Drive from Tok to Destruction Bay--July 26, 2010

It started out sunny and 56*---that was the best part of the day. For whatever reason we were joined up with a Fantasy Tour Caravan just till we arrived at Destruction Bay. This meant that for the first time during the trip our foursome could not leave early--everyone had to wait until the wagonmaster left at 7:00a.m. and we might be interspersed with their coaches until we stopped to see things.The bad part was yet to come. We had washed our coaches and our tow vehicles last night and before long we hit road repair which was dirt. We knew it would happen but the very worst part was that all the way to Destruction Bay, a distance of 225 miles we were in the valley where they built a road over permafrost and it buckles because the permafrost melts and then it is always unstable and believe me it certainly was the case. They do have many of them marked with flags or metal signs or the white lines on the sides of the road suddenly become wavy but you are going slow and changing speed all day long. Everyone was exhausted by the time we arrived at Destruction Bay.

We passed through the Donjek River Valley and the Icefield Ranges of the St. Elias Mts. The Icefield Ranges include the highest and the youngest mountains in Canada and includes Mt. Logan, Canada's highest mountain at 5,489 meters (you figure)700 meters = 2200ft. This is the largest non-polar icefield in North America extending over most of the Kluane National Park and Reserve sending long glacial fingers into the valleys between the peaks. The ice is more than 2200 ft. thick.

We stopped at Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and the visitor's center was nice but nothing to see unless you hiked. A little later we had a border crossing going into the Yukon Territories at Beaver Creek. There were not a lot of places along this road but we did stop at Pine Valley Lodge and discovered that Marvin had hit one of the frost heaves really hard and caused some problems which he is working on. The coach is fine just the connection between it and the tow vehicle. We also changed time zones again.

Our next stop was at Burwash Landing, another small town, but they all seem to have museums. We went into the Kluane Museum of Natural History and they had absolutely beautiful mounted wildlife exhibits in their natural habitat dioramas along with native artifacts and clothing with all the pertinent information. The Canadians call them First Nation people and the government up here has certainly treated them much better than we have and they have a lot of influence in the country. Out in front of the museum they had the world's largest gold pan--all painted up. There had been a large fire in the area several years ago and the town had been evacuated but all was saved except for about 3 houses.

We finally arrived at Destruction Bay Lodge and RV Park. There are only about 33 people in town and it received it's name from the fact that when they were building the Alaska Highway they had just set up the temporary housing, etc. when a storm came thru with enormous winds and blew it all down. That area is known for getting strong winds from all directions. The best wind is the one that blows away the mosquitoes. We arrived in time to go pick out a diamond willow stick that I now will have to peel and sand and finish. Then we had our briefing for the next day's trip followed by a dinner prepared by the owner and chef of the lodge. It was very good--wonderful roast beef, baked potato salad, salad, and a home baked roll. Later in the evening there was music by the group, Loose Gravel. They took their name from the signs announcing all the loose gravel on the road. The owner also plays drums, guitar and sings. They were good just way too loud. The mountains around us were the Kluane mountains--prounced Klu (clue) and ane (short a and long e)--sounds hawiian. It's time for bed.