Watson Lake (8/21/2005)

This week we started heading south to the Lower 48. We spent 2 nights in Seward, 1 night each in Anchorage, Valdez, Tok, Congdon Creek, Johnson Crossing, and Watson Lake. In Seward we went to the Sealife Museum, to a fabric store and to Exit Glacier (named because it was an easy exit from the Ice Field) (This is the same place Hilary Clinton and John McCain went, a few days after we were there, to do research on global warming). There is a short trail (1 mile) to the toe of Exit Glacier. This glacier has been steadily retreating since the 1890s. On the trail you can see the places where glacier toe ended at various times since then. And then you arrive at the current toe.
The next day we drove to Anchorage and spent the evening with Fred and Barbara. We had a big dinner at their house. We drove to Valdez the next day. We arrived too late to see much that day so stayed the next morning to see a little of the town. Valdez is surrounded by beautiful high peaks. It is an awesome location especially with the peaks poking in and out of fog. While there, we visited the Valdez Museum. They were having a quilt show with some very nice quilts.
The next day we drove to Tok. There are still fires burning in the interior so we had lots of smoke from Glennallen to Watson Lake. Smoke turns the world shades of gray. I am thinking how I can put that feeling into a quilt.
The next day we had our first flat tire. We had picked up a rock shaped like a spear head in one of the trailer tires. Luckily we were stopped at a Visitor Center when we heard the hissing and there was another vehicle stopped there. The driver of the other vehicle had driven to Inuvik and had had and fixed 6 flat tires on his rig. As a result he had all the equipment and skills to do a temporary fix of our tire. After he did the temporary fix, we drove to a tire place where they fixed the tire. We spent that night in Johnson Crossing (named for a high bridge over the Teslin River with no walk area and railing that was only knee high). Sandy crossed it on foot to get photos, scared the pants of Dale who was sure she was going to get blown off the bridge.
The next night we were in Watson lake. As this was our second visit to Watson Lake, we did not take any photos. We are looking forward to traveling on the Cassiar Highway starting next week.