Today I FINALLY made it all the way north through British Columbia, and am officially heading west to Alaska! I am currently well north Juneau, AK (I figure about 100 miles) and a bit east in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The first couple of hours today the two-lane highway was in excellent condition, so much so that I commented to myself that it was surprisingly smooth and must be pretty new. OOPS!!! That’s what we like to call the “gooch” (aka jinx). For many, many hours after that the road devolved into a mix of pavement that was either pot-holed or just plain missing about every 100 yards, and dirt/gravel roads. Totally worth it for the scenery, but slow going for sure. I think overall I averaged maybe 50 MPH. It’s nice to get to the Yukon Territory – I feel I am officially in The North. Seattle is very near the British Columbia border, but to get to the Yukon from there is over 1300 miles and takes days.
This morning, for just a couple hours, I was still running parallel with and close to the Alaska border, and the landscape continued to be very Alaska-esque. But, for most of the day, I drifted a bit east as I trekked north (I drove about 10 hours), and it was still pretty but looked less and less like Alaska. I’m not sure exactly how to describe the Alaska “feel” from this morning, but it’s something about the forest composition, the deep, dark color of the earth, something about the sky. I don’t know, but I felt Alaska knocking, and I cannot wait to get there.
It is 11:30 PM here in Teslin, Yukon Territory, and it is still quite light with an orange glow on the horizon.
Trip Odometer: 4794
States covered: Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Montana (NE, UT, and ID being new to me, bringing my total state count to 37)
Canadian provinces covered: Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory (all new to me, bringing my total province count to 4)
Bear Tally: 36
2 comments:
Holmes - I cannot even describe how jealous I am of your adventures. Love the blog and the pics are amazing! Enjoying the blog during my near-suicidal breaks between Barbri lecture-time and study-time. Glad to hear you're doing well and having an incredible time - although STL just isn't quite the same with ya.
-Big BEAR hug
I looked up Hyder on the map. The scale up there is amazing. Save me a spot on the Northwestern!
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