2024 Alaska Road Trip (Week 4)

AlaskaCanadaRoad-Trip
Written By Steven Ginn

This journal posting chronicles Week 4 (Sunday July 14th - Saturday July 20th) of a road trip to Alaska and back with Diane, Kenny and Deneen.

Index for Week 4

Day 22 - Sunday July 14th

We left Lake Creek Campground, finding more rough roads, and drove to Tok River State Recreation Area. We drove a total of 158 miles/254 km today.

Sunrise at Lake Creek Campground was 5:08 AM and sunset at Tok River State Recreation Area was 11:16 PM but we did lose an hour crossing the border into Alaska.

We had more rough roads today causing the drive to go much slower.

Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), Yukon Territories, Canada

Along the drive there was a really nice view looking west into the Wrangell-St. Elias National Preserve. Our plan for later in the trip is to go into the Wrangle-St. Elias National Preserve from the Valdez side to visit McCarthy and the Kennicott mine.

We were unable to find the name of the snow covered peak in the distance, photo below, beyond it being part of the Nutzotin Mountains. We did find the name of the non-snow covered mountain to the left was Ed Mountain, and the one on the right is Cottonwood Mountain.

I suspect the reason the road is in such bad shape is melting permafrost. Some evidence to support this is that at one point we saw a sign labeled Permafrost Stabilization and the radiators you see in the photo below. Very similar technology to what is used on the Alaska Pipeline.

Permafrost Stabilization, Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), Yukon Territories, Canada

On one of the long gravel sections, see photo below, you can just see a disabled RV in the very top righthand portion of the road. We had been seeing some tire tread on the road so we assumed it had lost a tire. We later learned that that Class A RV had been stuck there for about four days, but we never learned what was wrong.

Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), near Dry Creek, Yukon Territories, Canada

Seconds after the above photo, the trailer’s Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) alert went off. We pulled over in the pull out just past the white post midway up the picture above. The TPMS made it clear we had a serious flat, it showed 42 PSI and the pressure should be 80 PSI.

Flat Trailer Tire, Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), near Dry Creek, Yukon Territories, Canada

So we had a group effort to change the tire. I had planned on this contingency and had all the tools needed. The only problem was that I forgot to break loose the lug nuts before raising the flat tire off the ground, but Deneen and Diane jumped in to hold the tire for me. Kenny jumped in and took the camera to take a few of the photos of the process. The spare tire was slightly low on pressure, so in the spirt of using as many of the tools I brought as I could I dug out the air compressor and added 4 PSI to bring it up to 80 PSI.

There was one portion of the drive that had a lot of Fireweed. None of us have ever seen multiple hillsides completely covered in it before.

While we were changing the tire these two identical, except for the color, Class A motorhomes drove by. Once we got back on the road we fairly quickly caught back up with them since they were going very slowly and carefully on the rough road. We needed to refuel in Beaver Creek and I was worried that they would want to do the same thing. Unfortunately they did, and the station only had one diesel pump working. I did learn one thing, which is that these big diesel pushers can fuel from either side. The really nice thing was that once they finished, they waited until I was done filling and let me go first. I thought that was extra nice.

The Twins, Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), near Beaver Creek, Yukon Territories, Canada

Next up was the border crossing from the Yukon to Alaska. The funny thing was that we came to the Canadian checkpoint first, which we did not have to stop at since we were going into the US (Alaska), it turns out the US checkpoint was another 30 km over some very rough roads.

Canadian Border Checkpoint, Alaska Highway (Hwy 1), almost to Alaska, Yukon Territories, Canada

Right across the border the road was still rough, but shortly after it turned in to a beautifully smooth, and brand new, road for many luxurious miles.

After we arrived at our campground for the night at Tok River State Recreation Area and got setup, I drove into Tok, AK and found a place to repair the flat trailer tire. It turns out that it was a short, sharp rock that went through the tire (sorry, I forgot to take a photo). Just before we had the flat I had pulled off at a rest area to check the trailer since for the last ten kilometers or so it had been a very rough and bouncy road. It was only a minute or so after we left that rest area that the flat occurred, so I am guessing we picked up the sharp rock in the rest area.

