“Canada 🇨🇦 to The USA 🇺🇸 Part 2 of 2 ~Driving the AlCan / Alaska Highway! Days 4 – 6: June 5th through the 6th, Arriving in Tok 2023”

• June 7, 2023
• By Pen
• 0 Comment

Day 4: June 5

Whitehorse, Yukon To Destruction Bay, Yukon 

I was up with the sun again, though it was hiding behind clouds. We can expect rain today, according to reports.

Using wifi in campgrounds is usually more successful in early mornings. By early evening, forget about it, if the campground is full, but going to the camp offices office can work, too.

Last night we ended up at their office for better wifi, but they closed at 9PM. We sat outside their office, till the mosquitos drove us back to The Whale.

Today, we wanted to fire up Jonah and tootle around Whitehorse and get a peek at the SS Klondike, but the weather was so yucky, we lacked motivation. There was a reason for this…..While still having some wifi, I checked my emails one more time. Am I ever glad I did, too, because way back in February, when I was planning this trip, we invited Chelsie (daughter) to fly to Alaska, during her birthday week, and we would take her to see the Bears in Katmai National Park to watch them catch Salmon at Brook Falls, AND to also take her on a helicopter ride with us to a Glacier and go Dog Sledding.

Now, Chelsie has three beautiful children, (our grands) and she is a full-time stay-at-home mama. A lot of things had to come together to make this trip possible for her. Her hubby was the easiest hurdle, as he has always supported these adventures of ours; 100 percent. The same can be said about my husband. All in!

As it turned out, Chelsies husbands parents are going to watch the kiddos, while Joey works, and Chels is gone.
What a huge blessing!

Joeys parents are wonderful people and you know what? They have done the same, two other times over the years, so Chelsie could join us a few times on our travels: Sri Lanka for her first Safari, and Maine to Connecticut/camping with us).

Let it also be known, if it weren’t for Chelsie, over these last seven years of our nomad lifestyle, I’m not sure what we would have done. She handles all our mail, helped us get taxes filed, back in the earlier years, and she received and stored our many souvenirs, we kept shipping to her home from all over the world.
She also shipped us specific supplies from the USA, periodically.

Yup, our BIG thanks to our kid for everything!

I had to really hustle to get a plane ticket, as soon as I got this green light! Had we left to go drive around Whitehorse, I would have missed the small window I had to line up Chelsies visit. ….all in about 20 minutes, before we were to check-out of the campground and have no signal for three days.
It worked out, and Chelsie will fly to Anchorage, two days after her hubby retires from the Marine Corps, in July; after 23 years, and steps into his full-time job  (already working weekend nites at) over the last six months; (paramedic).

I’ve been thinking about July all day! We’ve all wanted this to work out so bad! Chelsie has never been to Alaska.

THRILLED!

We broke camp and departed at checkout time of 11:15 AM. (a little late) Our drive day will only be about 3-4 hours, intentionally, to shake it up a bit. Plus, if the road is as bad as we hear it is, leaving Destruction Bay, we want to be fresh and focused after a good nights rest!

I don’t really want to drive Jonah, separately, but will, so Daryl can focus on caring for The Whale, to see her through, and I will see Jonah through, this final leg of this epic journey, to get to Tok, Alaska.

About The Alaskan Highway 

The Alaska Highway was built between the years of 1942 and 1944 and extends from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction Alaska, for a total length of 1,365 miles.

The work on this highway, began after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, for the purpose of providing a useable route for the U.S. to service the military outposts that dotted the landscape of Alaska.

While funded by the U.S. and built by the Army Corp of Engineers, the state of Alaska only owns the portion that is in Alaska. Canada gave permission for the project, but has always owned the portion that extends through British Columbia and the Yukon.

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A few hours into the drive, from Whitehorse, Yukon, we drove out of the bad weather, and in through the scenic and beautiful mountains of Kluane National Park. Wow!

We did want to hit up Kulane National Park, but it was 16 degrees there on this morning, and glad we had decided to catch it in the fall, on the way back down.

We had more excitement as we came into Haines Junction, this afternoon. We saw a small road crew with a load of loose asphalt in their truck. They looked tired and I hoped, it’s because they did some much needed repair on the highway, through to Tok. Did I dare hope? Yes I did!

We drove around the beautiful Kulane Lake and btw, also some great pullouts for boondocking along there, too, if the timing is right for those who may take this trip.  We got a later start from Whitehorse and wanted to continue, in our case. The sun was out, and we had dry pavement. It was such a beautiful drive.

The wildlife was not a plenty, today, but we finally saw one Elk on the AlCan, for all the signs we have seen, warning about them possibly being on the road.

The real excitement was finally getting to see a small herd of the Wild Horses! Now those horses must be super tough, to survive in the wilderness with Grizzlies and Wolves! Looks like a third mare, is ready to pop, any day.

