Top of the World Highway (Dawson City,YT - Tok, Alaska)

June 21, we left the campground early because we had to get in line for the free, but small ferry, to take us across the Yukon River. We arrived at 7:20 AM and only 5 campers were in line ahead of us. The ferry could hold only several cars and RVs and took about 30 minutes for a round trip. The wait could be as long as 3 hours, but ours was only 1 ½ hr wait. Then the fun began. Our plans were to take us over the Top of the World Highway to the U.S. border and Alaska.

We had been told to expect a dusty, rough, narrow, gravel, washboard road. They weren’t kidding! It was very slow going-usually 25-30 mph and it took us 4 hrs. to cover 130 miles. The rough washboard roads were due able if we went slow, but Pris DID NOT APPRECIATED the narrow, winding, drop offs. There was no way for 2 large vehicles to pass each other. Luckily, through these stretches, we did not meet a truck or big rig. The views were pretty spectacular with many tundra covered rolling mountains. Most of the time we were above the tree line. The skies were a bright blue and you could see for a 100 miles.

There wasn’t a lot of traffic on the road, but it did create a LOT of dust. So each time a vehicle came by, we closed the windows and the vents. The poor rig and CRV have never been this dustier.

No problems crossing the border (an isolated outpost up in the mountains). It’s only open from 8 AM to 8 PM and you can’t cross except during those hours. No questions this time about meat, fruit or liquor. We did consume all of these before we left.

We passed Chicken, AK (the residents wanted to name it ptarmigan, but no one could spell it, so they picked Chicken instead, or so the story goes). We arrived here about noon (having turned back our clocks one hour for Alaska Time) and decided it was too early to stop. So we pushed on to Tok, AK.

We picked the highly recommended Sourdough Campground because it had large spaces with trees in between. After picking our site, we headed for the RV/car pressure wash and took off a heavy coat of dust. Most RV parks have these washing stations, and they are heavily used. After that, we wiped down the inside of the rig.

The RV park offered all you could eat sourdough pancakes with reindeer sausage and then in the evening reindeer chili in a warm sourdough bread bowl. (And you though we picked this place for the trees.)

Tok is a very small town (1800 people) with one grocery store, a few campgrounds and motels, but has a wonderful visitor’s center with lots of information about Alaska. This is usually the first town that people hit in Alaska, whether you come over the Top of the World Highway, or if you come up the Alaska Highway (easier).

We are surprised at the warm weather here. It’s in the high 70’s or low 80’s. We remember drizzling, cool weather from our two past trips to Alaska, but then we were mainly on the coast.

There are forest fires in Alaska every summer, and this summer is no exception. We haven’t seen any yet, but we understand that there are fires on the Kenai Peninsula and also near Homer. We will continue to check in with the toll free number about road closures and possible fires.

The Klondike (Moose Creek/Dawson City )

June 18 we left Whitehorse and the Alaska Highway and took Highway #2 (Klondike Loop) to work our way up to Dawson City, the site of the Klondike gold rush.

We are starting to run into RV caravans (numbering anywhere from 20-40 rigs) and tour buses, and they are all headed to Dawson City. We decided to travel only half way (180 miles) and stay at a Yukon government camp. The caravans and tour buses are making the same stops at a convenient day’s drive. We had been told that the RV parks fill up by noon, so we stopped short of DC at Moose Creek Yukon Government Park. That way we would only have a short drive the next day.

We did stop for a late morning snack of the famous plate-sized cinnamon buns at Braeburn Lodge. It was delicious, and the two of us got at least 4 snacks out of it.

Then on to Moose Creek campground with large spaces, free firewood, and lots of trees. The campground was approximately 10% full (all Canadians). Such a deal at $12/night. The private parks are anywhere from $20 on up. This time we didn’t camp near the water and there were very few mosquitoes.

June 19, up and off to Dawson City. The road is paved, but this section had frequent pot holes and some gravel where they are doing construction. It was a fairly slow drive.

