August 23-25 (Days 91-93)

Wednesday:
The alarm went off early this morning as we prepared to leave at 6:00 a.m. on the parking crew. It was cold, rainy and gray…again! We traveled with the leaders and the Gilles-Traiil group. After twenty miles out of town, the leader phoned back to the rest of the group at the campground to say the roads were passable and to come ahead. We had been concerned with flooding from the recent rains, as some roads in the area were washed out. Rivers and streams were high and churning, but we had no problems getting through.

We soon were climbing the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains. The highest elevation on Thompson Pass was 2,771 ft. This was a 7 ½ mile climb and Dan was watching all of the gauges (especially the transmission temperature gauge) on the suburban during the climb. We had no problems. It was a beautiful drive.

The crew stopped for a picture opportunity at Worthington Glacier. Then a breakfast break was taken after 80 miles at a wilderness lodge called Tonsina Lodge. There were no customers there yet and the owner (a grizzly-looking man) met us at the door and said when he saw us drive in, he put the hash browns on the grill.

We ordered breakfast in this dining hall that is also a weekend and winter dance hall and gathering place for the locals. In the corner of the room was a piano and a bass violin made out of a wash tub, 2x2 and rope which is actually played on the weekends. We were invited to make our own toast, get our own utensils, and help ourselves to tea and coffee. The juice and milk were sitting in their jugs in a tub of ice on a table, to which we were told to help ourselves, also. After a while, he brought our breakfasts, two at a time, and soon a woman showed up (we assumed to be his wife), and she helped carry food out from the kitchen. It was rustic, to say the least, and after a while, locals started showing up for breakfast. Everything was good and plentiful, and this again was a new epicurial experience!

As we left, other Airstreamers from our group were stopping in and reports were later that everyone enjoyed their food and experience there. You see, there just aren’t any other places to eat on these roads….no Denny’s, no IHOP’s, no McDonald’s. (Thank heavens!)

We were back on the road at 9:30 a.m. There was a lot of road construction and lots of gravel, rough roads. Water trucks kept the gravel wet to prevent dust, but this also created a brown, sticky mud. Our rig is dirty again.

We had a couple road stops while construction crews moved about on the roads. We find that there are many young men and women working on the construction lines and also driving the big earth moving equipment, dump trucks, graders, rollers.

The sky was blue now and there was no rain. It was still 47 degrees. We arrived in Tok, AK, at 2 p.m. at the Tundra RV Park, got set up, and prepared to greet and park the rest of the caravan. It was warmer by then and the sun was out. I was a flagger, and flagged the Airstreamers into the park entrance off the main road. Dan and two other gentlemen guided the RV’s into their assigned sites. We got lucky and didn’t have to park in the rain.

After we were finished, we found a local restaurant and had dinner with the Kolley’s and Ed. When we got back, we attended a driver’s meeting in preparation for tomorrow’s move to Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada.

Tok is a very small community with a population of 1,435. It had its beginnings as a construction camp for the Alaska Highway in 1942. Because Tok is the major overland point of entry to Alaska, it is primarily a trade and service center for all types of transportation, especially for summer travelers coming up the Alaska Highway. Tok has 13 churches, a public library, an elementary school, a 4-year accredited high school and a University of Alaska extension program. Local clubs include the Lions, VFW and Chamber of Commerce.


Thursday:
Today was another travel day and we traveled with the Kolley’s and Ed, with the Steurer’s and Water’s a little ways behind us. It was a very cool 34 degrees, the coldest morning yet.

After twenty minutes, the roads turned to gravel and were rough. We noticed that fall has begun here in the northwest area, as aspen trees were beginning to turn bright yellow. The contrast against the deep green of the evergreen trees was beautiful. The fireweed along the road was losing its bloom, but the stems turn a deep red and are a nice contrast to the yellow trees. Some fireweed is starting to seed. It seeds much like dandelions with white, silky tufts of seed blowing in the wind.

We passed many mirror lakes which are so pretty. We passed through Canadian Customs with no problems. We arrived at the Kluane (kloo-ah-nee) RV Kampground in Haines Junction, YT, around 4 p.m. Knats were swarming and such a nuisance. Some put on their mosquito netting headgear. It had been a long drive and we were tired.

One rest stop where we stopped, we found the parking crew still there. (They are usually an hour down the road ahead of everyone else.) We found that one of the Airstreamers had become ill with what was thought a kidney stone. They were trying to determine what to do. They were in the middle of no where with no clinics or even emergency personnel even close. After getting in touch, by using the CB, with the nurse on our caravan who was far behind us, the leaders decided all they could do was drive on and try to get into Haines Junction asap. They did that, and Dottie—the sick one—had to endure 2-3 hours of rough roads while in intense pain. She was taken immediately to the town clinic in Haines Junction upon arrival. She was given some pain medication and sent on to Whitehorse, YT, (another 90 miles) to a hospital. They would end up staying there until we caught up with them in a couple days. It turned out she had a severe kidney infection and was given antibiotics by IV.

The evening, rather rainy and dismal, was quiet with a driver’s meeting scheduled for the next day at 8 p.m.


Friday:
Another travel day today. At least, the weather seemed some better. It was 56 degrees and windy at departure. Today we will travel with the Luther’s, a couple from Auburn, Massachusetts, about our age, with whom we have traveled a couple times.

We traveled with mountains all around us and lakes all over. We drove along Lake Dezadeash which is huge and goes on along the road for miles. We see tundra swans on the lakes. They are larger than the ones we know. From the locals we have learned that when the tundra swans take flight and head south, that means there will be snow that night or the next morning.

We stopped on top of a mountain range and saw a rainbow, with the whole color spectrum stretch across the entire valley, one end complete to the other end. We then could see where the pot of gold was!

We went through Customs smoothly and continued on to a lookout where we were told eagles and grizzly bears could be seen along the river. We saw three eagles, but no bears.

We reached our campground around 4 p.m., the Haines Hitch-Up RV Park in YT. We were glad to settle in for a couple days after being on the road three days. The last three day’s mileage was 260 miles, 295.5 miles, and 149 miles. The first two days’ mileage was long considering the roads, construction breaks and pulling a travel trailer.

The blog will continue with our activities in Haines, AK…..