Alcan Highway: Alaska, Yukon Territory, and British Columbia
The Alcan Highway was originally constructed to connect Alaska and Canada during World War II, it’s over 1300 miles long and was constructed in only 8 months. I’ve driven the Alcan, or portions of it, a couple times, and I don’t know if I believe it only took 8 months, because from what I have seen it’s still under construction. I’ve heard that the road is constantly being worked on, they start at one end and start repaving, and by the time they’ve repaved the whole road, the beginning needs to be repaved again, so it’s just constant. I don’t know if that’s an exaggeration, or a joke, or if it’s actually true, but I’d believe it.
The Alcan Highway runs between Dawson Creek, British Columbia and Delta Junction, Alaska (map borrowed from a Guardian article detailing the highway). I had driven the Alcan in 2007 when I moved from Seattle back up to Alaska. This time I was driving with my son from Anchorage back down to Seattle. Since we were coming from Anchorage, we started the Alcan in Tok. We were traveling in August of 2021. The world was just starting to open up after the Covid pandemic. In fact the border between Alaska and Canada had just opened up, I tried to make sure my son and I had the correct paperwork, but it was a little stressful because the process was so new.
It was misty and rainy when we left Anchorage, and was cloudy and overcast as we passed Tok and headed toward the border. After passing through into Canada, we decided to stop for a couple days in Kluane National Park. Aiden wanted to camp out in a tent and do some hikes. Since we didn’t have a tight schedule, we decided give it a shot. It was beautiful during the day, but started to get windy in the afternoon. I thought it made hanging out at Kluane Lake more fun becuase the waves were breaking on the shore and looked really rugged.
Following camping at Kluane National Park we continued east toward Watson Lake. We stopped for another hike at Rancheria Falls, it was a short, but really nice hike and the waterfall was beautiful. Aiden didn’t want to hike, but had a new remote control car he got for his birthday and was looking for excuses to drive it. Since the pandemic was so recent, the roads and trails were almost always empty. We got to see lots of wildlife including bear and moose. Before entering British Columbia we stopped in Watson Lake, where they have a fun “Signpost Forest”. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a forest made of signposts from all over the world. While a somewhat strange claim to fame, it was a blast to walk through and try to see signs from places you recognize, or try to find signs from far away places.
Muskeg typical along the drive near Tok.
View of the Tanana River.
Fireweed blooming along the road.
The Tanana River crossing.
The Tanana River crossing.
One of the many gravel portions of the road.
Back to the paved road.
Cottongrass growing along the river.
A Black Bear along the road.
Aiden at the Rock Glacier hike.
Aiden at a Dezadeash Lake on the Rock Glacier hike.
Pano of Dezadeash Lake in Kluane National Park.
Aiden throwing sticks at Kluane Lake.
Fireweed blooming in Kluane National Park.
Resting at the lakeside chairs.
Pano of Kluane Lake.
Hiking along Kluane Lake.
Resting at the lakeside chairs.
Rancheria Falls hike in the Southern Yukon Territory.
Rancheria Falls.
Rancheria Falls.
Moose along the road.
Moose along the road.
Heading toward Northern British Columbia.
Signpost forest in Watson Lake, Yukon.
Signpost forest in Watson Lake, Yukon.
After leaving Watson Lake we continued driving south into British Columbia. It was one of the prettiest parts of the drive from my perspective. The scenery was amazing, and there was tons of wildlife. We camped at Munch Lake and had a blast cooking hot dogs over the campfire. The ruggedness of the landscape, and colors of the glacial lakes, were impressive. We saw a couple signs for hikes along the way and checked out a few, one of the most fun was Smith River Falls, it was a really short hike, but the waterfall at the end was incredible. It was fun traveling with Aiden, and gave me some perspective, because he was really excited to do these hikes, but once we got to the end he would have the most fun just throwing rocks in the water. This portion of the trip went pretty quick, we only spent 4 days in B.C. because we were trying to get to Jasper and Banff National Parks.
Bison relaxing along the road.
Might be NSFW...
Lots of calves.
Bison and calves along the road.
There were lots of bison just hanging out along the road.
Lots of calves.
Aiden hiking the Smith River Falls trail.
Long exposure of Smith River Falls, I asked Aiden to stand really still so he wasn't blurry, i guess he interpreted that as "rigid".
Aiden throwing rocks into the river at Smith River Falls.
Smith River Falls.
Smith River Falls.
Road into the Muncho Lake Provincial Park.
Muncho Lake as the sun was almost set.
Muncho Lake as the sun was almost set.
Muncho Lake as the sun was almost set.
Camping on Muncho Lake.
Camping on Muncho Lake.
I think these are Stone Sheep, they definitely blend in with the stone.
Small, medium, and large sheep.
Stone sheep.
Stone sheep with a lamb.
Stone sheep with a lamb.
Stone Sheep lamb.
One of the random trails we hiked.
Shades of blue in one of the glacial fed lakes of the area.
Lots of deer, these ones were tagged.
I don't know who this is, but he was the only one on the lake and it looked picturesque.
More wildlife along the road.
Scenic overlook along the road.
Scenic overlook along the road.