RV ALASKA - Alaska Highway Eastbound: Tok to Destructions Bay

Alan and I retraced our steps along the Alaska Highway from Tok to Destruction Bay to Whitehorse to Watson Lake.  It was at Watson Lake that we would head south along the Cassiar Highway through British Columbia instead of continuing back to Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek.  I thought about combining our three days of travel to Watson Lake into one post, but I would have had to leave out a lot of the photos I wanted to share.  Here we go, Day 1.

Date(s) – August 14th  

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 13,357

Wildlife Sightings to Date – Four swans.  Yup, that was the sum total of our wildlife sightings in the wilds of eastern Alaska and western Canada that day.  It’s funny.  For some reason, I always think of swans as being tropical birds.  I’ve been surprised at how many we’ve seen up north on this trip.

Our current tally of wildlife sightings is: 96 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 4 seagull chicks; 16 swans (including 2 fuzzy cygnets); 9 sea lions; 27 seals; 17 sea otters; 4 cow moose; 1 bull moose; 1 grizzly sow with 2 cubs; 1 back end of a grizzly bear; 6 black bears; 1 coyote; 1 snowshoe hare; 3 rabbits (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) – Without a doubt, the spectacular scenery along the Alaska Highway was the biggest highlight for us.  That’s one of the main reasons we made this trip – that and the wildlife.  Around every bend in the road (and there are LOTS of bends in the road), we found another beautiful vista.  Once we were back in Yukon Territory, we started seeing snow-capped mountains – those are my absolute favorite views!  I haven’t counted the number of photos I’ve taken, but I will when this is over.  Again, please forgive any dirty windshield shots.  Poor Alan was cleaning the windows at almost every gas stop, but you can only do so much when you’re logging that many miles.

We made it through the worst section of the Alaska Highway (Tok, Alaska, to Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory) without any damage to the truck or trailer.  Yay!  Of course, Alan was being very cautious.

When we came upon the “Welcome to Alaska” sign, it was still pretty early in the morning, and the parking lot was empty.  We were able to get a good photo of the truck and trailer at the sign – something we hadn’t been able to do on our way up since the lot was packed when we came through.

We knew we’d be spending our first night in Canada back at Congdon Creek Campground in Kluane National Park and Preserve.  What are called “government parks” in Yukon and “provincial parks” in British Columbia are just gorgeous places to camp.  Since our first stop there on our way up to Alaska, I had kept Congdon Creek in the back of my mind, hoping it would fit into our plans on our return trip.  It did!

Lowlight(s) – Frost heaves and construction.  I think those two items have earned a permanent spot in the “Lowlights” section – there are lots of both.

Lack of cell and/or internet service.  I can understand why we were seeing so many satellite antennas attached to vehicles in this neck of the woods.  It’s a little unnerving to be in such a remote section of North America without a way to communicate.

Campground(s) – You may remember our earlier stop at Congdon Creek.  This was the Yukon government campground that had an electric fence around the tenting section to keep the bears out.  We had hoped to get another waterfront campsite on our return trip, but luck wasn’t with us, despite the fact that we arrived within an hour of checkout time.  (I really don’t like “first come, first served.”)  Having just tackled the worst section of the Alaska Highway, we were still happy to get in early, and we had a large selection of lovely, non-waterfront sites from which to choose.  After noting a couple of pull-thru sites that we liked, we ended up at Site 43, a back-in site with a tiny bit of a mountain view from our dinette window.  The only thing we didn’t like about Congdon Creek?  The very big, very bright, very yellow sign that had been added since our last visit which said . . .

Pics(s) of the Day

Congdon Creek Campground was in a gorgeous setting on Kluane Lake.

Site 43

Oh, look - more construction!

This would have been an impossible shot on the day we actually arrived in Alaska.

Shortly after we crossed into Yukon Territory, snow-capped mountains appeared.

Yes, there were cars on the Alaska Highway, but most of our fellow travelers were RVers.

The weather started to improve shortly after we left Alaska.  (Note the rough condition of the road.) 

A braided river in Yukon Territory

Scenery like this made the entire trip worthwhile!

Up Next – On to Whitehorse!  After the miserable experience we had at the Hi Country RV Park on our first pass through town, you can bet I was looking hard for someplace else to call home for our one night layover in Whitehorse.

Observations(s) – You’d better read faster.  I’m catching up.