Days 45 & 46 - Tok to Kluane Lake

Day 45
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Heading South to Tok, AK

Fairbanks was the farthest point north on our road trip in the RV. So, it was time to head south towards Tok, 175 miles away. About half way between Fairbanks and Tok lays the town of Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaska Highway. We stopped there for a photo at the marker before continuing south on the Alaska Highway.

For the first 2/3 or so of the drive, the road was lined with spruce trees on both sides, which blocked our views of the scenery. However, whenever there was a break in the trees, we could see the snow covered mountains of the Alaska Range.

We had some pretty long, steep hills to climb today. About 60 miles before our destination, the engine overheated and the “check engine” light came on. We pulled over at the top of the hill. Jay brought out the RV manual and started reading. He concluded that “it could be something, or it could be nothing.” So we waited until the engine cooled down, crossed our fingers, and drove the rest of the way to Tok. Luckily there were no more hills to climb the rest of the day.

Our home for the night was Sourdough Campground. During the gold rush era, in Alaska and the Yukon, the term “sourdough” was a nickname for someone who had spent an entire winter north of the Arctic Circle. It refers to their tradition of protecting their sourdough starter during the coldest months by keeping it close to their bodies. Today, it refers to any Alaska old timer.

Sourdough Campground was a good choice. We had a nice pull thru site with full service and plenty of trees for privacy. In the evening, we participated in a quirky tradition of the campground: a pancake toss! The campground owner officiated. We all sat down in the pavilion and introduced ourselves and said a few words about our experiences in Alaska. People had come from Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and all over the US. The pancake toss was actually a lot of fun. Each person had 2 chances. You had to stand behind a low bench and say “ready” (that was the signal for the spectators to clap in support), then try to toss the pancake into a bucket. If the pancake fell into the bucket, you won a free breakfast at the café. I could really envision Henry, Calvin and Linus having fun with this game. I went zero for 2, but Jay had a ringer!

Day 46
Friday, August 4, 2017
Tok to Kluane Lake, Yukon (just south of Destruction Bay)

Heading south, it was time to exchange sweatshirts and long pants for tee shirts and shorts.

First on the agenda was to get the “check engine” situation straightened out. When we pulled into Willards Repair at 9:45 am, we were told that there were six customers ahead of us. After waiting one hour, we saw that the mechanic was still working on the same

trailer as when we arrived, so we decided to take our chances and moved on. This was the first of two days when we did not have camping reservations for the night. That gave us some flexibility in case we found some place along the way that could look at the engine.

We drove about 90 miles to the US/Canada border. Goodbye Alaska! The photo of the Alaska map shows our route. We came in from the northeast through Chicken on the Top of the World highway (#5), on to Glenallen, then south to Valdez. Then we backtracked to Glenallen and headed west to Anchorage. We didn’t travel south of Anchorage, since we had visited most of that area on our first trip to Alaska. From Anchorage we went north as far as Fairbanks, and then traveled southeast to Delta Junction, where we picked up the Alaska Highway (yellow) to the border. On our first trip to Alaska we had traveled the all gravel Denali Highway (#8) and felt that once was enough for that road! The areas we reached by plane from Anchorage and Fairbanks are off this map. We’d say we covered a good bit of Alaska.

Crossing the border meant turning the clocks back one hour, making us only 3 hours behind PA. We have been living with long hours of daylight for several weeks and have grown accustomed to going to bed when it was still light outside. The toughest part has been keeping track of time in the evening and realizing it is bed time. Jay and I would be busy reading, walking the dogs, or just relaxing, then one of us would look at the clock and say OMG it’s 11 o’clock already! We are not at all tired, but go to bed anyway. I understand it is the same way with the locals.

Once we crossed the border, there were magnificent views of the Saint Elias Mountains. This section of the Alaska Highway was exceptionally beautiful, but bumpy. The Alaska Highway guidebook

describes the road from the border south to Destruction Bay as “one of the most challenging sections of the road, with conditions varying between good and very poor.” Jay and I concur. Besides the dips and bumps there were long sections of gravel road. At times there was so much dust being kicked up by other vehicles that you could barely see ahead.

I was hoping to find a campsite with a nice view, and we did. Our site at Cottonwood Campground was the best yet. It was right on Kluane Lake in a valley between towering mountains with no other campers in site. (The photo at sunset is one view from our campsite.) It was another night of dry camping, but the great location made up for the lack of amenities. Jay built a fire and we had a “gourmet” dinner of cheese and crackers followed by hot dogs cooked over the fire and s’mores for dessert.