Not My Father's Alcan

This was not how Dad remembered the Alcan of his younger days.  For the most part the road has been in good shape, allowing for cruising speeds in the 55-65 mph range.  Oh, there were exceptions, of course, and some notable ones.  Thirty years ago on his first trip, however, his memory says there was lots more gravel and slower speeds.  Even from only 22 years ago, on the trip that returned the family to the Lower 48, he had stories of a mud-encrusted pop-up trailer and gravel-cracked headlights and windshields.  He hasn't seen any of the custom-designed cages that snapped over headlight lenses to protect them for sale this time.

We left Watson Lake around 9 after the mandatory visit to the Sign Post Forest. The first sign post was planted in 1942 by a home-sick GI working on the Alaska Highway.  There are well over 10,000 now.

For about 110 miles after Watson Lake, the road was in decent condition and we made good time.  Then it was over 60 miles of frost-heaved roller coaster and then back to 'normal'.  From the capital of the Yukon Territory in Whitehorse into our overnight stop on Kluane Lake in the settlement of Destruction Bay we managed an average of about 50 mph.

We'd been looking forward to a burger dinner at the highly rated Chuck Wagon diner, which is parked on the west shore of the lake but it wasn't there.  The camp ground we'd set our sights on was still closed for the season as well.  The ice had not gone from Kluane Lake as of yet but was it was still a sight to behold.

Sunset was a few minutes later than the night before, not quite down at 10:30 when the picture below was taken.  Dinner was pasta with the last of the special sauce mom had made the day before departure and slipped into the 'fridge.  It was better than some dumb old "Best Hamburger in the Yukon" anyway.