Day 49 - Destruction Bay, Yukon to Skagway, Alaska

Adventure Caravans

Alaska 2011- 58 Day

Blog – Tuesday, July 26, 2011-Day #49

Prepared by Dave & Lynn Coleman – Rig #6

Today was a travel day.  269.5 Miles from Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory to Skagway, Alaska

It rained all night last night. While I’m sure we would all have loved to sleep in on this rainy morning after our lovely meal and entertainment provided by our host (Loren) at the Destruction Bay RV Park last night, it was an early start. Several rigs were out before our fearless leaders, intent on getting gas, or seeing to repairs en route. #1 was out as scheduled by 8am (7am by our bodies’ Alaska time—ugh!!). After several “one night stands” we are all looking forward to getting to Skagway where we can settle in for a few days.

While pulling out of the park, Ron and Jackie were flagged down by a gentleman at the gas station—apparently he and Gil got their gas payments switched and Gil had paid much more than he should have.  The other gentleman was heading in the other direction and was trying to get the attention of one of our members to rectify the situation.  Fortunately Gil hadn’t gone far, and was able to hear the discussion on the CB and returned to get these high finances straightened out.

The roads today were much better than yesterday.

We had a beautiful drive along the Kluane Lake, and thought it would have been really spectacular in the sunshine.

21 miles out we passed the location of the official opening of the ALCAN in 1942. While we may complain about a few bumps in the road, it is truly amazing to think about what these young men accomplished nearly 70 years ago, and the conditions in which they did it.

At mile 51.6 our road log shows: “Highest point on the remainder of our caravan…”, guess that means it’s all downhill from here…

We spotted a coyote, and heard reports of chipmunk and bunny sightings. We haven’t had a social since arriving, so this may not represent a full report of wildlife sightings.

Our traveling group stopped at a bakery in Haines Junction for coffee and a snack. The bakery was located across the street from the Kluane Visitors’ Center, where we spoke with a nice young lady who had been traveling the road with us on her way to Haines.  She was amazed at the size of our rigs and said she had passed many of us on the road and assured us we were all quite courteous and made it easier for other drivers such as herself to pass safely.  One of our drivers recalled seeing her on the road and remarked that she had passed us in a safe manner. It’s nice to get a compliment after weeks of suffering through occasional one-finger salutes and frequent scary situations when we are simply trying to get down the road and share it with others safely.

Emerald Lake is, indeed, a beauty.

 

Emerald Lake

The world’s smallest desert was worth a quick photo stop.

We crossed over from the Yukon Territory, to British Columbia, and back in the USA after 250 miles.

The last 10 miles or so down the incline into Skagway were blanketed in thick fog. We were unable to see the rig in front of us if we were back more than 50 feet.  It was a scary few miles, and then some of us in the later groups got stuck at customs for about 45 minutes.  We were apparently going through at the same time many of the cruise ship tour buses were returning to Skagway.

Our rigs arrived safely in Skagway (some with repairs, some “patched up” and some with a new part or two) and we will be sharing stories of the drive over the next few days.