Otter Falls, YT to Tok, AK

We left Otter Falls, YT (near Haines Junction) this morning. It was 42 degrees outside. However it warmed up into the 70’s by afternoon and evening. We saw the Kluane Range Ice Fields. When we arrived in Haines Junction we saw the Our Lady of the Way Catholic Mission built in 1943. It was built from an abandoned quonset hut left there by the Army when building the Alcan Hwy. There are quite a few buildings up here that use abandoned quonset huts. In Haines Junction, there was a monument with statues of native animals. The monument is affectionately named “The Cupcake” because its base looks like a cupcake paper liner. When we reached the Donjek River Valley the road was really bad. The road is built on permafrost. It looks like dirt, but when you put a hot highway on top of it the permafrost melts and the road sags, then the water freezes and expands and pushes the road up in a different place. This was also a major problem with construction in Dawson City. Here in Yukon Territory, Canada, they gave up on maintaining the Alcan Highway between Haines Junction and the border because it was mostly used by people from the U.S. headed to or from Alaska. So, the U.S. Government agreed to repair the road. Only they were met with quite a challenge when they discovered that none of the usual road construction techniques worked. There are currently experimental areas where they put pipes under the road with elbows out past the shoulder with stove pipes on top of them. They are trying to take the heat away from the pavement so it won’t melt the permafrost. The road was really bad for about 120 miles. In addition, we had taken four rock chips and a number of scratches to the windshield and lost a rear running light on the trailer. We had the windshield repaired when we arrived in Tok, AK, where we are spending the night.

Dawson City, YT - Dredge Number 4

We checked early in the morning on the "Top of the World Highway". It was still closed with no estimated time for reopening. We weren't sure what to do. Should we try to wait another day and check tomorrow morning. We decided to have hot cross buns in town and think about it. Next we decided to go see Dredge No. 4 and then come back and check again on the road closure.


Dredge 4 was very interesting. It had to sit in water. It had a long arm in the front that had 38 - 2 1/2 ton dredge buckets that would scoop the gravel out of the ground up to about 50 ft deep. The gravel would drop in a hopper at the top and then go through a separator that had holes in it up to 1 1/2" to trap the placer gold dust and nuggets. The rest was dropped out the back as tailings. The material that the separator collected was dropped into sluice boxes where it was scooped up for processing.


After the tour we went back to check on the highway closure and decided that we would leave Dawson City and retrace our steps back to Whitehorse. We hope we will be able to try the Top of the World Highway on our way home in September.


We will try to make the Alaska border crossing tomorrow.

Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT

Our goal for the day was to drive from Whitehorse to Dawson City. We had planned to go from Dawson City by ferry to the Top of the World Highway and then to Chicken and down to Tok. We learned that the road was out on the U.S. side between the border and Chicken. We were hoping it would be repaired and that we might be able to drive on through on Monday morning. In the evening we took a two hour city tour. Then we drove to Midnight Dome for a spectacular view of the city and surrounding valley that was dredged for gold. We were pretty late getting to the campground for the night. At 11pm it still looks like 6pm outside...

We plan to check in the morning for the status off the “Top of the World Highway”.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

We spent the day in Whitehorse and saw a lot of things. We had a really good time. Next to our campground is a lot of equipment that was abandoned here when the U.S. Army built the Alaskan Highway. Grant took pictures of many pieces of equipment. Next we drove to Miles Canyon and took pictures of the Yukon River. The walls of the river canyon are basalt columns. From there we went to the Beringia Museum to learn about the migration of man and animals across the Bering Strait during the time when the water between North America and Asia was at a much lower level because so much of the Earth’s water was amassed in the glaciers. They have remains of many animals from that time and quite an interesting and informative movie. In addition, they taught Grant how to throw an ancient atlatl lance, that would have been used for hunting at that time. I got a picture of him hurling the lance and instructions how to make one. Then we went to the Transportation Museum, and among other things, saw the World’s Largest Weathervane

We had lunch at a Subway in town. After lunch, we went to the Fish Ladder by the Schwatka Lake Dam. It’s not time for the salmon to be here. They are up near Dawson City right now, and should be here in another week. There were white fish using the ladder. They tell me you can see the fish entering the ladder here in Whitehorse on a live camera at www.yukonenergy.com. After that, Grant went to the White Pass Yukon Railway Station (train no longer comes to Whitehorse; ends at Frasier Flats), while I went to a quilt shop and bought “Northern” half quarters for a quilt!

