People are funny. This morning at 1:40 AM I was awakened when a pickup truck passed by our camping spot in the bed of the Copper River. The truck was towing a trailer which was loaded with a fish wheel. After passing us the truck continued upstream until it was out of sight. Now I ask you; who launches a fish wheel at 1:40 AM.

I had a strong sense of unfinished business or I need to come back to this place as we left the Wrangell - St Elias National Park this morning. A visit to the Park Information Center only served to strengthen that sense, as I talked to a Ranger named Neil (a man my age) who told us how he flies into the mountains to make a base camp from which he undertakes a series of day walks. That's something I could do!

From Glenallen our route followed the Tok cutoff to Tok and then eventually along the Alcan towards Haines Junction. A few miles onto the cutoff we picked up the CB chatter of a couple of truckies traveling in convoy along the same route. They were two Seattle area based drivers returning home after an Alaskan run. We followed them all the way (about 130 miles) to Tok and politely listened to their continuous chatter the whole way. It was like listening to a couple of buddies sitting at a bar chatting. I think it was quite a cultural experience for Nina.

We stopped in Tok for groceries so from that point onwards we no longer had the entertainment of our talking truckies. The road after Tok, towards the US-Canada border, is one that we drove 3 weeks ago and the difference is simply amazing. There is no snow to be seen, it is possible to pull off the road in many places, and the aspens and birch trees, plus other shrubs are showing lots of green. Also many of the road side business are now open as are some of the campgrounds. Deadman Lake is one of those and that is where we are for the night.