After breakfast at the Toad River Lodge on May 2, I began my trek northwest through British Columbia and into the Yukon. I had wished to go camping the previous night, but despite the high temperatures being just about 50, the ground was still frozen, forcing owners in the area to keep their campgrounds closed.
I continued to smile each mile, eagerly awaiting what greeted be at each turn. What initialized looked like boulders on the side of the road were bison, grazing the grasses along the highway. Further down the road I came across a car parked on the shoulder, with its hazard lights flashing, looking into the woods I saw a black bear emerge into the grass and begin poking around for food. It stayed there for 20 minutes, occasionally looking around at the cars and smelling the air, before returning to eat some local vegetation.
In Watson Lake, I had hoped to see the Northern Lights exhibit, but like many attractions it had not yet opened, relegating me to walk through the sign forest, a collection of street signs and license plated from around the globe. At least it was a good opportunity for me to stretch my legs.
As I had gotten used to, an afternoon storm rolled in, I was thankful that this one didn’t produce hail as I had encountered the previous day. I slid once, briefing, but it was enough to catch my attention and not want to repeat it again. The storm cleared, and I arrived in Whitehorse, the only true city, along the highway. The city had grown from the gold rush days in the Yukon. The city is filled with memorabilia from the area and attractions with a gold mining theme. Outside of my hotel was a bust of Jack London, whose time in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, inspired him to write Call of the Wild and White Fang, among others.
Wednesday morning, I finally went to Tim Horton’s to see what the excitement and hype was about. Their breakfast sandwich (sausage, egg and cheese) was very good, and not greasy. The coffee was pretty good, also, but I would not sit in line for 30 minutes to get it (or Starbucks). My journey then took me west, past wild horses, bald eagles, Dahl sheep, swans, and a grizzly bear. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the horses or the eagle with my camera. The grizzly bear, much like the black bear, however did not mind vehicles pulling over to watch him eat for 30 minutes. Did I mention I was loving this?
After five hours of driving, I reached the border, and arrived in Alaska. The roads immediately turned smooth, completely paved. The yellow lines to mark the center of the road reemerged. One hundred miles further, I reached the first town Tok and enjoyed a delicious hamburger at Fast Eddy’s as recommended by the Milepost (I believe it is the only restaurant in town, though).
As I had not run into any delays on my trip, I decided to use the extra days I had allocated to reach Alaska to head North to Fairbanks before heading southeast for Anchorage. On my drive up to Fairbanks a couple of moose were grazing on the side of the side of the road. Passing through Delta Junction, I took a photo at the the post marking the official end of the Alaskan Highway, but it was otherwise uneventful ... It turned out to be the proverbial calm before the storm, but that’s a story for next time.
Call of the Wild (1935) - Stars Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie. Plot: Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf.
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