Alaska

[LongRanger]

Rolling, rolling, rolling . . . . Taylor, Baldonnel, Ft St John

Easy to make progress. Traffic was light, easy-going, nobody crowding or holding anybody up. Even the Big Rigs. Actually, especially the BRs. (More on those, later.) I can't recall being held-up or stuck behind any one, for any length of time --- Pachyderm excepted.

Good driving country, too . . . fine roadage. Long sight-lines, wide corners, a bit crowned but usually super-smooth --- no pot-holes. (Good thing . . . on those 50-series B-stones, I could almost tell what color the stripes on the road were.) Usually cruising ~75 MpH, especially as I got further North.

No Big Cities along the way. (Whitehorse is the biggest --- pop = ~25k)

Rick

[LongRanger]

Big Country.

I’d drive like this, for hours . . . wide-open country two-lane, unknown/un-named/unfamiliar territory, scenery changing only slowly, weather same . . . . . . . never got tired of it, never bored, or stiff-necked, or butt-sore. There’s something about driving like that, relaxing/peaceful, satisfying, especially when there’s no schedule + itinerary + time-line + schedules . . . or anything. Never had a specific destination, no reservations, no plan. Just me in the car, map open in the seat next . . . someplace to go to, up yonder. No concerns about the car. Really enjoyed just running it . . . long distances/times, maybe --- but easy stuff. Steady speed + RPM, no load. I was acutely aware about operating far from home, but . . . . the car just ran like it always ran --- a low/softly-buzzy/muscular metronome . . . eating up the miles.

It was subtle but I did notice some changes, small. Like power lines. Nothing signals/underlines any upcoming town + settlement + habitation like all those poles and wires that spread out all around ‘em . . . arteries/spider-webs. The further North I went, the less-and-less numerous + extensive + substantial those were. Eventually, they disappeared. Mailboxes, too. I’d usually see them, where some side road --- small or not, paved or not --- touched the Hwy . . . close-by, on the shoulder, at first . . . then retreating into the trees/brush . . . then gone . . . .

Last to disappear, also the most telling? . . . the lines on the road. When the road went blank, unmarked --- it felt funny, lonely, lost. At that point, apart from any on-coming traffic, the only man-made traces were the road itself, me . . . and the occasional jet contrail.

And the mile markers . . . posts, white? . . . off to the side, at the very edge of the clear-cut.

Navigation was simple. The Hwy goes That Way. Signage was rare/brief --- distances to upcoming destinations were given in miles, with mile-markers to count down any progress. Without junctions or turn-offs or transitions to interrupt, no way to get lost.

Not a lot of civilization ---- just some few towns + buildings along the way. Some place names had only a few scattered structures + mail-boxes + power lines strewn at the roadside. Small places were stuck in everywhere. Woods hid a lot, some could only be seen after dark . . . not every building was in a town. And so, seeing something built, a structure --- anything --- suddenly, under + among the trees, or on a hillside, especially after hours and hours, brought some excitement, later . . . relief.

The only practical issue that came up was fuel. It was always available, plentiful --- no shortage of places to tank-up. But. Hi-test was not always on offer. And, given the M3’s compression + octane requirements . . . . THAT became A Concern, especially in The Yukon. My regular practice is to fill fuel tanks full, then run them dry --- keeps junk from settling, flushes the system, and fuel’s always fresh. Running further North, I’d noticed that stations had Diesel and 87 RON, but not always hi-test.

There was this one outfit that always seemed to carry 91 --- had a particular checkered-flag logo on their signage, something that I came to watch for. After one close call --- OBC had my ‘range’ at under the distance to the next town (like, a LOT), so had to drop my speed waaaaay down, until that range number came up --- I’d top-off every time I saw one of those stations --- including a 10-litre plastic fuel can that I’d decided to pick-up along my way --- boost my range . . . ~350 mi + maybe another 50 miles? w/ the 10l, ~400 mi @ 75 MpH.

R

1) --- Race Trac was my only hi-test source between Dawson Creek and Fairbanks . . . ‘checkered flag.’ And check-out my fellow travelers’ rolling stock. Never saw another BMW --- or Porsche --- in the two weeks I was up there. Locals got a real kick outta my 50-series Bridgestones . . . ‘got any air in ‘em tires?’

2) and 3) Usual driving. Nobody ‘round. Swear --- on some stretches, if I’d wanted to? . . . probably could’ve laid-out on the road . . . got a tan. Maybe taken a nap.

4) Company! Only reason I took this picture of a mini-van was ‘cause I hadn’t seen anyone in, like, an hour

5) Don’t know what this peak is called, so I named it . . . The Wave

[LongRanger]

I can take these pictures . . . . . but they're just never big enough . . .

