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..