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Tok, AK to Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory

Total Miles of Trip:

Stopped for the Day:

We woke to sunny skies this morning, and fairly warm temperatures, a huge change from our drive on Sunday. The Weather Channel indicated some rain chances in the afternoon so we hurried to get loaded and on the road while we still had sun.

Our motel in Tok was on the Alaska Highway (more frequently referred to as The Alcan Highway) so, once we started out, we had 1,400 miles to go before we turn off. We were only planning to come to Beaver Creek today (the most western city in Canada) because the spacing of the towns makes the next town farther away than we wanted to drive. We want to stay under 150 miles per day, when possible.

The drive took us through a steadily climbing road lined by spruce trees stunted by the cold winter temperatures. Many of the creeks and rivers were out of their banks, a product of the rains we had experienced last Sunday. There are few commercial enterprises along the road and you can imagine our surprise to see a sign warning of a school bus stop! Where does that child go to school?

The last 40 miles were under construction and, between the potholes and the severe valleys created by frost heaves, it was slow going. We arrived in Beaver Creek around 1:30 Yukon time, having lost an hor when we drove into Canada. The car drove beautifully. At the suggestion of Tony Morino from Houston, we removed the top floorboard to give us a little heat today. We had done that years ago, but being from Texas it has been so long since we needed heat inside our Model T that I had forgotten the trick. It worked!

As we entered town, we saw a large prop plane at the airport off-loading luggage onto a Holland America bus. At the Westmark Inn (owned by Holland America), we were quickly surrounded by a large group of people had had been stranded at Dawson City by the floods so were flown here to put them on a bus to Tok.

We spent nearly 30 minutes visiting with this group before we could get away. People ask if we don’t get tired of people always stopping us to ask questions. Not really, although sometimes we do just need to go!

The Westmark hosts a nightly dinner show at the Rendez-vous, a round log building located on the grounds. Although it is a finished building on the inside, there is a large hole in the ceiling at accommodate the fire in the center of the floor. The original musical bounced back and forth between the goldrush days, the 1942 building of the Alaska Highway, and threw in a little Jeanette McDonald and Nelson Eddy. (Although I hate to admit being old enough to know who they are.) It was a fun way to end the evening and contributes to our being a little late with this posting.

It’s raining tonight but it is supposed to be nice again in the morning. We have a second short day tomorrow so wish us clear skies. Our friends in Texas are suffering from the heat so they would enjoy a little of this cold. Wish we could send some your way.