#15 - Alaska, salmons & grizzlies
Before getting back to a more peaceful farming activity in New Zealand in early June, we continued this week our adventure in Alaska and we finally reached our goal: Homer, a fishing port 300 miles south of Anchorage, where we will start to work on the docks on Monday.
And what an adventure it was! This week, we have hitchhiked on more than 1,500 miles and spent 7 nights in 6 different places, including a sofa in a cabin in Canada, the floor of a RV and a tent by the sea.
But let’s come back where we left you, in the small town of Whitehorse in northwestern Canada.
With Danièle
After two days in the presence of Daniele, our Canadian grandmother, we try desperately to find a way to get to Alaska. After a first failed attempt to hitchhike, we decide to learn more about the other means at our disposal to reach Anchorage. We think we can easily access a bus or a ferry or take a quick flight to over there. But we quickly understand it won’t be that easy. Yukon is a region very little connected to the territories surrounding it, outside of the tourist season in the summer. No way to get to destination, except taking a plane costing a fortune and that would go back through Vancouver. Even in the tourist office we are advised to hitchhike on the 1200 miles left !
"Hitch hiking = marketing"
We therefore decide to persevere, and return to the side of the road, thumb in the air. Once again the attempt is not conclusive, but as the end of the day approaches and we begin to ask ourselves where we could go to sleep, we get lucky. Coralie, attracted by our cardboard, stops at our level and, although she cannot lead us toward Anchorage, she proposes to give us shelter for the night. The French solidarity certainly plays a role but Coralie is used to helping those in need. "I would have liked people to do the same for me” she explains.
Happy to have found home, we enjoy with Coralie and Bastien a barbecue with caribou and bison meat, chased by themselves last year. These two yound French are agricultural engineers that exiled in Canada 4 years ago to live their dream. They mostly feed themselves by hunting and fishing they practice in the region. In a beautiful cabin, completely isolated, they live happily this difficult lifestyle but perfectly suited to their needs.
Bastien cooks some bison and elk meat
The next morning, Coralie drops us at the edge of the road, and we are determined to finally get a ride to continue our path. Quickly, we are taken for a 1 hour 30 minutes drive to a place called Haines Junction. There, we see in the distance an old camper and decide to ask for help, in case the chance would be on our side. Our luck is fabulous: Eric, 39, is just on the way to Anchorage. Thus began two days and 1000 miles with Eric in his car threatening to collapse at any time.
With our buddy Eric!
The road we travel is absolutely amazing. Along lakes with a suprising turquoise color, we drive between huge, impressive mountains. It is rare to encounter other cars, and we can thereforestop whenever we want, and run at a minimum speed to contemplate what surrounds us.
Living beings we meet are also predominantly wild animals. We see in the distance first a coyote and a black bear, before moving next to a grizzly not feared by our presence. We take the time to observe this colossal beast and the striking beauty of this animal moves us. Subsequently, we also will cross elk, caribou and many other black bears.
The grizzlie!
Eric takes care of his camper, knowing that at any moment it could break down, and when a noise reaches him, he stops immediately. We spend well over 3 hours on the roadside to disassemble and then reassemble a wheel and brakes, after a deafening noise Eric would have heard.
Some maintenance
This step allows us to improve our knowledge of mechanics that perhaps would have been useful a few days ago... Noting that there was actually no problem, we hit the road and cross the American border without hindrance. We are in Alaska!
It is late (11:30 p.m.) and even though daylight still allows driving, we stop on a rest area, alone in the world. The motorhome is somewhat messy, there is no more place on the bunks and we share the floor of the vehicle, which is more comfortable than expected.
Upon awakening we resume our journey, directing us slowly but surely towards our goal. The landscapes are equal to what they were in the Yukon: wonderful. Alaska is as beautiful as one can imagine. Or more.
The RV cannot exceed 60 mph, we therefore have many hours driving before arriving finally at 10pm, in Anchorage. It is strange to find the multi-lane roads, tricolor traffic lights and congestion, while we were lost in the most wild nature. We feel a certain absurdity to get to Alaska and live in this city, which is just one city among so many others.
After having warmly thanked Eric, we board in the vehicle of Matt, who hosts us through the website Couchsurfing. Quickly, he makes us understand why so many people are migrating to Anchorage: "There is no place in the world where you can make money as easily as in Alaska” he explains. Matt, along with his two roommates, Sonia and Jenny, combines three jobs simultaneously, and works about 70 hours a week to earn a good living. When asked about the hardness of such a way of life, they all respond that they must work hard to repay loans contracted for college or medical operations. We understand that the American Dream can translate into a nightmare for some.
Generously, Matt allows us not to worry about finding a roof for the next two nights. We can therefore consider following our adventures. We spend the next day walking the streets of Anchorage, desperately seeking a port where we could find work. But there is no such thing in this town.
We decide to leave the city the next day and go further south in the port cities of the Kenai Peninsula. Without the slightest contact or the slightest idea of what was waiting for us, we hit the road the next day.
A first traveler quickly takes us a little further south, and we leaves us along the road in the middle of nowhere, in the pouring rain. The next 20 minutes are pretty rough and we are happy to finally see Stacie stop close to us. We had planned to go to Seward, the nearest town, but she goes to Homer, and we decide to follow her. Stacie remains one month in Homer before traveling for 3 months on a deserted island in southern Alaska, alone with two other researchers. They will work on a government-funded mission to study the birds of the island.
Sunset in Homer
Once in Homer we leave our bags in Stacie’s car and set off to conquer the city with a simple goal: find where to spend the night. After a few hours of research we finally get an useful help. The owner of a RV park site agrees to lend us a tent and sleeping bags, and give us a place for the night. So here we are in a small tent right on the beach and facing the huge snowy mountains. Once again we are moved by such a luck we have, and we can admire the sunset from the beach.
We need to go to bed early because we expect to get up at dawn the next day to be at the earliest on the pier where all maritime activities are in the city.
Indeed, we do not lose sight of the question we asked ourselves at the beginning of this journey, "Where does the food we eat every day come from? ". Certainly the last two weeks have been more adventurous than expected, due to the loss of our car, but we always have priority, here in Alaska, to understand how is produced the fish that will eventually be consumed in the whole world.
The next day, on Saturday, after two long hours of walking (living without a car in the US is not easy), we arrive near Homer docks. The few contacts we have give us a glimmer of hope: if coming back Monday morning we have a good chance to be given some work in contact with fish, on a boat or on the docks.
Satisfied and eager to return, we get back to the city center where Karen, with whom we also got in touch via Couchsurfing, expects us. Karen is 70 years old and lives alone in a house a little outside of the city of Homer. There is no hot water or internet, but she still offers us a comfortable bed each, the first we have since Seattle!
In the afternoon, we visit her neighbors who show us around their plantations. One even offers us to work for him. But our priority is elsewhere: if we came to Alaska, in addition to its fabulous scenery, it is with the aim of discovering the salmon industry and fishing in general. We therefore rest patiently before embarking on new adventures next week, hoping this time to stay sedentary.
You will be kept informed of course. Until then, we wish you a nice week
We’ll be back next Sunday!