Day 15 - We made it to Alaska

Hey everyone,

Brighton Pitts post Article: http://www.mpnnow.com/news/view_story.php?articleId=9691&zoom_highlight=alaska

It's 10pm and the sun is still 10 degrees up in the sky (that’s two fists on top of each other from the horizon) --and tomorrow we head further north to a last minute game time decision destination of Fairbanks, Alaska - the end of the 1,563 miles of the ALCAN.

To start, Liard Hot Springs (190 miles west of Fort Nelson) is worth a stop. As you walk 700 meters along a boardwalk through the muskeg (bog) you may notice moose and their young feeding on the vegetation. You arrive at the hot springs just as your walk is getting exhausting and you change into your swimwear to take a dip in the over 100 degree pool of mineral water. Great place to camp out – and took us about 9 hours from Dawson Creek to arrive there.

From the hot springs, we made our way to Watson Lake to add our Rochester, NY sign to the Sign forest (over 61,000 signs here –view our photos). After lunch we camped out just south of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in a pine forest. We experienced the land of the midnight sun today, being the furthest north we have yet to go. It was still light out at 11pm – and twilight for the remainder of the night. Whitehorse is the capital the Yukon Territory, a Canadian province of just under 30,000. The town was quaint and homey feeling – a place where everybody knows your name, if you live there of course.

We left Whitehorse at lunch and headed towards Beaver Creek – 20 miles from the Alaska Border – then onwards to Tok, Alaska – just 90 miles northwest of the border, and known as the “Dog Capital of Alaska”. We are spending the night here at a campsite with wi-fi, hot showers (it’s been 4 days) and live music by the owners of the campsite. The place is called Sourdough Campground - just south of the "All Alaskan Shop" off of the Alaskan Highway. Ken and his family own the place, and have been here for four years, bringing back the good 'old camping days when there was more to do than park your RV's 4 ft away from each other and listen to your cable TV from inside. Ken puts on a show every night - with an hour of folk music and comedy as well as a comedic sourdough pancake toss. Winners get a free sourdough pancake breakfast in the morning; friends and family of the winners get to buy their own pancakes. Knowing us, we'll be up till twilight - midnight sun hours - and miss breakfast ourselves. But we'll let you know if we make it to those delicious sounding pancakes.

The site will be updated in the morning with pictures, videos, and updates to the Who Are We, Alaskan Stats, and a few other extras as well. Keep a look out for updates over this next week - as we will be able to have close to unlimited internet access (and phone access) till July 6th or so - we hope.

Tomorrow morning we head to Fairbanks Alaska - about 3-4 hours northwest of Tok, Alaska. Its just 3 degrees shy from being in the Arctic Circle - and we plan to spend the night there before heading for Anchorage the next day. From what we hear, Anchorage is like a little city - which we expected. On the 29th/30th, we will head to the Kenai Peninsula to spend 4-5 nights at the Kenai River Raven Lodge in Soldotna, Alaska. We will embark in Salmon and Halibut fishing (which are fish that can weigh more than both me and Bryan) as well as take trip to view grizzlies and a trip to Denali National Park.

Keep posted as we continue our journey into the Last Frontier of Alaska. We will make updates as best we can and as quick as possible. So shoot back here daily - and feel free to let your friends and family know about our site.

We plan to have Rochester links and facts up within the next week - to show those people around the world looking at our site, where Rochester is on the map.

Take care,

Matt and Bryan