Tok to Haines Junction

Our day started in a light rain. We left the campground at about 7 am to buy diesel to top off our tank at $4.589/gallon, a $.10 drop overnight! About 7:30 we met 6 of our group at (where else?) Fast Eddy’s! Breakfast was good, and the rain had almost stopped by the time we pulled out of the parking lot about 8:20.

The road was reasonably good for the first 90 miles to the Yukon Territory, Canada border. Diesel at the last station in the U.S. was $4.729 and we were glad we’d bought at a lower price. The border crossing was uneventful, just the standard questions regarding fruit, liquor and guns, along with proper ID for us and Shadow.

After crossing the border the road quickly deteriorated and I was glad I had driven the first leg. Now it was Don’s turn to deal with the frost heaves, sudden dips and patches of gravel.

One of the bloggers I’ve been following wrote a superb description of this stretch of road, as she and her husband drove it yesterday. She took a lot of good pictures and described the road and the challenges in maintaining it due to permafrost thawing and re-freezing. I decided not to try to write the story, but just refer you to Karen & Fran’s Alaska and Yukon Adventures. Please read her blog so I don’t need to repeat the information. Karen and I have been following each others travels, and our paths have crossed a couple of times when we couldn’t connect directly. We’re going to try and link up tomorrow when we get to Haines so we can actually meet in person!

Don and I stopped at the Burwash Landing Resort, where we had thought we might stay overnight, about halfway between Tok and Haines. We didn't much like the looks of it and it was still very early afternoon, so we went on. Later we saw Dennis and Carol stopped at a rest area and Carol said she wasn't sure where they were going to stay overnight, so we drove on to Haines Junction and are now parked for the night at the Kluane RV Kampground.

This is an unexpected treat, since we thought we might be boondocking or getting minimal hookups. We have full hookups with 30 amps (plenty of electric power since we don’t need a/c), and I was able to do two loads of laundry in our onboard washer-dryer. (I was running out of socks!) But the surroundings aren’t anything to write home about. The sites are close, no trees or grass, and no ‘style.’ Still, it’s hard to beat this view out our windshield, looking beyond our RV neighbors.

There’s no vehicle washing allowed at sites. But they provide a car wash. Just be sure to bring lots of loonies, as we’re back in Canada!

Don washed “Carrie” our Honda CR-V, because we couldn’t see out the windows and nobody wanted to get close enough to touch her! She looks great now. And he dusted and wiped down the Phaeton – after a good treatment of Dri-Wash it’s easy to keep the motor home looking nice with minimal effort. Meanwhile, I cleaned inside, so we’re feeling very satisfied with our home on wheels tonight!

The weather improved and Don was able to set up the Weber BBQ to grill a pork loin we’ve been saving for just this kind of night. I made a salad and we added corn and applesauce, and enjoyed a home-cooked feast for a change. Yummy!

I just had to add this on-the-fly picture of roadside wild fireweed. It’s getting more beautiful and plentiful every day.

And a small bit of the huge Kluane Lake. Go to Karen’s blog for even more (and better, due to more sunshine) pictures!