Alaska Redux part 6

Our escape from Haines occurred early Tuesday morning as we had a long drive ahead of us. Our destination for today is Beaver Creek taking us back through British Columbia and Yukon. So we lost an hour because both BC and YT are on Pacific daylight time while Alaska is on Alaska daylight time. Why they change to daylight time doesn’t make any sense since the sun hardly ever sets this time of year. I did discover that it is fairly dark between midnight and 3 a.m.

There’s only one road into Haines so as we left we again followed the Chilkat River. (This is different from the Chilkoot River where Rob and Steve were fishing.) I might have mentioned before the Chilkat River is part of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and is where more than 3500 eagles return to in the fall. We did not see any eagles along this stretch of road, but they were plentiful in the harbor and along the ocean front.

Construction slowed us down for a while. We were able to watch the process as the huge “dinosaur-like” equipment ate away the escarpment and chewed up stately pines, or alders, or spruce…anyway, big trees.

Passing through Canadian customs was a breeze, not so for the pickup truck in front of us. They were pulled over for an inspection and all the occupants told to exit the vehicle (4 or 5 plus a dog). Random check or a problem detected, we’ll never know. We’ll have to go through U.S. Customs again on our way to Tok from Beaver Creek. Citrus was on the restricted list before so grapefruit for breakfast before customs.

At Haines Junction we made a left turn to continue in a northwesterly direction. (A right turn would have taken us back to Whitehorse.) The road is much improved over our previous visit 11 years ago, but frost heaves were still evident in many places. One section along Kluane (rhymes with Swanee) Lake was under construction 11 years ago and took 1 ½ hours to transit.

Kluane Lake is the largest lake in Yukon covering about 400 square kilometers (154 acres).  Around 3-400 years ago a glacier advanced across the Slim’s River and closed the drainage outlet for Kluane Lake. As the water level rose the lake’s drainage reversed causing water that previously drained into the Gulf of Alaska to drain into the Yukon River system and ultimately into the Bering Sea.

Our ultimate destination for the next leg of our trip is Valdez, however our plan is to take three days to get there. Our first stop was Beaver Creek, Yukon. We stayed at the Discovery Yukon RV Park a very nice park with wide level sites. We had the option to have dinner at the small restaurant on the grounds, operated by the owners of the park. We passed because we had already planned our dinner. The owner brought us two large bags of greens she had harvested earlier that day.

The second stop on the way to Valdez was Tok and brought us back into Alaska. Rob and I had stayed at the Sourdough Campground on our first trip to Alaska 11 years ago. Although the park has new owners, it is much the same as before. Sourdough pancakes and elk sausage were still on the menu for breakfast and a pancake toss an evening activity (to win a free breakfast). The cost of the breakfast was a lot more expensive than I remember it, however.

The final stop was in Gakona at the appropriately named Gakona Alaska RV Park, located on the Gakona River. Wide open spaces look out over the river.

We learned that, up until a few years ago, the bank of the river was much closer to the park. The river has since changed course meandering further away from the park.

The staff was full of information regarding fishing in the area and tantalized Rob and Steve with a gift of frozen salmon. The fish had been caught in a fish wheel co-owned by the park owners and several others. As soon as Rob and Steve had the coaches connected they put their fishing gear together and took off for the perfect spot. Sadly, they came back hours later with no catch. 

Meanwhile, Gerri stayed back preparing a substitute meal of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. The weather has been outstanding with temperatures in the 70’s and bright sunshine, so we ate outside after covering ourselves with bug spray.

Later in the evening Mark, one of the staff, invited us to go observe the fish wheel. All four of us piled into his truck for the ride down the road and over a secluded path cut through the forest. Two fish had already been captured when we arrived. We watched for about ½ hour but no more fish showed up. The river was running very fast. 

After Mark took us back to our campsite he gave one of the fish to us. Rob dutifully took out his filet knife.

The road we followed to these three parks was designated a Purple Heart Hwy. There were so many potholes, and frost heaves, the road should be awarded a Purple Heart. Tests are being conducted to determine if the  The rough road made for slow going which gave us a chance to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

We left Friday following the Gakona River south until it merged with the Copper River. We turned south onto the Richardson Hwy towards Valdez. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline parallels the Hwy and the border of the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. There were a few sections of pipeline visible through the trees.

The Wrangell-St. Elias mountains were also visible. Mt. Wrangell is classified as an active volcano because of the rounded top. It is the largest active volcano in the mainland United States with 4 times the volume of Mt. Rainier. Eruptions over the last century have left ash on its slopes and heat from magma below the surface has melted parts of its glaciers. On a clear day you can see steam rising from vents at the top.

 The scenery in this area is stunning! The weather couldn’t have been more cooperative. The sun was shining, no wind, and a vibrant blue sky dotted with fleecy clouds.

The mountains seemed to wrap around the road giving the impression of driving through the cauldron of the volcano. Snow and ice melting off the glaciers created waterfalls against the dark rock and tree covered slopes.

As we crested the summit, the clear blue sky gave way to dense fog. We had arrived in Valdez.