I left the RV camp at Iskut after an early breakfast. The sky was still
overcast and there was an intermittent rain falling.
Rev. 07/05/01
Alaska & beyond - continued 7/5
Iskut BC to Hains Junction YT
I left the RV camp at Iskut after an early breakfast. The sky was still
overcast and there was an intermittent rain falling.
Along side the road a virtual sea of lupine were blooming. They reminded me of the blue bonnets in Texas, that I saw during my Spring Break trip earlier this year. And there were some white fuzzy blooms near them, which looked like cotton balls on stems. The cotton balls were 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch across. If someone can identify them, please e-mail me, I'd like to know what they are.
The road was going through marshy, high mountain country, about 4000 feet in elevation. It wound past a number of small lakes, common to high mountain passes. In one I was treated to seeing a moose feeding on water plants. At first I thought it was just a stump in the lake -- then its head came up.
As I traveled north the vegetation changed from cedar and hemlock to northern boreal white and black spruce. This was first noticeable on the mountains, and then down to road level -- I'd left the tall firs behind.
Most of the Cassiar Highway is paved and well maintained. Those short parts that are unpaved are in good shape and are comfortably travel at 40 miles per hour.
Coming over the top of a rise, with a long straight stretch ahead, I could see something dark way down the road -- maybe a bear. By gosh, I'm going to get a picture of this one, I though. So I pull out the camera and turned it on -- I'm ready. As I approached, suddenly something arose -- it was a young man hitch-hiking. The same one I'd passed yesterday in Kitwanga. So much for my bear.
I gave him a lift. He said he was going to Dawson City. So I told him I could get him as fare as Whitehorse, quite a long drive.
I had always wanted to see the asbestos mine and the town at Cassair, but the short road to the town was closed and no one was allowed entry. So much for that.
About
sixty miles further north and into the Yukon Territory, we picked up the
Alaska Highway. Driving along it, there was a small airplane tied down
on the grass next to the highway. I read that they use the highway
as an emergency air strip. If you see one on the highway or landing,
it's your job to pull off -- they have right-of-way.
At
Whitehouse YT, after letting Ray off on the Dawson City road, I headed east.
Near the small town of Champagne there was a log cabin beside the road,
one of the best looking ones I've seen lately.
At Hains Junction, I turned north and stopped at the large RV campground there. It gave me a chance to buy a few groceries, shower, and dump my tanks.
Tomorrow I should be in Alaska -- for real.
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