Road Trip 2013: Day 22. Last Day in Yukon

Originally written in August of 2013.

Day 22: Kluane National Park – 252 km driven
I feel like I didn’t do as much today, but maybe that’s a good thing seeing as I’m going to be starting the trip home tomorrow. This morning I slept in a little, then paid for another nights stay. After tonight I will have spent three nights in this cabin, and I’ve enjoyed it. The weather was looking cloudy and there was a chance of rain, but it sort of turned out.

I started the day by driving further down the Alaska Highway toward Alaska. I went through Destruction Bay and Burwash, taking a few pictures as I went. The clouds were looking darker and more like rain, so I found a spot and stopped by the side of the road. I setup the tripod and took some pictures with me standing by the car, looking northward. The picture will serve to show the farthest north that I’ve ever been, since I did a u-turn at that point and headed back.

I then went to the beginning of the lake and took some video of me driving through that section. It is the most beautiful part of the park/roadway in my opinion. Then I took some more pictures, and headed for the Visitor center where there was a place to watch for Dall Sheep in the mountains. I was informed by the people there that I had just missed a Grizzly Bear that had wandered by. I was able to just barely capture him with my zoom lens as he wandered into the bush a long way down the valley. Then I took some time looking for the Dall Sheep, and I did see a bunch. They were really far up the mountain, and look small even in crops of the photos with my zoom lens.

At the suggestion of the park ranger, I went to Soldier’s Summit, which was just a short walk aff the main road. It went to the spot where the original Alcan Military Highway was officially opened. That part of the highway is no longer used as the current Alaska Highway follows a different path. There were some signs along the way with history of the Highway.

I then went to the airstrip to see about a flightseeing tour. I was told that unless there were a few people, it would be too expensive, plus it was too cloudy to see Mt. Logan. I talked with the owner for a while about my trip.

And then I didn’t really have anything left to do, so I headed back to the cabin and had a nap. Then I spent some time talking with the owner about bears, northern lights and other things in the Yukon. My plan is to go out for dinner tonight, then have a decently long sleep before heading out for Muncho Lake, BC tomorrow.