Now that the Alaska Marine Hiway has graciously extended my stay in Alaska, I spent some of today in wet Anchorage mulling over my rather limited options. I was originally booked on the September 24 sailing from Skagway to Bellingham Washington, which would have gotten me to Vancouver Island on October 1. Although one piece of my three legged journey back to the lower 48 is still up in the air, here is what the tentative plan looks like.
- Stay camped in Anchorage until September 24 or 25
- Drive to Haines on the 24th or 25th, less than 1000 miles, arriving in Haines 2 or 3 days later
- Camp somewhere in Haines until September 29
- if I can get a spot on the ferry from Haines (I am number 1 on the wait list), take the ferry to Juneau
- leave Juneau by ferry on the 30th to Prince Rupert BC
- Camp somewhere in Port Hardy until October 5th, if any campgrounds are still open
- leave cold, wet Prince Rupert on October 5 by ferry to Port Hardy at the north end of Vancouver Island.
- Arrive Port Hardy on October 6, five days behind schedule, so to speak.
The silver lining in this new itinerary is that it gives me and my travel partner, Stefanie, of nine wonderful but intense days a chance to have a gradual separation instead of an abrupt one, Donner will not have to be locked up in the Defender on the ferry for three straight days, we get to sail the significantly better BC ferry for half the trip, and I end up at the north end of VI, saving me three days by not having to drive two ways for me to do what I wanted on VI. I can also use the extra free time to rest up for the long ride hone and get some reading done over the 10 new days added to my journey en route to Vancouver.
Since I only brought one book with me, I visited Barnes and Noble today to stock up on a few more books to read in my cold wet tent during my layovers. I also got the Defender serviced at Jiffy Lube to deal with the problem with my rear differential lock. I also had breakfast with Stefanie at a cafe in Anchorage to avoid having to set up my tarps to make breakfast in camp. Although my eating in restaurants is prohibited by one rule of mine or another, Donner understood. Back at camp, I spent some time talking with another hardy road camper, Jim, who is also tenting with his dogs up here.
This daily schedule is not exactly what I was hoping for, but this is what these trips consist of from time to time, problems and solutions. Unfortunately, these issues sometimes push the just-passing great adventures into the distant pass, but I hope to reignite the memories when I get back on the road in earnest.
Tomorrow I will finish packing up, have breakfast somewhere in Anchorage, and take Stefanie to the airport in the evening for her flight out of Anchorage, bringing her unplanned, surprise nine-day adventure to an end. Donner will then get his front seat back riding shotgun, and I will lose someone to spell me driving the Defender and a marvelous travel partner. I just hope that this blog gave you at least a glimpse into what the two of us experienced on the Dalton and Denali roads, the two magnets that pulled me to Alaska. I put out an open invitation for anyone to join me, and she did, and is happier for it.
Ed and Donner, from on the road
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