North to Alaska 2016: Hyder to Skagway, Alaska

Hyder to Skagway, Alaska

The next three days are basically travel days, stopping overnight and taking in the few sights that time permits. Next major stop is Skagway.

Hyder to Dease Lake - 245 miles

We departed Hyder at 7:30am and had an uneventful border crossing back into British Columbia, Canada.

Departing Hyder, we passed the Stewart Yacht Club at the end of the Portland Canal in British Columbia.

Early morning mist and ground fog hovered over the coastal areas along highway 37A from Hyder to the junction where we joined highway 37 to Dease Lake.

The surrounding countryside along highway 37A is lush and stunningly beautiful

We elected to stop at Bear Glacier , about 16 miles outside of Stewart, BC for photo opportunities, and capitalized on the stunning view, where we sat and enjoyed our morning coffee and breakfast, before heading off to reunite with our caravan.

Highway 37 heading north to Dease Lake

Our caravan (RV Alaska Tours) snakes along highway 37.

These yellow tandem trucks carry the gold ore from the mines. When loaded, they carry anywhere from $50,000 worth of ore, upwards to $500,000 worth of ore. The value is dependent on the quality and quantity of ore carried.

Abundant wild flowers are plentiful along the roadside

One has to be on the lookout when travelling this rural region. It is quite common to see domesticated horses roaming the area. They are free range animals.

Portions of the road are newly surfaced with loose gravel, creating dust and rock hazards. In general, , the roads were in better shape than expected, but travel today was dusty and slow going at times.

It was a long travel day, (245 miles) and many of us were feeling fatigued

Rejuvenated after dinner, Steve and Darlene, two musicians travelling with the caravan entertained us at the gazebo. Alan added the ambiance with his gas camp fire in the fire pit.

Dease Lake to Watson Lake -157 miles

Todays travels started along the picturesque shores of Watson Lake.

Continuing north alongside Watson Lake on highway 37 .

In the middle of nowhere, British Columbia is Jade City. We stopped and Claudia, one of the owners spoke to us and enlightened us about the history and types of jade. I did not know that jade is one of the hardest minerals.

The store was interesting and full of beautiful local art and trinkets for all budgets.

This hunk of jade is being sculpted and polished, and will be a memorial bench for a longtime local resident.

Evidence of forest fires over the years is all around. Surprisingly, it can take up to 100 years for the forest to return to its pre burn state.

Watson Lake is notorious for it's sign forest. Travelers from all over the world donate signs from home. There are literally thousands of signs, maybe even hundreds of thousands of signs. It is mind boggling, but interesting and entertaining to see.

This was started by the GI's back in WW11. They were homesick and put up signs stating where they were from and how many miles to home. I'm sure they never envisioned it growing into what we see today.

Amidst this plethora of signs, we found two from friends and fellow RV'ers from Sun City, Texas.

Watson Lake has a theater that shows a great movie about the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). It was just across the highway from the RV park and worth a visit.

Returning from the theater, we were treated to a double rainbow spectacle over the RV park.

Upon arriving in Watson Lake, we discovered that one of our front tires was scuffing and wearing badly on one side. Alan decided to swap it out with the new spare for peace of mind. First thing next morning we headed off to the tire place. I use the term tire place lightly. They had no power tool to remove and replace the nuts, no working tire guage, (they used ours) but at least Alan did not have to struggle and roll in the dust.

Our caravan went on ahead since we had no idea how long it would take to swap out the tires. Once on the road, we made good time and caught up with the caravan just as they crossed the bridge into Teslin.

Teslin to Skagway (163 miles)

The Nisutlin Bridge approaching Teslin has the longest span of any bridge on the Alaska Highway.

View from our campsite, overlooking Teslin Lake, which is 78 miles long and 2 miles wide.

We met these delightful cyclists at the campground. They are students from University of Texas in Austin, and are cycling to Alaska to raise money and awareness for cancer. You can follow them or make a donation at www.Texas4000.org

Texas 4000 cultivates student leaders and engages communities in the fight against cancer. We share hope, knowledge and charity in the fight against cancer through our cornerstone event, a 4,000+ mile bike ride from Austin to Anchorage

Break time for the caravan

Highway 8 to Carcross

Parking for a lunch stop in the charming village of Carcross

We parked down by the lake and beach for our lunch break, then walked this charming village.

Canada Post Office in Carcross

This cute bird houses on the top of this building peaked my interest

The Yellow Pass Railway operates a narrow guage train for visitors out of Skagway for the tourists. The rail line was built in the late 1800's to move the Stampeders to the gold fields.

The general store is said to be the oldest store in Carcross.

Many of us enjoyed a treat from the next door ice cream parlor.

Departing Carcross for Skagway.

The scenery on this last leg of today's journey was stunning......mountains, lakes, waterfalls and more.

The river valley wound along the rivers and through the foothills of the Coastal Mountain Range

Silver mining was prolific in this area. The photo below is of an old concentrator. Silver ore was brought down the mountainside by buckets, concentrated and then transported by boat.

Coastal Range mountains and glaciers

Approaching Fraser, where Canadian Customs are housed, the topography changes quite drastically. The rocky landscape resembles Canadian Shield and the trees suddenly become small and stick like. The river and lakes were a beautiful turquoise color, a result of glacial deposits.