mpruet
Well-known member
I think that everyone will agree that 2020 was a miserable year. It was really restrictive in what you could do, where you could go, and what you could see. And realistically I suspect that the earliest that things will start to return to some degree of normalcy in the lower 48 will be late summer/early fall.
In previous years I enjoyed making trips up north and into Alaska in my RV. But with COVID it has been impossible to cross into Canada. Truthfully one of the best parts of making the trip up north is driving through Canada. It is absolutely beautiful - Banff, Jasper, Yukon, the Alcan, NorthWest Territories, Dawson City, the Klondike, etc. All an adventure as well a stunning drive.
Twice I made the trek up the Dempster Highway in the Yukon and NWT, where I camped on the Arctic Ocean in the Inuit village of Tuktoyaktuk. Yes - I even dipped my feet in the Arctic. It was such a rush to have made that journey, and was not somthing that everyone gets to do. Making the ferry crossing over the Peel and the MacKenzie rivers, eating lunch at the Eagle Plains motel, checking out the shops in Inuvik, all things which most folks just don’t get to do.
I wasn’t able to make the trip this past year, and am doubtful that I’ll be able to make it in 2021. I just doubt that tourist travel through Canada will be allowed any time soon.
But in retrospect I think that I learned something important as a result of the restrictions this past year, and that’s to take advantage of the opportunities that come as they come. No I couldn’t make the trip this past year, but I still have all of the memories from my previous trips up north. I can still imagine taking a dip in Liard Hot Springs, stoping at Jade City, and viewing the huge Salmon Glacier out of Hyder. I can remember having lunch next to a river on the Cassiar Highway, and especially remember Capt. Jack taking us up into the Columbia Glacier ice field out of Valdez on his boat. Glaciers! - I can still visualize hiking on the Root Glacier near the Kennecott Mines in McCarthy, Alaska. (I kept slipping out of my crampons.).
Yes - I learned to take advantage of the adventures as they come. You just never know if you can do them later...
In previous years I enjoyed making trips up north and into Alaska in my RV. But with COVID it has been impossible to cross into Canada. Truthfully one of the best parts of making the trip up north is driving through Canada. It is absolutely beautiful - Banff, Jasper, Yukon, the Alcan, NorthWest Territories, Dawson City, the Klondike, etc. All an adventure as well a stunning drive.
Twice I made the trek up the Dempster Highway in the Yukon and NWT, where I camped on the Arctic Ocean in the Inuit village of Tuktoyaktuk. Yes - I even dipped my feet in the Arctic. It was such a rush to have made that journey, and was not somthing that everyone gets to do. Making the ferry crossing over the Peel and the MacKenzie rivers, eating lunch at the Eagle Plains motel, checking out the shops in Inuvik, all things which most folks just don’t get to do.
I wasn’t able to make the trip this past year, and am doubtful that I’ll be able to make it in 2021. I just doubt that tourist travel through Canada will be allowed any time soon.
But in retrospect I think that I learned something important as a result of the restrictions this past year, and that’s to take advantage of the opportunities that come as they come. No I couldn’t make the trip this past year, but I still have all of the memories from my previous trips up north. I can still imagine taking a dip in Liard Hot Springs, stoping at Jade City, and viewing the huge Salmon Glacier out of Hyder. I can remember having lunch next to a river on the Cassiar Highway, and especially remember Capt. Jack taking us up into the Columbia Glacier ice field out of Valdez on his boat. Glaciers! - I can still visualize hiking on the Root Glacier near the Kennecott Mines in McCarthy, Alaska. (I kept slipping out of my crampons.).
Yes - I learned to take advantage of the adventures as they come. You just never know if you can do them later...
Good post!!