R

[LongRanger]

Easy day driving, except for that monster rain. Stopped for a meal (I think), stretch, pics. Topped-off leaving Dawson Creek, then 2 more fuel stops --- in Ft Nelson (rain), and one other place --- just a station/no name/not on any map/'checkered flag' (w/ hi-test) --- 21.39 gal total.

Day 5 ended at 21:15, Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. 14:30, 618 mi/995 km

R

[LongRanger]

Lots of animals along the way. Not so much the first 4 days . . . but after.

Buffalo, Mountain Goat, all manner of birds and squirrels, Bear (family of 5), deer, one ginormous porcupine (oil-barrel-size!), a wolf (I think --- v long range, late) . . . .

And Moose. One particular.

It was before Watson Lake. I was tooling North, working my way through a series of long wide turns, a typical road wrapped around a typical mountain-side, clear, watching the scenery across a gorge on my left, not a soul . . . . come around a bend, not fast --- then . . . . construction-type warning sign, orange (I think), lights flashing.

Didn’t read the sign (never do), just lifted, changed down, watched ahead. No traffic back-up --- no traffic . . . just a few saw-horses, set up on the right-hand part of the road way . . .

Bright sky, polished road, sheer almost-vertical mountain wall, morning sunlight flooding . . . then, a dark, shaggy mound --- maybe 4 feet tall . . . . legs out to the verge.

Didn’t see much (or look . . . never do) --- went by in an instant . . . ‘--- moose? . . .’

(Gulp)

Nobody around, no other vehicles. No debris. No flairs or tape . . . just a sign, saw-horses . . . sad.

Wonder what hit ‘em?

Few miles later . . . .

Roadside gas station.

Taurus/Sable-type rental car, red/maroon, laid up out front, at the side of the pumps, right by the road.

Nose donked, hood crushed (onto the motor!), windshield smashed . . . roof stove in . . .

. . . down to the headrests.

(Double-Gulp)

After that? --- when it got dark? . . . I stopped driving.

Still, had two casualties on this trip --- small bird, popped out of a bush, just as I passed. (Quick) And a chipmunk. (Not)

Rick

1) Young Moose? Or Elk? Jus' munchin', anyway. Not enough traffic to really shoosh the critters away, so, if I stopped, kept quiet, paid attention? --- all kinds o’ wildlife showed-up, roadside. Short summers/long winters so everybody’s busy eating, eating, eating

2) Good Ole American Bison. Free-range . . . vs livestock. (2200+ pounds wild, 3500+ farmed) Didn’t look all-that big. Seemed calm enough.

3) and 4) Saw a lot of this --- animals munching gravel at the roadside. Salt maybe? This small band of Highway Goat included some lambs that were snow white, black eyes/horns/hooves. These Guys put up with traffic passing somewhat-close-by, even me getting out, taking some pictures . . . long as I didn’t get too close --- then? . . .

5) . . . they’d just sorta nonchalantly step/climb/float up these rock walls . . . disappear --- smoke

[Reza]

Rick

the whole idea is nuts, but awesome!!!

Reza

[LongRanger]

Left next morning, before 8. Day 6 started out cool, clear, a few clouds . . . beautiful

[LongRanger]

Made it to Whitehorse by ~10. Tidy place, small, sits in the Whitehorse Valley, next to the Yukon River. The Al-Can is called the Klondike Hwy, here, and moves Northwest on the West shore. There’s actually a lake, right in the middle of everything --- Schwatka . . . flood control, maybe?

My Sis had some people she wanted me to look up when I got there, so I hung around town for, like, a half-an-hour, visited, tanked, then took off. Could’ve stayed longer but the weather was looking like it was thinking about maybe turning and, frankly --- not much to see, really . . . unless I was looking for an Outfitter. Or heading out for the fishing/hunting. (Uh . . . no)

1) . . . for us Tourists

2) Lake Schwatka

3) Whitehorse International

4) Moving on

[LongRanger]

After Whitehorse, things got quiet, again . . .

Hwy meandered due West. No crossings or turn-offs or junctions. But no real landmarks, either. Pacific coast is 200 mi Southwest, other side of these mountains --- the first snow-covered ones I’d seen.

Just Haines Junction . . . ~100 mi on from Whitehorse. According to my dog-eared 15-year-old AAA map-book, The Hwy makes a sharp turn North, there . . . and Haines Junction was the only town/settlement/collection of buildings of any size/consequence before Tok, AK, the next town . . . 290 miles further . . . total distance = ~400 mi.

With a some attention to the trip-computer, the M3 could manage ~300 miles --- and I had another 10l/2.5g in the back-up gas can in the trunk --- maybe 70 mi-worth? . . . total range = ~370 mi.

Real happy to see Haines Junction. (And their Shell station.)

[LongRanger]

With the car topped-off, I could pretty much relax the rest of the way to Fairbanks.

1) Kluane Lake, Destruction Bay

2) Lotsa water

3) Looking North . . . (Notice the Big Rig --- I'll come back to him later.)

4) . . . South