The Northern Expedition

Chapter 1

From sea to land

The summer was almost over, not that the weather was indicating, rather it was the end of the fishing season in Sitka, Alaska. I worked for a small, family owned fishing lodge on Baranof Island over the summer. It was hard work, long rainy days, early mornings and the frequent sleep deprivation was slowly wearing me down, but It was almost over and we were getting exited about the road trip we were planning. We called it " The Northern Expedition" jokingly, grabbed a road map for the whole state and did the old sharpie thing where we outlined the highways and places we planned to visit.

Some astronomical amount of miles piled up but we didn't seem to care. Rain was still pouring as we packed all of our belongings into the suburban, Juno, to which I will dedicate a whole chapter later. It was simple, we had a full size mattress as a bed and some backpacks for our clothes. Not much for comfort, but we could sleep in it, and most importantly...we could go places.

Our elaborate plan included 2 ferry rides from Sitka to Juneau and then Juneau to Haines AK. Once on the continent, we had the unlimited road system of Alaska and Canada to explore. But sticking to the plan, we got the last few items we needed in Juneau's hardware store and a pit stop at some roadside restaurant in Haines, we were on the road!!! Finally driving North. We entered Canada at a port in British Columbia and entered Yukon Territory late at night. We were focused to get to Tok AK as soon as possible, because Denali was already in the freezing zone. What we didn't realise that later on we will absolutely fall in love with Yukon.

On the way to Tok we saw a sign for Wrangell St. Ellias National Park. "Never heard of it"

We decided to check it out. It was a nice sunny day, cold and crisp in the morning , but the sun felt nice later on. Turns out Wrangell St. Ellias is the largest national park in the USA , where ocean waves crash on mountains rising up 18,000 feet. Back in the day gold miners came to explore the richness of natural resources and breathtaking views. We were stunned by its colors and the fact that we didn't see a single person in the park for 6 hours. We drove on a dirt road that lead to an abandoned gold mining village and we saw a herd of wild caribou. " What a place.. we didn't even know it existed before" we quickly released that travelling is not about getting there, but rather what else is out there. " The Wrong Way Home" was a catchy nickname, the road trip was a complete mystery to us. Now the wrong way home became a calling to adventure, to which we answered without hesitation.

After we drove out of the park we remembered our actual destination- Tok. We pulled into a large gravel lot, few trucks, snowplows, some random gear. It was in the small hours and we "setup camp" for the night. Setup camp was to become a phrase we started using and we still use today.

Chapter 2

"Alaska Alaska..."

The small town of Tok AK was booming with activity, despite the nipping cold and early frost on the ground, the locals didn't seem to be bothered by the inconvenience of frozen fingertips and a drippy nose. We woke up freezing, slowly crawled out of the truck and putting an extra jacket on we were brushing our teeth, watching seasoned truck drivers go about their chores at the truck stop/gas station/ restaurant. We headed inside to warm up and get some warm food in our bellies. Tetlin Junction is where the road continues northeast into Yukon and shortly after that is Tok, where the road splits north to Fairbanks and south to Anchorage.

We headed south, always wanted to see the city of Anchorage. Much bigger than the rest of the towns in southeast AK, Anchorage was welcoming with its city art and nature-inspired murals all over, the roads were clean and wide. "I could live here" I said. Stopped at the world famous pizza place and spent some time looking out at the ocean at the pier, thinking of this might be the last time we saw the ocean in a long time...except not, maybe not...

"Full on gas, full on food and feeling good!" I started saying.

