Beaten but not Defeated
The drive to Haines Alaska is one of the most spectacular I have driven. What a wonderful landscape.
We camped for a couple of days near the town. Ran into a co-worker, Luis from Seneca. We also walked with a Grizzly Bear. There are lots of bears and Bald Eagles there.
After Haines, we drove to Kluane Lake and spent a couple of nights there. At the shores of this beautiful lake we celebrated our 28th anniversary. Time flies when you are having fun!
The roads north through Alaska to Dawson have been closed off and on this summer. We were advised to go back through Whitehorse to get to Dawson. We spent the night in Whitehorse, resupplied and headed north. We didn’t make it far. Lake Laberge seemed like a great place to spend a couple of warm days. We got a site right on the lake and lazed in the sun, swam and read our books. Nice to get some down time.
We drove on to Dawson. This is still very much like a frontier town with saloons and dirt roads.
It’s a small town but large enough for us to find everything we needed for the trip up the Dempster.
The morning we left for Tombstone Territorial Park, I was kind of nervous and excited. I have always wanted to drive this road. It sounded hard but wonderful. The Dempster is gravel for most of its 750 km stretch. It starts out fine and there is no problem holding 70 – 80 Kph. The speed limit is 90, a little too fast for me. Along the way, I stopped to take a road shot and spotted an American Dipper.
Tombstone is out of this world beautiful. We are already planning our next trip there. We waited for good light for a couple of days. It rained and rained. The third morning we headed north. The roads were bad. We made Eagle Plains Plateau. The van was sliding all over the road heading up the mountain pass. Once we made it to the top and started down the other side I thought, "ok we can still do this". But then a truck stopped and said we should turn back. The road was almost impassable. We were near the point of no return in terms of gas. Eagle Plains with gas and a restaurant was 100 km away. Gas to the south - over 300 km. We decided to play it safe and turned around. We drove back to Tombstone and got a campsite. As we set up camp, I noticed that one of our rear tires was going flat. We had dinner and then I changed the tire.
The gas gauge was now near empty and we still had 70 km to go. The drive the next morning was a bit nerve wracking but we made it fine with about 3 liters of fuel to spare!
Haines Highway View - Click for larger
We camped for a couple of days near the town. Ran into a co-worker, Luis from Seneca. We also walked with a Grizzly Bear. There are lots of bears and Bald Eagles there.
Grizzly Bear - Click for larger
Bald Eagle - Click for larger
After Haines, we drove to Kluane Lake and spent a couple of nights there. At the shores of this beautiful lake we celebrated our 28th anniversary. Time flies when you are having fun!
Kluane National Park - Click for larger
The roads north through Alaska to Dawson have been closed off and on this summer. We were advised to go back through Whitehorse to get to Dawson. We spent the night in Whitehorse, resupplied and headed north. We didn’t make it far. Lake Laberge seemed like a great place to spend a couple of warm days. We got a site right on the lake and lazed in the sun, swam and read our books. Nice to get some down time.
Lake Laberge - Click for larger
We drove on to Dawson. This is still very much like a frontier town with saloons and dirt roads.
Dawson - Click for larger
It’s a small town but large enough for us to find everything we needed for the trip up the Dempster.
The morning we left for Tombstone Territorial Park, I was kind of nervous and excited. I have always wanted to drive this road. It sounded hard but wonderful. The Dempster is gravel for most of its 750 km stretch. It starts out fine and there is no problem holding 70 – 80 Kph. The speed limit is 90, a little too fast for me. Along the way, I stopped to take a road shot and spotted an American Dipper.
American Dipper - Click for larger
Tombstone is out of this world beautiful. We are already planning our next trip there. We waited for good light for a couple of days. It rained and rained. The third morning we headed north. The roads were bad. We made Eagle Plains Plateau. The van was sliding all over the road heading up the mountain pass. Once we made it to the top and started down the other side I thought, "ok we can still do this". But then a truck stopped and said we should turn back. The road was almost impassable. We were near the point of no return in terms of gas. Eagle Plains with gas and a restaurant was 100 km away. Gas to the south - over 300 km. We decided to play it safe and turned around. We drove back to Tombstone and got a campsite. As we set up camp, I noticed that one of our rear tires was going flat. We had dinner and then I changed the tire.
Tire Troubles - Click for larger
The gas gauge was now near empty and we still had 70 km to go. The drive the next morning was a bit nerve wracking but we made it fine with about 3 liters of fuel to spare!
Tombstone Viewpoint - Click for larger
Labels: Dempster Highway, Eagle Plains Plateau, Haines, Kluane National Park and Reserve, Yukon
posted by Ron Erwin at
01:50
2 Comments:
What a fantastic journey you are having & great that we can enjoy it with you from our air-conditioned bug-less abode!
Happy Anniversary to the two of you! Glad that you were turned around on that road and are safe. I am really enjoying reading your blogs and seeing the beautiful photos.
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