I Drove the Alaska Highway

My husband and I recently completed a five-day trip from Anchorage to northern Idaho. Due to the lateness of the season, most of our travel took place on the Alaska Highway. I love this trip through the wilderness of beautiful western Canada and have made it about a dozen different times over a period of 37 years.

We left Anchorage about 4:00 on a Friday afternoon with mostly cloudy skies and the thermometer at 46 degrees. We traveled the Glenn Allen Highway to Tok, 330 miles north/northwest of Anchorage. The road winds through Chickaloon Pass, along the Matanuska River, and between Chugach Mountains and the Talkeetna Mountains. The road was dry, but heavy snow was accumulating in the tops of the mountains. The scenery was absolutely spectacular with the snow-tipped mountains in the background and trees covered with brightly colored leaves.

We saw a red fox and three moose before we reached Glenn Allen about 7:00. After leaving Glenn Allen we traveled the Richardson Highway until we came to the Tok Cutoff at the Gakona Junction about 7:30 when darkness fell.
As we neared Tok, we drove into freezing fog, which lasted for several miles. The next morning we left Tok on the Alaska Highway. The thermometer stood at 19 degrees, and the trees, brush and weeds were covered with frozen fog. It looked as though we were driving through a Christmas wonderland. Tok usually has the worst weather on the whole trip as it is the furthest north so we were hoping for good weather for the rest of the trip.

Crossing the border into Canada was uneventful this year because we had our passports handy and the paperwork for our guns properly prepared. Soon after we entered Canada we hit snow. We drove on a snow-packed road for most of our second day. After traveling in snow for about an hour, we reached beautiful Kluane Lake, the first of many humongous lakes on our route. Kluane Lake is the largest lake in Yukon Territory and covers approximately 154 square miles. The road winds around a large part of the lake and at times right on the edge of the lake. The road winds between Kluane Lake and Sheep Mountain. We didn’t see any Dall sheep on Sheep Mountain this year, but we have at various times on previous trips – usually in the spring – counted dozens of sheep. We assumed that the sheep had found refuge from the storm in a more sheltered area than the open mountain side, but we understood that we might be looking right at the white sheep but couldn’t see them on the snow-covered mountain. The mountain pass between Kluane Lake and Haines Junction was open but snow packed. We were relieved to get over the pass as we had seen other vehicles struggling to get up the mountain.

We stopped in Haines Junction for a break and some brunch at Glacier Inn. The owner recognized us. Is this a sign that we have been there too many times? We drove on to Liard Hot Springs and took the time to take a swim. The water is very warm and even too hot in places. We always stop there when we travel this part of the highway. I recommend that all jewelry be removed before entering the water. My shiny white-gold CTR ring turned to a dark charcoal gray effervescent color. The flat areas of my ring returned to dull silver within about twenty-four hours; the edges are still dark after two weeks. I was told that gold jewelry also changes colors. I was also told that Liard Hot Springs is wonderful in the winter when the trees are covered with snow and frost. The hot water heats the body so well that it stays warm on the long walk back to the parking area.

I felt very grateful for all my previous trips down the Alaska Highway. Because I had previously traveled the highway, I knew that beautiful vistas of the Canadian Rocky Mountains lay just beyond the trees lining the road. On this trip, I could see nothing beyond the trees because of fog, clouds, snow and rain, and we were out of the mountains before we hit clear weather.

The road through the Rocky Mountains is narrow with no shoulders and almost continuous twists and turns. It is not a fun road to drive on dry pavement and becomes worse on wet and slippery pavement.

Businesses and towns along the upper portion of the Alaska Highway appreciate the dollars Americans spend while making the trip between Alaska and the Lower 48. The people are always friendly, and some of them show their appreciation by flying the Stars and Stripes side by side with their Canadian flag. Watson Lake lines the entire route through their town with Canadian and American flags. Watson Lake also has a “forest” of sign posts with streets signs and license plates from many parts of the USA and elsewhere. A business at Burwash Landing has a large sign that reads, “Long live the USA.” Businesses in the more populated areas east of the Rockies are not so dependent on American dollars, but some of them still fly the American flag.

Our trip along the Alaska Highway this year ended at Dawson Creek – Mile Zero. We usually leave the highway at either Watson Lake (Cassiar Highway) or just before Fort St. John (Highway 29). This year we drove to the beginning of the Alaska Highway in an effort to see some different scenery.

We always try to begin or end our trip through Canada with a drive through the Canadian national parks. We enjoy seeing the slanted mountains, hanging glaciers, ice fields, glacier streams, and beautiful mountain grandeurs of the parks. We always fill up with fuel in Jasper because it has the cheapest fuel on the entire trip through Canada.

Driving the Alaska Highway is an adventure for us. We usually drive ten to twelve hours each day. We crossed the border into northern Idaho in late afternoon on our fifth day. I can honestly say that I enjoy every single trip that I make on the Alaska Highway.