Make like a duck…..
That is fresh snow above the Matanuska Glacier. Since our goal for this trip is to maintain a temperature of 70 degrees or so, it means it’s time to go! All our ducks are in a row, supplies have been put on for a two week trip down the Alcan. Day one will be from Wasilla to Tok. Once in Tok we can get the required COVID test to enter Canada, do their online pre-registration, and get the last tank of fuel before crossing into $1.40 per litre.
Upon arrival at the Beaver Creak border crossing, we were prepared to be pulled aside and have MzDazy thoroughly searched. Damn Dirty Hippies in a bus! Right after hearing the dreaded French Canadian accent that had come with some of our more grueling boarder crossings in the past, the young lady boarder agents attention was drawn to a couple of motorcyclist that pulled up too close to a gate and set off an alarm. She then asked us the minimum questions and sent us merrily on our way. I am pretty sure it did not go as smoothly for the guys on the motorbikes.
The scenery in the Yukon is absolutely gorgeous, but you are looking at one of the very few stretches of good pavement in the entire territory.
Day two ended after 389 miles of driving in Whitehorse, YT. We found a nice campground and checked in. Of the many open sites, they assigned us this one. It had about 6 inches of clearance on each side for me to back into it. When I stuck it in there on the first swing, a lady that had been standing by watching shot me a thumbs up and a “nice park”. When we arrived in Whitehorse and stopped for fuel, I noticed some coolant leaking. Upon further investigation I found a failed hose coupling. A quick trip to a hardware store right before closing and we were fixed. I am glad we were in a city when that surfaced. we are about to drive for very long stretches with no amenities at all.
Day three we set out along the Yukon River headed for Watson Lake. This bridge is one of only 4 that span the Yukon River. We had crossed one of the others a few weeks back near the Arctic Circle.
After a few days on the road, you find new ways to entertain ourselves. We started playing a game of “what does that cloud look like?” We decided this one was Yoda from Star Wars.
Upon arrival in Watson Lake, we found that the “nicest RV Park on the Alcan” was a gravel lot behind a truck stop. We decided we would take a break and tour through the world famous sign post forest and then keep going to what was going to be our next nights stop at Laird Hotsprings.
Hey, that’s close to where we are headed!
We used to live there for a while.
Three of our daughters live here.
Martha’a brother and sister live near here.
Back on the road after stretching our legs we came across this herd of Bison lounging on the side of the highway. Right after this picture was taken a few of the males decided it was time for a little head butting. That was quite the sight.
After 418 miles, we pulled into Laird River Hot Springs, got the last campsite, put on our bathing suits and went for a much needed soak.
These hot springs are in a very peaceful setting and even with a few kids splashing around we relaxed and soaked the road away.
We decided day four would be short, 40 miles, to Mucho Lake, BC.
Ruckus was very exited to have a lake day.
Nothing like a day at a lake with airplanes!
Ruckus talked me into joining him in the lake. For a lake at the top of the Northern Rockies it was not too cold.
They pulled this Turbine Otter out to do a 100 hour inspection. It was its first one for the summer. That was foreign to me, as we would be on the sixth or seventh for the summer on the floatplanes in Sitka. Thats a lot of airplane to only fly 100 hours in a summer.
Northern Rockies Lodge was a nice day off in Muncho Lake B.C. A really cool fire pit at our camp site.
Day five was over the top of the Rockies. It was like driving through a wild animal park.
These two wanted to race. MzDazy won in the end. We stopped for the night in Dawson Creek BC. 412 miles and that finishes up the Alaska Highway portion of our trip. Dawson Creek is mile zero of the Alaska Hwy.
Day six put us out onto the plains where MzDazy can stretch her legs…. It is Kilometers per hour. The end of the day was in Drayton Valley AB where after a mere 336 miles we stopped for the night.
Calgary is a big city. 1.3 million people and they were all on the freeway this Saturday afternoon. We went right by to High River AB. We explored the town and took Ruckus for a swim in the river. That night we stayed at at a Harvest Host location, High River Brewing. We met some really nice people that were traveling along the southern part of Canada waiting for the US to open the boarder to Canadians so they could snowbird. The beer was good, we BBQed in the parking lot and put day 7 to bed.
Day 8 was a lot of driving across the plains, first in Alberta and then in Northern Montana. It was nice to switch the speedometer back to MPH, but man we sure slowed down! We saw multiple of these mile long trains pulling oil tanks. That is what happens when you halt pipelines….
Not a whole lot going on in Northern Montana. We did se some Antelope play……
With all the fires burning in the west, visibility was pretty poor. We called it a day in Butte, MT after 433 miles. Notice the other Alaskans heading south.
After the sun set in Butte, the lights came on and we realized we were right next to the city. We could not see it through the smoke.
Day 9 took us into Idaho. We took a secondary highway that cut 70 miles off of our route and greatly improved the scenery. 450 miles to kick it in.
3010 miles from the South Hollywood Airstrip in Wasilla, Alaska to B&D Walton Ranch in Emmett, Idaho and a return to summer at 95 degrees. Dang that’s hot!