The "Go Slow" Zone

Destruction Bay may have earned it's name because of a storm that destroyed buildings and materials there during the highway's construction in 1942, but it may also be a warning to those travelers driving on this leg of the ALCAN as well. With 336.2 miles left to Delta Junction, this would turn out to be the most nerve racking and physically exhausting trek thus far.

The road can be deceptive, especially if you don't have anyone in front of you to telegraph the conditions ahead. The Milepost book stated, "Fair road conditions northbound in 2021, to Beaver Creek (106 miles), the Alaska border (126 miles) and Tok (218 miles), with several road improvements. But watch for frost heaves, road damage and gravel breaks." Gravel road patches were obvious, but the road depressions and frost heaves are sometimes not marked with a red flag or orange cone. I tried driving at 50 MPH but at that speed I would come up on any potential hazard too quickly so I slowed to 35 MPH after missing a few. Not a good thing to do to your truck or trailer.

We approached a tiny town called Burwash Landing, YT, about 170 miles (275 km) past Whitehorse. Just a few miles north of Burwash Landing, we hit our first frost heaves. A frost heave, for those interested, refers to the upward or outward movement of the ground surface (or objects on, or in, ground) caused by formation of ice in soil creating large grooves, ruts, depressions, and humps across the pavement as a result of the permafrost melting/shifting. Think of a frost heave as an oversized speed bump. These frost heaves create a driving hazard that will launch a motorhome into the air or break an axle on a towed RV. The last 125 miles of Canada from Burwash Landing to the Alaskan border is famous for frost heaves.

We stopped for fuel and got into the RV to do our first interior check for any damage and found that the glass front of the electric fireplace had bounced off its front mounting hooks, was askew and hanging on one side only. The heater had turned on in the process, using our precious battery power. Fortunately I was able to open the slide, remount the glass front plate and turn off the heater. The batteries were at 88%, so I wasn't worried about the power loss.

Driving this section of the ALCAN doesn't allow you the privilege of looking around for wildlife or the scenery. Your eyes are laser focused on the road conditions ahead; eventually we reach Beaver Creek, Yukon, the last Canadian town before the US border crossing station (19 more miles) into Alaska.

Ironically, the roads seem to improve before the border. The border crossing was simple but not quick. We were asked to pull over by the Department of Fish and Wildlife inspector because we have an inflatable kayak in our Thule box over the truck cab. He asked a few pertinent questions about the kayak but then wanted to just shoot the breeze. Sean and Kathy had to wait while he "visited" with us. Eventually, he had to go back to work at the border checkpoint and we were free to leave.

The improved change in the road conditions didn't last long. And we were once again hitting some nasty sections and eventually had to stop to check the interior of the rig again. This time we had a upper cupboard door open and spill out the items in the rear of the trailer over the sofa and floor. The glass panel on the fireplace came off a second time. However, thankfully there was no trailer or truck breakage or damage.

We finally arrived at our campsite for the night. Just east of the Tok River bridge we turned off to the north and entered the Tok River State Recreation Site. It had 27 sites, with some pull-through sites for rigs as long as 60 feet. These would allow us to stay connected to the truck overnight. We found two sites next to one another and set up for "Happy Hour". The truck and trailer are undamaged but filthy with road mud and dead insect debris from the front to the rear. Boy, I really did need happy hour after that drive! The cleaning of the rigs can wait.