The 49th

The Alaskan Highway beckoned us from our sleep early this morning and we slumbered to our horse-powered carriage to begin the day. Whitehorse was asleep when we left town. The sun was already wide awake, even after having disappeared below the horizon well after our bedtime. Endless sunlight will be upon us soon enough.

There were more caribou, elk, and moose along our route today. However, we were intrigued to find an unexpected species roadside, wild horses. In the Thachal Dhal area of the highway was a sign saying to watch out for high sheep activity, but not a single sheep made an appearance.

Wild horses, elk, and a moose on the Alcan.

Thachal Dhal sheep hideout.

A bird stopped to say hello.

Mountain vistas accompanied our journey for the entire day. The towering Saint Elias Mountains, which includes some of Canada’s highest peaks, and are part of the Coastal Mountains stretched across our westward horizon as far as the eye could see. Numerous lakes and rivers completed the landscape mosaic. We spent a fair amount of time circumventing Kluane Lake, the largest lake in the Yukon.

Saint Elias Mountains

Road conditions were spotty at times with frost heaves and stretches of gravel serving as highway speed bumps jolting us when our pace was a bit too bold. Overall, the road was better than we expected even though our luggage in the bed of the truck ended up being rather dusty.

The highlight of today was reaching the international border between Canada and the United States, with a visible line separating the Yukon from Alaska. For Allen, it was a milestone moment, the 49th state checked off his list, with only one more to go.

Notice how the swath cut along the border reaches to the horizon.

Terri stands between two countries!

Alaska!

As we look at our map for tomorrow, Fairbanks, with more tales to tell, shows itself to be a short distance away!