We saw our first Cinnamon Brown Bear, too! ⬇️

⬆️ The Cinnamon Bear is a subspecies of the black bear, and the smallest type of North American Bear. As its name implies, the Cinnamon Bear has rusty brown fur.

As we neared Destruction Bay, I had eyeballs on the road; we both did. We started seeing fresh asphalt all over, clearly used, recently to fill in, what used to be many, many holes and larger; cross-the-entire-lane drop offs!!!!

Of course the road is by no means smooth, but now just bumpy and uneven, so far. We reduced our speed, GREATLY and had no problem. Now, that being said, we only drove about 45 minutes past Destruction Bay, but I can’t believe the repairs don’t go all the way to, at least the border.….we shall see.

I had previously called ahead to the Tok campground, to let them know we might be late. Not knowing the condition of this road, they understood, completely.

Now, since there have been some repairs, it’s looking like we will be arriving in Tok, early, so I will call again and make arrangements.
It’s early in the season, so luckily, no issues with our spot.

We began looking for the perfect boondocking site, after Destruction Bay, which is pretty much a few old homes, a hotel, and a gas station.

We pulled off at Kuane River Rest area. It has the most amazing view of the mountains! Sunset will be pretty, if we can stay up that late. (It’s staying lighter WAY longer, now). We were the only ones at this stop for the night. Of course we rarely saw any other vehicles, since leaving Whitehorse.

Tomorrow we cross over the border, into Alaska! We are less than two hours away, according to the map, but the road condition will make that, double!
Daryl is so excited, he was belting out his best rendition of the song; “North to Alaska!”

After parking and getting set-up with our auto levelers and putting out, two of our three slides, it was time for dinner! We turned on our generator, and even some A/C. It’s never been this warm, yet.

As is tradition, the night before crossing a border, we make breakfast for dinner, to use up our fresh eggs, as those are not allowed over the border.

I’ve even gotten more accustomed to the disarray in The Whale while boondocking.
The trade-off is what we get to see, traveling like this, during the day on the AlCan. It’s so worth boondocking in the wilderness, like we have been doing. I love the solitude and peace.

Still love full-hookups, though!

Our Wildlife Sightings: Whitehorse to North of Destruction Bay

1 Deer
6 Wild Horses
1 Elk
1 Black Bear
1 Brown Bear

Day 5: June 6

Destruction Bay To the Border Crossing To Tok, Alaska!

We had a beautiful sunrise, as seen from our bedroom, and we were on the road by 7AM.

This is our first day in five, where we woke to sunshine and it remained! Photos turn out much better with sunshine, helping make scenery pop!

Not sure what the bad part of the road would be like, so we were giving plenty of time to the border. Normal time would be 2.5 hours from Destruction Bay. We were 45 minutes north of Destruction Bay, starting out this morning, and we were at the three hour mark, when it was time for a break at rest stop.
I got out to check on Jonah’s tires. All were good, and no lost hubcaps!

For some reason we lost all three of our video cams at once, from inside The Whale. Now I can’t watch Jonah. Of all times for this to happen.. on THIS part of the long drive up here!

The road was bad, but not impossible. Recent repairs to potholes and large cracks are evident. Nothing changed about the frost heaves, and one must go very slow, or your towed rig will sustain damage for sure.
Frost Heaves create sudden dips in the road, and they always seem to be marked with skid marks from trailer-sized tires.
We have a huge advantage in our Class A, as our view is high up, looking down. Another advantage is our air suspension, and three axles with semi truck sized tires.  My concern was not our Motorhome, but for our VW, as driving these bad spots require 62 feet of caution through each one, since we are a big outfit.

We averaged 20 mph on this section of road. There were gravel sections, but recently graded, so not too bad.

Again, speed is everything.

In a perfect world, the drive from Destruction Bay to Tok in an RV’s, would take about 4.5 to 5 hours. With the difficult road, and construction with pilots cars, it was a seven hour day; including, a 15 minute Power Nap for Daryl, and a 10-minute stop to wash Jonah, and fueling up in Tok.

NOTE: Do not let this final; 361 mile travel day, discourage from doing an RV trip for yourselves, on the Alaska Highway.
It’s not as much stressful, as it is, just time consuming.
Give yourselves extra time to do this part. Who knows, it could all be fixed by next summer.

There was a couple, parked next to us at the Whitehorse campground. They have a big rig set up like us, but they also have six dogs. We have been seeing them and they have seen us, all along, since Whitehorse. It’s been some fun in the wilderness.

Daryl got his 10 minutes Power Nap reboot, and the video cam rebooted, too. All was well.

