He's back from Alaska

My son Paul is finally returned from Alaska.

I had written about his “once in a lifetime” camping and exploring trip to Alaska.

He left his home just north of Everett on May 15 and got back Oct. 4.

He described it as his retirement dream. Paul drove 16,996 miles, went through a new set of tires, and cooked a lot of meals.

His goal was to see a lot of Alaska. He did! Paul said he was on all major roads and a host of minor ones.

He retired last year and spent the better part of six months planning the trip. A return trip is being discussed.

Paul drove his pickup truck pulling a small sleeping trailer with his canoe on top. He saw musk ox near Prudhoe Bay, lots of caribou, moose, black bear and a few grizzlies, but saw the grizzlies only in northern Canada. He did lots of fishing, primarily in the lakes.

Paul camped out the entire trip, washing clothes, and taking showers in little stops along the way. Cooked most of his meals.

He had some incidents, two by people. Once, he had someone try to steal cans of gas. A second time, someone tried to take his canoe, but shouts chased them away.

He had a tent that fit on the end of his trailer. An animal one night broke two of the tent poles. It was the only animal incident.

Roads, even the ones paved were rough from ice heaves. The gravel roads were very rough, and trucks delivering goods and equipment raced by, sometimes throwing gravel all over.

Careful planning wiped away most problem areas. The highest gas was $7.49 a gallon, but surprisingly a lot of the gas cost was similar to what we pay here.

The potholes were frequent and deep. All in all, Paul reported a successful trip, and who wants to argue about that.

It was possible to get necessary food supplies. Wild blueberries supplied a few blueberry pancakes.