We headed back up north. Denali was ahead! Fairbanks! Places that I have imagined my whole life, places that always wanted to see. Growing up in the late 90's in rural Bulgaria I was that kid with the wild dreams and imagination. The country was recovering from the many years of political "misfortune" after the Cold War and it was starting to open up to the west and information became readily available, we got colour television and later on the first "Discovery Channel" and "Animal Planet" shows came on. I was then watching about Alaska, one of the last places where wilderness remained wild, where one could wander in places so remote and beautiful, where animals roam free and rivers run fast with the heavy load of the melted snow. It all seemed so far away for me, "the far corners of the earth" as I romanticised and often times my grandma said " Go ahead and dream, child..dreams are for free." I somehow knew that I would find a way to get there. This little dreamer kid stomping its foot on the ground, I can still see the little hint of sadness in her smile when I protested. Now some 20 years later I am laying in bed, writing this post from the back of the bus thinking about the laws of attraction and the powers of the positive mind. Wondering is this how dreams come true? Can your mind actually make things happen?

Chapter 3

Denali

Most people were headed exactly the opposite way that we were going. It was September 20th and the forecast looked grim, but we remained determined that the early frost couldn't stop us. As the mountains got bigger and bigger we stopped at one of the few roadside attractions on the way, the famous 49th state brewing company, where you can find the bus they used in the making of the movie " Into the wild". It is a replica of the actual bus that Chris McCandles lived on and people can go inside and submerge in a whole different fantasy. There are pictures and quotes, posted on the walls that can make even the toughest of folk shed a tear. The trail for the actual bus was closed earlier the same year because of the increasing number of people getting lost or hurt, trying to get to this place of spiritual significance.

We stepped into the brewery and instantly felt the warmth of the fireplace.The atmosphere was buzzing with laughter, music and the smell of roasted meat and gravy. People were happy, travellers from all over the world with muddy boots and messy hair, backpacks full of camping gear. worn and torn from the long treks through the wilderness.

We had caribou sausage with potatoes and gravy, elk burger and some darn good alaskan chilly. The food was amazing, the beer was cold and crisp, with a hint of spruce. I felt rejuvenated, my body was warm and I felt the energy coming back.

We sometimes think of such elaborate ways to achieve happiness, some grand scheme to become someone else, obtain something better than we have, something bigger, newer... while it's all here under our noses, hidden in plain sight. With the right mindset, a good meal, great company and a nice beer would do anyone wonders.

We entered the park and drove up to the information post. Since it was so late in the season and the park was almost empty they open the road so people can drive their cars further than in the peak season. There are no cars allowed into the park past the 20th mile marker and thats how far we were able to go. Usually they run buses to shuttle people through the road loop but we were too late for that. On the other side, we felt like we were the only people in the park so we took a long walk alongside the Teklanika River, which during the spring melt becomes a raging fury of ice cold water running fast and deep, carrying the load of hundreds of feet of snow off the mountains. The same event made it impossible for Chris McCandles to cross the river and return to safety, thus forcing him to remain at the "Magic Bus". Now merely a stream, I could cross the river in my rubber boots. "The force of nature", I thought. Facing the elements at such level one can truly admire how beautiful and unforgiving nature can be.

The clouds were hovering over the mountains, hiding the view from our starving eyes. But they were ever so slightly moving so we had to simply wait for the views to uncover themselves. We pulled over to take some photos as the clouds lifted away and we realised we are looking straight at the highest peak in North America. "Denali" as the indigenous people called it, "The Tall One" , or "The Great One" , stood tall and proud in front of us, carrying forever his crown of ice and snow, 20,310 feet above the sea and the third most isolated peak in the world. Wow... we stood there silent, speechless and stunned by the energy of the mountain.

The campground was empty so we picked the best spot we could find. As the sun went down thick grey clouds darkened the atmosphere. It was cold, we used every sleeping bag and every blanket we had on board and took refuge in the truck. We kept the engine running for an hour to warm us up as we scrolled through our photos, eating granola bars. "Off the grind" I thought, away from Wi-Fi , 3G and any type of connection to the outside world, one can sit down and listen to his own thoughts, listen to the sounds of nature, almost become one with all. A squirrel running through the trees, jumping from branch to branch with the ease of a trained acrobat, collecting the last bit of seeds, nuts and leaves before the dead of winter. A deer threads carefully, eating the frozen moss, hanging from the low branches. A distant raven caw, moles sleeping deep underground in their tunnels, in beds of dry grass, sleeping away the trouble of winter. So much we miss in our busy daily lives...

