Whitehorse, Yukon Territory was certainly a more metropolitan city than those we have visited in the past few days. With 20,000 people, it had the typical Wal-Mart and a host of chain type restaurants. We spent a quiet evening at our campground. High Country RV Resort was one of the nicest places at which we have stayed on our trip. Just enough foliage between sites to give some degree of privacy and well cared for amenities. Best Internet connection we have had in a few days! While walking around the campground at 9:00 last night (still broad daylight…it wasn’t really dark until after midnight) we met a couple from Quebec City, Quebec. They warmed up to us immediately when we shared that Dennis’ father was born and raised in Quebec City. They were returning from Alaska and were very happy with their travels. They warned us about the rough roads we will be facing today (as has everyone else) and also gave a couple helpful hints we will take under advisement. The woman spoke very little, if any, English, but the man was somewhat fluent. He certainly did a better job with English than we would with French. They appeared to be happy to talk to us and I almost got the sense they wanted to hug us before we parted. Interesting how places and events can bring people closer together. They did mention that they saw more wildlife in northern Ontario than they had seen in the last few days of travel. Apparently, there is a significant moose population that is grazing on the highways and causing havoc with travel on the highways in northern Ontario.
It is Sunday morning and we are on the road by 7:15 AM. We have almost 400 miles to cover today and we have been warned that it will be a virtual roller coaster ride for much of it. Frost causes much of the heaving that creates the undulations. This will be a test of our chassis. All the cupboards, drawers, etc. are secured for this adventure.
The weather is overcast and rather dreary. This stretch of the road doesn’t offer significant photographic opportunities and maybe that is for the best. If we are to travel 400 miles on this terrain, we have to keep focused on the road. We see warnings for elk herds and caribou, but as of yet, we have not seen any. The only interesting thing we have seen is some poor schlep’s RV sewer hose in the middle of the road. Probably fell out of a compartment as his motor home bounced up and down the highway. He won’t be happy when he gets to his destination tonight. Might even cause a fight between husband and wife as they set up camp and argue about who did or didn’t lock the compartment or store the sewer hose. Does this sound like we might have experience in this arena?
We are beginning to see snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Certainly, they are not the size of the prized Denali, but are beautiful nonetheless. They are the tease for the beautiful mountains we will see ahead. Most of our travel today will still be in the Yukon Territory. We will be in Alaska for the last 90 miles or so. We will experience another time change today: Alaska Time. We will now be four hours behind our Michigan family and friends. We will be nine hours behind our friends in the U.K. They will be heading to bed when we are thinking about lunch.
Well, we may not be fortunate in the wildlife department; we certainly have been lucky in the bakery department. We come upon the Village Bakery. Very busy on a Sunday morning, filled with travelers, hikers and sports enthusiasts preparing for an action packed day. We move up to the counter, delighting in all the choices. Must be something healthy in this showcase. Not. Oh, well, you only live once. Out the door with our choices and a refill on our coffee, we “brace” ourselves for our “arduous” journey.
North of Haines Junction is Kluane National Park. It is a mecca for hikers and outdoor devotees. Its claim to fame is the Kluane Mountain Range, with peaks over 8,000 feet and Kluane Lake, a pristine and relatively undeveloped glacial lake. Nice to see lake that is uncluttered by cottages and boat docks. If you want to enjoy this lake, simply enjoy it.
What did I say about enjoy? As the road encircled the enormous lake, we came to an abrupt halt. The sign warned us to turn off any radio transmitters. Wouldn’t want to set off any dynamite. Gulp. After a short wait, a line of recreational vehicles, trucks with boat trailers and assorted other vehicles are led by a construction pilot around the area, moving slowly and cautiously attempting to avoid major surface craters. Once around the area,
we waved to all the drivers waiting on the other side, lined up like ducks behind their mother.
While that may have been the end of “organized construction”, the next 100 miles provided us a roller coaster ride without having to pay a theme park entrance fee. Webster defines roller coaster as, “any phenomenon, period, or experience of persistent or violent ups and downs, as one fluctuating between prosperity and recession or elation and despair“. That describes our experience. The real fun is when you bounce up and down for one undulation and that is immediately followed with another two or three. There must be a scientific name for that phenomenon. Next we came to areas sans asphalt. Plain old gravel was in its place. So now you had the roller coaster effect with the added feature of dust. We are sure that this will be worth it as we near Alaska. I mean, just think of what the early settlers endured. They were in wagons with iron wheels. They traveled without the luxury of a windshield, let alone leather seats.
Through all of this, we near the highest peak in all of Canada. Mount Logan, at 19,545 feet is only a thousand feet shy of Mount McKinley. Unfortunately, we were not able to see it. A small town in this area called Snag is also renown for the lowest recorded temperature in all of Canada. On February 3, 1947 the temperature dropped to 81.4 degrees below zero. The lowest recorded temperature in Alaska is 80 degrees below zero, recorded in 1971. We’ll take today’s temperature of 64 degrees above zero, thank you very much.
We finally hit the U.S. border, after 4,265 miles. Wow. We stopped to take
a picture of “Welcome to Alaska”. Upon entering U.S. Customs, we’re asked the cursory questions. Odd that no one was in line ahead of us. We are not used to that, being from a busy border city. We have waited a couple hours to cross in Port Huron, Michigan. Next to the border crossing station is a compound, apparently housing the border guards. Can you imagine being assigned to this station? What do you do on a Saturday night?
