Dean & Val's Adventures: Across Yukon

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Across Yukon

After leaving Fairbanks, we slowly started making our way back home. Our intent was to spend several extra days in Yukon and upper BC, as that area is very pretty and one of our favorite places. However, a few miles east of Watson Lake, we ran into smoke from the BC fires. The smoke was very think, so we decided to move along as fast as possible. We drove in very heavy smoke for most of four days as we quickly made our way through BC and Alberta to the border. We are currently in Montana, and the smoke is still very thick but at least you cannot smell it anymore. Based on reports, we fully expect to be in the smoke until we get back into Arizona.

Smoke in upper BC and Alberta

In 1942, a lonely US Solder working on the Alcan put a sign for his hometown (Danville, IL) in a forest near Watson Lake. Shortly, other solders did the same, which started the Sign Post Forest. It has been a tradition for travelers on the Alcan to likewise place a sign in the forest to mark their visit. We hung our sign in 2014, when we first traveled this road, and on this visit, we added a "revisit badge". Today the forest contains nearly 80,000 signs from travelers from all over the world.

This is a good example of what the harsh Yukon winters will do to signs. On the right is the sign we placed in 2014, and on the left is the condition of the sign today

Spruce Grouse

Beautiful mountains looking toward the Wrangell-St Elias National Park

Porcupine - quills are up and ready for battle

Mountains in the Destruction Bay area of Yukon

Wood Bison – they roam freely in Yukon and upper B.C.

Caribou

Bighorn Sheep

Moose

While at Mucho Lake, BC, we hiked up the side of a mountain to the original location of the Alcan as built by the Army. Not much of a road by today's standards, but it served the purpose of moving men and supplies to Alaska during WWII. This section of the roadway was relocated to run along the banks of the lake many years later.