
Do you have other favorite things to do in Yukon Territory? Leave your comments below.
, would have been $15 cheaper than I paid). Continued to Williams Lake and went for a short hike at Scout Lake and found a camping spot at the Stampede Campgrounds, $40 CAD for 2 nights, close to all the action and came with a free swag bag! 
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