Whitehorse to historic mile 1169, Alaska highway

What an incredible day. For a change we awoke to sunny skies with bonus mild temperatures. We drove about 240 miles with non-stop gorgeous scenery. The route was all at ~low elevation, mostly about 700 meters (the GPS is set to metric now so we can use it as the speedometer without doing math).

We were always in sight of mountains, mostly snow capped.

I had read that the highway from Whitehorse to the Alaska border was the worst section of the Alaska Highway to drive because frost heaves are the rule of the day. It was quite lumpy at times, and we definitely slowed down, but it was much better than last year according to someone we met along the way.





Beware of orange signs and flags. They can mark serious heaves.










A bit of construction to level out things.

A rare sight on the Alaska Highway - an intersection and a decision as to which way to go.

This is Haines Junction, in the Yukon, yet all the destination choices on the signs are in Alaska.

The southern shore of Kluane Lake.

We drove around the end of the lake across a large aluvial fan (?) - huge expanse of gravel that looked like it must be under running water sometimes.

Sheep warning. They were in the mountains although we didn't see them - yet.

Lunch stop along still quite frozen Kluane Lake.

We didn't see sheep in the hills until we dug out the binoculars.

 

Oh, there they are.

Roadside signs were common telling what was available in the community ahead.

I was surprised to see electricity featured along with fuel, food, lodging, etc. It appears you can also get cell phone coverage.

From a Yukon communities web site, I read that mail is delivered here three days a week, and a bank is open Mondays and Fridays. Schooling only goes to 8th grade, then one has to move or board the kids at Whitehorse or Haines Junction for high school. Wow. What a difference being this remote.

We drove farther than planned, stopping at Discovery Yukon Lodgings, a park recommended in Church's guide book. As we approached, the proprietors were just removing barrels blocking the driveway. If we had been 15 minutes earlier, we would have thought them closed as others in our fleet did to their dismay. Good thing we slept in this morning.

The owners met us and explained that they were not fully open as they were waiting for a fuel delivery, and they'd be shutting off the generator when they went to bed. As a result we'd get a reduced price which they would come by to get later. We mentioned we didn't need the generator, but we did take advantage of it.

The place has an interesting collection of stuff around. Amanda, who showed us to our campsite, took off to town (?). A fellow (turned out to be her husband, Bob, a fun guy) started to chat with us. I was looking at an old military vehicle that was used in the construction of the highway. He said "would you like a ride? It runs". We sort of declined, but he proceeded to start it up, then told me to get in and take it for a spin around the grounds which we did. We were glad the property was flat as the brake pedal went to the floor when I tried to stop. It is a 1942 Dodge 6-wheel-drive open truck.

He told us quite a bit about the history of the highway then said we should take a nearby Kawasaki mule (ATV) down to the bridge to see some of the original wood that was still evident from the 1942 bridge. We started to walk to the bridge when he came driving up in the mule and again offered it, this time mentioning something about a bear. We took the mule.


We may have brought the campground business as about 10 other rigs pulled in after our debut for the season.


Today is the first we've encountered many mosquitoes probably attributable to the pond on the property. Won't be the last I suspect.  

[Actually, we never were bothered by them again. Timing is important.]

Bob lit the campfire which we enjoyed. We got to meet more of our classmates.

We would highly recommend this campground. If you are early or late in the season you should email or call them to confirm that they are open. When we were there, their phone wasn't working (see next post for how that works), but email was.

Wildlife for the day - much less than yesterday - 3 bald eagles before we got out of Whitehorse, a bunch of Dall's sheep high up on a mountain, and 1 grizzly.





Today: 244 miles, 328 photos! Total miles 3563.

Watson Lake to Whitehorse

When we arrived at Watson Lake yesterday, we passed up the signpost forest, for which Watson Lake is known. We did see it on the way by. Our new friends, the Coffeys, made a sign to post. When I said we hadn't, Mike asked how people would know we passed through Watson Lake. I replied "a trail of credit card slips".