We will travel 93 miles to our stop for today, a town called Tok (rhymes with “poke”). With a population of 1,435, this town’s claim to fame is that it is the only town in Alaska where visitors to the state must go through twice: coming and going. It is also the sled dog capital of Alaska. The governor declared it “Mainstreet Alaska”.
While we didn’t take many pictures today, we are looking forward to tremendous photographic opportunities beginning tomorrow. We will travel a short 200 miles to Fairbanks, with a stop along the way to see Santa in North Pole, Alaska.
It is Sunday morning and we are on the road by 7:15 AM. We have almost 400 miles to cover today and we have been warned that it will be a virtual roller coaster ride for much of it. Frost causes much of the heaving that creates the undulations. This will be a test of our chassis. All the cupboards, drawers, etc. are secured for this adventure.
The weather is overcast and rather dreary. This stretch of the road doesn’t offer significant photographic opportunities and maybe that is for the best. If we are to travel 400 miles on this terrain, we have to keep focused on the road. We see warnings for elk herds and caribou, but as of yet, we have not seen any. The only interesting thing we have seen is some poor schlep’s RV sewer hose in the middle of the road. Probably fell out of a compartment as his motor home bounced up and down the highway. He won’t be happy when he gets to his destination tonight. Might even cause a fight between husband and wife as they set up camp and argue about who did or didn’t lock the compartment or store the sewer hose. Does this sound like we might have experience in this arena?
We are beginning to see snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Certainly, they are not the size of the prized Denali, but are beautiful nonetheless. They are the tease for the beautiful mountains we will see ahead. Most of our travel today will still be in the Yukon Territory. We will be in Alaska for the last 90 miles or so. We will experience another time change today: Alaska Time. We will now be four hours behind our Michigan family and friends. We will be nine hours behind our friends in the U.K. They will be heading to bed when we are thinking about lunch.Well, we may not be fortunate in the wildlife department; we certainly have been lucky in the bakery department. We come upon the Village Bakery. Very busy on a Sunday morning, filled with travelers, hikers and sports enthusiasts preparing for an action packed day. We move up to the counter, delighting in all the choices. Must be something healthy in this showcase. Not. Oh, well, you only live once. Out the door with our choices and a refill on our coffee, we “brace” ourselves for our “arduous” journey.
North of Haines Junction is Kluane National Park. It is a mecca for hikers and outdoor devotees. Its claim to fame is the Kluane Mountain Range, with peaks over 8,000 feet and Kluane Lake, a pristine and relatively undeveloped glacial lake. Nice to see lake that is uncluttered by cottages and boat docks. If you want to enjoy this lake, simply enjoy it.
What did I say about enjoy? As the road encircled the enormous lake, we came to an abrupt halt. The sign warned us to turn off any radio transmitters. Wouldn’t want to set off any dynamite. Gulp. After a short wait, a line of recreational vehicles, trucks with boat trailers and assorted other vehicles are led by a construction pilot around the area, moving slowly and cautiously attempting to avoid major surface craters. Once around the area,
we waved to all the drivers waiting on the other side, lined up like ducks behind their mother.While that may have been the end of “organized construction”, the next 100 miles provided us a roller coaster ride without having to pay a theme park entrance fee. Webster defines roller coaster as, “any phenomenon, period, or experience of persistent or violent ups and downs, as one fluctuating between prosperity and recession or elation and despair“. That describes our experience. The real fun is when you bounce up and down for one undulation and that is immediately followed with another two or three. There must be a scientific name for that phenomenon. Next we came to areas sans asphalt. Plain old gravel was in its place. So now you had the roller coaster effect with the added feature of dust. We are sure that this will be worth it as we near Alaska. I mean, just think of what the early settlers endured. They were in wagons with iron wheels. They traveled without the luxury of a windshield, let alone leather seats.
Through all of this, we near the highest peak in all of Canada. Mount Logan, at 19,545 feet is only a thousand feet shy of Mount McKinley. Unfortunately, we were not able to see it. A small town in this area called Snag is also renown for the lowest recorded temperature in all of Canada. On February 3, 1947 the temperature dropped to 81.4 degrees below zero. The lowest recorded temperature in Alaska is 80 degrees below zero, recorded in 1971. We’ll take today’s temperature of 64 degrees above zero, thank you very much.
We finally hit the U.S. border, after 4,265 miles. Wow. We stopped to take
a picture of “Welcome to Alaska”. Upon entering U.S. Customs, we’re asked the cursory questions. Odd that no one was in line ahead of us. We are not used to that, being from a busy border city. We have waited a couple hours to cross in Port Huron, Michigan. Next to the border crossing station is a compound, apparently housing the border guards. Can you imagine being assigned to this station? What do you do on a Saturday night?We will travel 93 miles to our stop for today, a town called Tok (rhymes with “poke”). With a population of 1,435, this town’s claim to fame is that it is the only town in Alaska where visitors to the state must go through twice: coming and going. It is also the sled dog capital of Alaska. The governor declared it “Mainstreet Alaska”.
While we didn’t take many pictures today, we are looking forward to tremendous photographic opportunities beginning tomorrow. We will travel a short 200 miles to Fairbanks, with a stop along the way to see Santa in North Pole, Alaska.
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