Tok River State Recreation Area, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Tok, AK

One of the interesting things we have observed as we got close to Tok, AK is a lot of these 16 axle rigs driving north. After some research we believe they are hauling gold bearing ore north to Fairbanks from the Kinross Mann Choh mine near Tok, AK.

Tok River State Recreation Area, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Tok, AK

There was not a lot of things at Tok River State Recreation Area, but Kenny spent some time practicing his photography.

Tok River, Tok River State Recreation Area, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Tok, AK

Kenny’s photo from above did not workout, so I have substituted Deneen’s photo of the same view.

Tok River, Tok River State Recreation Area, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Tok, AK

Day 23 - Monday July 15th

Today we drove from Tok River State Recreation Area, Tok, AK to Tanana Valley Campground and RV Park, Fairbanks, AK for a total of 226 miles/364 km.

Sunrise in Tok was 4:02 AM and sunset in Fairbanks was 11:57 PM.

For breakfast we have fried eggs, but discovered that I had turn the fridge down when I had tried to turn the freeze down, so a couple of the eggs had to be peeled and were fried frozen eggs.

Tok River State Recreation Area, Tok, AK

After we arrived at camp yesterday and finished setting up, I drove into Tok and had the flat trailer tire fixed. This morning I wanted to change the spare tire out for the repaired tire and Diane and Kenny volunteered to do it.

After getting the trailer tire sorted out we hit the Alaska Highway heading to Fairbanks, our farthest north and west camp site.

The Johnson River bridge was cool with its wood plank decking.

Johnson River, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Alaska

Lots of more no name snow covered mountains.

Alaska Range, Gerstle River, Alaska Highway (Hwy 2), Alaska

As we approached Delta Junction, the end of the Alaska Highway, we stopped at the Delta Meat and Sausage to pick up some more protein. They had some interesting artwork on the wall, but more interesting was the pickup out front that had just hit a moose about 45 minutes earlier, note the moose fur stuck in the window.

After passing Delta Junction, we remained on Hwy 2, but the name changed from the Alaska Highway to the Richardson Highway.

As we crossed the junction of the Tanana River and the Delta River we had an excellent view of the Alaska Pipeline.

Tanana River, Richardson Highway (Hwy 2), Delta Junction, Alaska

Shortly after we found these three moose happily munching away next to the highway.

Moose, Richardson Highway (Hwy 2), Delta Junction, Alaska

We had no idea we were so far north.

Once we reached camp we discovered a pretty tight, and muddy, squeeze getting into our campsite.

We had ravioli for dinner. On a short walk after dinner we found a drive through liquor store.

The last photo in the gallery below shows where the sun is at 11:30 PM.

Day 24 - Tuesday July 16th

Today we spent another night in Fairbanks at Tanana Valley Campground and RV Park. Most of the day was spent doing laundry, catching up on blogs, grocery shopping but we did get out to see Pioneer Park, which was a large collection of historical exhibits from around the area.

The SS Nenana was interesting but was in need of some serious maintenance, which they seemed to be working on.

One interesting exhibit was an old car that someone had modified to have a large circular saw on the back running off of the driveline.

Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

Kenny and his new best friend…Snowball is going to be jealous.

Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

We were able to tour the shop at the train museum and see the Tanana Valley Engine #1 being restored. Built in 1899, Engine #1 was the first steam locomotive in the Yukon Territory and the first steam engine in the interior of Alaska.

Train Museum, Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

There was also an air museum in the park, but it was not schedule to open until 4PM on the day we were there, so we did not see it.

Air Museum, Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

The selection of wine for sale in Fairbanks was pretty good, this is the bottle we had with our dinner tonight.

Tanana Valley Campground and RV Park, Fairbanks, AK

To go with the wine, we had fresh wild caught Sockeye Salmon, Orzo and Spinach salad.

Tanana Valley Campground and RV Park, Fairbanks, AK

Day 25 - Wednesday July 17th

We stayed a second full day in Fairbanks. Today was a roadtrip farther north and back, we drove north on the Steese Highway, then Elliot Highway and then a short part of the Dalton Highway, for a total of 174 miles/280 km.

