It only seemed like a hurricane

Yesterday we had high solid cloud cover with no sun visible all day.  Today is much the same with an added hint of rain.  According to The Milepost, the ultimate guide book for road warriors in Alaska and western Canada, the next 105 miles of highway are in rough shape. Still we are starting to get our act together, and by 8:00, I was on the road in high spirits.

Yesterday's journey had gotten us around the Wrangell Mountains at the northern end of the St. Elias Range.  Today, we are headed southeast down a long valley with the St. Elias Range to the west and the Dawson Range to the east.  After the stretch of washboard road we hit right after entering Canada yesterday, all my attention this morning was focused on the state of the highway, but soon the wind began to insert itself into my consciousness.  At first, it was just an annoyance, but the gusts grew increasing strong, then merged together into an incessant howling roar, and it became my whole world.  The winding two lane road we were on was an endless series of frost heaves and rough asphalt patches with numerous dusty stretches, some fairly long, that were just gravel.  Staying on my own side of the road required a white knuckle death grip on the wheel.  After 105 miles, the road conditions did improve, somewhat, but the wind barely let up and it began to rain lightly.  Finally, as we approached Haines Junction at the end of the valley, the wind died away and the day turned sunny and calm.  By then it was lunch time, so we took a couple of hours off to eat and rest up.

In the parking lot of the Kluane (pron. Clue ah knee) Visitor Center in Haines Junction with the St. Elias Mts. in the background.

The afternoon run from Haines Junction to Whitehorse couldn't have been more different. This stretch of highway heads almost due east through county that is nearly flat and so boring I found it hard to stay awake.

We reached Whitehorse, the Yukon Territory capital, about 4:30 and started looking for an RV Park.  We thought there were several good ones to pick from, but since it is now the end of the season, many are closed.  We finally got lucky on our third try, but they have already shut off the water to the showers and laundry as they, too, will be closing at the end of the month.  The uncertainty of finding a place to stay at the end of a hard day on the road has proven a bit stressful and left us all a bit frazzled.

Day 3
Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Daily Mileage:  286.3
Total Mileage:  719.6