Great Alaska Adventure 2017 wrap-up

After coming out of the wilderness we checked into the campground at Fall Lake for 4 nights to regroup and dry our gear before departing for home.  I had some more minor hull repairs done on the boat, and we spent some time wandering around Ely.

One evening we went to a Mexican restaurant we had never visited before, and we really liked it.  The burritos were so complex that the server sat down at our table to negotiate our order.  Great food!

The burrito at 2 Gringos Grill

We also visited the Crapola! World Headquarters in downtown Ely.  Crapola! is a blend of organic grains and flavoring.  We bought a bag.

A classic Ford Fairlane cruising in Ely

Much of downtown Ely is built on a serious incline 

We received a mail drop while in Ely.  It's always exciting to get our mail.  In addition to the usual stuff there was one surprise.  While in Dawson Yukon Territory Canada in August 2011, we mailed a letter to ourselves that was to be delivered via dog sled.  Obviously, the letter would not be delivered before the following spring, and we forgot about it in the meantime.  Surprise!  The letter was delivered to our house in NC sometime in August 2017 and was forwarded to us in Ely, MN six years after it had been posted.  I think the Pony Express would have been quicker.

 

 On Sunday September 12 we left Ely and headed for home.  This final stretch was 1331 miles, and I figured we would average 450 miles per day and be home on Tuesday evening.  The drive was uneventful and the weather was good.  Dorcas and I listened to an audio book much of the way, and the time passed rather quickly.

On the last morning we stopped at Tudor's Biscuit World in Gallipolis OH and split a huge bacon, egg and cheese biscuit and a monster cherry turnover.  This restaurant has become a regular stop for us.  While we didn't spend the night there, it is next to a nice Walmart where we have spent several quiet nights during past trips.

Over eating at Tudor's Biscuit World

As we were driving home Hurricane Irma was on a collision course with pretty much all of Florida.  We have friends and property in the forecasted path of the storm and were naturally concerned.  There was nothing we could do except to think positive thoughts and to keep on truckin'.  After the storm had passed we learned that we did have some damage to our port.  There are louvers that hang from the columns of our port and two of the four louver sets were destroyed.  All in all I think we were lucky.

Florida said "screw it" and packed up and moved north

Great Alaska Adventure 2017 Wrap-up

We had a great trip and saw many wonderful things, but our trip was not without some misadventures.   Our trip by the numbers:

• Departure date:   May 13
• Return date:   September 12
• Time on the road:   123 days
• Distance traveled:   9858 miles
• Diesel burned:   1170 gallons
• Highest diesel price:   $3.218/gal (USD) in Whitehorse YT
• Lowest diesel price:   $2.189 in Octa OH.   Anchorage AK was a close second at $2.279
• Nights spent boondocking (camping not in a campground): 60 nights (roughly half our nights)
• Number of blog posts:   38
• Number of photographs taken:  5491.  This figure does not include deleted images and whatever pictures Dorcas' didn't share with me

The following graphic shows most of our route.  Unfortunately, I didn't capture our whole track on the GPS. There are significant gaps during our first few days until about South Dakota, the track of our time on the ferry system in SE Alaska and most of South Central Alaska.  Still, you should be able to get a sense of where and how far we actually traveled.

High points of the trip included our time traveling on the Alaska Marine Highway System in SE Alaska, the wildlife, the scenery and the interesting people we met along the way.  Low fuel prices and the favorable currency exchange rates were a plus.

Low points include the persistent and chronic infection I experienced throughout most of the trip (and which is still ongoing) and some vehicle damage and repairs.  You may remember we had a fuel pump failure while leaving Alaska and were stranded for almost a week in Tok AK.  We experienced two serious scratches along most of the length of the coach and had cracked windshields on both vehicles.  There is an 18" crack and several star chips on the windshield of the coach and a 14" crack on the Honda that looks a bit like a map of the Dan River.  Ironically the Honda was damaged by a rock thrown by a vehicle on an 8-lane highway near downtown Anchorage.  During our trip in 2011 we had no glass or body damage.

Bummer! 

It's good to be home and we have a lot to do in a very little time.  We are leaving on September 21 for a 2-week trip to the tidewater VA area for two back-to-back Country Coach rallies.  After that we should be mostly close to home until we migrate south to Florida at Thanksgiving.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness 2017

Our original plan was to put in at Lizz Lake on August 24, but sometimes things just don't work out the way you plan.  My gunwale replacement project caused us to delay our put-in by one day.  That meant we had to forfeit our permit for Lizz Lake and acquire another permit for August 25.  Pickin's were slim at that point, but we managed to get a permit for Moose Lake for the 25th.  While not our original choice, Moose Lake provided 2 advantages: first, it was only about 20 minutes from our base camp at Fall Lake vs. 3 1/2 hours to get to Lizz Lake, and second, it would likely be a significantly easier trip, depending on where we actually decided to go.

The traditional posed picture at the put-in

We paddled a grand total of only 2.96 miles under sunny skies and spent the night on Moose Lake.  On Day 2 we paddled 3.19 miles and camped for 2 nights on Newfound Lake.  Because of the dam at Prairie Portage one can paddle from Moose to Newfound Lake without portaging.  An easy trip so far.