Rather than paint a sign, Ginnie headed off to the laundry as we had exhausted our supply of tidy whities, and it was time to refresh. We stayed at the Downtown RV park (in a gravel parking lot) as the one we were headed to wasn't open. The Downtown had great facilities, clean laundry, clean washrooms (a Canadian term), but it is just a gravel lot although fine for a hit-and-run like we were making. All sites had full hookups. WiFi was marginal from our site.

Chalk up another wet start with moderate rain in the morning. This seems to coincide with outdoor plumbing chores (dumping), but a raincoat and hat kept me dry. While I was playing with the plumbing, Ginnie hoofed it to the adjacent grocery for a few supplies.

Next stop, the Petro Canada station across the way for a $180 fill-up, then off we go. It was the first station where I couldn't pay at the pump, and I was surprised I didn't have to pre-authorize the purchase. I did mentally calculate how many beaver bucks we had in case Mastercard got cranky again. All was good.

Another RV pulled up at the pumps in a class A diesel. He looked over the pump for a card reader. I said that there isn't one, just start pumping. He was incredulous. We chatted a bit about fuel prices, then he said "You didn't come up here to save money, did you?" Good point.







We had light rain and low ceilings, wondering how much spectacular scenery we were missing. After 11:00, the weather cleared and we had lifted spirits and a more scenic ride.












Very low critter count.  Just one something, not moose, not deer, not sheep, not sure.

We are bad at the guess-the-critter.

A common aspect of driving on the Alaska Highway - no one in sight ahead, ...












... and often no one in the rear view mirror, although this shot has one set of lights behind. Traffic!


It may be very different during more typical tourist times. This is May, not July, after all, and many businesses haven't yet opened for 'the season'.

Lunch stop was at an overlook just before crossing the Teslin River.

We got to Whitehorse mid afternoon, checked in at the Hi Country RV Park, then drove into town looking for something to see. Given the time (nearing 4:00), a number of possibilities were closing.


A trolley runs along the river.

Whitehorse's log cabin skyscraper.

We ended up driving back to the Alaska highway to the Beringia Interpretive Center which is dedicated to the land bridge between Siberia and North America during the last ice age. We had an incredible time and learned much about the land bridge, glaciation, and how critters including homo sapiens got here. It was fascinating. Two curators spent a lot of time with us. They kept asking if we had questions, and I said it was information overload. A great find.





We didn't have time for the museum of transportation next door. I did get photos and a video of a DC-3 wind vane!



We capped of the evening with a reading of "The Cremation of Sam McGee" by Robert Service as we sit adjacent to Robert Service Way here in Whitehorse, YT.

We used the rented gas grill more than I expected.

I kept looking around for hungry bears, just in case.












Today's miles ~280, total 3319.

Toad River, BC to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

The day began with light rain and didn't seem promising. However before long the skies brightened and the sun appeared.

First critter of the day was a mule deer.

Driving along Muncho Lake.

Try to imagine it without the rain and ice.

Aluvian fan? Lots of runoff room, and history, no doubt.

Digression - we drove hundreds of miles of road without power or telephone poles, yet even remote campgrounds had good communications including high speed internet access, and the ability to process a credit card transaction. Even if the electricity was generated on-site, they were wired for communications.

There must be buried fiber optic line all along the Alaska Highway. Whenever we passed a stream crossing, there would be a pair of poles with cable rising out of the ground, crossing the stream overhead, then diving back underground. This scene was repeated dozens of times.

We came across the bison/buffalo sign (first warned by the electric sign outside Ft. Nelson yesterday).

and thirty seconds later, there they were.

First planned stop was a Provincial park at Liard Hot Springs. This is a natural geothermal pool near the Alaska Highway. There is a campground there, but our timing wasn't a good match to stay there, so after a night at Toad River, we just stopped for a soak at Liard. The story goes that most (some? ) truckers stop for a soak on the way by.

