Day 24: Haines Junction to south of Beaver Creek

Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Beaver Creek, Yukon, Canada
Woke to a cloudy morning, had rain overnight (which is as nice as rain on the tin roof of the cabin), walked Sara, and started out about our usual 11am.  Just before we left, we discovered the sewer tank is full - I had hoped the panel gauge was exaggerating since we were parked on a slope - but when toilet doesn't want to flush, it's time to face the fact that it's dump time, and these Provincial (State) Parks don't offer dump sites.  So after a trip to the campground outhouse :(, it's on the to do list to find a dump site.  But first we stop at the DaKu Cultural Center in Haines Junction.  As we pull in, we see the blue Peugeot taking off (that's Erica and Andrew getting ahead of us!)  But we thoroughly enjoyed this center which explained and pictured the culture of Native Americans of this area, and the mountain range formation/glacier melts of the Kluane Mountains (the snow capped mountains we have been following) - this range includes Mount Logan, which apparently is second only to Mt Everest in challenging mountain climbers.  We were there almost 2 hours, then bought a little gas to keep us full, and then set off for Tachal Dahl Visitor Center - this is famous for the Dall Sheep who frequent this steep mountain slope.  We heard of 50 sheep and lambs on the slope the day before, but we were excited to see 5 sheep playing on the mountain side via their powerful telescopes.  Linda has pictures to prove it, but you might want to get a microscope to see them in the picture!  Purple wildflowers and Lake Kluane were also highlights of this stop.  We had been warned of road conditions north of Burwash Landing, but roads have really been great so far with very little disruption by construction, so I wasn't prepared for the next 70 miles of bad to hellishly bad road!  It started off with "undulations" in the cement road, waves that you don't see until you crest them, and then feel like you're airborne until  the bus lands on it's bouncing shock absorbers.  So that slowed me down to 40mph, where I could also spot the potholes in time to avoid.  Apparently, these undulations are caused by destruction of the permafrost layer of ground and is a particular problem in these arctic regions.  Then the bad pavement ran out and it changed to hard-packed gravel, which wasn't too bad at 30-35 mph.  So they just had to add corrugated ridges in the gravel road!  Felt like driving over grandma's washboard - slowing to 20-25 mph was not our only maneuver - the big rigs showed me how to drive on the wrong side of the road or the very edge of the shoulder because sometimes that was better!  And, of course, I'm praying that passing trucks and cars don't throw a rock up to crack my windshield that was manufactured in Italy, not to mention worrying about the alignment on this bus!  About 30 miles of the washboard road and a bright spot appears - finally, a moose sighting!  Just standing in a lake, and thanks to my slow speed, I am able to stop for the picture.  Linda even crossed the road to get him up close ad was excited when he looked up for her picture - I am thinking he may charge at her but she got the photo without injury!  Back on the washboard, where we are looking for a full service campground. Our prayers are answered south of Beaver Creek at Discovery Yukon campground for $33/night. I immediately dumped tanks, walked Sara in an amazing mowed field (looks like an old airfield with windsock) where she ran and circled and sniffed) and Linda started dinner - it was only 6:30pm but seemed like the last 70 miles had taken a week.  Then we headed to the "office/lodge" where wifi was supposedly available - NOT!  We spent an hour trying to get on, but owner agreed that speed is so slow up here that it's not worth using.  So we have information on other places to get internet (next visitor info center or McDonald's (if we ever see one - last one was about 3- 4 days ago!)  We had hoped to reach Alaska, USA today but will try for tomorrow.  It's rainy, cold out, better to hunker down for the night!  But still light skies at 11:30pm when we go to bed!  Just hope the RV holds together - now some  window molding is falling down - something we can handle!
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Comments

Ken and Sharon Bittinger
2016-05-25

I just got caught up with your blog. Love your daily updates , stories and pics. Thanks for documenting so well!

2025-05-22

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