My wife, our three year old daughter and I just returned home from nearly three weeks scouting and exploring forest service roads in Southeast Alaska. This trip was planned more than a year ago and the end result exceeded nearly every expectation we had. So much so that if I was planning a future trip to Alaska (which may happen for my 50th) part of that trip would include a return to Southeast Alaska in the month of July. Fishing aside, if you are looking to travel off-road and off-grid in a relatively remote North American coastal rain forest; crisscrossed by an amazing gravel road system; and basically have the place to yourself... then you might consider touching Southeast Alaska as part of any adventure this far north.
Goal:
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To explore as many dirt roads in Southeast Alaska as we could find - in three weeks.
Itinerary:
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June, 30; Depart; North Bend, WA (USA) for Quesnel, British Columbia (CAN)
July, 01; Quesnel, BC (CAN) to Prince Rupert, BC (CAN)
July, 02; Prince Rupert BC, CAN to Petersburg, AK (USA)
July, 03; Petersburg, AK (USA)
July, 04; Petersburg, AK (USA)
July, 05; Petersburg, AK (USA)
July, 06; Petersburg, AK (USA) to Wrangell, AK (USA)
July, 07; Wrangell, AK (USA)
July, 08; Wrangell, AK (USA) to Ketchikan, AK (USA); then Ketchikan, AK (USA) to Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 09; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 10; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 11; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 12; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 13; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 14; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 15; Prince of Wales Island (USA)
July, 16; Prince of Wales Island (USA) to Ketchikan, AK (USA)
July, 17; Ketchikan, AK (USA)
July, 18; Ketchikan, AK (USA)
July, 19; Ketchikan, AK (USA) to Prince Rupert, BC (CAN)
July, 20; Prince Rupert, BC (CAN) to Quesnel, BC (CAN)
July, 21; Quesnel, BC (CAN) to North Bend, WA (USA)
Misc:
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Our trip included six ferry rides (four with Alaska Marine Ferry and two with the Inter-Island Ferry Authority).
Total driving miles traveled: 3,500
Total diesel purchased (gallons): 350
Total fuel price: $1,575.00 (US)
June, 30; North Bend, WA (US) to Quesnel, BC (CAN)
Date (day): June, 31 (Day 1) Source: North Bend, WA (USA) Destination: Quesnel, British Columbia (CAN) Travel Miles: 500 Resources:Best Western Plus; Tower Inn
Border crossing from USA into CAN at Sumas only had a five minute wait.
Fraser River Canyon reached a high of 104 degrees (F).
Nice to have the vans air conditioner and Star Cool systems charged up and working properly once again. Was thrashing right up to the previous night until a mobile A/C guy (Freds Mobile Air Conditioning) properly discharged, dried, and fully recharged the system with 4lbs of R134a. Thanks Fred!! Evergreen Ford in Issaquah, WA failed to properly diagnose and address this issue the week before. I also failed to properly recharge the system with an off-the-shelf A/C recharge kit that I purchased from my local NAPA Auto Parts store.
Departed North Bend around 10:00am and reached our Quesnel destination at about 10:00pm.
Configuration as we left our driveway.
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Passing through tunnels while climbing the Fraser River Canyon (British Columbia, CAN)
July, 01; Quesnel, BC (CAN) to Prince Rupert, BC (CAN)
Date (day): July, 01 (Day 2) Source: Quesnel, British Columbia (CAN) Destination: Prince Rupert, British Columbia (CAN) Travel Miles: 520 Resources:Prince Rupert RV Campground
While off-loading the ferry, I recognized a person I had worked with 23+ years ago (in Petersburg), who was also traveling back to Petersburg. We had both worked in the shore based fishing industry together in the eighties and early nineties. Because of traffic, I had less than a minute to re-introduce myself and then get out of the way. As good fortune would have it - we would meet again a couple days later.
Before checking in at our B&B for the evening, I drove my family around the town and pointed out things that no longer existed or had changed significantly since I had last been back.
We spent a little time at Sandy Beach Park exploring the tide flat so that our daughter could expend some energy and engage her curiosity.
We also drove 'out the road' to Blind Slough and the Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery.
Ultimately, we checked-in at the Sea Level B&B (our home base for the next two nights).
Turns out that the owner of the B&B (Jean) had extended family that I also worked with so many years ago... some of which were still working there today.
Work boat (tender) in the Wrangell Narrows.
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Inside the observation deck; MV Matanuska.
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Proof we arrived; Petersburg Airport.
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Sandy Beach park.