I have been calling it the Alaska Pipeline, but it is actually called the Alyeska Pipeline.

Alyeska Pipeline Viewing Point, Steese Highway (Hwy 2), Fox, AK

North of Fox, the Steese Highway changes to the Elliott Highway, although remains Hwy 2.

They paint road lines strangely in Alaska.

Road Line Painting, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

Driving north on the Elliott Highway has several views of the Alyeska Pipeline, including the one below where the pipeline goes underground for a while.

Alyeska Pipeline, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

The pipeline is a significant feature of the landscape, yet at the same time it still looks small as compared to the trackless wilderness.

Alyeska Pipeline, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

The Elliott Highway had a lot of very long stretches of road construction that were dirt/gravel, and some large portions of which we had to follow a pilot car. One particular stretch seemed a bit precarious for the heavy haulers in front of us.

Road Construction, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), south of Livengood, AK

We only saw one RV on the highway north for Fox, AK, and that was an Outdoors RV trailer very similar to mine. However, I was glad to not have my trailer with me on this drive.

Below is a photo of the road behind us taken through the passenger mirror.

Road Construction, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), south of Livengood, AK

Just to have a destination, I had programmed Livengood, AK into the navigation system. It took us to this one lane gravel road off of the Elliott Highway just past the junction with the Dalton Highway, despite there being a sign pointing to Livengood in the opposition direction an couple miles earlier. We decided to follow the navigation system just to see where it was leading us.

Dirt Road off of Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), near Livengood, AK

At the junction with the Dalton Highway, the Elliot Highway takes a sharp left and starts heading west. So after our short adventure on the one lane road, we drove back east a short distance to the junction with the Dalton Highway. The road sign was a bit difficult to read. We turned North onto the Dalton Highway (Hwy 11, also known as the Haul Road).

Junction of Elliott Highway (Hwy 2) and Dalton Highway (Hwy 11, Haul Road), Livengood, AK

Once we turned on to the Dalton Highway the pavement ended, and the difficult to read road signs continued.

Road sign & Alyeska Pipeline, Dalton Highway (Hwy 11, Haul Road), north of Livengood, AK

After a short distance on the Dalton Highway we came to the Dalton Highway Sign and stopped for a photo opportunity.

We also turned around at this point and retraced our way back south. We were two hours into the drive, and the next significant point of interest would have been to reach the Yukon River, but that was yet another two hours north, which would have resulted in an 8 hour drive if we had continued.

Kenny, Snowball and Lucy enjoyed their visit to the farthest north point of their lives so far.

Dalton Highway Sign, Dalton Highway (Hwy 11, Haul Road), north of Livengood, AK

On the way back, since we first followed the navigation system to the middle of nowhere, this time we tried following the sign to Livengood, which took us a couple miles down an unnamed gravel road.

Livengood Road Sign, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), Livengood, AK

In addition to finding a road maintenance yard in Livengood, we only found a couple rather old cabins.

Livengood, AK

We could not tell if either of these cabins were still in use. There did not seem to be any other homes we could see and the road narrowed enough that we decided to head back to the highway.

Livengood, AK

Next to the Elliott Highway north of Fox, AK, there were signs of a recent fire. I think the hill below is called Grapefruit Rocks. Looking it up on the Alaska wildfire website, the fire appears to be called the Globe Fire (part of the Grapefruit Complex) and is shown as still active, although we did not see any sign of activity, but it is an over 22,000 acre fire.

Globe Fire (Grapefruit Complex), Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

Note the radiator fins on top of each post holding the pipeline up below, this is part of their permafrost remediation effort.

Alyeska Pipeline, Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

A couple of sea horse looking clouds watching us drive back south.

Elliott Highway (Hwy 2), north of Fox, AK

As we passed back through Fox we stopped at the Silver Gulch Brewery, which claims to be the northern most brewery in North America. Their appetizers were excellent and the beers were good, but they were sold out of all the really dark beers so I settled for the Epicenter Dark Ale. Kenny had their root beer, Diane had Dark Matter IPA, and Deneen went for two glasses of beer (Iliamna Raspberry Ale and Northern Lights).