At 4pm we treated ourselves to a cruise on the Yukon River on the Schwatka River Boat. The river is amazing. The Yukon is a huge river, but it squeezes through narrow canyons just out of Whitehorse. There are white water rapids and eddies on the river. We really enjoyed our 2 hour ride. Saw a mother bear and cub on the hillside. Since the dam was built, the average depth of the river is 28 ft. When the river was lower, before the dam, it was much more dangerous.

Off to Dawson City early tomorrow morning…

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

We left Watson Lake at 7:15 Am. We visited the Watson Lake Sign Post Forest on our way out of town. There are many thousands of signs left by people with their names and the town they come from. The town has added more posts, making room for more signs.

We drove through the Little Rancheria Valley. There were many beautiful viewpoints. Next we stopped in Teslin. We went to the George Johnston Museum. George was a Tlingit Indian. His parents brought him up from Juneau to Teslin as an infant in a papoose. As a child he ordered a camera and developing kit and became quite an accomplished photographer. He bought a 1928 Chevy 4 Door Sedan and had it brought up the river to Teslin. There wasn’t a single road in the town. He had carved 3 miles of road and used the vehicle as a taxi. In the winter when the lake froze he drove his taxi on the lake. He returned the Chevy, without a single dent in it, in the 1950’s in trade for a pickup truck. The Chevy dealership restored his Sedan and later donated it to the museum. There was a very informative movie at the museum of the effects that bringing the Alaskan Highway through the area had on the Indian People.

From there we headed to Whitehorse, YT. To be this far North in the Yukon Territory is just amazing to us. We will be spending two nights here so we can see the sights in Whitehorse tomorrow before heading to Dawson City early on Saturday morning.

Yukon Territory

Took pictures of Toad Lake near our camp site. Grant loves to get pictures of the mountains reflected in the water. Next we saw Folded Mountain where the layers of rock are literally folded under each other as the continental plates shift and push each other up. We saw an Alluvial Fan which occurs when the material from the mountain slides down into the valley and makes a fan shape at the edge of the stream or river. We traveled along the Toad River for quite awhile. At Muncho Lake we saw remnants of the old highway that went up over the mountain.

Besides the beautiful scenery, we got to spend some time at Liard Hot Springs, which was recommended to us by Tom Bashor. Thanks Tom, we had a great time. In the smaller pool, there were benches in the water where you could just sit. At the upper pool the water was 9 feet deep and you could swim in it. The upper pool was very warm and comfortable with respect to temperature. The lower pool was comfortable for me, but a little warm for Grant. At one end of the pool it was about 108 degrees. At the other end it was 138 degrees. That was too hot to even put your foot in.

We made it to the Yukon! We are staying at Watson Lake tonight.

Toad River, BC

We slept in a little this morning and left Fort St.John at 8:30AM. We are spending the night at Toad River – Mile 422 of the Alcan Hwy. We have driven 2, 444 miles since we left Kristy’s house a week ago today.

We found the 30 Ft lumber jack that must have left his gold pan and skis in previous towns we have been through. We took a picture of Suicide Hill as it looked when the Alcan Hwy was first built. First sign approaching the road used to be "Suicide Hill". The second sign used to read “Prepare to meet your maker”. Thankfully the road is a lot better today. We do keep running into road construction sites where we get led a distance by a pilot car. Waits are usually about 15 minutes.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife today. We saw a cute fox on our way out of Fort John. We saw our first bear near the Steamboat Mountain Summit. We saw a young caribou. We saw stone sheep at Summit pass.

The highest point on the Alcan Highway is at Summit Pass (4,250 ft). That’s about the elevation of Mi-Wuk, we’re thinking. You would think it would be much higher. There is a lovely lake there called Summit Lake.

We plan to spend some time at Liard Hot Springs in the morning. I think we might be in Yukon Territory tomorrow…