We woke up to a beautiful spectacle of frozen car windows. Our moist breaths made the inside of the truck windows freeze in beautiful spirals and geometric shapes. It was negative 1 degrees F. I crawled out of bed and put on layers of still frozen clothes and started the propane heater. It was a part of our routine, the morning "thaw out". Its not a joke to camp in Alaska early winter, but we were mentally prepared and we still had a great time. The toothpaste was frozen solid so I put it in my pocket while I was doing some of the morning chores of making coffee and picking up camp.

Early in the morning the park rangers do practice runs with the parks sled dogs, pulling specially made sleds on wheels when there is no snow on the ground. I was amazed by the speed and elegance of the whole pack. There was a connection between the musher and the dogs, both in their natural environment, working as a team. "Gotta love Alaska"

Chapter 4

Yukon, the great unknown

Later on we were back on the road, glancing at the rearview mirror to see the mountains one last time we headed north to Fairbanks. It was a quiet ride, both of us sitting sitting and trying to assimilate the magnificent views and the experience we had in the national park. It kept getting flatter and flatter as we entered the into the interior of Alaska.

Fairbanks was dark and not so busy at the late hour we arrived there. We were dirty, haven't showered in quite some time now, we decided to get a hotel room for the night.

We took long hot showers, enjoyed some real, cooked food in our bellies and slept in a warm king-size bed. I was then thinking how we take some things for granted, comforts of life that come with our everyday routines. The safe feeling you get when you get home, when you know where home is. I remember when I was a kid my dad was saying "Your house, your castle - your eternal prison.. " . And I finally understood what it meant. In our chaotic lives we go outside and it is a war of traffic, people everywhere, always being in line for something, always someone in front of us and someone behind, trying to cut in line, endless piles of cars, poisoning the very air we breathe, tiny little humans inside, sitting behind the wheel and waiting to get home... Home is good. It is just so far away, spending our precious time and working our lives away to be a part of this thing. Playing the part of the citizen, we seek refuge in our homes, our little oasis in his crazy world. Except not. The world is beautiful and it is full of amazing people. We, as people, have lost the connection to nature and most importantly each other.

Courtney and I were voluntarily homeless. We gave everything away in order to follow our hearts and travel. Hard work was paying off, we had the ultimate freedom to roam, live anywhere and everywhere. Juno was our home on wheels so we kept on driving.

We jumped on highway 2 and head south for the first time since we started driving. There were many little towns, with lots of airplanes of all different sizes, scattered around the landing strips, not much more than a field of grass with some flags and lights indicating the landing patterns. " What's with the planes" I asked. We somehow still managed to stay 2 days ahead of the good weather but that didn't seem to bother us. We were cozy in the truck, we had music, snacks and always something to talk about.

Highway 2 goes south to Delta Junction and later on back to Tok, same town we had sausage breakfast in so long ago, a mere week had passed but for us it felt like eternity. It was kind of a grounding experience to see the same gas station, with truckers still coming and going. So were we, this time around we had to decide which way to go. Denali was the highlight of our trip, now after we saw it, we had to decide whether to go back on the same road to British Columbia or to head east to Yukon. It would add some 1500 miles but that was the whole point. We wanted to see as much as possible. The flame of our wanderlust burning ever so brightly, making us eager to see new places.

Passed the small town of Chicken AK , where one can get on the not so famous "Top of the World highway". It was a nice packed dirt road that kept snaking its way through the old mountains. As we continued to gain elevation we entered the clouds and the fog got thicker and thicker. Fine red dirt was like clay, the spinning of the tires slowly covered the thole truck with a slimy film of wet dust that I quickly decided to just leave alone.

