Alaska Highway July 2022

Pika had no idea what two weeks of confinement would feel like.

We waited our turn to approach the sign in Dawson Creek, BC indicating the start of the Alaska Highway, mile 0 of 1390 miles. 

This group with beautifully restored vehicles were surely just posers. The Highway can provide travelers with stone pecks and sometimes a cracked windshield as souvenirs of the journey. We'll travel on it for 1282 miles, from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, through parts of the Yukon, to Tok, Alaska. Just south of Tok we’ll leave the Yukon crossing back into the US. It's always exciting to arrive in Alaska. Tok is a town anxious to receive road weary travelers. Here we'll spend the night alongside semis and campers in the gravel parking lot of Fast Eddy’s. This restaurant is an oasis for food and drink. After a night of interrupted sleep, due to patrons arriving and exiting the bar next to Fast Eddy's and trucks idling, we'll drive the final 350 miles to our cabin in Talkeetna. While we veer off in Tok, the Alaska Highway continues on, ending in Delta, AK south of Fairbanks.

Most of our overnights are spent in Walmart parking lots. There we are joined by truckers and campers of all varieties. Each rig checks out where others are parked, trying to group up near lawn and garden or, in a particularly large lot, park as far from the entrance as possible. I generally call ahead to make sure overnight stays are allowed. Some nights are quieter than others, but we’ve never felt uncomfortable camping in this way. The parking lot lights and movement of vehicles in and out provides a bizarre sense of security. Add in Pika's "no nonsense" bark.

I sipped my coffee in Fort St John, BC while watching the fluid yoga moves of our neighbor. His body had been kissed by extended hours of sun. I wondered if this had occurred on the beaches of Hawaii, California or perhaps on a sailboat in the tropics. When he looked my way, I dropped my camera to my side. His limber athletic body defied his age and he moved effortlessly in the cool Canadian air. My dormant muscles longed to join in, but I took another sip of coffee and turned away. Each traveler embodies a unique story.

It's sometimes hard for others to view a Walmart parking lots as gold at the end of the rainbow.

Summer is when road construction occurs on the Alaska Highway. It's an ongoing battle against the permafrost to keep the paved road smooth. The underlayer is constantly changing causing buckling and heaving. The frost heaves can be severe, causing damage to vehicles that travel too quickly across such an uneven surface. A smooth stretch lulls us into complacency and the speedometer needle climbs, only to be shaken back into reality when bounced by unanticipated wavy pavement. Some years are worse than others with long work area delays and guidance by pilot cars. We encountered very little road maintenance, but when we did....... it involved dust!

We experienced some sunny days on which the snow capped mountains made me reach for my camera at each turn in the road. But, the majority of our days were foggy and rainy with low clouds sweeping across the mountain peaks. These dark days presented a changing panorama when viewed through the swiping wiper blades. 

The Highway takes us through two of BC's provincial parks, Stone Mountain and Muncho Lake.. It is here that we often see wildlife. This trip, we saw fewer bears than normal and those we saw were reluctant to pose for pictures. We seem to see more bears when traveling earlier in the Spring.

Stone Sheep ewe and lamb

Turquoise blue Muncho Lake

This one posed!

The Alaskan Highway was constructed between March and October of 1942. This was after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and its construction was seen as necessary in the WWII war effort. The road was open to the public in 1948. It was not the road of today. There were few services and harsh road conditions. Those using the road in its infancy utilized the many lodges scattered along the route for rest, food and auto repairs. Most of these facilities are now shuttered and barricaded. Modern automobiles, bigger towns with motels and services have eliminated the need for the old lodges. However, we spent a night at Toad River Lodge one of the original lodges that has been modernized and well maintained. Here we showered, plugged into power and celebrated Bucky’s 76th birthday by eating Bison burgers and devouring a frosted cinnamon bun. Cinnamon buns are a sought after commodity along this road and on this day it was a well deserved birthday cake.

Summit Lodge was abandoned before our first trip in 2008.

Only 800 more miles to the AK border

The frost heaves and broken pavement intensified as we neared the Alaskan border. We took back most of what we had said about the highway being smoother than normal. Our RV was loaded down with totes from home, Minnesota and with hunting gear and tools. Each jarring jolt had me covering my head in anticipation of something being dislodged and spiraling down from the overhead bunk.

Just when it seemed the border could not come fast enough, the hillsides erupted in purple fireweed. Needing to slow our speed because of road conditions allowed us to take in the surrounding beauty. Nature has a way of  slowing one's pace. Fireweed lined the roadsides, filled the valleys and crawled up the hills. It appeared in stark contrast to the charred Spruce remains of past fires.

This truck appears to be carrying a train's snowplow,

Our final night in Fast Eddy's pot holed parking lot ended our Highway travel.  While we celebrated our return to Alaska, others prepared for their adventure through Canada. 

I threw a ball for Pika and she looked confused as to if this was our final destination or if she would soon, once again, be bouncing along. The midnight sun shown through a pink haze and the air smelled of smoke carried here from the many fires burning around Alaska. Tomorrow we'll travel the final 350 miles to our cabin. Once there, I'll throw the ball many more times for Pika and she'll soon remembers her Alaskan home. I'm hoping she doesn't remember how much she enjoyed digging in our Alaskan compost bin!