While photographing some Sandhill Cranes Diane also took a nice photo of this Air Force plane over Fairbanks, reminding us of the large military presence here.

Air Force Radar Plane, Fairbanks, AK

And here are the Sandhill Cranes in Creamer’s Field which is close to our campground.

Sandhill Cranes, Creamer’s Field, Fairbanks, AK

For dinner we had some excellent lamb chops and Caesar salad.

Day 26 - Thursday July 18th

Today we drove from Fairbanks to our next campground, Teklanika River Campground in Denali National Park and Preserve. We drove a total of 160 miles/257 km.

Our days are starting to get shorter and the nights longer, our sunrise in Fairbanks was at 4:08 AM, and sunset at Teklanika River Campground was at 11:50 PM.

We started south on the Parks Highway out of Fairbanks, and had a pleasant drive, and we found a couple more interesting Alaska bridges.

As we approached Denali NP, the topography becomes distinctly mountainous.

Upon reaching Denali NP entrance we turned west and headed into the park.

Denali National Park and Preserve Entrance

As we turned into the park there was evidence of the very recent Riley Fire. This fire started after we left on the trip, and was concerning because it closed the park for a while. But to our good fortune they got it under control and out before we arrived here.

Denali National Park and Preserve Entrance

The first 15 miles, up to just past Savage River Campground, the park road is paved and accessible to anyone with a car.

However, just past Savage River Campground, the road becomes restricted and only authorized vehicles can go farther. Since we had a reservation at Teklanika River Campground we were given authorization to go another 14 miles past the checkpoint to the campground.

Denali Park Road Checkpoint, end of Public Road

After the checkpoint, the road turned to gravel. Most of the time it was well maintained gravel, but we did find a fresh section the grader was not done with that caused me to think about rocks through tires.

Upon reaching Teklanika River Campground, we were required to not drive until the end of our reservation here. The rest of our vehicle transport will be via Denali Transit buses, in our case the bus ticket is called a Tek Pass.

Our campsite at Teklanika River Campground.

Teklanika River Campground, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

There are lots of bear warning signs around. Just outside of the campground, on the edge of the Teklanika Riverbed, there is a sign that says bears frequent this area. Inside the campground there are several signs that state “Grizzlies in Camp”.

Dinner tonight was a delicious Pork Chops (from Delta Sausage and Meat), Quinoa and Salad.

Dinner, Teklanika River Campground, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

After dinner we took a walk all the way out to the Teklanika River, which is small compared to the entire riverbed.

Note the ripe looking Soapberries…

Day 27 - Friday July 19th

Today was our first full day at Teklanika River Campground in Denali National Park. As mentioned in yesterday’s post above, we are not allowed to drive our truck again until we are ready to leave the park. This is unique to Teklanika River Campground, cars are allowed to come and go freely before Savage River, but after that are restricted. There are also a couple tent only campgrounds out past the public portion of the road, and which the only way to reach them is via the Transit Buses.

We purchased what is know as a Tek Pass to use the Transit Bus system. The Transit Buses are essentially green school buses, and as about as comfortable as that.

Today we boarded a Transit Bus to the farthest point west that we can go currently, which is the East Fork of the Toklat River, there is a large landslide, known at the Pretty Rocks Landslide, that prevents us from going deeper into the the park.

The next several images are from along the way on the bus, snapped out of the window.

Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Below is an excellent example of what the rivers look like here. They are known as braided rivers, and their normal state, even with high water is to be mostly river rock versus water. However, the channels are constantly changing.

Teklanika River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Then we had our first sighting of Denali.

Denali, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

A feature of the Transit Buses is that if someone sees wildlife, they are suppose to yell it out, and the bus driver will stop and let us observe from within the bus.

Of course the most exciting is grizzly bears. Once we saw this one near the bus, we were all glad to be in the bus.

It turns out that this was very near where we got off the bus.

Grizzly Bear, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

On a bridge at the end of the current bus line, we had a good opportunity to see the Arctic Ground Squirrel, which is basically the bottom of the food chain here, there are lots of them.