We approached the US-Canadian border late at night and we were greeted by a grumpy officer that looked at our passports and and let us go on our way. We didn't see a single vehicle all night as we descended into Dawson City. There was not much to do there plus it was now raining so we decided to gas up and keep going. We were in Yukon, Canada and for us it was Terra Incognita.

It was dark, the road was narrow, with no shoulder and trees that stood inches away from the end of the pavement. I was getting tired of and the visibility was low so I decided to call it a night and pulled over at some lake, followed a bumpy trail through the woods and parked the truck at the end. It was dark so I went out with the flashlight to look at our campsite for the night. The truck was 6 feet from the shore and it was quiet, we could hear the heavy raindrops on the roof of the truck..and a strange hissing noise, coming from one of the back tires.

I got back out and the realisation became more real when I saw the truck tilted to the right as the tire went absolutely flat. "Well..at least we were parked and it didn't happed when I was flying down the road" I was trying to stay positive. Decided to worry about it in the morning and went back to bed. Except not. We heard a noise around us. Something was breathing heavy and was smelling the truck. We shined lights out and saw a huge white shape walking away from the light. " It's a wolf! " I exclaimed exited, we felt scared at first, but quickly realised we were absolutely safe inside the truck. The "wolf" turned out to be a very large white dog with long shaggy hair. "There must be houses around.."

I woke up early next day, determined to make some strong coffee and put the spare tire on. Unfortunately the tire wrench I had did not fit the lug nuts on the wheel and I felt rather disappointed. We decided to take a walk and look for the white dog's owners. Not too far from us we found a house. It was a large cabin, built from solid aged logs and it looked like it came right out of the Discovery Channel.

No one answered the door and we had the sinking feeling it might be a while until we get help. We stood next to the road for about 20 minutes and waved down a white truck. The driver was a german miner, working for the booming industry of the area. The mountains here are old and weathered, the millions of years of exposure to rain and snow had exposed large amounts of natural resources. In the late 1800's over 100,000 prospectors migrated to this area during the Klondike Gold Rush. The tradition for gold mining is still present in the area. The prospectors became scientists and they found more efficient ways of acquiring gold in the modern day mines, using powerful machines and explosives. Now the gold mining industry still attracts people from all over the world, coming to this remote place to start a new life.

Luckily his chevy had the right tool and It was time to get my hands dirty. I was changing the tire and looking at Courtney, submerged in her passion for photography, capturing moments in the fall setting on the lake. I would often see her, walking away with the camera in her hands, with a distant gaze in her own beautiful universe. I always admired looking at her photos which showed me things I often overlooked. The beauty of nature was always out there, just waiting to be seen.

Bigger in size than Germany, Italy and Sweden, Yukon Territory has a population of only 35,000 people, which is mostly concentrated in its capital Whitehorse. Which makes it mostly empty. Just trees and road, No towns, no people, just an occasional hunting cabin here and there. Took us another 5 hours to get to whitehorse, What a drive!!!

The Boreal Forest of Canada is considered to be the largest intact forest in the world with more than 3 million square miles free of industrial development, roads and cities. A place of such remote wilderness, that stretches from the 50th parallel up to the arctic tundras of the north. Some 10,000 years ago when the glaciers retreated at the end of the last ice age, spruce, fir, jack pine, tamarack and other hardy plants claimed the north as their inherited right and combined with the enormous Russian Taiga, the boreal "circle" created the second largest biome on the planet, second after the ocean one.

In a place like this one really feels how small and insignificant our lives are. 70- 80 years is a lifetime a person, while the forest stands here ancient and wise, unchanged and untouched for millennia. One can almost feel embarrassed here, thinking of how unimportant our daily worries seemed to be before. The endless bills to pay, cars to fix and all the things we get so stressed about... People tend surrender to reality and give up all hope, thinking that life is just an endless struggle between the pay-checks, never changing and never catching up. Except not! Life should be cherished as sacred. A gift for us to live on this amazing planet, to live and learn, to see the beauty surrounding us. Not to fuss and fight, not to spend our every waking moment working for money, scrambling to obtain something material...life is for living.

