Watson Lake to Fairbanks (June 10-11)

Wednesday morning we were not anxious to leave beautiful Watson Lake, but we still had 860 miles to Fairbanks!

Less than an hour after we left Watson Lake, we had our first experience with Tina's OnStar system. The car bucked and jolted, an alarm sounded, and an info message appeared saying something about the all-wheel drive system. Mike pulled off to the side of road, but left the engine running, not sure what was happening. This would be a very remote place to have car trouble. We decided to press the button to call OnStar, but since neither of our then-AT&T iPhones had any cell coverage, we weren't hopeful. But within seconds, we had a very helpful OnStar customer service rep on the car's speakerphone. Score one for OnStar's cell coverage! After a couple of questions, the rep escalated us to a tech department. The guy asked permission to access the diagnostic reports from Tina's onboard computers and after analyzing them explained that the problem could be reset by turning the car off and back on. So we did, the problem cleared, and were were on our way, newly impressed and comforted by OnStar's cell/phone coverage and capabilities!

The Klondike sternwheeler in Whitehorse

We knew the next two days travel would not be easy miles, particularly after Whitehorse. Back on the road again, we drove through the provincial capital, a supply center for northern communities as far away as Haines Junction, we later learned. We saw our first sternwheeler at the SS Klondike National Historic Site, mailed a few postcards and got lunch at Subway, as I recall, before getting back on Yukon 1.

Lots of gravel roads during repairs

As we headed west, and for most of the rest of the way to Fairbanks, the jaw dropping scenery was non-stop. Massive mountains with glaciers, and too blue to be real glacial waters were everywhere we looked, mile after mile, on and on. The roads became less predictable, and frequent road construction made the ride more "interesting" as we passed large construction vehicles with little room for clearance. Frost heaves started to show up here and there. Gravel, dust and dirt covered our car.

The "Muffin" in Haines Junction

We spent our last night before Alaska at The Raven in pretty Haines Junction, a delightful little inn and gourmet restaurant. Since we didn't have reservations when we checked in around 8:30PM, we weren't able to dine at the Raven. It was full daylight and everything stayed open late, so we walked around the cute village. After admiring the Village Monument, usually known as "the Muffin," we got a tasty light meal at the Village Bakery, and finally checked out the nearby Kluane Visitor Center. Here we started learning about the Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek World Heritage Site and Mt Logan, Canada's highest peak. It was still daylight when we went to bed, and the sun was up long before we awoke, but thanks to room darkening curtains we got a decent night's sleep.

Thursday morning, after an unexpectedly elegant white tablecloth breakfast buffet at the Raven, Yukon 1 would take us past remote Kluane Lake. At this point the Alaska Highway was completed in 1942. The ALCAN highway was built hastily in sections radiating out from population centers, and thus ended up being quite a zig-zag route. Many sections have been straightened out since then, and so some of the mileposts are not historic mileposts. The ALCAN has been completely paved for many years, but as mentioned above, harsh winters and permafrost heaves require considerable repair every summer and long stretches of gravel road are still common.

We were traveling almost due north, with breathtaking Wrangell-St. Elias on our left. Only two stops before Alaska! First was Burwash Landing, a tiny village of under 100 people with signs in English and Tutchone Athabascan. Then came Beaver Creek, the most westerly town in Canada, where we noticed a huge selection of products to deal with mosquitoes at the Mini Mart. Across the street was a very nice visitor center, staffed by typically polite young Canadians. All through Canada we had noted how friendly, wholesome and 1950's "All American" the people seemed.

Lots of road repairs in the summer

Next stop - Alaska. Just before two in the afternoon, we made it! Trumpeter Swans greeted us on a little lake to the right of all the Welcome to Alaska signage. The AlCan Port of Entry a mile or so down the road had no lines, and we were soon on our way to tick off the last 298 miles to Fairbanks.

Significant road construction delays around Tok slowed us down. We had dinner at Fast Eddie's before reaching the official end of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction around 7PM. Milepost 1422 was a great photo op spot, which included giant mosquito statues, pipeline displays, and information about extreme cold winter temperatures.

But it was warm and sunny on June 11 as we headed on up the Richardson Highway towards Fairbanks. After another hour and a half we passed Eielson AFB, and rolled into Fairbanks about 7pm local time. Seven days and 3,118 miles after leaving Colorado, our cozy home in the woods looked very welcoming!

The end of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction (but not our trip!)

 Our route from Estes Park to Fairbanks -- 3,118 miles:

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