Sunday, July 25, 2010

Day 55. Evening. Skagway, AK

The worst stretch of road on TAH is between Haines Junction, YT, and a point about 25 miles beyond the border towards Tok. Unfortunately, you have to drive that stretch both coming and going; there is no alternative. On the way up, it was constant rain for that bad stretch but on the return drive the weather was better and we could see the mountains and lakes along the way, very scenic. Better weather is a relative term, though. Since entering AK there’s not been a single day without precipitation.

Our campground last night was Lake Creek Provincial Park, YT, and when we arrived at 4 PM, it was sunny and relatively warm at 67 degrees. Felt great to bask in the sun and sit around the campfire.

The run down to Skagway has beautiful scenery, also – and some of the most inhospitable mountainous terrain we’ve ever seen. The mountains are super steep and glaciated, with narrow valleys in between, mostly filled with rivers and lakes. This is the nasty stuff the gold rushers had to contend with. In winter, though, the lakes probably froze over so that may have helped then get to the gold fields.

We’re in Skagway for 2 nights, then, we say goodbye to Alaska and head back into Canada to catch the Cassiar Highway southbound. We’re gonna head south until we hit nice weather, then take about a 5-day breather.

We got in late tonight so no pix; manana por favor.

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