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Exploring at Sandy Beach
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Stepping on something gooey, discovery
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Sea Level B&B; our overnight accommodations for the next two nights.
Jean cooked up a great breakfast and brought it down to our room.
After breakfast, we ventured the few blocks to the main part of town and enjoyed the towns 4th of July celebration.
After the parade, we jumped in the van and started to do a little FS road exploring (heading out Frederick Sound Drive/Frederick Drive and the associated spur roads).
Found at least one great remote/primitive camping spot with unobstructed views high above Frederick Sound (PM me for GPS coordinates).
Sitka Black Tail Deer and Porcupines were everywhere.
We also checked out a new (to me) observation point called Outlook Park just north of town. This park overlooks part of Frederick Sound and seems to be a very good place to look for marine birds, whales, ships, and icebergs.
While at Outlook Park, I randomly ran into another person that I had worked with so many years ago while she was out walking her dog.
Jean cooked up another great breakfast and brought it down to our room.
This was our last morning at the Sea Level B&B, so we checked-out and then headed to the southern part of Mitkof Island for more FS road exploration.
I stopped at one of the local hardware stores (the Trading Union) and picked up a two week fishing license for $80.00, just in case I wanted to try my hand at salmon fishing again. I should note that I would have also needed to pay for a Salmon Tag if I wanted to keep any salmon. I was only catch and release this trip, so I opted out of the extra expense.
It took a couple of tries but I finally remembered where the Twin Creek Shelter was located (it is on an unmarked dirt road off of the Mitkof Highway). I had used this shelter a number of times in the past to get out of the rain and to start a fire and get warm and dry. It was a real life saver. PM me if you want the GPS coordinates.
After eating lunch at the shelter, we drove further south.
Part of our exploration lead us to Dry Straits Road. At the end of Dry Straits Road is a nice overlook and remote camping spot that looks out over Dry Island, Dry Straight, the Stikine River, and the LeConte Glacier. There is also an old, hidden, and remote trail here that leads down to a stream where garnets were once collected. There is still evidence of some minor, manual, and primitive garnet extraction. The garnets found here have always been very small and did not have any real monetary value. The trail down to the garnet site is short but steep as the hillside keeps collapsing.
We checked out the "now defunct" Inter-Island Ferry Authority terminal that is trying to regain funding in order to re-open. It is intended to re-open under the Rainforest Islands Ferry name and have a smaller more cost effective boat. The larger IFA boat(s) still successfully run daily between Ketchikan and Hollis (on Prince of Wales Island).
We drove all of the way 'out the road' to the end of the road. As memory served, this was called Banana Point (so named as it was part of a 'banana belt', weather wise).
We also checked out Greens Camp campground. This no fee primitive campground has 20+ campsites, pit toilets, and great access to rugged beaches and the ocean. Most of the mollusk life here died some time ago (millions of empty muscle, clam, and scallop shells are everywhere. These seem to have fallen victim to some sort of heavy silt deposit. You will really get the sense that you are within a costal rain forest here as the vegetation in the campground is huge.
While at Greens Camp, we found that the Nats here were small and hungry. Out of our entire trip, this is where the bug problem peaked (which was still not really all that bad).
We camped overnight in site #20. There were only three other campsites occupied during our one night stay here.
Alaska Airlines fly over.
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Twin Creek Shelter; great place to wait out a rain storm.
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Dry Straits; remote overlook
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Spoils from hidden garnet mine near Dry Straits overlook
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Greens Camp; primitive camping in coastal rain forest.
July, 06; Petersburg, AK (USA) to Wrangell, AK (USA)
Date (day): July, 06 (Day 7) Source: Petersburg, Alaska (USA) Destination: Wrangell, Alaska (USA) Travel Miles: Some FS roads plus travel via ferry. Resources:Grand View Bed and Breakfast
We spent the morning exploring Woodpecker Cove Road and the various spur roads out this side of this far southwest part of Mitkof Island. Other than some porcupines and black bear, we were alone.
We then headed into the town of Petersburg for lunch (@ Coastal Cold Storage), we once again ran into one of my former co-workers. This co-worker graciously spent some time with us and even took us on a tour. What a wonderful and unexpected treat. Inside the plant, I met even more people that I used to work with, all gearing up for a very large fish run. Turned out that this was one of the highlights of our trip. Thanks for everything Mel!!
We had to cut our tour short as it was time for us to check-in at the ferry terminal for our very short trip south to Wrangell.
Once again, our boat (the MV Taku) looked to be nearly empty.
