Beaver Creek RV Park Yukon Canada

Mileage:  43,346

This section of the Alaska Highway is particularly rough.  We began the day by crawling along at 15 mph.

From the The Milepost:  “watch for flags indicating road damage, slow down for bumps and dips, damaged pavement, gravel breaks, and deep potholes.”  The frost heaves create an undulating surface.  You can’t be in a hurry or get impatient.  You just have to go slow and easy and be very attentive.  This is cause for very tedious driving conditions.  This portion of road is in such poor condition and is very difficult to maintain because of the existing permafrost.  The soil is composed of glacial materials and is ice rich.  In the process of thawing and refreezing it creates heaves.  I can only imagine what a formidable place this can be in the winter months.  We were warned and the book is correct!

We traveled for about 4 hours before stopping for the day.

We passed the Kluane River where soon salmon will be swimming upstream and the bears will come.

We passed a memorial to a young first nation member.  Posted on the memorial:  “Follow your dreams, be kind, and always remember to enjoy every day of your life.”

We passed an extended area where grizzly are known to be present.  We only saw one bear in the distance and he fled before we got close.  The vegetation on the roadside was so dense that we might have passed 20 bears and never have known!

We passed the largest non-polar icefield in North America.  The ice is up to 2,200 feet thick.

We passed a dozen or more cyclists fighting the rough roads and steep terrain as well as the wind.

It is rare to see litter here at all.  Most people are respectful and everything is very clean.  We passed a rest area where someone had dumped their lunch trash.  It makes me so angry!

We passed several lakes where the swans are known to rest and nest in the spring and early summer but they weren’t around today!

We went out with the Jeep before dinner first to see Beaver Creek…that’s it…

Then we drove south on the Alaska Highway to a trail near Snag.  Snag’s claim to fame is the lowest recorded temperature in North America.  On February 3. 1947 it was -81 degrees Fahrenheit!  We saw lots of evidence of beavers working n the area.  We saw a den and lots of chewed trees and several dams.

Rain clouds.

We are spending the night at Beaver Creek RV Park behind a gas station.  They keep ravens as pets…meaning that they feed them.  They were very interested in our dinner as I cooked on the grill.

We will cross into Alaska tomorrow!