Day 90 - Snag Junction to Million Dollar Falls

This Road Is Built On Glacial Till

We left Million Dollar Falls and were back on the road towards Haines. This part of the Alaska Highway is probably the roughest we've driven, particularly yesterday. The explanation is that it was built on glacial till over permafrost and every year much of it must be repaired due to frost heaves. Some parts are slow going for Speedy as the road has dips and bumps and mostly-filled potholes.

There has been a roadworks project going on since the 1980's to try to upgrade the road. Even though it is in the Yukon, the United States is funding most of the cost. This is because 85% of the traffic is through traffic from the lower 48 states to Alaska. We passed through several sections today that look like they had been upgraded just recently and, although they are chip seal, they are much smoother than yesterday's drive. 

We also were guided by a pilot car through a very long section of roadwork where they are doing this year's upgrade...totally rebuilding the road. It was another long wait to get through and the section was so long that about midway through we passed another guided convoy going the other way.

We stopped at the Kluane National Park Visitor Center at Sheep Mountain before we got to Haines Junction. It is on the flats between Sheep Mountain and Kluane Lake. The ranger was very helpful with suggestions as to where to visit in the park, but it turned out that we would spend no time there. We did, however, find a whole herd of Dall Sheep resting high on the slopes of the aptly named Sheep Mountain.

At about noontime we arrived at Haines Junction. We stopped at the visitor center, had lunch, picked up guides of the area and visited the Da Kų cultural center. It was another of the very new First Nations cultural centers that we have visited here in the Yukon. This highlighted the the history and culture of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. 

After lunch it was off to find a shower, coffee and fuel before turning onto the Haines highway. We had originally intended to stop at the Kathleen Lake, Kluane National Park Campground along the way, but it was filled, so we continued another 30 miles to the Yukon Government Campground at Million Dollar Falls where we found a double site for the night.

The Haines Highway was in much better shape than the section of the Alaska Highway we had just traversed. It had been rebuilt relatively recently and was smooth asphalt. We traversed a long stretch of open road with quite high winds and Speedy really felt it we were glad to get back into the woods of Million Dollar Falls campground, named after the road construction camp built here when the Haines Highway was built in the 1940's.

After taking a walk to the impressive falls, we when back to the vans and had a joint dinner in Speedy. It was a little too cool and breezy for an outside meal today.