We made it to Whitehorse. Almost out of gas and the spare wheel was a bit smaller than the rest and made it seem like Juno was limping. Nevertheless he took us there with the determination of a mean green alaskan machine. We parked at Walmart, which in a remote destination like Whitehorse looked like Wall-City. There were more than 30 RV's parked on the lot. Large 5th wheel campers with their slide-outs popped. Some small "sprinter van" style campers with their solar panels adjusted to the right angle, trying to catch the few stray photons that made it through the clouds. And there was Juno. A proud road warrior, covered in a thick layer of dirt and 2 ragged hippies standing next to it. We were so happy, spending time in the forest really charged us with positive vibes and we headed to the local tire shop.

600 dollars later the truck was equipped with a set of new tires and a fresh oil change. He was running like a million bucks. Whitehorse was clean, kinda modern looking downtown with some really nice looking architecture and clean wide streets. It was a traveler friendly town.

Chapter 5

Skagway

It was towards the end of September and it was starting to get a bit chilly at night in Yukon. We spent a good 10 days in this remote place and we were getting ready to continue our road trip. Where to next? We sat in the truck and looked at the trusty road map. From here, there was only one road for us. The road south of here. Since it was pretty close we decided to drive to Skagway and check what the little town in Southeast AK had to offer.

On the way there we saw a sign for the Carcross desert, the worlds smallest desert, and the small western looking town of Carcross itself. The desert was right off the highway. No signs indicating that you CAN’T go and drive in, so that’s what we did. Juno was loaded heavy, the brand new tires were gripping the sand good and we took him for a spin on a trail through the desert.

Juno's Happy Place

Luckily we didn’t get stuck. It was off the season and of course there were only a few people, playing with their atvs and sand buggies. Right from one of the higher dunes, we were able to see a lake and a little town nestled by it.

Fall Peak

Carcross Desert

Emerald Lake

The town of Carcross was clean and really historic. Lots of native art on the buildings, little stores selling hand crafted gifts, art and souvenirs. There was this old-time vibe in the town, one can almost teleport in the time of cowboys, gold miners and prospectors. Here, back in the day, all kinds of adventurers, misfits and investors came here in search of a new life during the gold rush.

Not too long after we hit the road again we started noticing the change in climate, a change in landscape and a change in the flora and fauna. We were getting close to the Ocean again. Crossed the border and descended into Skagway. It is one of the last towns of and the northernmost town of the inside passage. In the 1800 large ships brought the folk and the gear what powered a large scale migration to the rich wilderness of Yukon. Now the gold rush is long over but the ships still keep coming. Except now the massive cruise ships bring tourists from all over the world, armed with high end camera gear instead of picks and shovels, they come here to see a different world. Most of the tourists that we saw are older, retired people from China and other asian countries.

We stopped at a coffee shop for a warm drink and a muffin, it was sunny but this late in September we were feeling the impending doom of the winter. We chatted with the bored barista. He told us that the population in Skagway is merely 1000 people, but in peak season when several ships dock in or anchor at the harbour the population might get up to 8000 people. Hard to wrap my head around where all those people go, must get pretty busy in this town.

Cruise Ship Dock

Dowtown Skagway

One thing we learned on the trip is that locals are usually nice and they love what we do, they ask us questions about our journeys and always recommend a good place for boondocking, usually one that doesn’t come up on google. We drove around the bay and went to a campground that was closed for the season, but we were told that its safe to park there. It was absolutely gorgeous, yellow leaves falling down and covering the ground with a colourful carpet of light brown birch leaves, amber and red maple and yellow poplar. I swept the picnic table that came with the campsite and started taking things out of Juno in order to clean up a little and organise. Travelling is messy, especially in a small space. The truck had plenty of room but we carried everything we owned on it. Like 2 turtles sharing a metal shell. Took us almost an hour to unpack, clean, and load up again. I was doing the “cockpit” and Courtney was doing the “living quarters”. We found one of the long lost GoPro cameras, a bunch of coins and my flashlight. Juno was in great shape, this almost 30 year old truck was our home, we completely relied on him and he never let us down. We turned on the LED lights on the inside and put a movie in.

