Yukon CN

6/19 – 6/21/2016 - Since the Inside Passage is not connected by highway to the mainland of Alaska we crossed the border again today back into Canada and drew a bad ass border guard who decided that she needed to search our coach.  She told us to remove our dogs and wait on the other side of the road while she searched the RV, of course there was nothing to find, and we were on our way after about 20 minutes.  Our journey down the Haines highway toward Haines Junction and the Alaskan Highway can only be described as magnificent with high peaks and glaciers everywhere. 

 

We stopped for a short hike at Million Dollar Falls.

 

We settled in to our first Yukon Provincial Park Campground at Kathleen Lake, where we hiked around the Lake and stayed one night.  

 

The Haines Junction Cultural Center displayed the art and history of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation people who have lived there for thousands of years.  Haines Junction lies on the edge of the Kluane National Park and Reserve home of Mt Logan, Canada’s highest peak, and part of the largest internationally protected area on earth, along with Tatshenshini-Alsek Park in British Columbia, and Wrangell-St Elian NP and Glacier Bay NP in Alaska. 

 

 

Our next stop for the night was Congdon Creek Campground; another Yukon Government campground along Kluane Lake is the largest lake in the Yukon at 154 square miles.  We met a couple of fellow RV Villagers, Gretchen from San Diego and Wendy from Connecticut, and sat around the campfire getting acquainted all night.  We decided to get up early the next morning to face what everyone said is the worst stretch of road on the Alaskan Highway, from Burwash Landing YT to the Alaskan border.  They were sure correct, it was about 50 plus miles of frost heaves, washboard, and gravel and the motorhome and car were white by the time we reached the border, but since we just took our time and rode at 30 mph, we suffered no rock damage at all, especially since we bubble wrapped the car windshield and headlights. 

 

 

The upside of the early departure was as soon as we left the campground at 6am, we saw our first grizzly bear strolling along the highway and a few miles further we saw another one munching on the roadside wildflowers.   All in all it was a long day but a beautiful ride nature-wise, and we checked into Tundra RV Park in Tok and hit the vehicle wash station to scrub the RV and car, which I am sure, will get dirty again real soon.