New culvert on the Alaska Highway

Oct28

In June, Jack and I went south on the Alaska Highway to camp and came across this construction site with a new culvert going in. More info on the photos. Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

This is the culvert that’s going in, about 6 feet in diameter and maybe 80 (?) feet long.

Jack says this is the stream water being diverted while the construction is going on.

Water is being sprayed to keep the dust down.

The fabric is Typar that was laid down under the road years ago and there’s also some rigid foam insulation showing on the right. All of this is an attempt to keep the dirt under the road frozen in order to prevent frost heaves.

The next two photos are pretty self explanatory. Collapsed culverts are very common in interior Alaska.

Donjek River Bridge, follow up

Jan17

A few months after Jack helped haul bridge beams to the Donjek River Bridge in Canada, he went back to haul the beams from the staging area off the road onto the ice where they were constructing the bridge. (Best viewed if you click on the first one and scroll to the right.) See captions for more info.

Two cranes are needed to pick up bridge beams, one on each end, since they will break if they are picked up from the middle. In the construction process they are pre-stressed to take weight from the top and won’t hold up if lifted from the middle.

The old bridge is on the left and the cranes are moving down onto the river.

Jack is down on the frozen river here with the new bridge on the left and what looks to him like concrete joints on the right.

The orange tarp is covering the concrete and keeping the warmth in from heaters so that it will cure.

The 2 cranes are on their way up to the staging area where they will pick up the beams and place them onto the trailers for the trucks to bring them down to the river where the cranes will then pick them back up and place them on the bridge in their correct positions.

They are loaded and following the cranes back down to the river.

Alaska Highway Dreams

Dec15

If only we were on the road again…

This is Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada, when we were coming back from our long 6 week trip to the states in 2012. Memories!

(Best viewed if you click on one and scroll to the side.)

Driving toward Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada

Back at Home in Alaska

Nov17

Jack and I are at home enjoying normal life again. We had a wonderful trip coming back, saw more wildlife and beautiful landscapes… gained hours but lost sunlight and warmth. And now we’re settled in for the winter.

The thousands of photos I took on our trip down south will enable us to revel in our great times for days to come. We’ll be sharing them with you over the next couple of months.

It was cloudy most of the way through Canada until the last day of our trip when we crossed over into Alaska. Clear and cold!

Jack bought a trailer and plow in Minnesota. The truck took a bit of a beating.

…a wonderful trip, but it’s good to see the Alaska Range again!

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Sign Post Forest & Fans

Oct12

One of the best places to stop along The Alaska Highway (aka “The Alcan”) is The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada. Even back in the 70s it was a sight to behold but now it’s almost too much to take in: thousands upon thousands of license plates, signposts and pieces of metal or wood with the names of hometowns showing how far people have traveled to get there.

There was also some old heavy machinery that was used to build the Alcan.

That’s one big wrench!

And these are some fans we happened upon.

People are still adding to the Sign Post Forest. Hope you can make your way there someday and leave your own signpost. 🙂

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Grizzly Bear Close Encounter!

Sep27

We are absolutely positive that we will never again have this close of an encounter with a grizzly bear! (Or at least we hope we won’t!)

This “griz” was right on the side of the road, digging up roots and eating them. We took photos from the truck. He paid us no heed at all.

To see a video of him/her digging in the gravel for roots, click here.

All we can say is “WOW”!!

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Congrats to Jack for winning the load count!

Sep25

Well the season is over and Jack won the load count!

Jack says it was a hectic season. We are now on a month long road trip, heading down to the states. I plan on posting about our adventures when we get a chance. For now, I want to brag about the AWESOME custom bed cover Jack made to keep our belongings safe while we are traveling. It had to be custom because of his fuel tank (he hauls heating oil for our house) and toolbox that is already in the back. Here are a couple of photos of him building it and getting ready for our trip: