Probably the most breathtaking part of the trip was approaching and leaving Haines Junction and driving past Wrangell - St. Elias National Park/Preserve after entering Alaska. The dominant peak I could see was only 16,000ft tall but it looked massive - I can't wait to see Denali National Park where the mountains tower over 20,000ft!
After all these rumors of the Alaskan Highway being in horrible condition and seeing very few unmaintained sections, I began to wonder what these people were smoking until I got about 100 miles from the Alaska border. I have never seen so many dips and grooves in the pavement in my life. The side of the road is marked with orange flags to warn motor vehiclists of approaching dangers in the road, sort of a way of telling people to slow the heck down or risk bring thrown through the roof of your car or breaking an axle. They might as well have lined the whole darn highway with orange flagging because most of it was pretty bad. The road is two lanes but there is so few traffic that I did a good job of taking my lane right down the middle and did plenty of swerving back and forth. The good news is that Margaret and I made it through in one piece! The bad news is that this is my last night of the trip - tomorrow I will be in Anchorage.
It's technically 10pm Alaska time (11pm Pacific Standard Time) but it's so bright outside that it might as well be 6pm. And the sun starts rising by 4am - I need to get a blindfold for my eyes if I'm going to get any sleep this summer.
I was a little diappointed that I didn't see any wildlife today, other than a handful of white swans. But as I started looking for a place to camp around 7pm, low and behold there were two moose wandering on the side of the road. Like the moose we saw a couple days ago, my squeaky breaks scared them back into the woods.
I was a little diappointed that I didn't see any wildlife today, other than a handful of white swans. But as I started looking for a place to camp around 7pm, low and behold there were two moose wandering on the side of the road. Like the moose we saw a couple days ago, my squeaky breaks scared them back into the woods.
Tonight I'm camping at a rest area nest to a creek with a view of what I think is Mt. Blackburn at 16,000ft. What a sight! Margaret is still running like a champ - she's still using a little oil but it hasn't gotten as bad as I thought it might get. As much as I'd rather not drive towards the city, I'm looking forward to getting her the car she needs so that we can go on more roadtrips this summer.
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