At the “Welcome to Alaska” sign we had actual construction work going on, for the first time, since we began the AlCan. We were unable to park and get pictures with the sign. 😢

We were stopped, just looking at the sign for 10 minutes, on the single lane only section with a pilot car.
We switched our Canadian SIM cards, back to our USA cards, and we were ready to cross!

We made it to Alaska!!!!

Personal Stats:
I Cruised in to Alaska. I Flew in, and now I’ve RV-ed in!

From the border, we headed for our first Alaska campground in Tok: TheTundra RV Campground

In about an hour from the border, our USA SIM cards activated. Yay!

From the Canadian customs crossing, to the USA crossing, was over 18 miles. I’ve never driven such a long neutral zone.

Also, the road patching work ended, as I suspected it would, at the USA border, until about an hour, further North. It was the absolute worst part. The asphalt patchwork eventually resumed, but don’t get a false sense of normalcy. There are bad spots, still, all the way to Tok.

We never unhooked Jonah. We towed her through this part of the AlCan, too. Had there not been the repairs, I would have driven her separately.

About 35 miles from our campground in Tok, we (we as in Daryl) stopped and washed Jonah off. Not a soap and water job, just water, to get off any asphalt debris. It was a major improvement. Campgrounds normally do not allow rig washing, and we have no idea when we will see a car wash in Alaska.

Major swarm of mosquitoes met us when we opened the door at this rest stop, and we’re instantly reminded, June is the month for them in Alaska.

Even though we crossed over from Canada to Alaska, this does not mean the Alaska Highway ended there. The actual end, we will hit up, after our stay in Tok, for three or four nights.

Heading to our next stop of Fairbanks, we will continue on the AlCan, and go through Delta Junction, which is the true end to the Alaska Highway.

The miles are accurate, but we took six full days and nights, to make this trip.
We did not rush through, but we didn’t dilly-daddle, either. Canada, as great as it was, was not our focus; Alaska has always been the focus and goal.
If Canada would have been more of the focus, later in the season would mean better weather. Alaska has a short summer, so that’s where we want to be.

Wildlife Sightings: North of Destruction Bay, to Tok

5 White Swans

We made it to Tok, Alaska!! (Pronounced Toke). We love our campground in the trees. No wifi at camp spots, but the office has a lounge, bar and sitting room to use it there. I will do that, tomorrow, to get all photos uploaded and this blog out.

The lady at the office told me T-Mobile doesn’t work well up here. It is our in-house internet service.  Big bummer. We tried. It is not working. We will call our provider and find out where up here in Alaska it will work. (They told us it would work in Canada and it didn’t). They also said it would work in Alaska. Anything for a sale, right?  If it won’t, we will have to pause the service, till September, when we return to the lower 48.

Thankfully, Our cell phone plan works, though. Not unlimited hotspots, but unlimited data. It will have to do; that and relying on whatever campgrounds have to offer.

Tok
Our First of Many Alaska Stays ⬇️

And guess who our next door camp neighbors are? Yup, the same couple with the six dogs, who we camped next door to in Whitehorse. And moreover, this couple work  (obviously partly remotely), for the Fairbanks campground we will be staying at. She actually took my booking, quite awhile back. Too funny.

Something else kinda cool. My brother and his wife and her sister and BIL are “cruising” to Alaska. I think they are in Alaska by now. Of course they are South in the state, while we are way North, but still awesome!

Tonight we went out for dinner. We heard Fast Freddy’s was a must “go to” in Tok.
We put Jonah’s top down and cruised on over. It was very good and we recommend. We got fresh halibut fingers. (Fish n Chips without the chips).  

Tomorrow, I will be cleaning inside The Whale, and inside Jonah; top to bottom! The glacier dust is awful, from primarily boondocking for almost two weeks. EVERY thing will get wiped down. 

Then, we get to play!

Photo Dump from Whitehorse, to Just North of Destruction Bay Yukon

Photo Dump from North of Destruction Bay Yukon To Across the Border in to Alaska!!! 

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NOTE: When we do reach Delta Junction; the official end to the Alaskan highway, after we leave Tok, I will be adding to this blog, a few pictures, and the ending mileage. ⬇️

Delta Junction, Alaska

Today, (after a stop in Tok for a few days), on our way to Fairbanks, for our flying adventure to Utqiagvik (Barrow), to the Arctic Ocean, we officially completed the Alaskan Highway.

From:

Mile “0” in Dawson Creek, British Columbia

To:

Delta Junction, Alaska

1,422 Miles, according to the sign.

We did that and an additional 88 miles, in six days. We took no side trips, driving. These extra miles would be pulling off the highway to fuel-up, stopping for breaks, boondocking nights, or to go in to campgrounds.

If you missed Part 1 of this 2 Part epic journey, here is the link:

 https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/northamerica/canada/british-columbia/canada-part-1-of-2-driving-the-alcan-alaska-highway-days-1-3-june-2nd-through-the-4th-2023/