Tetlin Wildlife Refuge

June 16th

Left Kluane Lake camp, again, so grateful for continued water-front spaces. On to the really
choppy, pot-holed, ridge-waved Al-Can! What a ride all day. Poor Mark had to be totally
focused on the road, weaving when the other side of the road was clear, whenever possible,
when there was an orange flag signaling "beware," of some form of surprise bump. There were
several dusty, gravel stretches, and when we stopped at "Buckshot Betty's" in Beaver Creek, at
the end of the roughest patch, "M" was covered, not just dusted, with layers of dirt on steps,
ladders, white body parts. Tea-time was cherry pie shared, and then dashing through heavy
down-pour to wipe myself down with a towel, for the rest of the day's journey.

The Tetlin Wildlife Refuge with thousands of acres, is where we visited the center, and the
volunteer was helpful in pointing out two free campgrounds. Deadman Lake is where Mark
stayed his last two trips, and where we are now, parked in the gentle black spruce woods with
the lake visible through the trees' narrow trunks and limbs. (An aside: the black spruce beetle
has killed mountains full of these trees, and many still inhabit the dead ones. These spindly
trees are slow to grow, and some may be over a hundred years old. Fires tend to wipe them out
easily, and then the heat releases sap from them, enabling them to re-seed themselves for the
future.)

Dinner was moist salmon burgers again, grilled in-between downpours, with balmy aftermath.
At 7, we attended the female ranger's delightful presentation on ravens of the north, which was
perfect, since I asked Mark a few days ago about the locals' beliefs in these inquisitive, very
large and ever-present black birds. They have been fun to watch whenever we have camp, or
just touring, hiking. Something about these northern ravens make them stand out, than the
ones in Idaho---more gumption, presence. Kaylin was a very enthusiastic, animated lecturer,
story-teller who clearly enjoys her work. She lives in Tok, one of our first destinations tomorrow,
the official U.S. town, after entering customs earlier today.

She shared how some natives here and in Canada, share many creation stories during which
raven is a godly figure, who designed and created all creatures including humans. The other
character is the trickster in other myths. Kaylin gave us 5 attendees (a middle-aged gal from
Santa Rosa with her elderly lab mix dog, a young woman from L.A., and similar-aged man as
we, from OR) a wide perspective of raven's mischievous antics, e.g. stealing food from climbers
at the top of the highest peak in Canada, Mt. Logan, or Prudhoe Bay in the winter (where raven
is the only bird that sticks around there in the winter, and here, where he is one of maybe 3
other fowl that stay here for the winter, stashing caches of food on ground and higher, and
remembering where each is). She shared photos of ravens sliding down snowy, icy house roofs
on their backs, and just having a good 'ol time playing, doing somersaults in the sky. They were
called the "wolf birds" by natives, since they have a symbiotic bond to wolves, latter opening up
carcasses of caribou, moose, etc., and allowing the birds to eat side-by-side with them. It was
an informative and pleasant way to socialize this evening, and so casually comfortable.

As we walked back to our camp, we visited the lake at its boat launch area pier first, spotted a
huge beaver swimming smoothly, quickly, and who did not seem intimidated by our presence at
all. Then, a young man came to filter water into his stash, who is bicycling with another pal, and
his part shepherd-looking dog to Boise, from Anchorage, where he lives! He is from Spokane,
where his family is, and where he thinks he'll most likely return to, eventually, and the male
buddy is from Boise. Our guy is a pediatric nurse, and his friend is a nurse, too. They expect to
make their mark by sometime in August, or 60 days. Fun adventure for them. He has a cart for
his dog, who also foots it periodically throughout each riding day. We wished them safe travels.

Mark is experimenting with one of his antenna that is carted around in "M," enabling better ham
frequencies. If he were to break down in the middle of the Al-Can, he could radio a local ham,
who could then advise him and connect him with the appropriate resource to assist him out of
the jam. It is also fun to listen in on others' polite and light-hearted conversations occasionally,
since Mark has the radio on throughout the drive. For emergency support, that is why he is
involved in Coeur d'Alene, with his club and the sheriff office, for hospitals, in case of power
outages, and the ham radio is available for support.

He is now typing an updated email on the ham system, to the kiddos and others right now. I am
fatiguing-down, with a soft sleepiness at 9, with dusk-like light ensuing. The light each night has
been varied with each kind of terrain, water, mountain view we've stayed by; some giving more
sleepless energy, and tonight, more slumber-goaled. A really interesting experience of the Al-
Can was the theme today, and camp at 4 p.m., seems to be the perfect end of driving time, if we
have to be on the road.