Days 26 and 27. Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17.
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There are two ways to get to Alaska by car: the Alaskan Highway and the Stewart-Cassiar Highway. The latter is shorter and more scenic, but much less popular as it has been in didn't become a highway until the mid seventies. It's development has been slow and there are still a couple of section that are not paved. The condition of the road was a big question, and we got conflicting reports based on who we asked. I guess we'd have to check it out ourselves.
Seeley Lake, where we stayed the previous night was very close to the beginning of the 725 km highway and we were able to get an early start. From the beginning, the roads were excellent and remained so for most of the day. It looked like the southern half of the highway has recently been re-surfaced and what google maps said was going to be a seven hour drive only took five.
The scenery was very rugged; most of the lakes were frozen and the trees were tall and imposing along the road. I was expecting large panoramic views but those never developed; instead the road was cut through the wilderness and between the mountains.
Due to this road having fewer travelers, wildlife viewing is a main attraction, and that did not disappoint. Because of how the tress were so dense, the wildlife is often right by the road or along the rivers as we crossed them. Not long before lunch we had our first sighing of a family of black bears and soon after that we saw another.
We stopped at Bell II (not sure what Bell I is) for a much needed tank of gas and lunch. We played around on the snow banks and noticed a ton of hummingbirds at feeders lining the entrance to the lodge.
We continued our drive with eyes peeled and finally got a good look at some moose as we crossed a bridge. I pulled over and Andy and I jumped out quickly; as soon as the moose saw us they took off (a moose whisperer, I am not), but Andy was able to get some good shots of them.
We stopped for the evening in Iskut, which is not much of a town, at an RV park that I was referred to because I think it was the only place open at the time. The setting of the park was amazing, right on the north shore of Kinaskan Lake. The management... not amazing. Filthy and racist, but not amazing. But we had our pick of the place and parked along the shore to isolate ourselves as much as possible and as I was on my last six pack of Sierra Nevada Torpedoes, I decided to chill them beer commercial style.
The second day on the Cassiar Highway was not nearly as smooth. We awoke to snow falling and couldn't see anywhere across the lake. Not sure how bad it was, we packed slowly to head north. At that time the only other person at the park was pulling back in and told us the has to turn around because the weather was too bad to the north.
More euchre!
Around noon the weather started to clear up and we decided to brave the roads. It was a bit tense, but after we cleared the pass we felt easier. The road itself, however, was day-and night from the first half. It was tore up pretty bad and the dirt sections clearly hadn't been maintained in a long time. It kicked my ass.
We did see a few more bear and moose, but not as clearly as the day before. One bear was brown in color and although black bears can be brown it didn't look like one to me; it may have been a brown bear or grizzly. You be the judge.
Just before the end of the highway where it intersects with the Alaskan Highway, we passed into the the Yukon Territory. Now that's the real north! And not long after that we were greeted by our first Caribou along the road.
We stopped for the night at Big Creek Campground, one of several government campgrounds they keep well maintained along the highways and you pay by the honor system. Very nice.
All in all the highway was a great experience and we drove it for the sake of driving it. Would I do it again? Maybe. Maybe not. I think it would depend on if I were in an H2 or H3 (not an '89 motorhome).