For $5 a head, we went in to check it out. Immediately behind us were Claire, Mike, and Claire's mother Shirley,  fellow trekkers on this junket whom we'd gotten to know by bumping into them along the way. There were three other RVs from our fleet staying at the park. We all trooped off to the spring. The water was delightful with varying temperatures in different spots. There was a slight sulfur odor, but not bad. I just developed a craving for an egg salad sandwich. The hot soak led to a great state of mellowness. Om.

Highly recommended.
 

My support team.

We drove for a bit before stopping alongside the road for lunch.

Then things got interesting in a good way. First there was a solitary Grizzly that crossed the road in front of us. We stopped for a few pictures. Unlike the previous grizzly photos which were far away, these were the width of a road away, but I had the window shut and my foot on the gas.

We didn't learn until a few days later that you shouldn't make eye contact with a grizzly. I hope it was looking at the big (alpha?) eye of the camera lens, and not mine.

 


I can sprint 40 mph, and I have these claws.

'Bye.











About two miles down the road, we came across a solitary black bear.

Who says you can't take it with you?

Checking in at the Watson Lake Downtown RV Park.










Today's miles: 201, total 3038.

Ft. St. John to Toad River - another driving day

We entered the Pacific time zone at the British Columbia border, which leads to either more sleep or an earlier start, take your pick.

We left Charlie Lake backtracking a bit to Ft. St. John to fuel up after a chat with the credit card company. In spite of my telling them our travel plans ahead of time, they shut down our card until I verified that we indeed were making all those strange and large charges in unusual (for us) places.



Along the way, we passed this hi-tech highway sign giving us the go-ahead.

The road was quite good to Ft. Nelson.

En route we saw many signs of extractive energy work places such as compressor stations, well heads, etc. This appeared to be a housing complex for field workers.

Near turn-offs to energy related sites, there were usually sign-post forests of small billboards advertising all sorts of stuff.

In Ft. Nelson we picked up a few more groceries, bought more fuel as, for a while, those things will get harder to find and more expensive by the mile km. In retrospect, the most expensive gasoline we bought was in Ft. Nelson.  Others who took more remote routes may have had different experiences.

The IGA market in Ft. Nelson was a gem. If you need vittles, be sure to stop.




Outside Ft. Nelson was the second (and final) hi-tech road sign which toggled between French and English. We did encounter bison on the autoroute later on as it warned - the next day.







The terrain had been quite flat, good road. We were making good time, around 100 km/hr.

However after a while things got lumpier with more hills, then downright mountainous. I didn't remember that this leg had us crossing the highest point on the Alaska highway. It did. Summit Lake is what it sounds like.

The truck underneath us is a V-10 Ford. The transmission has a setting for towing which we invoke on downgrades. It provides excellent engine braking and we've gone down many 10% grades with minimal use of the brakes.





Hi tech solar-powered moose warning signs with blinking yellow lights (caught in the off cycle here).

We spent the night at Toad River Lodge with a beaver pond right behind us.

I had offered mothers day dinner to Ginnie at Banff, but that didn't work, so she opted for a salmon burger and fries at Toad River Lodge. I still owe her.

After dinner, Ginnie noticed beaver activity in the pond. She went to alert Claire who expressed interest in the beaver lodge since that isn't something she encounters in Texas. Claire, husband Mike, and mother Shirley and we spent a long time watching the beaver family work on their lodge and dam until we all got chilled. We first met them (Claire, et al, not the beavers) in the parking lot at Lake Louise a few days back.


Along with the beavers were two muskrats, some geese, and assorted ducks.





A tent site with wet bar? Toad River is a funky campground.

There was a large piece of wood that was sawed off on both ends (not beaver work).

The bark was stripped (eaten?), but it wasn't something they had originated. They worked tirelessly trying to fit it into the lodge. The next morning, they were still pushing it around. They are busy, like their reputation says.

Yes, kids /grandkids, these are your parents / grandparents.

Today's miles 355, total 2837.