We woke up to a foggy and mysterious morning, it was still and quiet. So quiet one can sit still and listen to a bird call half a mile away, water drops from the trees as the moist air condenses on the leaves. Moments like this we often overook, the complete serenity of a moment. Something so rare in our busy everyday lives. We had some coffee and headed back to town for breakfast. It was time to move on and see what the road had to offer up ahead.

We resupplied and headed east. We planned to cross British Columbia and go to Jasper and Banff national parks. The road took us back and forth between Yukon and the northern border of British Columbia.

The Alcan Highway took us to a famous fork where Highway 1 stops going east and splits into north and south at Watson Lake, Yukon. Right there at this crucial crossroads there is an interesting sight to see. We didn’t know anything about it until we we stumbled upon it. In the 1940’s some road worker was so homesick he put a sign post from his town, showing the direction and the 2000 mile distance to it. Soon other travellers and road builders followed his example and now here one can find more than 80 000 signs, license plates and post from all over the world. The local township dedicated a little museum to it, showing pictures of how the “sign post forest” grew over the years. It’s truly amazing and I highly recommend it. We took some photos there but had to be quick because it was really cold. Once we left the warm coastal climate of Skagway and headed inland, the sky slowly changed color to darker grey and we started seeing frost on the ground. We jumped in the truck and turned the heater on. It was time to head south.

Chapter 6

BC, Alberta and the last few days in Canada

The drive across British Columbia was rather uneventful, the roads were great, gas was cheap and there was no shortage of little towns pretty much everywhere. Seemed like this whole area is pretty well developed, compared to Yukon. Similar to a large part of the US, here you can find anything anywhere, there were large brand stores, franchise and corporations everywhere. There was a great diversity in the people too. I was curious and asked someone at the gas station. They told me that Canada has gone through a change in the international politics. They made it easier for foreign folk to come here and become a part of this growing nation. Second largest country in the world, Canada has so much land and pretty much endless natural resources, they just need people, therefore they made it more welcoming, making it easier on visas for the people that want to work and legalisation processes for the people that want to move there. This was so opposite of the what I was used to in America. As we well know there are 2 sides to a coin. I am sure that there are plenty of people that are going to disagree with me but I saw this melting pot of foreign cultures in British Columbia and I saw it thrive, everybody got along well and there was no tension between the people. They lived in harmony and I could see the benefits of inviting more people in your country. There were no signs of unemployment, streets were clean and everybody had a nice car.

Down here it was warm, the fall extending into early October, grass was green and the people were just going about their days, heading to work, coming out of the store, going home. We traveled so far and saw so much already and we learned how to observe society from our perspective. We were 2 young people in an old Suburban going wherever our hearths desired. Nothing to worry about, no schedules to keep, we just went from one place to the next like secret agents on a secret mission. Our mission was to travel and cover as much ground as possible. It was truly intoxicating, free as birds we kept on driving and driving.

We got to Price George and spent the night at a Walmart parking lot. Then in the morning we had coffee and got onto highway 16 going east to Mt. Robson provincial park and the gateway to Jasper National Park. The mountains appeared on the horizon and kept getting bigger and bigger as we approached Alberta. Some of the most spectacular mountain views and high green meadows made this landscape look more alpine than the Alps themselves.

Huge soaring peaks, made of raw grey stone, capped with snow all year-round. I have seen those mountains so many times on pictures and posts all over the social media, but being there and being them with my own eyes was awe-inspiring.

We made it to the town of Jasper AB.