...Kluane National Park and Reserve

We stayed at a campground near this milepost, which is in kilometers, since we were in Canada.

A Yukon chipmunk eats lunch.

Emily and Laura hike up the gravel on the side of the stream.

Mrs. Huffy plans a route up the side of the ravine we are about to enter.

Mrs. Huffy and Emily begin the climb up the side of the ravine.

Laura and Mrs. Huffy wave from a high point along the ravine.

The next morning we could see fresh snow atop the peaks from the campground.

After a brief stop in Whitehorse for groceries, we drove to a campground where we had stayed on our way down the Alaska Highway in Kluane National Park and Reserve.  It is a beautiful place just about seven miles from Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory.  The weather was blustery and cold when we arrived, but we decided to take a hike up a nearby stream to see what we could find.  We followed the rocky edge of the stream for about a mile before we came to a narrow ravine.  It became a serious climb and while Laura and Mrs. huffy kept going Emily and I explored the many rocks along the edge of the water.  Laura and Mrs. Huffy climbed a good ways and waved to us from a high ridge.  When they came back down we all hiked back to the campground.

Dinner included souvlaki which was packaged in a big vacuum sealed bag.  Each souvlaki stick was in its own partition and every time I would open one souvlaki sauce would spray, drip, and fly everywhere.  The counter, floor, walls, cabinets, and myself were soon splattered and soaked with red souvlaki sauce.  It took all four of us to clean things up.  Ultimately it was worth the effort because they were really good.

After dinner it began to rain heavily and we went sleep with the sound of pattering rain drops on the roof.  However, by morning things were clearing up enough to reveal fresh snow on the tops of nearby mountains.  It was beautiful but also an indication that winter is never far away. 

We packed up and stowed our gear before getting on the road for the stretch between Destruction Bay, Yukon Territory and Glenallen, Alaska, which is notoriously the roughest section of the Alaska Highway.  Frost heaves, potholes, pavement breaks, gravel, mud, wet quicksand, and construction zones, all make for slow going in this area.  Plus it began raining again just to make things a little more interesting.  So, it wasn't long before we were driving through a saturated soupy mess.  The RV would sometimes feel like it was sinking into the road and I would press the gas pedal hoping to reach solid ground.  It was bad for us but I felt even worse for the motorcyclists as they were exposed to the weather and we could see their tires sink into the mud as they wobbled and swayed along in front of us.  It was a long slow drive to the Canada/Alaska border where we stopped for lunch.  The motorcyclists stopped there as well and excitedly jumped off their bikes and spent a good 20 minutes positioning themselves in front of the Welcome to Alaska sign for photos, in a downpour!  We didn't even go outside.  Then we all got in a long line to go through Customs.  The motorcyclists were still in front of us and they seemed remarkably happy to have finally reached Alaska.  We watched from inside our vehicle as they gave each other high fives and slapped each other on the back in congratulations.  After an exchange with the Customs agent they took off and we never saw them again.  We continued to drive toward Glenallen with the memories of intrepid motorcyclists and time spent in...Kluane National Park and Reserve.