Large Marge is loving the open road. No traffic for miles as we roll out of the hot springs this morning. 404 miles to Whitehorse, Yukon. That’s an 8 hour drive through the wide open territory. Our wildlife sightings started early with 5 separate herds of buffalo. Some were laying on the edge of the road enjoying the morning warmth of the sun, while other grazed. Our third bear encounter happen so fast that we couldn’t take a picture. I was driving across a small culvert when a black bear poked his head out to look around. Watson Lake was our halfway spot of the day where we ate lunch at the famous sign stop. It’s basically a maze of road signs travelers have brought from around the U.S. and nailed to tall post. We meandered through finding signs of places we have been. The mountains through the Yukon shine with white snow with glacial blue rivers still floating with ice. It’s the closest I have seen to New Zealand’s South Island. It’s been 7 days of driving since we left Des Moines and the drive is finally wearing us down. Whitehorse looks to be a cute town hugging the famous Yukon River and the end of the White Pass RailRoad from Skagway, AK. From here Klondike stampeders would board a river steamer to Dawson City. There is now a road that goes to the town. We looked into taking the detour where you drive the “Top of the World” road and cross the Yukon River on a ferry, but we are too early in the season for the ferry and for the U.S. border crossing to be open. There should be time on our way back South this Fall.
After driving for 8 hours a day for 7 days in a row we decided to take a day off in Whitehorse. The free Walmart parking was perfectly located on the Yukon river with a greenway into downtown. We spent the days walking everywhere. Judy was the most excited out of all of us. She loved sniffing round the trees that had been cut by beaver teeth and watching the ducks swim the ridged waters. She would get on the edge of an ice cliff above the water try to leap in as I grabbed the leash tightly.
It was a good choice to take the day off because our final stretch to the Alaskan border was miserable. 388 miles in 10 hours. The permafrost leaves the road with large cracks. When there were lines on the road, you could look in the distance and see them not as straight, but squiggly for the constant little ups and downs. I wish I could draw a picture of what we looked like. We try to change drivers every 100 miles (2 hours) and it was my turn. I would balance between the heaves even if that meant getting into the on coming traffic lane. Marge would do a donkey kick with a couple wheels off the ground and the toad would be hanging on for dear life. Judy couldn’t get settled to sleep. Shadow was bracing himself against the frame of Marge, while I was holding onto the wheel with both hands and my butt out of the seat. All this chaos happened at 30MPH! The graveled sections had us slowed to 10MPH which is where we spent the last 15 miles before the border. The slow speeds did help in seeing some wildlife. This area and and Alaska is know for its large swan migration. They are beautiful, swimming around enjoying the peace and quiet, We came up on what was thought to be a pile of dirt from the distance, but as we passed, the dirt ball was a very large porcupine! The road is littered with old homesteads from the gold rush days and closed businesses either for the winter or permanently. There’s no telling what you could find inside some of those places. Our first stop across the boarder was to stretch our legs. As we walked around Marge and The Toad to check for damages, the largest mosquito I have ever seen landed on my arm. He was the size of a thumbnail. I showed Shadow and he said they were all over me. Welcome to Alaska.
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