June 26, 2009

June 26, 2009

It rained all last night and it is still raining as we continue our journey west on the Alaska Highway. We are first slowed by a series of gravel sections under construction. Immediately afterwards we have to dodge rock slides for miles. One rock, or should I say boulder, was the size of an ottoman. In the middle of the road! The highway is now very windy and bumpy. In the first four hours we manage only 120 miles. I am not sure what we were thinking. Getting to Alaska by road is an excruciatingly long slow drive. And neither Aimee nor I like to drive, especially in the rain. We will slog thru the drive and eventually make it to Alaska, but I can already sense that the return drive is going to be painful.

When the rain abates to a slow ooze, we manage to spot black bears along the road seven times, including a cub. The grass along the road must really be tasty. We also spot a bunch of bison and some kind of silvery long tailed fox.

For the rest of the day, we drive west bouncing between British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. Surprisingly after that tough initial section the road straightens and improves dramatically. And later in the day the rain stops and we can see the beautiful scenery. This is not a bad drive after all.

Our big stop for the day is in Watson Lake, YT. We visit the town’s small Interpretative Center on the construction of the Alcan Road. Interestingly the US built the road for $150 million and Canada paid us only $75 million for it after the war. They got a good deal. Maybe, maybe not. Apparently it was built so quickly, the Canadians had to rebuild it almost immediately. One of the original workers from Danville, IL, feeling homesick, posted a signpost of his hometown at Watson Lake. Apparently it caught on and now the town center has a forest of 65,000 signs erected by travelers following the route!

At a rest stop I talked to a Canadian girl bicycling in the other direction. We exchange stories. Hers was better. She and three girlfriends started a month ago by flying into Inuvik, an Eskimo village on the Arctic Ocean. They are headed to Vancouver and by the fall expect to finish in Newfoundland on the Atlantic coast. In comparison, our “drive” is much easier.

We stop for the night at a private RV park at Milepost 769.