Cottonwood, YT

Another driving day. No animals at all. This was one of our better days with sun all day and lots of scenery. We stopped to have a snack and there was water(we thought) all over the floor. The slide was closed so we weren’t too sure where the water was coming from.

Once we stopped for the night we discovered our minor disaster. A soda can exploded in the refrigerator. This happens from the bouncing down the road. I now have a very clean refrigerator and the floor has been mopped several times and is no longer sticky.

Our campsite view

Whitehorse, YT

Today was another driving day, we saw our second fox but other than that no animals. Road was OK, some good views of the mountains. Did manage to add another day to Denali. We are now at 4, I would really like to get to 5 or 6 days.

One of the unique things we are seeing are unmanned gas stations. We are seeing more and more of them. Credit card only. Seems to work well.

Heavy traffic, pretty much the norm

Our first casualty of the trip

Thisis a Weathervane, would look great in FC

Miles Canyon, one of the many ways to get to the Gold, very dangerous in high water

Columnar Jointing of the Basalt rock

How would you like this decoration in the front yard?

Road to Teslin Lake

Brown Bear, much larger than the Black Bear

Bison with several youngsters

 

I didn't realize how big he really was

This was primarily a driving day and it was misting most of the day. We are heading for Yukon. The main highway became a dirt road for 30 miles, had to slow down to 25 mph. Then we encountered construction 2 or 3 times. No animals. When we reached Teslin Lake we decided to go to a commercial campground for the night. That will probably not be an option for the next 2 or 3 nights. We will either park in a rest area or find a govt. park.

The road difference between Yukon and BC is very noticeable. Rougher roads, no signage for curves or step downgrades, brush growing right next to the road so you can’t see any animals that might surprise you. Makes for very aware of driving. The entire trip so far we have not seen and police or accidents. Not many cars of RVs on the road yet. We are a bit early and most people do the Top of the World Highway on their way up. We will do it on the way back.

We have managed to find a 3-night reservation in Denali, just lucked out. June is the preferred month for visibility. We hope to add days on once we get there. I’ll keep trying when I have internet available.

Before going to Denali we will stop in Fairbanks for a week, catch up on things, haircuts, food, touring, rest. It will have been a long drive.

Watson Lake

We were talking to our neighbor this morning and he had a slight encounter with 2 bears. Last night he went to take the trash to the trash can(bear proof) and there was a bear at the trash can. He came back with his trash. Earlier he had gove fishing and saw a bear swimming across the lake, he went the other way with his boat. Makes life interesting.

Today started out raining. Since we had no internet we drove down the road to the hotel to check on the forecast. This should be a scenic driving day and if the weather would be clear tomorrow we would just stay another day. No such luck, rain was forecast every day for the next week. We left and I drove in the rain.

The rain eased off and driving ending up being OK. We saw a lot of animals today: Bison, brown bear(had been seeing black bears), lots of them. All in all a good day for animal viewing and so-so for driving.

When we got to Watson Lake(Signpost Forest) the skies opened up. We kept going to our planned stop in Yukon Govt. CG. Decided we didn’t fit too well and went back to town and found a commercial campground. If the weather is OK we will stop by the Signpost Forest tomorrow before we leave.

Well tomorrow is here and the weather is slightly better. 

Watson Lake Signpost Forst

Traveling to Muncho Lake

Today was just a 120-mile drive to Muncho Lake. We started out seeing 3 bears, probably triplets. We stopped but they ran into the woods. During the day we continued to see a bear, then some elk, then Big Horn sheep and some deer. A busy day for us with the animals.

Yesterday we had checked on the smoke and the forecast was for the smoke to not be a problem. Someone had it right!! No haze at all, overall a good weather day.

I have been praising the roads being in such good condition. Until today. Happy we were only driving 120 miles, that was plenty. Rough road, no potholes, just very bumpy. Also today, a straighter road would have been nice, just very long, tiring drive. We sure hope tomorrow is better. 