We pulled into the Guggieville RV park just 2 miles outside of town. We opted for a site with trees in the back with just water and electricity. The majority of people want full hookups and they are side by side on a gravel parking lot. The most popular park in the center of town was full, our park was only about half full. Our philosophy of arriving early, not getting full hookups, and checking out the sites first, is working best for us.

Dawson Creek is a small town of 2,000 permanent residents. It is still very similar to what it was like during its gold rush heyday of the late 1800’s. The streets are dirt, with wooden sidewalks, and most of the buildings are original. Cute town, tourists, but not crowded at all.

Gold panning, gold jewelry (I already have my authentic gold nuggets from Grandma E.’s gold prospecting relative), and history are the main themes here. There are lots of tours and demonstrations. It is very well done and worth the time to detour off the Alaska Highway.

We just happened to be there on the summer solstice. There is a drive up to the top of Midnight Dome (a mountain above town, overlooking the area) where the locals celebrate the solstice. The sun barely dips behind the local mountains at midnight. We took the drive up, during the day, not at midnight when everyone else went up to party. (Are we old, or what?)

Whitehorse, YT (Alaska Highway Mile 918)

June 13 and we were on our way to Whitehorse. It was an easy 130 mile drive along a nicely paved road.

We’ve learned to check out the RV parks before we decide to stay. (We’ve been disappointed by the Trailer Life ratings of the parks and trust our own judgment.) We selected the Pioneer RV Park just outside Whitehorse, and found it to be the nicest RV parks that we’ve stayed in. The sites are far apart, in the woods, and as nice as any provincial park. It’s also just a 5 min drive into town.

We made our first stop at the visitor’s center and we were treated to cake and a commemorative pin for the 109 year anniversary of the Yukon territory.( Lots of information, very friendly people, and a great video about Whitehorse.)

The next day we took an airplane ride in a float plane and saw the local area and wildlife from the air. It was a kick taking off and landing on water.

We took the tour of the Klondike II, a paddlewheel boat that took the gold rushers down the river to Dawson City in the late 1800’s. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The boat would stop along the river and pick up wood to burn to power the boat. It would use a chord of wood an hour.

A short ride from our park was the narrow Miles Canyon of the Yukon River that the early gold rushers tried to run in their homemade rafts. This part of the Yukon River had treacherous rapids where many lost their lives trying to run it. The rapids have now been eliminated by the building of a dam down river.

The gold rushers came up the Chilkoot Pass from Skagway Alaska, then ran the Yukon River down to Dawson City, and then out to the Klondike gold fields.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Cellar Restaurant and then attended the Frantic Follies. It was an entertaining early 1900’s vaudeville revue. When we came out of the performance at 10:00 PM it was still very light. The sun is going down about 11:35 PM right now. Thank goodness for the blackout curtains in our rig.

We enjoyed the Whitehorse area very much and decided to extend our stay for 5 days. It’s a very nice town with friendly people, good shopping and good restaurants. We have particularly enjoyed the local Alpine Bakery with more varieties of bread than Berolina’s in Montrose. The sweets are also great. And, there’s a local fish market and a Wall Mart.

John had his Father’s Day dinner at the Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ restaurant. He had musk ox stroganoff that he said was excellent. Pris passed on the caribou stew and had halibut topped with brie and a berry sauce. Yum, yum.

Entering the Yukon Territory

June 11, we went up to the lodge to have a hearty breakfast. The campground was fairly full and we wanted to give everyone a chance to dump and clear out before we started. We typically travel slower and cover less distance than most people, so we weren’t in any hurry. Our next destination of Watson Lake was only 170 miles.

It was an easy drive with straight roads. We did experience one short section of gravel and a few frost heaves (bumps), but they are clearly marked. We see very little traffic-long sections where we see no cars. The majority of vehicles on the road are RV’s and trucks .

During the day we crossed over from BC to the Yukon Territory (YT). The YT is roughly one third the size of Alaska in area. The population is just under 32,000 people, with 24,000 of them living in the capital city of Whitehorse. If you want elbow room, this is the place to find it!

