2024 is shaping up to be a humdinger of a year. At the national level, we have a hotly contested presidential election, along with all of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate; the outcome of this election is sure to be one of the more significant events in recent history. Here in the Great Land, we are trying to undo the mistake of ranked-choice voting and return reliably red Alaska to being represented by a Republican in our at-large House seat (sorry, but it will be four more years before we can do anything about Lisa Murkowski).
It's important, though, to have plans to blow off steam. While our work largely defines us, it can't be everything. Fortunately for us here in the Great Land, there are a wealth of places to go and things to see; here are a couple of places we plan to see in 2024.
Placed on the confluence of the Yukon and Klondike rivers, Dawson City sprang up at the site of a traditional fishing camp of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Indians and was the locus of the famous Klondike Gold Rush. The original capital of the Yukon Territory, Dawson City was founded in 1897 and was named after a Canadian geologist, George Dawson, who mapped the area in 1887. One year after the town's founding, the Klondike gold fields had made Dawson City a boom town with 16-17,000 residents, but that didn't last; when the gold rush ended, the town's population was only half that of the peak. In WW2, when the Alaska Highway followed a path farther south, Dawson City lost still more residents and economic activity, resulting in the territorial capital being moved south to Whitehorse in 1953. But in 1955, the Klondike Highway linked Dawson City to Alaska.
That highway, called Highway 9 or the "Top of the World Highway" in the Yukon, and carrying the more staid name of Highway 9 or the "Taylor Highway" in Alaska, is our intended route. There is some great fishing in the area around Dawson City, and in an unusual tidbit of international cooperation, Alaska residents pay the same price for fishing licenses as Yukon residents (and vice versa in Alaska). But like so many driving trips in Alaska and Canada, the journey is a big part of the fun. Our route from the Susitna Valley takes us up the Glenn Highway to Tok, then a quick jog south puts us on the Taylor Highway. In addition to some of the most beautiful scenery in North America, on this route, one gets to see such landmarks as Eureka Roadhouse, Slana, Chicken, Jack Wade, and Little Gold.
It's a 10-hour drive from our door to Dawson City, assuming no problems with vehicle, road, or weather. We're planning at least a three-day trip, to give us a whole day to see what there is to see in the historic Yukon town. And, yes, we intend to take advantage of that license-fee reciprocity and do some fishing. The trout in the Klondike River and creeks in the area are reputed to be fat and delicious.
Our other intended destination has a name that still rings the bells of environmentalists: Valdez, Alaska, the destination of the Alaska Pipeline. Unlike most places in Alaska, this town's name is neither Native nor Russian in origin, but Spanish. The town was named in 1790 for Spanish Navy Minister Antonio Valdés y Fernández Bazán, and despite being a year-round open water port and landing point for gold-seekers, Valdez never was much of a muchness until 1910, when the town was connected to Fairbanks by a highway.
The 1964 Good Friday earthquake hit Valdez hard, and much of the soil under the town liquified, resulting in the loss of the town's shoreline, which broke off and sank into the ocean. The entire town was subsequently relocated to a better site four miles away, where it remains today. Besides the oil pipeline terminus and tanker port, Valdez is also a popular fishing port, with several companies offering charters into Prince William Sound after salmon, halibut, and Pacific cod.
Again, the journey is a big part of the fun; we will take, again, the Glenn Highway, turning south at Glenallen instead of north, skirting the western edge of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, passing through Silver Springs, Copper Center, Willow Creek, and Tonsina on the road south. Again, fishing is a big part of the goal, but since the forest grouse season opens in mid-August, it may be worth taking along a shotgun and bringing some late-summer sprucies to bag as well.
It's important to have downtime. Alaska, while being... unusual, in many ways, is a great place year-round but summer is a particularly lovely time to see the sights (and the mosquitoes). Life is stressful; It's important to take some time to enjoy a few days off, to recharge the batteries. We're fortunate here in the United States. No matter where you live, there is almost certain to be someplace nearby where you can get outside, go for a walk, do some fishing, or just soak up the summer sun.
Do you have any travel plans for 2024? The comments are yours!
