A day and a half in Whitehorse, and we did most everything on our list. We even had the added bonus of visiting with some former Skagway friends, Charlie & Bev. There were a couple of other things we could have added to the list, but we were anxious to get on up the road. We pulled out of the Pioneer RV Park at about 9am, and headed north on the Alaska Hwy.
The scenery between Whitehorse and Haines Junction is pretty consistent. Lots of forest with a backdrop of snow covered mountains. The farther north we get, the worse the road conditions are becoming. The Alaska Hwy up to Whitehorse is an excellent road, with only one stretch between Fort Nelson & Watson Lake that winds it's way through the northern Rocky Mountains. In that area, the road is narrower, and there are two mountain passes to climb.
From Kluane Lake north to the U.S. / Canadian border, the colder weather (frost heaves) takes a toll on the roads. Most of the bumps, gravel patches, and other bad stretches are clearly marked, but there are a few bad areas that are not. In a car or truck, it's not a big deal to blast through these bad areas at 55+. In a motor home at 55+, some of these dips, and bumps will launch the front end into the stratosphere. North of Destruction Bay and Burwash Landing, the road became worse & worse.
The last 20-30 miles before reaching the Alaska border was the absolute worst. Several areas are being redone, and the rest is in serious need of being redone. In the construction areas, we were escorted through at 25 mph, and outside the construction zones, a safe speed was about 35-40.
Kluane Lake
When we reached the border, the highway on the Alaska side was in great shape, and we only traveled another few miles before stopping at Border City, where we stopped for the night. It was the longest travel day so far, and we were all ready to call it a day.
Miles traveled 338 Cumulative - 4,284
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