A Life Wasted

Alaska Road Trip

Our first week of living in Alaska wasn't exciting enough so we decided to take a road trip to do some sight seeing. Red had lived in Alaska since before I was born but his travels around the state were limited so he didn't know much outside of the Kenai Peninsula. Dave had lived in Alaska a year and hadn't been anywhere but Cooper Landing and Anchorage, but John, the wildlife photographer had been everywhere in the state. So I asked John to recommend a place we could drive where the kids could experience Alaska and see some wildlife. The kids wanted to see a bear. A live one this time. John said he knew just the drive. On a map he showed me a road 350 miles north of Cooper Landing. It was 150 miles of remote dirt road. So remote and rugged that it was closed in the winter. About half way down that dirt road a friend of John's owned a lodge. John gave me the guys name and suggested we spend the night there. There were no phones out there so we'd have to stop in.

We drove to Anchorage and spent the night in a hotel there then continued on early. The first part of the trip was back tracking the way we'd come. Anchorage to Palmer, then west to Glennallen where the Alaska Pipeline goes under the road en route to Valdez. That's interesting because you can see the famed Alaska Pipe Line in both directions. Then north for fifty miles where we left the road we entered Alaska on and took a less traveled road towards Paxson. From our home in Cooper Landing to Paxson was 353 miles of two lane road. In Paxson we got gas and bought something to eat, then started across the rugged dirt road we had come to see.

John hadn't exaggerated, there was nothing on the road. I don't recall seeing another car going in either direction. The road wasn't in bad shape, but it was elevated in what looked like a high dirt levee. Not sure why the road was so high off the ground, but it did give us a great view of the surrounding country. It also made the trip more dangerous. Were we to go off the road, even by a few inches the van would roll down into an area that couldn't be seen from someone passing by, assuming anyone ever passed by. For this reason I drove extremely slow.

We'd made this trip hoping to see some of Alaska's abundant wildlife. We did see plenty of moose, but we'd seen them back in Cooper Landing. Moose were everywhere in Alaska. What we wanted to see was bear, so we kept a sharp lookout. Fifty miles down the dirt road a beautiful red fox crossed in front of us. She had climbed up the north side of the road, saw us then ran full speed to the other side and disappeared down the south side of the road's embankment. The kids didn't see the fast moving fox so I stopped the van and got everyone out in hopes of seeing her as she ran away from the road. As soon as everyone was standing on the road a tiny red fox popped up on the road, clearly trying to follow momma. The kids gasped at the incredibly beautiful little red fox and then another appeared. Then another. I can't recall how many baby foxes there were, but I'll guess six or eight. They were identical and they were the definition of cute. The little guys walked right up to our feet, begging to be held. I almost had to physically restrain my children from picking up the young foxes. It was all I could do not to pick up one myself. They were cute beyond description. Had I been alone I am sure I would have sat down and played with them. The only reason I didn't was to teach my children to respect nature and not to interfere. We were all enthralled by the baby foxes, but none more than Kelly. She was four and she wanted to hold one so bad it hurt. She bubbled with excitement. Kelly bounced up and down giggling and laughing. I nearly gave into her desire until Mary reinforced my decision. Other than that we'd have taken one home with us.

Back in the van and excited about the red fox babies we continued on. It was dark before we reached the lodge owned by John's friend. We were exhausted so I prayed they had rooms. To our surprise they were expecting us and had a large and exquisite cabin ready. With no phone service I asked how they knew we were coming. John had called an AM radio station somewhere that broadcast messages during the day for the folks who live in the bush. The lodge owner's wife heard the message to them about us coming through from our mutual friend, so they were expecting us. Low tech, but better than smoke signals.