This section of the Alaska Highway has a wide, mowed, grassy strip on each side of the highway. The wildlife like this grass, and on our drive we saw deer, buffalo, sheep, bears, an even a fox meandering along or eating.

We arrived in Watson Lake (Mile 613 of Alaska Highway) in early afternoon and went to the visitor’s center and got a list of government campgrounds and dump stations. We saw the signpost forest (over 60,000 signs posted by tourists with their hometown’s name; it was started in 1942 by a homesick G.I. who was working on the building of the Alaska Highway).

Most of the private RV parks have the RV’s parked right next to each other. You do get to know your neighbors (intimately). We decided to try a Yukon government camp ground out of town. It had beautiful, forested, large, private sites on the lake with free firewood. BUT, it also had mosquitoes. The firewood and deet came in handy. There were only a few campers in there (no Americans, they are all in the private parks). There are advantages and disadvantages to each type of park.

We are not using copilot to navigate on this section because there is basically one road (Alaska Highway). We use the Milepost to keep track of what is coming up and where we are, but we are finding that many of the establishments listed are closed. (We are wondering if this is because of the high gas prices. We did pay a high of $5 a gallon at one spot.)

June 12, we headed north 170 miles to Mukluk Annie’s ( Mile 785). We ran into our first significant road construction on this leg. We had about a 10 min. delay and then a 9 mile section of dirt and gravel. You take it slow and it’s due able. Other than that, it’s a straight and well-paved road where you can make time.

Mukluk Annie’s is just a bump in the road but a must stop. They offer free camping, RV wash, dumping and a lake boat ride if you buy their salmon bake dinner. It was a kick. We had a nice site right on the lake and again met some of our fellow travelers. We are seeing many of the same people along the road and at the stops. We’re all heading in the same direction and have Alaska as our destination.

The “freebies” and company were good, but the salmon bake and boat ride got mixed reviews..

Muncho Lake, B.C. (Alaska Highway mile 437)

Before leaving Ft. Nelson, we visited the Ft. Nelson Heritage Museum, which had an extensive collection of pioneer artifacts. We particularly enjoyed the film about the making of the Alaska highway, the tour of the trapper cabin, and the extensive collection of old cars. Definitely worth a stop.

On June 9, we drove 150 miles through the northern end of the Canadian Rockies to the turquoise-blue Muncho Lake. The drive from Ft. Nelson to Muncho Lake took us through the very scenic Canadian Rockies. We viewed beautiful mountains, forests, and unusual rock formations. We crossed the summit pass (4,250 ft) and encountered a few sprinkles. We learned later that a fellow camper passed through there 40 minutes after us, and had to stop because of ice and snow. Again, we are keeping just ahead of the difficulties.

Our destination was Strawberry Flat PP but when we got there it was full. It was Sat night and the locals were out. We drove up the road a few miles and stayed at the Northern Rockies Lodge.

The lodge is the largest log building on the Alaska Highway and had campsites right on the lake. We enjoyed a wonderful wiener schnitzel dinner with German draft beer in their restaurant. (A welcome break from camping food.) The owners operate this lodge as a fly-in fishing lodge. Everyone enjoyed watching the landing of the float plane and the take off of the DHC Twin Otter aircraft down a 900’ gravel airfield across the street. They stopped the traffic on the road during takeoff because the plane barely cleared the road.

The next day, a produce delivery truck flipped over on the local bridge and we all got free fruit. Actually, the roads are in good condition, if you drive carefully. We did have to slow down for the Stone sheep (a smaller cousin of the Dall sheep) because they liked to eat the salt on the side of the road. There are big signs warning you to drive slowly and watch out for caribou, elk, deer, sheep, moose and buffalo. We’ve seen the sheep, deer, moose and buffalo, but no caribou or elk, yet. We did see a black bear foraging along side of the road.

