Today will be somewhat monumental to us as we will end up in the Yukon Territory (Province) for the first time. And, as we drive about 10 miles north of Liard Hot Springs we see our first bear, a black bear! In fact during the morning drive we see 3 black bears. We also see herds of bison which use the ditches as their pastures. There appear to be a lot of calves. We also see more caribou in herds rather than singletons previously seen. Of course we take some photos of the bears and bison.
We also see what is a lynx (bobcat) as it ran across the road in front of us. And, this cat did not have a tail. I don’t know if bobcats are this far north. So, for now we are leaning on it being a lynx. It was too fast for a photo. :o(
The Alaskan Highway is in unbelievably good shape. Yes, there are the occasional pothole, but mostly it drives much like blacktop roads in the States. Rough places are for the most part clearly marked. In the Yukon they don’t always put markers out. We do see road crews out making fixes.
We cross the border into the Yukon and stop at Lake Watson, home of the Signpost Forest. This is a fascinating place where poles are put in the ground and visitors from far, wide, and near can put up a sign. We walked among the signs until Peggy finds a Nebraska license plate. Photo op! There are also old machines used on the original building of the Alaska Hwy. and a museum which we do not go into.
We stop for fuel at a remote station. A little old lady comes out about the time I start to fill up. I ask her if she is offended that I started without her. She smiles and says,”Heck no!” She tells me that they suffered through a long, cold, snowy winter and that she is glad to have spring temps. The daily temps have been in the 50’s since Liard.
Last night Peggy and I remembered asking the Laird Hot Springs gate attendant about what we could expect this coming 3 day weekend for camping accommodations. She said to beware because all the “crazies” come out to camp as Victoria Day is like our Memorial Day and everyone goes camping.
With that in mind and looking at the map and the number of days until we’d like to be in Wasilla, AK, I suggest a side trip...to Skagway, AK! We look at a map and realize it is only 138 miles off the Alaska Hwy. We can stop and camp at Teslin Lake today, then tomorrow (Fri.) drive down to Skagway for the weekend. Monday we would then resume our trip on the AK Hwy towards our destination. Five days should give us plenty of time and being in the USA over the Canadian Victoria Day holiday would work.
So we are camped at the Yukon RV Park by the Teslin Lake. They have a very good restaurant and...they have homemade strawberry rhubarb pie! We originally were going to Mukluk Annie’s for their advertised grilled salmon, but they are closed for the season yet.
Today we drove about 286 miles. We did hit a 12 km stretch of road repair. The asphalt had been stripped and we followed a pilot car through at best wet mud. The front of our camper got a very good spattering of it. But we still remain amazed at how good the condition of the Alaska Highway is overall.
We are 130 miles from Skagway. Skagway is about 760 miles from Wasilla. That means we are approximately 2900 miles from Omaha today. We are making progress and having a good time doing it!
We are 130 miles from Skagway. Skagway is about 760 miles from Wasilla. That means we are approximately 2900 miles from Omaha today. We are making progress and having a good time doing it!
We have been without phone or Internet services for the past two days. Hopefully the Yukon RV Park Restaurant’s wifi is working! Ah, good, the restaurant has wifi! I can get these updates and photos posted. Remember our photos are at http://picasaweb.google.com/taviking22
No comments:
Post a Comment