Mile 16793

 We leave Glennallen, AK this morning and continue our way on AK-1 to the Tok take-off.  But first we get a nice cloud free view of Mt. Drum, Mt. Sanford, and Mt. Wrangell.  Being early pays off.  

Mount Drum, Glennallen, AK

 The road continues like it was yesterday, in a very bad condition.  The dips and hives on the road are testing the suspension and if going a bit too fast it will lift you off your seat or let you slum into it.  On top come the sheer endless stretches of gravel road.  The way to Tok, AK is one of the worst stretches of any road on this trip thus far.  With the Alaska Range to our left and the Wrangell Mountain Range to our right with continue to Slana, AK.  

Wrangell Mountain Range

 In Tok we stop for lunch at Fast Eddy's and hope that joining the ALCAN here going to the border will improve the driving.  But nothing changes, and shortly before the Alaska - Yukon (US - CAN) border we are stopped by a road closure because of some forrest fires being left and right of the ALCAN.  We sit here for about three hours or so before the road is re-opened by US customs and we can continue the 20 miles to the Canada border check point.  

Waiting for the US Border Exit to open

The reason for the 20 mile road closure

 But any idea of the road improving hereafter vanishes as the dips and hives, and a lot more gravel road continues.  It is a very exhausting driving, and late evening we reach Destruction Bay, YT at the Kluane Lake.  

No words needed

The scenery is beautiful with the St. Elias Mountains on one side, and the Dawson Range to our left.  But we are shocked to see how little water the lake has today compared to what we saw 11 years ago.  We have a quick dinner and then continue around the lake to Haines Junction, YT, turning North to Whitehorse, YT.  The road is now much better, worth to be called a 'highway'.  

Kluane and Dawson Range

Haines Junction, YT

 Since it is very late already, wildlife is pretty close to the road and difficult to see.  We see a mother moose and two calves right next to the road, and a little later we drive right through a herd of deer (I didn't see any of them until I was right amidst them).  Frightening how late one sees those animals at night.  We arrive in Whitehorse at exactly midnight and are greeted by a beautiful red fox strolling over the parking lot as we turn in.

 It has been a difficult driving day, lots of miles on a road anything else but a highway, and exhausted we fall asleep.

"Potholes and Bumps?  Welcome to the real world.  Every road has them.  They're there to be navigated, avoided, driven over, or through to the other side.  Don't keep driving into them."  -  Nora Roberts, American author