After a few hour scenic trip down the Wrangell Narrows on the MV Taku, we arrived in our next destination of Wrangell, Alaska.
For the two nights we planned to stay in Wrangell, we arranged to stay overnight in the Grand View B&B (located right on the water).
After checking into the B&B and getting the tour from our host Leslie... it was all we could do to just get cleaned up and crash out in our room. Day over.
A little more FS road exploring before we had to meet our evening ferry.
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Depart Petersburg via ferry (MV Taku) and head south to Wrangell.
Leslie, our host at the Grand View B&B prepared a wonderful hot breakfast. Breakfast was served in the common and well-appointed downstairs living/dining/kitchen area. We were the only guests at the time so we had the run of the downstairs to ourselves.
After Breakfast, it was time to load up the van and go find some FS roads to explore.
We ended up going south via the Zimovia Highway, entering gravel via McCormack Creek Road (FS 6265). We visited Long Lake (FS 6270) and the Highbush Lake Recreation Site. We then explored to the end of both Fools Inlet Road and Thoms Creek Road. The FS recreation site at Thoms Creek Crossing was isolated and amazing. Located right on the river, picnic table, fire column, grill, firewood shelter with dry firewood, pit toilet, wheelchair accessible, parking, and a flat clear space for a four person tent. Little did we know at the time, all of the FS sites we encountered on Wrangell Island would be very similar. Wrangell Island had, by far, the best FS campsites of any that we had encountered on our entire trip (and they rival anything I have seen in Washington State).
After a long day of exploring, it was time to drive back to Wrangell and retire to our B&B for the evening. Once back at the B&B, we were able to do all of our laundry on-site in a coin operated washer/dryer. This was very convenient and came just at the right time.
Something very popular to do when in Wrangell during this time of year is to charter a boat out to the Anan Wildlife Observatory. This is where you can see many brown and black bears feeding on the returning salmon. I had looked into booking a tour for us long in advance, but I was still not early enough and it was not recommended for young kids (because of a short half mile hike involved in getting to the site). Next time.
Woke to rain. Our B&B host Leslie once again prepared a very good hot breakfast (sourdough pancakes).
As we were moving on, we checked out of the B&B and headed out in search of new FS roads.
First we stopped off in town to purchase some groceries (Bob's IGA). Next we stopped off at the US Forest Service office and picked up an island map for $10.00.
We tried the north end of Wrangell Island as a starting point. There looked to be three possible FS roads. We chose two, both of which dead-ended. The third one looked promising (as we could see many FS roads in the distance), but it required us to go back through a property where the owner(s) did NOT want any visitors. Shoot first, ask questions later kind of signage here. We decided instead to go back to the southern part of the island and do more exploring there. It was a great decision.
This time, we drove Nemo Loop. This loop was well groomed gravel and had three of the most spectacular FS sites we had seen anywhere (Three Sisters, Anita Bay, and Highline). Each only had one to two sites. From any, you could watch seine, gillnet, and trolling fishing in full swing. I think that I would go back just to camp at any one of these. Both Three Sisters and Anita Bay had parking areas that were separated from the actual campsite. This was not optimal for van camping. However, as each site was wheelchair accessible, a bicycle or motorcycle could easily be pushed into the actual campsites.
Next, we explored Lower Salamander (another great FS recreation site). We continued past the Lower Salamander FS site too and ended up high above the valley on FS ridge road that ended at a very remote parking lot and hiking trail.
After eating lunch high up on the ridge, we headed back toward town (briefly stopping at the Upper Salamander FS site on the way). Another great spot, right on a river.
Because of the rain, the van was caked in mud. Before I got back on pavement, I stopped the van, got out, and cleared all of the thick mud off of the steps, fender flares, bumpers, etc. The rain was actually a blessing in disguise as once we were back on pavement, the van kind of cleaned itself.
Before getting on the ferry, we ordered a large pizza (from the Marine Bar) and ate most of it while in the parking lot of one of the boat harbors.
Our ferry south to Ketchikan was the MV Matanuska.
We purposefully did not get a room on the ferry for this leg of the trip and instead spent the night laying under the heat lamps in the solarium. As we arrived in Ketchikan at 2:30am, so it would not be a full night anyway. The sunset was typical for a SE Alaska ferry ride (awesome) and it stayed light until well after 10:30pm. Once again, we were almost the only ones in the solarium and basically felt as though we had the ferry to ourselves.
Out exploring, again (north of Wrangell).
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Still exploring; now south of Wrangell; Nemo Loop; Three Sisters Campsite.
