Shortly after our last post, we learned the road would be open "with an escort", so we departed Dease Lake and drove 70 miles north to a barracade on the highway.
We were the first two RV's to arrive at the barracade and were told the caravan had left just 15 minutes earlier and we would have to wait for the next group. We waited for two hours as others arrived to wait, and were then escorted through the fires on a 50 mile, hour long drive to the boundary of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory.
Here are a couple of pics that don't really do justice to the devastaion.
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| 2 hr. wait at road block for escort vehicle through forrest fire |
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| Fire Damage from day before |
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Smoldering fires went on for 30 miles!
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Being in the middle of a forest fire was a new experience. We could see small hot spots that were still burning and could smell the smoke 70 miles south of the fire as we drove to the road block. From the British Columbia Web site we learned that these fires are a natual way of life up here and they experience in BC over 200 fires "Every Day" somehwhere in the province. That's hard to imagine, but they say it's the way it is. Just about all of these are caused by lightning.
ON TO SKAGWAY
After the drive through the fire damaged area, we stayed overnight in a large gravel highway pull-out area and spent the night on the Alaskan Highway, Route 1. The next day, 6/4, we drove 250 miles to Skagway, Alaska, located in that southern arm of Alaska where all those in the gold rush of 1898 landed to start their trek throught he wilderness to the klondike where they were conviced they would find gold. Most did not find any, but the stories are fascinating. Read the book "Alaska" the chapter on "Gold" for a real appreciation of what this was all about. The last 50 miles of our drive to Skagway was gorgeous! And, the last 15 was extremely steep and mostly downhill from 3200 ft. above sea level, to Skagway at near zero sea level.
On Sunday, 6/5, we took a passenger ferry/tour boat on a day trip to Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and the only way to get there is by plane, boat, or birth canal. The boat ride to Juneau was 3 hrs, and that included several stops to see the humback whales, dolphins, otter, seals, sea lions of a couple different varieties, and "Hundreds" of Eagles. We have never seen so many eagles in one place - in fact, there were more eagles in one spot than we have seen in total our whole life. Our visit to Juneau was about 5 hours and that included a bus ride to Mendenhall Glacier, then the return trip of about 3 hrs - this was a worthwhile experience! ....... Here are a few pics......
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| View from the Road to Skagway - Rt. 98 |
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| Eagle #1 |
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| Sea Lions |
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| Humpback Whale Fins |
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| Humpback Whale |
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| Mendenhall Glacier - Juneau |
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| Eagles #2,3,4,5,6 |
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| Juneau - local meeting place |
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| View from ferry of lighthouse near Skagway |
Our next day in Skagway was spent touring the town, which is there only for tourists - most of whom arrive on the large cruise ships from all over the world. We are told they can accomodate up to five of the ships at a time. While we were there, there were only one or two at a time. The day morning we left, there were three. The ships can hold over 2000 passengers - multiply that by the number of ships, that's a lot of people looking around. We were fortunate to arrive at a slack time.
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| One of the many ships that stop in Skagway. |
Tonite we are in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. The only highway to Skagway is from Canada and it's the only way out as well. Skagway was nice, but like I said before - it seems that it keeps getting better as we go along...... Next time I'll let you know about Whitehorse and points beyond......
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| Skagway from hill above town |
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