Days 47, 48, 49 - Kluane Lake to Boya Lake

Day 47
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Kluane Lake to Whitehorse

We hated to leave our lovely campsite, so we stayed until just before checkout.

Once again we had beautiful views but the condition of the road had greatly improved. We passed through an area where signs cautioned us to watch out for the elk herd, but we never saw any elk. In fact, it has been a while since we have seen any wildlife from the road.

As soon as we reached Whitehorse we went directly to the Ford dealership. The mechanic thought that the “check engine” light could be on because of a faulty thermostat or sensor. He didn’t have time to repair it but he assured us that we could continue driving without any worries.

We checked in at Hi Country RV Park, the same park we stayed in when we stopped in Whitehorse on our way up north.

Day 48
Sunday, August 6, 2017
Whitehorse, to Teslin, Yukon

Yesterday, when we reached Whitehorse, we had driven 100 % of the Alaska Highway. We did it in two sections. First, we drove from the beginning of the highway at Dawson Creek, British Columbia north to Whitehorse, Yukon. Then we drove from the end of the highway at Delta Junction Alaska south to Whitehorse.

Today’s drive to Teslin, Yukon was a repeat, except in the opposite direction. We stayed at the Yukon Motel and RV Lakeshore resort, but Jay and I referred to it as the dust bowl. No, really. Whenever anyone drove thru, which was often, you could almost feel the clouds of dust. We did find a short path at the other end of the park that led

to the lake. So, we carried our chairs and books along the path and enjoyed the quiet and views without the dust.

I’ll say one thing about “the dustbowl”. It had the best wifi yet, giving me a chance to update our travel journal on the computer.

Day 49
Monday, August 7, 2017
Teslin, Yukon to Boya Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia

Surprise, surprise, no “check engine” light today. Go figure. We started by driving 150 miles on the Alaska Highway to Nugget City, repeating this section of the highway. Nugget City was meant to be our destination for the day. However, it was just past 1 pm and there really wasn’t anything really to do there, so we decided to continue on.

We said goodbye to the Alaska Highway and to the Yukon as we turned south onto the Cassiar Highway. The Cassiar may be considered a highway by local standards, but in Pennsylvania we would call it a country road.

For the first 50 miles the forest on both sides of the road had been devastated by a forest fire and was in the early stage of recovery. Happily, the fire had

not extended as far as Lake Boya Provincial Park, where we were hoping to camp for the night.

We were lucky to find a space. There were only 44 campsites, all first come first serve and of those, only a handful of the sites were large enough for our rig. The site didn’t have any services, but for only one night that was okay.
Provincial parks are the comparable to our State Parks, with campsites tucked into natural settings. Both Sandy and Pilgrim enjoyed walks through the campground.

A fire ban has been in effect for weeks in British Columbia. It has been reported as British Columbia’s worst fire in 6 decades. There is a $1,150 fine for ignoring the ban. So, no campfire for us tonight.