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Nemo Loop; Three Sisters Campsite.
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Nemo Loop; Three Sisters Campsite.
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Nemo Loop.
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Nemo Loop; Anita Bay Overlook Campsite.
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Nemo Loop; Anita Bay Overlook Campsite.
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Nemo Loop.
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Nemo Loop; Highline Campsite.
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Nemo Loop.
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Lower Salamander Recreation Site.
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Lower Salamander Recreation Site.
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Hiking, Alaska style.
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View for lunch.
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Upper Salamander Recration Site.
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Time to move further south; specifically Ketchikan via ferry.
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View from the ferry.
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We pretty much had the boat to ourselves.
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We would all be sleeping in the solarium on this short trip south.
Accommodations for the remainder of the night were provided by the Best Western Plus, Landing Hotel. This hotel was located right across the street from the Alaska Marine ferry terminal.
A soft bed was welcome at this point.
In the morning (9:00am), we went down to the adjoining restaurant for breakfast. This was expensive, too expensive.
Next we went and found a grocery store (Safeway) to stock up on supplies in preparation the next remote part of our trip on Prince of Wales island.
We then went back to the Alaska Marine ferry terminal and checked-in (at a different desk) for our Inter-Island Ferry ride over to Prince of Wales.
MVUM maps can be found at the IFA check-in desk as well as on the IFA ferry. Each of these are full size paper maps and are free. The pack of four or five is a MUST HAVE.
Also, posted on the ferry are current road conditions on POW. We took pictures of each road announcement on our cell phones so that we could recall them at any time. Again, this is a MUST HAVE.
Our IFA boat was the MV Stikine and trip from Ketchikan to Price of Wales (Hollis), took around three hours.
The food on the ferry was not exactly health food, but wow was it substantial.
Upon arrival of our ferry in Hollis, we drove the 30 or so miles through to Craig on uneven paved highway.
Our accommodations for the night would be the Dreamcatcher B&B, in Craig.
We very briefly drove around in Craig and then checked-in to our B&B.
Our room was upstairs and we were the only guests for this evening. We decided not to drive any more today and just stayed put in our room for the remainder of the evening.
Temporarily, we experienced significantly more chaos - in Ketchikan.
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Jumped on the MV Stikine for the three hour ferry ride to Price of Wales island (@ Hollis, AK).
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Destination was Craig, AK and the Dreamcatcher B&B (for one night). Dreamcatcher is the house on the left.
Date (day): July, 10 (Day 11) Source: Craig, Alaska (USA) Destination: Undetermined, Prince of Wales Island (USA) Travel Miles: tbd Resources:Klawock;Kasaan; Thorne Bay; Coffman Cove
Breakfast at the Dreamcatcher B&B consisted of self-serve cereals, breads, milk, juice and the like.
We checked out of the B&B after breakfast and headed out to explore points north.
Other than passing through Klawock, our first real destination was Kasaan. The road to Kasaan was paved up until the Kasaan turn off (south of Thorne Bay). The paved road then turned into somewhat maintained gravel road for the remaining 15+ miles to Kasaan. The road dead-ended near what looked to be a newer schoolhouse. Very few buildings/businesses here, no fuel, groceries, etc. Following the various totem placards through the neighborhood and down to the waterfront, you will discover the path to the Kasaan Totem Park. The path is a well maintained quarter to half mile walk through dense rainforest. The path ends at the totem park. This park really displayed the totems in a serene setting. There was also an old Whale House that is worth exploring (bring a flashlight). Of all of the totem parks we visited on this trip, this was by far the most interesting and heartfelt.
After Kasaan, we traveled further north to Thorne Bay. In the 1960s and 1970s, Thorne Bay had built the largest logging camp in North America. The (once white and now painted red) tree grapple that greets visitors was once the largest in the world. Thorne Bay has fuel (both gas and diesel) among other amenities (groceries, Forest Service, liquor store, etc...). On this pass through town, we only stopped long enough to top off with diesel.
After Thorne Bay, we moved further north along the coast to Coffman Cove. This route is all gravel. Along the way we stopped at a picnic area called Sandy Beach. This was a great place to get out and set our three year old free (relatively speaking).
We only made a cursory pass through the town of Coffman Cove which had a very nice (but currently not in use) IFA ferry terminal. The town/neighborhoods were fairly dispersed. Not sure we ever did locate town center.
