Taking wine to and through Canada to Alaska

[tullamore]

Thanks. It looks like if I can stay on the 12 driving hours per day pace, I'm in Canada 2 1/2 days before I get to Alaska. And honestly, this part of BC seems a lot like the USA. Same ubiquitous strip mall stores, same freeway, same gas stations. Seriously Chevron seems to rule BC. Every exit! But I saw my first Tim Horton's in Chilliwack (this is actually a Canadian town)!

And, I need some Canadian $$. I leave at dawn and where I'm headed there isn't much! I already like BC (only 2nd time here). The 5 people I met were polite and nice. I could live in Canada. It reminds me of when I lived in Minnesota. Haha.

Anyway, Alaska is further than I thought. And Canada is bigger than I thought. Northbound and down, loaded up and ........

I'm doing this next year in more days and on a motorcycle.

Thanks. It looks like if I can stay on the 12 driving hours per day pace, I'm in Canada 2 1/2 days before I get to Alaska. And honestly, this part of BC seems a lot like the USA. Same ubiquitous strip mall stores, same freeway, same gas stations. Seriously Chevron seems to rule BC. Every exit! But I saw my first Tim Horton's in Chilliwack (this is actually a Canadian town)!

And, I need some Canadian $$. I leave at dawn and where I'm headed there isn't much! I already like BC (only 2nd time here). The 5 people I met were polite and nice. I could live in Canada. It reminds me of when I lived in Minnesota. Haha.

Anyway, Alaska is further than I thought. And Canada is bigger than I thought. Northbound and down, loaded up and ........

I'm doing this next year in more days and on a motorcycle.

yes welcome
big country we have - lots to see -
the west coast is slowly putting some good wines on the map
enjoy your double double at Tims!

 

[SLM]

I lived 15 years in AK. Every year we stocked up on reds (salmon, not wine) in the Copper river and silvers in Valdez. Miss those days.

Tullamore, any favorite BC wines? I discovered Sandhill a few years ago and now I look for it every time I visit.

 

[tullamore]

Haywire - okanagan valley - the Gamay is great the pinot noir is also good
- i'm a big fan gamay (such an under rated wine imo)- i make a lot gamay - get grapes from Niagara on the lake in Ontario -
similar temps to burgundy

 

[CDrew]

Just to finish this off, this was a wild ride. I went up to Alaska on the Cassiar highway in BC. Route 37. It's awesome, wild and unforgiving. No people, minimal gas stops, and lots of wildlife and mosquitoes. I came back down on the Alcan Highway. A bit wider road, but wild. Saw bears, bison, moose, foxes, bald eagles, a gray wolf, and Porcupines. It was great. Camping out of my van was challenging, given the mosquito pressure, Driving 600-700 miles per day it's 5 days each way. BC and Yukon Territory are HUGE. And it's slow too, with lot's of road repair, gravel road, pilot cars, and frost heaves. Between Whitehorse and Tok the road is really, really bad. But the wine made it to Alaska and was consumed there.

But if you go there, be ready to fix your own tires and be self sufficient on food and water. I camped along the road, and BC and YT are kind of set up for this. But this is an amazing trip, and highly recommended. I may do it again, but it might be a year or two. The only part I did not enjoy was Sacramento to Seattle on I-5. But driving to Alaska is spectacular and I hope you get to do it. From Sacramento it was 7500 miles round trip. A long way, but well worth it.

 

[CDrew]

It appears you've chosen all fishing spots. Should be good timing for sockeye and kings in the rivers.

So, the fishing report:

Along the way I detoured to Tangle Lakes which is about 20 miles deep on the Denali Highway. The grayling fishing in the Tangle river was very good and I caught 5-6 in about an hour on dry flies. Fun, but grayling do not get very big and a 5wt rod (smallest I had) was overkill. I have a perfect 3 wt that I should have packed but did not. Mosquitos were terrible and I forgot bug spray, so that night's camp was tough.

Then, I drove to Valdez to meet some friends who had rented an RV and were staying there. I was driving to the pipeline terminus and saw a whole bunch of folks fishing on the side of the harbor. It turns out they were fishing for Pink Salmon. So I had to give it a go and caught 2 pinks in about 30 minutes. We could have caught a bunch more, but we had what we needed for dinner and stopped harassing the fish. Pink salmon are OK tasting when fresh out of the ocean. Not my favorite for sure, but nice to have super fresh salmon to eat.

I then took a couple of days to drive to Anchorage and then to Soldotna on the Kenai River. My wife flew into Kenai and we met up there. The red (sockeye) salmon fishing was excellent and over a week we caught enough to bring back 100 pounds of fillets and fill the freezer. I also caught a rainbow trout that puts all others to shame. Almost 8 pounds! If you are used to catching 6-8 inch Sierra Rainbows this is a huge trout. I put him back.

We drove to Seward from Soldotna for a day of Ocean fishing and that contributed another 30 pounds of halibut and rockfish. My wife caught a nice big silver(coho) salmon that we ate with our group when we got back and it was delish.

To make this wine related, I thought the Riesling I made went very well with butter poached Halibut, and the Primitivo worked great with the Red Salmon sashimi. My wife brought all the fish back on her flight and our freezer is again looking pretty well stocked. So the fishing was very good and the drive really topped off this great trip.

And just so you know this isn't a "fish story":

"Chicken" Halibut
Pre-Fillet Pink Salmon
Red Salmon with Kenai River behind.