Alaska Finally

Well,  I am a bit behind getting this posted but better late than never.

Our last day in the Yukon was the most difficult driving day to date.  We encountered a great deal of road construction and true to what we had been told, the roads were in pretty poor shape.  Three different times we had to wait for a road crew car to lead us through.  The road was gravel and in the process of being repaired which meant it was either very dusty or very muddy.  At the end of the day, both the truck and the fifth wheel were encased in a thick crust of mud.  Even with all the construction, as long as we maintained a slower speed, we did not have any problems.  It does make for a stressful drive as you cannot let your attention drift for even a moment but we still enjoyed the scenery.

When the border crossing came into view, we were so glad to be crossing.  As with the crossing into Canada, the crossing out again was no big deal.  The border person did not look into anything or at any of our papers other than the passports.  As soon as we cleared, we stopped at the first gas and food place.  It did not look like much and the folks were a bit scruffy looking but they were very nice and eager to talk with us.  The food was good even if the menu consisted of burgers, chicken or fish sandwiches and fries.  What else could we ask for?  typical American food:)

We drove the final miles to Tok.  Tok is a small town but has three RV parks.  We chose the one just outside of town because it has lots of trees and is more secluded.  The owner is a nice lady who is trying to keep running the place alone.  Her husband passed away and she is left trying to manage.  It needs a bit of TLC but has everything we need especially an RV/truck wash.  Our first order of business was to give both the truck and fifth a wash.  The mud was so thick and hard even with the power washer it took a bit of doing to get it clean.

We will rest a couple of days, collect our mail from the post office, wash and groom the girls and plan our next move.  Alaska, we are finally here!

As we left the campground, the road deteriorated almost immediately.  As you can see, it undulated and would really damage our fifth wheel if we did not slow considerably.

Road construction slowed our progress several times.  The gravel road was rough and a pilot car led us over the road.  At the first construction, we had to wait 10 minutes for the pilot to bring the southbound traffic through.  One section was so muddy it coated our rig and truck.  All in all, it made for a stressful driving day but it led us back home to the good ole U.S.A.

A waterfall of ice caught my eye as we passed.

A lone bike rider loaded with all his camping gear passed us heading southbound.  We saw several of the hardy souls, my hat is off to them!

As we got closer to the border, the landscape changed from mountainous of forest land dotted with lakes, ponds and streams.

A driving force for the poor roads can be traced back to the soil itself.  It has a high concentration of ice within the soil itself.  During warmer seasons, the ice thaws and the water makes it unstable.  When it refreezes, it heaves and warps.  Here is an example of research that is ongoing trying to find a solution to keep the soil from thawing.  These vents allow cold air to enter the soil and the hope is to keep it solid.

Up ahead, the border is finally in view.  Even with a line, we crossed and were on our way in under 15 minutes.

This is our mud encased landing gear on the fifth wheel.  We had to power wash everything before we could park and set-up.  The mud was so hard, it took several passes with the power wand to break through the mud and begin to resolve it away.  Yuk!