Arctic Ground Squirrel, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Due to the road repair required because of the landslide, only construction vehicles are allowed past this point on the road. The road is currently planned for reopening in 2027, it’s a big slide, and apparently caused by melting permafrost.

To give all the visitor something to do, they built a set of stairs down to the East Fork of the Tolkat River and they recommend hiking as far either direction as you want. When you are ready to head back, you put your name on a waiting list for a bus with space heading east.

Denali National Park and Preserve has no official trails once you are more then 15 miles in to the park. They want you to hike off trail, although there are a few restricted areas that are closed to all off road hiking.

We went ahead and climbed down the stairs to hike upriver for a while. Just as I reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around a large rock, I spotted this large caribou relieving itself in the water. After I took a quick photo I realized that it was running directly at me, so I told everyone else to go back up the stairs some and I followed. The caribou passed us below the stairs, happy to no longer have a human in it’s way.

There were various other small flowers and animals we saw as we hiked.

Marsh Grass-of-Parnassus, East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

There were also a wide variety of rock types in the riverbed. Which makes sense since it is rock that has washed down out of the mountains over eons.

And of course life tries to assert itself where it can.

East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

This Willow Ptarmigan was so camouflaged that I nearly stepped on it before it squeaked at me.

Willow Ptarmigan, East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

In total we hiked two miles up this river valley and another two miles back. Below is a photo of our lunch stop.

The park encourages hiking on the riverbed, because it is often easier than other off trail routes and of course causes very little damage to the environment.

Lunch, East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Below are various photos I took along the hike.

As mentioned above, the grizzly bear sighting we had from the bus was very close to the where we stopped. It turned out that that as we were hiking up the riverbed, we could see the bear cross the road and head down towards the river. We kept a close eye on it, although in my photos it was nothing more than a speck, hence no photo here. It eventually headed back up towards the road, and we could see various buses stop to observe it. When we got back to the bus stop, we learned from a Ranger there that the bear had continued downstream and they had closed that area to hiking for now to give the grizzly bear time to clear the area.

On the bus ride back to our campground, I was impressed with the size of the crevasses in this steep glacier.

Large Crevasses, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Both on the way out and back the bus stopped to observe these caribou which appeared to be licking some mineral from the rock wall.

Caribou, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Dinner was Deneen’s delicious stuffed meatloaf.

Day 28 - Saturday July 20th

Today was our second full day in Denali National Park and Preserve.

The day was low key, we spent some time in the morning catching up on things in the trailer and in the afternoon we caught another transit bus out to the East Fork Toklat River again. We did not take any hikes, we just enjoyed the view.

No grizzlies today, but we did see some sheep and caribou.

Below is a photo of the braided riverbed from the bridge at the East Fork of the Toklat River. Yesterday we hiked on the riverbed up the right side and around the corner for two miles (four mile round trip).

Near Bridge, East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Below is the bridge at what the park just calls East Fork. Notice the orange sign in the background, which closes the road further on to all but construction vehicles repairing the slide damage. There is also a ranger stationed here for assistance as needed.

On Bridge, East Fork Toklat River, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

We took the same bus back today that we took out, which guaranteed us a spot on the bus, otherwise we would have needed to put our names on a first come first serve waiting list.

On the way back this caribou came running around the corner and sees the bus and decided it should get off the road.

Here are some photos that Diane took from the bus, mostly while it was moving.

The last photo in the gallery below is interesting because it shows a Sheep Stop sign. These signs are designed to provide time on the road for the wildlife when no vehicles are moving. If you see a Sheep Stop sign and it is between the top of the hour and 10 minutes after, you are required to stop until 10 minutes after the top of the hour (in other words anywhere between one and ten minutes depending on when you see the sign). Otherwise you do not need to stop.

Below are some photos that I took on the ride in the bus today, some small white dots (which are actually Dall Sheep), more views of an unusually clear Denali, and more Caribou.

For dinner we had sausage stir fry and rice.

Dinner, Teklanika River Campground, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK

Please see the Week 5 posting for the next week of the trip.

Steven Ginn
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2024 Alaska Road Trip (Week 3)