Rough Roads, Bear Butts and the Good Ol' USA

More Like the old Days

Leaving Destruction Bay we noted a solar powered, lighted sign flashing the urgent message "Rough Road From Here to Border!".  It sorta figures; only 140 miles to Alaska and they turn out to be rougher than even the worst that dad remembered.  We'd planned to reach the border in 3 hours or so.

It took four and a half.  But that was ok.  The slower speed made spotting wildlife easier and there was still plenty of it. We saw Grizzly's three times, although we were certain of the species on two occasions.  There were plenty of black bear but the camera caught mostly their butts as they sped across the road and into the buses.  That was more bear than we'd ever seen in any previous trip, including Yellowstone, Glacier and Denali National Park.

The final stretch to the border was under construction, basically not much more than rutted gravel and silt, that required a pilot car to guide traffic through one direction at a time. 

The crossing went well even though we had to give up the one remaining orange from the bunch we carried from Oregon; no citrus imports allowed.  One wonders why though.  Last time I looked there were no orange groves anywhere in Alaska.

The Customs and Border Control officer also promised that the road ahead was much better than we'd just experienced.  He was right.  At least for the first long stretch it was brand-spanking new.  We made it to Delta Junction and the official end of the Alaska Highway, stopped for the requisite photo and then continued on.  Tim did not suffer too much when the miniature replica of the Alaska State Insect tapped him for a pint.

Aside from stopping for pictures when the scenery demanded, we made Fairbanks in early afternoon. We had to cruise around looking for an open campground and ended up at the Alaska State Fair Grounds.  Sunny, warm (74f) and one week from Memorial Day, even the state camp sites in Fairbanks were still closed.

Sunrise tomorrow at 4:01 A.M., Sunset at 11:37 PM.  Tim hoped to see the Northern Lights and had been studying the forecast for same.  The sky was clear enough for sure and he was determined to stay up until dark.  Dad recommended he check the time for evening civil twilight on the internet and so he did.  The answer: "No Civil Twilight At This latitude".  Guess he'll have to come back in winter.

Mount McKinley