432 miles
8:40 AM – 4:30 PM Alaska time (which is 5:30 by
the time we got up)
Thank you, Lord, list:
We reached Alaska safely!
The privilege of making this trip
Morning light
Breakfast in the woods
No bears on the trail
Today was a low mileage day, so by 6:30 AM I was
on the trail by Dezadeash River on the edge of Haines Junction, YT. By the
cobwebs in my face, I was the first person through. It was not a very demanding
trail—level along the river—but a great chance to stretch my legs. A little
more than one and a half hours including devotions and a leisurely breakfast of
granola bars and dried fruit with my thermos of tea on the steps of an
overlook. This was my view.
The lady at the visitors’ center said that you
just need to be noisy so bears hear a human coming and get out of the way.
“Especially when you come around a bend,” she
said.
So I called out “Here I come ready or not!” a
few times. That seemed a bit boring, so I sang a couple praise songs. I even
tried the “Hallelujah Chorus,” but that doesn’t work real well solo when you
are out of breath from walking. I did see a couple footprints that I have not
yet identified.
It was a glorious morning, and even if it wasn’t
a taxing climb like the ones in Korea, I WAS HIKING IN THE YUKON!
We were on the road a little after 8:30. The
valley was wide; the mountains distant; foliage was mostly scrubby black
spruce. Not a remarkable day after yesterday’s road to Skagway, except for the
stretch around Kluane Lake.
The road on the Canadian side was not fun. The freezing
and thawing of winter had made the same mess as Highway 70 in Minnesota—some
really crazy dippsydoodles. Somewhat better in the US. Lots of this fireweed
along the road sides, so called because it is the first vegetation to return
after a fire.
Border crossings have all been simple. They want
to know about drugs, alcohol and firearms. Canada wanted to know about fruit,
but apples with stickers on them are fine. Mom could have gotten through with a
birth certificate, but she didn’t have that with her either.
“Facilities” along the road are mostly long
drops, but generally not bad smelling. Sometimes there is graffiti. Once Steve
saw where someone had written “Never again.” That makes me sad. We are
fantasizing out army family being stationed here, giving us an excuse to come
at least once a year!
And we continued our tradition of one bear per
day. This one was brown--a grizzly, I'm told--and much less quick to escape into the brush at the
side of the road. As a matter of fact, when we looked back, he was cavorting in
the middle of the asphalt.
After last night’s simple but comfortable
accommodation, tonight is a luxury cabin outside Delta Junction when the Alaska
Hwy officially ends. Tomorrow is on to Fairbanks to pick up Mom.
Afghan update: Not as much progress because
of the bad road, but it felt good on my cold hands this morning. BTW, this
picture was taken at 8PM. It won’t get dark here tonight at all.
Lodging: Garden B&B
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