Alaska!  We made it to the mainland. So far, we’ve traveled over 4,500 miles, through four time zones, and registered over 100 hours of drive time. 

It was an arduous drive through the Yukon. Between Destruction Bay and the Alaska border, the Alaska highway was replete with permafrost damage, resulting in road heaves, breaks, and severe damage. The terrain is covered in boreal forests. The shorter the trees, the closer to the surface is the permafrost layer. The warm road melts the permafrost, making the road base unstable. Wherever the trees are shortest, the road is most damaged. 

Large sections are currently under construction, resulting in delays from stops and pilot cars. Some sections were completely gravel. Under these dry conditions, the gravel roads became extreme dust hazards. Sometimes, we couldn’t see five feet in front of us, much less the vehicle we were following. 

We traveled too long for the day, missing the provincial park where we had planned to camp. Luckily, we found Snag Creek, about an hour from the border.  Although buggy with tons of vampire mosquitoes, it was a quiet and largely empty campground. 

This morning, we broke camp and headed to the Alaska mainland. The crossing was easy. We drove on to Tok to check for fires at their top-notch visitor center.

With no fires on watch, we continued on to one of our favorite campgrounds, Liberty Falls outside Chitina. 

Sam has already made herself muddy between a dip below the falls and rolling in the dirt. Ah, the joys of living with a water dog!

Tomorrow we’ll drive to Copper River, home to the famous Copper River salmon. This is a unique area, which we’ll share with you before we drive on to Valdez.