We liked this area so much that we decided to stay an extra day. That gave us a chance to drive up the road a piece and visit the Liard River Hotsprings. The hot springs have created a warm wetlands environment with atypical plants for this area. This is a very popular site for people to take a warm dip in water from 108 to 126 degrees.

Staying an extra day also gave us a chance to visit with our fellow campers. We enjoyed eating smores around the campfire with campers from Wisconsin and Michigan. The majority of the people on the Alaska Highway are from the states.

Fort Nelson, BC ( Mile 283, Alaska Highway)

June 7^th we drove a big 160 miles to Sikanni Chief River and camped right beside the river. There was a family discussion about the advisability of being perhaps only a foot above the river. The proprietor of the campground said that the flood water was receding and had dropped 6 “ that day. (There is extensive flooding going on in BC because of the snow melt.). One of us watched the water level and did observe that the water level did drop a few more inches. (Never a dull moment.)

This campground was small and older with full hookups or sites with just electricity (supplied by a diesel run generator). We elected to stay in the primo site on the water that had just electricity. There was a large grassy field near the river where some kids and adults played baseball-until 10:30 PM. It didn’t get dark until well after that.

Most private campgrounds are empty early in the day, but can fill up by the afternoon. Many people make reservations, we do not, but we are finding that we can get a spot if we stop early enough in the afternoon.

It was a pleasant drive north from Dawson Creek to Sikanni River, with well paved roads through spruce forests. We did encounter some gravels sections, but they were very short and infrequent. We have learned to slow down when a truck is approaching-we don’t want another broken windshield from flying gravel. We even purchased a “quick repair kit “ for windshield chips-but we haven’t had to use it yet.

June 8, we left mid morning for our ride of 120 miles to Fort Nelson, BC. We had a similar ride through spruce forests with straight, well-paved roads. We stayed at another private campground (The Blue Bell Inn) on the outskirts of town. John filled up at $4.60/gal. We have had slightly cheaper gas but we understand the prices increases as we go north.

Since we got to the Alaska highway at Dawson Creek, everyone has the same destination as us; Alaska. It has been fun talking with them, as most are doing it for the first time like us. One of our neighbors is on his 6^th trip! He likes to fish.

Dawson Creek, BC

June 4^th we continued north on our quest to reach Dawson Creek. It’s still in the 80’s and causing warnings of local flooding because the warm weather is causing record snow melts. We checked with our camping neighbors, who are from B.C. and they said the roads are high enough off the rivers so it won’t be a problem for us.

The well-paved highway traveled through rolling grasslands with intermittent forests of birch and evergreens. There are many signs posted to watch out for deer and moose. We have seen several deer and saw our first moose crossing the road in front of us.

We elected to spend the night in Prince George, a city with a population of 80,000, so as to do some shopping. We hit the local visitor’s center and they directed us to all the stores we wanted to shop at. We must say that everyone has been extremely friendly.

We were happy to visit their Costco store and stock up on meats and fruits. (Just like home.) We actually ran into our “camping neighbors” from our last camp stop a 180 miles to the south. What a small world it is.

We elected to stay at Hartway RV Park north of town. Great WiFi connection, TV hookup (CNN, local and Seattle stations) and full hookups. We enjoyed our favorite Costco lamb chops with Arnie’s wonderful Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. We’re caught up on the news, the refrig is loaded with food, and we’re fat and sassy and cleaned up.

The temperature has cooled off and we are getting a few sprinkles-much better sleeping.

Tues., June 5 (Laddy’s birthday) we continued on #97 North to Dawson Creek, BC (the start of the Alaska Highway). Our drive carried us up and over the continental divide and Pine Pass. We had snow on the side of the road. (We learned later that they might have closed the pass because of snow. Good thing we left early.). We saw extensive flooding from the rivers along side of the road. In several places, the water was almost at road level.

Most of the road was smooth and well paved but we did encounter some frost heaves (raised areas in the road) where we had to slow down. It was a beautiful drive through forested areas with many warnings about deer and moose. We had our second moose encounter as it crossed the road. We have our cameras and binoculars always ready. (Thanks for the suggestion-Bob and Di F and Art and Barbara B.)

