Leaving Lake Creek Campground, I quickly caught the biking group, waving as I passed; and, we stopped in Beaver Creek the last “major stop?” in Canada at the Visitors Center. Since I have virtually no data in Canada, I was able to use the free wifi there and posted a new blog after a couple of hours of picture uploading, reformating, etc.
The road pavement had become very unpredictable. There are many frost heaves that force you to slow down to about 20 mph to drive over them; or, go around the bad pavement, if that is an option, based on visibility or if the whole road width is involved. The way they fix the roads is to take out the pavement for a section (few feet upto many miles) and put down gravel. So, there are stretches of road that suddenly become gravel. They do warn you with signage so you can slow down. This is where those windshield chips can occur.
The Border, again!
As you may recall, we had to cross the border going into Skagway and then crossed it again coming out of Haines. So, this is my fourth crossing including the first one at Sumas. This crossing provides a photo op, though as it’s a big deal to cross into Alaska on the Alcan. The actual customs stop is a couple miles further down the road and no pictures allowed.
I was excited after crossing the border as the road lines were bright and nicely painted, (Canada road lines are merely a suggestion most of the time) and the road looked very nice. Unfortunately, this is an illusion as you quickly start to hit more frost heaves. Although it looks nice, the road is not a lot different than the Canada version.
Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge
After crossing the border, the first stop of interest is the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge. This refuge, set aside in 1980 is 730,000 acres of small lakes, ponds and 2 glacial rivers. (Personally, I can’t get my head around how big 730,000 acres is.) This refuge is consider internationally important for migrating sandhill cranes and nesting trumpeter swans, according to the Milepost.
As I previously mentioned, I have been surprised by the lack of clear water in the rivers. Well, apparently, the fish had to evolve to survive per the sign below. These fish don’t hang out in the rivers, they go up lay their eggs and get out. The babies hatch in the spring and then promptly get washed downriver to the lakes where they grow up. Really fascinating secret the Athabascans figured out!
Here is an article on the person I did indeed meet at the Visitors Center. The power was out as they were working on it, but we had a lovely chat and this is a very interesting article about living in central Alaska!
Deadman Lake Campground
We stayed the night in a Tetlin Refuge campground called, of all things, Deadman Lake. I don’t know the story, but really creepy name. It was a beautiful campground on a fair size lake. They provide canoes and life jackets for use on the lake. We did not go out, but wish I had now. Here is a video that shows a little more about the refuge and this campground.
Tanana River Bridge
A rest area sits where the original metal truss bridge, one of only five built during the original construction of the Alcan, crosses the river. This bridge was in use until 2010 when a much less visually pleasing bridge took its place. The builders left some memorial evidence of the original bridge.
It’s also a neat stop for birders, as I met a group of people who were from Quebec who were there to bird and they pointed out several birds to me. (Jean-Claude – they sounded just like you! 😘) They also told me, that one must cross this river and this bridge twice when visiting Alaska by vehicle. I guess I kind of thought of the whole highway that way!
Tok Cutoff
We stopped in Tok for gas, groceries (really good store for a small town), and a visit at the Visitor’s Center. (That VC is where the picture of the Dall Sheep came from in the previous post.) Then we left the Alcan to drive south on the Tok Cutoff. This 125 mile road leads southwest towards the Glenn highway (Anchorage connection) and Richardson highway (Valdez to south and Fairbanks to north). The Cutoff drives along the edge of the Wrangell Mountains.
Private Campsite at Rufus Creek
I am driving the paved roads in Alaska, as I have no spare tire and the gravel roads are known for flat tires here. Clarice did not come with a spare, nor does she easily have a place to put one, so I decided there was plenty to see without taking the more risky roads and I would take the chance. Goodness, so long as I have water and food, I have the house with me and can wait it out for help. I’m not exactly going to change a tire, anyway.
A side road off the Tok Cutoff called the Nabesna Road leads to the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The first 17 miles are “paved” (with some gravel patches) while the rest of the 42 mile road is gravel. So, off we went and at mile 6 we found a beautiful little private campsite on a Rufus Creek. We spent the night and did the rest of the road in the morning. I toyed with staying two nights, but something was nagging me to go, so we only spent one night. More on that nagging in the next post.
I hope those French Canadian brought a little bit of home to you 😀. What a great way to learn about history and discover this beautiful planet. You bring it to life for us. A huge Thanks. Miss you Karen!
LOL…those French Canadian’s definitely made me miss my good friend in GR! 🙂
Alaska is really amazing, and so was the Canada portion of the trip. In many ways, Canada was more remote than Alaska has been. Our planet wildernesses are really beautiful.
I didn’t know the Tanana River exists this far from Fairbanks but I just looked it up and learned that it’s 584 mile tributary of the Yukon River. “Tanana” was one word we were schooled on pronouncing when we arrived in Fairbanks. Apparently we were pronouncing it incorrectly as “TaNANa” but they told us the correct native pronunciation is “TAH-neh-naw”. Just an interesting piece of info😊. I’m looking forward to seeing your next posts!
Wow, that’s a fun fact to learn! Thanks for sharing that Christie!
I was schooled in the pronunciation of Chitina recently. I was saying it Chi-Tina. It’s Chit-na according to my new Fairbanks friends.
Karen- Alaska looks very wild and beautiful! Two moose sightings in one day! That is awesome! Happy Trails!
It was super cool to see them, Sue! Hoping for a male with the big horns sometime soon. 🙂