Wildlife sightings: a couple of raptors and that’s it. Not even a mosquito today, let alone a moose. I suspect that all flying insects were grounded due to very wet and rainy conditions. This was another day of describing the scenery that is out there and making the best of it.
We left Tok this morning after an all-you-can eat breakfast buffet. Greasy spoon at its finest and I had a bad stomach for the rest of the day. One serving and I was done. Nothing bothers Iron Gut Greg and he took advantage of the all you can eat dining experience. We had a late lunch.
As it turns out the camper battery had a bad cell and there was no choice but to replace it. The bad roads may have caused a short somewhere and caused one cell to give up the ghost. $107 later with the new battery installed, we were off again and made it to Haines Junction, YT. Haines, AK is not too far from Haines Junction, but in the opposite direction of where we need to be. We were trying to make it to Whitehorse, which is a mere 394 miles from Tok. Alas, we did not make it.
Today we were back on the Alaska Hwy, but on a portion that is in very bad shape. Both the YT and the state of Alaska are working on it, but the frost heave problem has not been solved. This was maybe the worst paved road that we have experienced to date. Giant RV eating frost heaves are sometimes marked and sometimes unmarked. I cannot fathom trying to pull a fifth wheel or drive one of those RV’s the size of a city bus on this section. It was slow going and exhausting for both driver and passenger. If you spot them before you hit them, it is sometimes possible to drive around or go very slowly through them. However, sometimes they come up fast and the brake needs to be applied taking evasive maneuvers if possible. Sometimes you just hit them. There is never just one, usually a whole line of them.
We drove by beautiful Kluane Lake. It’s milky green-blue color reminded me of Lake Louise. Kluane Lake is much larger than Lake Louise; the road winds around one side of it for many miles. The clouds drifted around and every now and then a mountain peak emerged for a moment. I could tell that it was a beautiful place. We found a spot next to the lake in a small town named Destruction Bay. Soldiers working on the Alaska Hwy dubbed it after a big storm leveled buildings where supplies were stored for the highway project. Both the building and most of the supplies were lost in the storm.
We stopped about 90 or so miles north of Whitehorse at a government campground –Pine Lake. It was very nice quiet, and we were not the only ones there. This made us both feel better.
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| part of the outhouse exhibit at Muk Luk Land |
I almost forgot to give you the scoop about Muk Luk Land.
There is quite a bit of muck in Muk Luk Land. There are old trucks, copy machines, more broken down snow machines than you can imagine, an engine that powered Tok for a time, an old pipeline pump, a WWII Weasel (whatever that is), a collection of outhouses that were donated (!), the first truck that hauled freight from Seattle -looking like it was the first truck that hauled freight from Seattle-, a Santa Rocket- don’t ask, a giant Muk Luk that hangs at the entrance, and the grand finale was a collection of cereal boxes pasted to the ceiling of the gift shop. I would not categorize this as a museum or an amusement park. It is truly in a class all by itself. The folks that run it are very sweet retired school teachers who are making money on what appears to be a serious hoarding problem. We can now say that we have been to Muk Luk Land. Greg’s parting comment was, “Now I think we have seen it all.”
Mary
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