Every corner we turn is more beautiful scenery

This is the true color of Muncho Lake, glacier fed

Big Horn sheep, they were busy climbing the rocks

Elk, with Velvet still on

 

Fort Nelson

This might be a repeat. Life is getting a bit confusing with the backlog of entries.

Over the last few weeks we have noticed that there is very little night. When we were here years ago we golfed at midnight and came home around 2 AM, the light was so bright we had no problems golfing and it looked like dawn.

Sunset is now around 11 PM and sunrise around 4 AM. Throws your whole body rhythm off.

We are having rain and smoke problems and will stop at the Visitor Center in Fort Nelson to see the forecast. Fort Nelson is the beginning of the scenic part of the Alaska Highway and if we need to wait a few days we will.

Along the way we saw 6 bear along the side of the road. British Columbia did a good job in cutting back the trees a good 50’ from each side of the road so you can see the animals and avoid hitting them. Most of the bears we are see are young, probably 2 year olds that Mom has told to leave. Road is still in excellent condition, no road repair, no frost heaves, no gravel. Very little traffic. Nicely paved. Totally unexpected.

We parked at the Elks Lodge in Fort Nelson and went to find a local restaurant for lunch. Found a good one and Tom had Quiche while I had a Chipolte Burrito. Both were excellent.

We went on to the visitor center and were shown the smoke forecast for the next few days. Looks like it will be very clear the rest of the drive. In the meantime it is pouring rain and the street light in the parking lot at Elks keeps going on and off due to the storm.

It is now 7 PM, blue sky, brilliant sun. Hope tomorrow is the same.

We are only traveling 100-150 miles a day and just taking our time, no rush on our part.

Traveling to Fort Nlson

Today the next leg of our adventure begins. The Alaska Highway for 1500+ miles. The highway officially ends in Delta Junction, Alaska.

Our first stop was to get some propane. Once that was done we headed down the Alaska Highway starting at Mile 0. The road was in very good shape, didn’t have any frost heaves or much rough road. Only had 2 construction sites. What surprised us was no one was on the road heading North, eerie. We have had very hazy weather for a few days, since we are getting into a scenic part of the trip this was disappointing. At one of the construction stops we were chatting with the flagman and found out the haze was smoke from forest fires in Alberta. This seemed strange since Alberta is east of us. He explained we were in a bowl of sorts where the wind sometimes comes from the east. Hopefully we will drive out of it. Going to be a bummer if we can’t see the scenery.

We saw a bear along the side of the road, no picture. The road though in good condition had some big downhills, 10% downgrades for a couple miles, 2 or 3 of them.

Our car suffered today. Filthy. Had a moment of panic. The car needs to have the ignition turned on and in neutral. We need to keep a key in the ignition to get this to work, with a key in the ignition. This means we can’t lock the car with the clicker or an extra key. If the car gets locked, there is no way to get into it again. Been there, done that. Tom starts unhitching the car but first he needs to put it into park so it doesn’t go rolling down a hill or toward the MH, been there, done that. He couldn’t get into the car, it was locked!! Uh-oh!!! We tried another clicker and that one worked, dead battery in his clicker. Sigh-of-relief………………

We found a Provincial Park and parked right along the river. Hope to see some moose or bear this evening. So far we are the only people in the park. No internet, no phone, no tv at all. People have started pulling in so we will have company tonight. Everyone is a polite camper, leaves 2-3 sites between each rig. Provincial Parks are interesting. There are no hosts, honor system for paying in many, some have a ranger that comes around, most don’t. Canadian money is treated the same as US money. The price is $20, either currency. If you don’t have Canadian you are not given the exchange rate which is 25%-30% discount. You are paying an extra $5-$6 for using US money.

Tomorrow we have a short drive to Fort Nelson. We will stay at the Elks Lodge and go over to the visitor center. We have heard and read that it is a good one to visit. 

 

Our Campsite along the river

A bit muddy