Day 14 of Ak trip
Miles: Haines Junction to Tok, Ak 298 miles
Hours 7
hours 45 minutes
We awake 6AM to full sun
with some cloud over mountain peaks at the Al Can hotel. It is 35 degrees with light frost but clear
air. Sunrise on the snowy peaks is
beautiful. At 10PM last night all of a
sudden the winds stopped and it got very still and it has stayed that way;
thankfully since it was whistling through our door. Can’t say enough about this husband and wife
owned hotel. Everything is immaculate,
many amenities, nice beds with lots of pillows.
Blackout curtains not very effective as sun didn’t set until well after
10PM and then twilight all night, sunrise 4:30AM. Solstice is June 21 and light will gain until
then. Anchorage is directly west on the
same latitude as Haines Jct as the crow flies.
Not too interested in
available restaurants. Our room coffee
maker and pastries bought at the wonderful Mile 33 Roadhouse get us going. And we haven’t seen any BC/Alberta smoke
here.
We follow coastal
mountains to our west and their elevations are so high they are snow covered
and glaciated. There is evidence that
snow is still falling on even the lower peaks.
We cross over Jarvis River; our family really gets around. LOL. The creeks and rivers are very swollen with
melt. We stop off at Condon Creek along
the banks of the amazing Kluane Lake, hard to describe its size; through
strange events this lake drains into the Bering Sea. There is still ice clinging to the
shoreline. We have camped at Condon a
couple times and always stop for pics when passing through. It is known for grizzly bear activity. Only hard sided camping vehicles can be in
camp spaces. All tent campers must be
inside the electric bear fence and all their food must be cooked and cached
outside the fence. Luckily we see no
sign today.
As we progress the road
has very bad subsidence and potholes from frost heave. And we are in permafrost that is
unstable. We have to go slower to avoid
damage. From here for the rest of the
day’s travel we must accommodate the many road work crews who work hard to keep
the roads in good condition. Permafrost
data collection stations help with construction methods.
There are large braided
glacial fed rivers with wide rock bars.
The Wrangell Mountains are closest and highest at this point. Despite the coolness of early spring, the
Trumpeter and Tundra Swans are building their high nests in the middle of small
lakes for protection. Today we see the areas
of thousands of acres of past forest fires in Yukon and Ak. Trees are mostly blacks spruce that catch
fire easily and aspen trees.
Cross Canada border
station at Beaver Creek; the US border station is 40KM fruther. No problem getting through customs. We go back to AK time. (It’s confusing. YT is on Mountain Time different from BC on
Pacific Time. In winter Ak and YT are 2 hours difference; but since Ak uses
daylight savings time, we are only 1 hour difference. Makes our brains hurt) Rain is off and on and mountains disappear
behind low clouds. But we are away from
mountains and enter the rolling hills of interior Alaska where thousands of
lakes and rivers run.
We enter Tok and take
advantage of our early arrival to visit the visitors center. Haven’t been in there for years. The log cabin is amazing, the largest in the
state at 7000sq ft. Had to take many
pics. The displays were very well done and learned a few new things. Checked in at Tok Cabins and RV park; we
reserved a cabin which we have done in the past. Very small with some amenities. The heater is not working well so sweat
shirts to bed tonight. Stop at Fast
Eddy’s for early dinner. Looks very
rustic on outside but refined on the inside décor. And food is always good, staff friendly.
Back at cabin to update blog, call Brenna saying we’ll be in mid afternoon although we are warned there is snow in Glenallen. We hope it’s just wet and take our time. Glenallen had big floods a few weeks ago from ice jammed rivers, that’s cleared out by now. Dean has started Little League and we will his best fans; Quinn likes hikes and parks so we will be busy.
So grateful for safety and kindness of strangers.
Nighty night.
