[img_assist|fid=1092|thumb=1|alt=Going into the Yukon|caption=Arriving in the Yukon Territory with Minnie.|width=100|height=75]

[img_assist|fid=1098|thumb=1|alt=RV Park Haines Junction, Yukon Territory|caption=Our RV Park in Haines Junction was typical of establishments in small towns. It had everything: clothes, convenience store, gas, and great for us- a terrific view of the mountains and access to a nature trail. You may notice that gas was $1.15, that is per liter, and works out to just under $4 per gallon, US currency.|width=100|height=75]

[img_assist|fid=1095|thumb=1|alt=Kathleen Lake, near Haines Junction, Yukon|caption=Kathleen Lake was a little too cool for a swim and picnic, but was a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains.|width=100|height=75]

May 10, 2007 - Slana, AK

Robert Service expressively described the Yukon.

It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,
It's the forests where silence has lease;
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It's the stillness that fills me with peace.

Our time there was brief, but we found it a grand and ethereal place, especially after sunset when darkness refused to come. We look forward to returning in July.

We left Haines and followed the Alaska Highway northwest in a grand valley north of the Kluane and St. Elias Mountain ranges. Snow flakes swirled and sleet rattled about our Minnie. Maintenance of this section of highway was poor and our speed stayed at or below 45 mph. Red poles marked many of the frost heaves, depressions, and pavement breaks. We rocked and rolled. Although the day was cold, swans and ducks swam in dark holes in the surface of ice covered lakes and ponds.

U.S. customs was easy and, hallelujah, the road was much, much, better on the Alaska side of the border. The Alaska side was also blessed with an absence of snow. Running late we observed wildlife in the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge but did not stop until we reached the town of Tok (toke) and the Tundra Lodge and RV Park. The owners, an elderly couple, were just opening it up for the season. They gave us a half-price rate because we could connect only to electricity. That was fine. The evening felt almost warm, but overnight the temperature fell to 30.

Yesterday we explored the town and looked for owls. We met an old native American who spoke of living across the river in years past. He said they moved over because of the difficulty and danger of boating the children to school across the river each day in spring and fall. “Especially when the ice was moving, it was difficult.” In the winter the river froze and there was no problem.

Today we drove the “Tok Cutoff” about 70 miles toward Anchorage. We stopped here to “dry camp” in the largest National Park in these United States and explore the Nabesna Road. We drove the road this afternoon. It is open, but was a bit snow covered at the top. From this narrow track across the wilderness we could see the huge and marshmallowy Wrangle Mountains. These include several of the highest mountains in North America. Much of the range is covered by a massive ice field. We also saw lots of moose. One tried to commit suicide by motor home, but Chuck saw him coming and slowed down fast. We watched in awe as it continued to pace across the highway in front of the rig.

Here there are scarce signs of spring. The willows and alder are beginning to bloom. Robins and yellow-rumped warblers are singing. We spotted lesser yellowlegs and solitary sandpipers prancing on the ice along streams. The rangers commented that ours was the first report of these birds this year. Flocks of Lapland longspurs swarmed about brown grass patches. These are heading yet farther north, but their appearance here suggests that we are indeed travelling with the birds. Since we are now going south we may not see them again until we get to the Pribilof Islands in a couple of weeks.

The land here is taiga, the place of matchstick trees, and muskeg marshes. It is permafrost country and ice underlies everything year round. A lovely stream flows by our remote campsite and is open and clear, but ice lines some of its banks above and below the turf. Away from the stream a thick carpet of dwarf shrubs remains brown and yellow above greenish moss and cranberry ground cover. Skinny and irregular black spruce rise above it all, stately as cypress in the bright early twilight.

It is now 9:15 p.m. We can’t see through the clouds to tell if the sun has set or not. The setting does not make much difference to the light. It will persist for a few more hours. We have cut sections of insulation foil to cover the bedroom windows. The regular shades are useless here. Light still seeps into the bedroom from the shower skylight, and already, it scarcely gets truly dark at night.

May 11, 2007 - Glennallen, Ak

We made another short, one hundred mile drive this morning. The weather was cloudy so we missed seeing some of the mountains, but enjoyed grand vistas of braided rivers and taiga woodland. Now every puddle seems to have sprouted sandpipers. The Internet reports many “first of season birds” from the 50th State. The night was cold and today remains cool. A sleet shower turned the ground white, briefly, after we set up camp. Now bright sunshine has turned the gravel lot puddly. This is mud season here.

We had planned to camp at the Northern Nights Campground, but the sign said “closed.” A shopkeeper called and was told, “tomorrow.” It was supposed to be open May 1. The shopkeeper told us that there were RV “hookups” next to the waterworks. We found this little and somewhat austere gravel lot and self registered. The proprietor stopped by and greeted us. He asked only that we not use Canadian currency. “The bank here does not exchange. Stupid really. I have to go all the way to Anchorage to change it.”

We used American. We have about a hundred Canadian dollars left to save until our return to the Yukon in July.

We were delighted to find that this little rv park has Wi-fi, and now post yesterday’s and today’s notes. This afternoon is for laundry and grocery shopping. Tomorrow we continue our search for a great gray owl and other local specialties. On Monday we will move on down the road to near Sheep Mountain (Dall’s mountain sheep) and the Matanuska glacier. If it is not too cold there, we will spend about four days in the high country before continuing to the agricultural community of Palmer, just outside of Anchorage, and then Anchorage itself on Thursday.

It is hard to believe, but our birding buddies, Ed and Nancy, will join us in Anchorage in only a week and a day, and that we will fly to St. Paul Island a week from Monday. Our Alaska adventure is seriously underway already and will continue in earnest through June.