We took a lay day in Dawson Creek to do laundry, shop, and outfit the rig with a bug screen. We had to take our picture at the beginning of the Alaska Highway. It has been 2100 miles from LA and is 1600 miles more to Fairbanks!

Up the Fraser River, British Columbia

June 1, we crossed the U.S. border into Sumas, B.C. and drove east on Canada Highway #1 to Hope, B.C. We breezed through the border crossing in just a few minutes. Luckily, we had read the regulations, and that helped speed us through the crossing. We had no fruit, only 1 liter of alcohol, no dairy products, no meat and no firearms. They only asked us if we had these items, they did not inspect the motor home. (Course, we had to drink up most of the wine from the Oregon wine tasting before we crossed the border.)

Highway #1 from the border to Hope is a well paved, 4 lane highway following the Fraser River valley with steep mountains on each side of the valley. Many of the peaks still have evidence of snow on them.

We got Canadian money at an ATM (we’ll have to learn those loonies and toonies again), and stocked up on food.

We left Hope and turned north on Highway #1 and #97 and followed the Fraser and Thompson River valleys. We are using our Milepost booklet that lists everything on our route. There is very little traffic, the roads are well paved, and many sections have 4 lanes. We had some ups and downs through mountainous areas, some curvy sections, but generally easy driving.

This area is very popular with river rafters and we saw some coming down the river. We passed through a section that is called “the Arizona of Canada”. It was warm, dry, and dusty. This was a surprise to us. They have an infestation of pine beetle and huge sections of the forests are dying. Looks like our bark beetle infestation in southern California.

Our stop on Sat night was Lac La Hache, B.C., a 215 mile drive north from Hope. Our campsite was right on the lake. No mosquitoes, yet (but I hear they are waiting for us in Alaska). We had bald eagles flying over our campsite and loons singing on the lake at night. The weather was surprisingly warm-in the 80’s, but cool at night. They tell us that it’s very unusual for this time of the year. We haven’t adjusted to the amount of daylight hours (doesn’t fit into John’s 9:00 PM bedtime). Its light until after 10:00 PM and then light again at 4:00 AM.

The owners of this campground raise and mush Siberian Huskies. They mushed in the Yukon Challenge in the Yukon Territory this last February. The dogs are kept in outside pens right now, and the owner walks the young ones around the campground at night. (John, we thought about Stoli and Hobie.)

We are seeing lots of campgrounds, probably every 25 miles or so. We are still using Trailer Life to pick our spots, and finding the facilities very nice with hookups just like in the states. School is not out yet, so we are seeing only about 10% occupancy in the campgrounds.

Whidbey Island, Washington

Tues., May 29 had us leaving Portland, Oregon, passing through Seattle, and heading north to the San Juan Islands. The skies were clear, the weather was warm, and the snow covered mountain peaks in the distance were spectacular. We passed Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier and Mt Baker.

We camped at Deception Pass State Park (probably the prettiest park that we’ve ever stayed in.) The park was nestled in the woods right on the water of the Puget Sound. There were numerous hiking trails through the woods with lush undergrowth and colorful wildflowers-wild roses, “rhodies”, salmon berries, scotch broom, etc. No snakes, no bugs, and no mosquitoes. We’re ready to move here.

John was on a mission to sample the Penn Cove mussels and see if they were still the “best mussels ever”. He wasn’t disappointed. The small town of Coupeville (located on Penn Cove) grows the mussels on platforms with strings hanging down from them for easy harvest.

Deception pass is a narrow cut (75 yards) through the island. With the large bay behind the island, the water rushes through the inlet at max flood and ebb tides. Up to about 15 knots. At our first time camping here in 1984, John and Johnny took our small inflatable Avon with its 8hp motor through the pass. Going with the water flow, the boat was going by the cliff walls at up to 40 mph! Exciting.

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