Dorcas lounging at camp on Splash  Lake

We never got very far back from the entry point and firewood was scarce at most of our campsites. On Splash Lake I found a nice fallen white cedar and cut it up into five 5 foot sections.  White cedar is easy to split and burns well even when not dry.  When we left Splash Lake I couldn't just leave it there, could I?  

Haulin' cedar

We did a 30 rod portage into Splash Lake where we spent 3 nights at Camp 3.  There is only one campsite in Splash Lake so we had plenty of privacy.

Look what I caught!

We caught a few fish in the first few days, but not at a time when we wanted to keep and cook them.  Later in the week we fished hard but struck out.

Salmon patties, scalloped potatoes and mixed veggies.  Yum!

Unfortunately this was the only fish we fried.

Flying south for the winter

Firewood was generally scarce at camps, so we went out on the lake shore to find wood.

Gathering wood

It don't get no better

A hairy woodpecker

Anybody want a toasted marshmallow?

They make me sleep outside!

Common loon

I'm not getting left behind!

Common mergansers

A misty morn at Camp 2 on Newfound Lake

Can we go home now?

It's quit raining now.  Let's stay!

We spent five nights at Camp 4 on Ensign Lake

A room with a view on Ensign Lake

It's 4:00.  Time for my afternoon snack!

Moonrise on Ensign Lake

Is Daddy peeing?  No, he's just enjoying the view,

A reptilian visitor

A fungus among us

Another reptilian visitor

Chipmonk in the wood pile

A cozy camp on Horseshoe Island at Camp 5

A glorious sunset on Splash lake

It was a very laid back and easy trip.  We only had 2 short portages and our 12 nights were spent at 5 different camps.  Our longest paddle day was actually a layover day when we paddled 7.25 miles chasing the elusive pike.  The total distance traveled over our 13 days was 30.81 miles.  On Wednesday, September 6 we took out at Moose Lake and checked in at Fall Lake Campground for 4 nights.

For those who would like to read an in-depth discussion of the hows and whats of our Boundary Waters adventures CLICK HERE.

We are enjoying some crisp Coll weather here in NE Minnesota.  The low tonight is forecast to be 36 degrees.   BRRRRR!

Our plan now is to depart Ely on Sunday, likely arriving home on late Tuesday or early Wednesday.  Unfortunately Hurricane Irma is predicted to cross the southeast about that same time, although it looks like it may be significantly diminished.  Oops!  Flexibility is a virtue.

Ely!

After what seemed like forever, we completed the last 82 miles of this segment of our adventure and arrived in Ely MN.  Ely is one of my favorite towns and is a major jumping off point for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  Ely has dozens of outfitters, and there are probably as many canoes here as there are people in town.  It is one of the last great bastions of the open canoe, at a time when kayaks seem to be taking over the rest of the world.

We checked into the US Forest Service campground on Fall lake where we enjoyed a pull-through site with 50 amp electric and 4 bars of 4G internet service.  Heaven!

Then trouble.  When I took the boat off the car I realized that there was a 12" section on my port gunwale that was totally rotten.  How could this be?  I had repaired some woodwork on the stem and the stern before leaving home in May, and I had sanded and oiled the gunwales thoroughly.  Everything was fine when we left home.  But there it was, chunks of rotten wood crumbling off with just finger pressure.  It occurred to me that the boat had been wet pretty much the whole months of June and July while driving through Alaska.  The woodwork apparently just gave up the ghost.

Ironically I had looked into getting new gunwales when we where here last fall.  Our favorite outfitter, Spirit of the Wilderness had quoted me a pretty good price ($300) for replacing the wood gunwales with aluminum gunwales.  I really didn't think I wanted aluminum; the ash just looks so good.  Steve called Ted Bell, who built my boat and got a quote of $1000 plus to replace the gunwales with like wood gunwales.  I took no action then because they didn't seem to be too bad, and I could repair the damage to the ends myself when we got home.

Spirit of the Wilderness

But now something had to be done.  I contemplated making a temporary repair.  The boat was still structurally sound.  I talked to a friend back home who is an accomplished woodworker and once built a cedar strip canoe.  He said we could build and install new wood gunwales when I got home.  Long story short: in the end I decided to go with the aluminum gunwales at Spirit of the Wilderness.  They might not be as pretty, but I could get them done now, I wouldn't have to do the work myself, they will require zero maintenance and they should last the life of the boat.  It turns out that he would not be able to do the work before our scheduled put-in on the 24th at Lizz Lake.  We forfeited that permit and got another permit for Moose lake on the 25th.  We also extended our stay at Fall Lake CG from 4 nights to 5.  We had planned to stay in the wilderness for 14 days.  Now it will be only 13 days until our scheduled check in at Fall Lake CG next month.  We will still carry enough food for 14 days and either take out on Sep 6, when our campground reservation begins or stay in an extra night and check in a day late.

Our new gunwales.  They're not wood, but they look pretty good.  We're happy.

Not my boat.  Even so, the gunwales look relatively good

It is a tradition that we eat breakfast at Britton's Cafe on the morning we put into the Boundary Waters.  This day was no exception.

The breakfast burrito at Britton's.  They have all the hot sauces covered.

We're off into the wilderness this morning and will be out of touch for the next two weeks.  Bon voyage!