Crossings

I believe I've left off at our arrival at Skagway, Alaska. Because Alaska is in a different time zone, we gained an extra hour when we crossed the border, so arrived in Skagway early in the afternoon. Even after detouring for a visit to Dyea, we still had time to walk around the town a bit and get a feel for the place. We checked into the Sgt. Preston motel, as even though it wasn't pouring rain, it was showering more than half the time, and the wind was quite brisk (okay – it was freaking strong and cold!). We had dinner at the Skagway Brewing Co. Restaurant, and returned to our room for warmth and a good night's sleep. Next day, June 6, broke sunny but still not warm – Skagway lives up to it's name as the Aboriginal name for a windy place with whitecaps, and the 20-25 knot breeze was coming up the Lynn Canal and thus quite cold. We had the day to explore after checking out of our motel, and took in a couple of walking tours offered by the US Park Service, and explaining a bit of the history of the area. Many of the shops in town offer and display wonderful pieces of native artwork and historical artifacts, including some fine examples of scrimshaw (whalebone carvings, mostly by seamen). So our day flew on. We placed our car for the 20:45 ferry in the lineup at 16:00, then walked into town for a Thai meal, then went back to the car to wait for the ferry. The Alaska State Ferries run as an extension to the highway system, and are considered a Marine Highway system. 

Main street Skagway

Ranger Andrew giving a tour

The loading of our ferry, “Columbia”, took about 2.5 hours, with vehicles bound for Sitka, Juneau, Bellingham, Haines, and other towns, all going into separate areas in the vessel. As we were ready to depart, the two cruise ships on the adjacent dock were leaving, and we ended up waiting for them before we left, at 21:30. 

Alaska State Ferry Columbia

An hour later we were docking at Haines, and it took another hour and a half to offload, with many of the big RV rigs having to back down the lane in the ship before offloading. It strikes me that with everyone having reservations and vehicle details beforehand, it could have been made a lot more efficient...but it was interesting, nonetheless. We arrived at our motel for the night at 23:30, and found a note at the front desk with our key and instructions to find the room. The building was a lodge, converted from an old fort built to protect Alaska from a Canadian border dispute. Our room was obviously one of the barracks rooms, with the washrooms down at the end of a long hallway. But – it was clean, and warm, and we were tired. So we hit the sack. Next morning, we were up and about at 0800, with no-one at the desk to check us out – so we left the key with a note, and headed out (don't worry – they already had my credit details from a reservation phonecall). Muffins and coffee were available nearby so that was breakfast. We couldn't really see much else to keep us in Haines, so we fueled up and headed north for the Alaska Highway. We wound alongside some scenic riversides with mountain backdrops, and climbed steadily as we headed north. By 1100 we were clearing Customs into BC again. The Border Officer told us a bear had his nose on the doors of the customs office last week, and when he fired off a bear-banger, it just looked at him, and went about its business in a nonchalant manner. Past here, the road climbs to an elevation above the treeline, with lots of viewpoints and not much road traffic. We were still passing through light rainshowers, and there was snow areas all around us. 

Magnificent Mountain Scenery north of Haines

Passing the Tatshenshini River Valley - more stunning scenery

At Haines Junction, we joined the Alaska Highway again, now back in the Yukon, and refuelled and headed northwest on the highway. It was a long, but scenic drive for a further 375 km., arriving at the small community of Beaver Creek at about 1730. By now it wasn't raining, but we didn't want to set up camp so checked on prices at the two available places in town, and ended up at Ida's motel, who gave us $10.00 off on a Senior's rate for a nice (standard) motel room. We were the only customers in their restaurant for dinner. Wi-Fi was weak from our room....so the blog wait continued for another day. Early to bed, and I woke up at half-past midnight thinking it was morning. The sun was just below the horizon, and daylight was streaming into the room from beneath the curtains. This northern land of the midnight sun may take a bit of getting used to!

We were up and showered by 0700, and after a light breakfast, headed northwest on the highway again by 0800. An hour later, a large moose walked out in front of us and an RV ahead of us on the highway. Soon we were back in Alaska again, crossing toward Tok and Anchorage. About 30 miles east of Tok, we turned north onto the Taylor Highway, driving for hours past a burnt area from the largest recorded forest fire ever, which had burned well over 6 million acres in 2004. 

Remains of a gigantic Wildfire - we drove past this for more than 5 hours

 At noon we entered the community of Chicken, Alaska – so named because the miners who'd settled the community wanted to name it after Alaka's state bird, but couldn't agree on how to spell Ptarmigan....so it became Chicken. Here we saw a large (world's largest?) chicken, and had a fine lunch at the Chicken Cafe, where they have some amazingly good cherry pie. 

Big Chicken

An hour later, we were headed north again, on a narrow winding gravel road (reminiscent of our drive to Telegraph Creek), and then joined up with our road back east to Dawson Creek, on the “Top of the World Highway”. It's a well-named road as it winds along a high spine mostly above the tree line, overlooking distant mountains and long drop-offs to valleys below. 

View from the Top of the World

By 1600 we descended to the Yukon River, and waited for a small ferry to take us across to Dawson City. Here it was relatively warm (18 Celsius), and not threatening to rain. I sit at my picnic table in the middle of town in front of the mythical tent which is now in use again (finally). The plan is to remain here a few days and explore, give the car a quick oil change (tomorrow), and then set out for the Arctic on Saturday. Our Wi-Fi restrictions are fairly tight, so I'm pre-typing this Blog for a quick upload when able, and then we can keep you up to date (hopefully) in short entries in the following days. We're finished with crossing between BC, Alaska, Yukon, and back.....at least for now. Next crossing will be into the Northwest Territories, and then the Arctic Circle.....but those are still a few days away.

Crossing the Yukon River on Dawson City Ferry