We decided that we keep moving/searching for a place to stay overnight. About five miles out of town, we encountered Luck Lake. Here, we found a place to boondock/camp right along the lakeshore. No wind, calm, serene, no bugs, perfect. This may have been the most ideal spot we had ever camped, yet.
Kasaan, AK
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Kasaan has SE Alaska's best totem park.
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Whale House (exterior).
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Whale House (interior). As I did not want to disturb the group by using a flash, this was a hand-held shot at 2.5 seconds (thus, the blur). The interior was so dark that it was not visible to the naked eye and it was only when I looked at this shot afterward on my PC, could I see the details of the interior.
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Next, we were off to Thorne Bay. The red device in the background is the worlds largest tree grapple.
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Next, we visited Coffman Cove
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We then setup camp at Luck Lake, overnight. Right on the lake.
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View of Luck Lake from our campsite (right outside of the van door).
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Firewood under the tires on the low side along with pits for the tires on the high side kept the van level.
Date (day): July, 11 (Day 12) Source: Undetermined, Prince of Wales Island (USA) Destination: Undetermined, Prince of Wales Island (USA) Travel Miles: tbd Resources:Whale Pass; Naukati; El Capitan Cave; Horseshoe Hole
We woke to the lapping sounds of the lake on the shoreline.
After some self-prepared morning breakfast, we collapsed camp. This included leaving ZERO trace that we had ever camped there.
We encountered major road construction with a lengthy detour just south of Whale Pass (Forest Highway 43). As my luck would have it, we missed the pilot car by 20 minutes and had to spend more than two hours waiting for the next one. We decided to each lunch on the spot and I spent the remainder of time rigging fishing poles.
After we made it through the first road construction site, we encountered a second road construction site. The wait time for the pilot car was only about 20 minutes for this leg.
Finally, we arrived in Whale Pass. Not much here to write home about so we kept moving further north.
Next stop was El Capitan Cave. My travel buddies wanted no part in spelunking... so we only just visited the trailhead. Turns out that there was already a tour in progress when we arrived and we would not have been able to randomly wander around in the cave anyway. A FS guide is mandatory here.
We pushed further north up to Labouchere Bay. On the final push to 'Lab Bay', we encountered a number of black bears. Other than that, there was not much... other than the end of the road and a number of cars (in various states of semi-abandonment). After camping overnight at the amazing Luck Lake the night before... boondocking amongst rusting vehicles and boat trailers was not appealing enough to stay.
Even though it was getting late, we decided to find a boondock spot further south.
After a few failed attempts to locate the perfect spot, we pushed further south. So far south in fact that we drove back through the road construction (this time, there was no delays because the majority of work had stopped for the night).
We arrived in Naukati as it was getting dark. We could not make heads or tails of where to camp, so we pushed a little further south. Ultimately, we ended camping in an old FS campsite called Horseshoe Hole. Nothing special here. Just a flat piece of ground cut in the middle of a dense forest. No view, but as dark and quiet as a grave.
A little wind on Luck Lake in the morning.
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Next stop, Whale Pass.
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Boat ramp near El Capitan cave.
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End of the road (for us). Labouchere Bay.
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Labouchere Bay.
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Odd place for some sort of man made structure.
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Major amounts of construction north of Coffman Cove and south of Whale Pass. Delays are up to two hours during the day.
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Remote camping at Horseshoe Hole for the night
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Horseshoe is basically just a hole in the forrest.
Date (day): July, 12 (Day 13) Source: Undetermined, Prince of Wales Island (USA) Destination: Undetermined, Prince of Wales Island (USA) Travel Miles: tbd Resources:Sandy Beach; Luck Lake
After a quick morning meeting of the minds, we decided to drive back to Thorne Bay to get a few groceries, fuel, and ice. We then decided to retrace some of our earlier steps back to Sandy Beach and Luck Lake.
After Thorne Bay, we frolicked at Sandy Beach for a couple of hours before going back to Luck Lake.
Our spot on Luck Lake was available once again. It was a little windier this time with a 10 knot wind blowing up the lake and directly at us. This made fishing with light tackle a challenge (casting into a headwind). No fish were caught... but I had a great time teaching our daughter to 'fish'. 'Fishing' does not equal 'catching' When I tried and tell my wife that 'fishing' is really a state of mind, and that is all that counts... she did not buy it. It is fish on the beach, or it should be called 'losing'. We agree to disagree on this one.
We explored the area and enjoyed another great night, sleeping by the side of the lake.
Back to Sandy Beach to expend some energy.
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Practicing log walking at Sandy Beach.
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Back to Luck Lake to try some fishing; camping as well.
