NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 23 - DESTRUCTION BAY & BURWASH LANDING

It was time to leave Million Dollar Falls. It was quite cold and crisp although the sky was blue.  

We are doing pretty good on our propane usage. We are running the big furnace which does eat up a lot of battery power. But we supplement that with our Bluetti power station which keeps our house batteries up to 100%.  We run the Starlink off the Bluetti power station too. 

During the day, we run an extra little Coleman catalytic heater inside on the small 1 lb propane tanks. Steve has been refilling the Coleman propane tanks from our 5 lb larger tank. More on that later...

Then it was time to head out some of the most rugged roads that we can find between Canada and Alaska... The famous Destruction Bay of the Alaska Highway!

We crawled along slowly and enjoyed the scenery. Mostly we were doing between 30 to 40 miles per hour. But in the really rough patches we would slow down to even 10 mph. Steve would wind back and forth between the potholes, keeping track of oncoming traffic (of which there was very little to none) and keeping track of crazy people that wanted to fly up behind us and pass us and keep on flying up the road!

The trumpeter swans are gathering on lakes and ponds, getting ready to head further north. These are a bit fuzzy to take a picture of through the windshield as we were going over the bumps!

I did catch a pair in mid flight...

So this is about what the roads look like... These are called "frost heaves". As the frost seasonally heaves up and down, the blacktop surface kind of flexes along with it. The road crews come along and slap in more blacktop to fill in the worst gaps. They're usually marked by little orange flags so you know what's coming. But they're not always marked either...

Some areas are down to gravel and washboard sections. They are evidently on the schedule to be repaired. But of course, it's brand new spring weather and the snow just melted. It will take a while to get to these sections. 

We stopped in the small town of Destruction Bay, Yukon at the Fas Gas station. We fueled up and paid $5.35 a gallon for diesel at the US rate after the conversion. That's probably the most expensive diesel we will be paying, until our trip back home. Soon we will be over the border into Alaska, and paying US prices. 

The average on that fuel up was 16.67 miles per gallon!! 

We made it past Destruction Bay up to Burwash Landing at the North end of the large Kluane Lake. 

One of the YouTube RVing videos we watched showed this deserted campground that the government used to own and manage. From there I guess it went to a local indigenous tribe. Now I guess the little town of Burwash Landing takes care of it. There are no fees charged and you're asked to take out whatever you take in and keep care of the place.

We drove in and looked around. We were the only ones there! We chose a campsite that was more shaded by the trees and protected from the wind. The few sites that were closer to the water were the north end of Kluane Lake and it was quite windy.

This was just perfect for us. It had been a long day of rugged driving. We wanted a nice quiet spot to pull in and relax.

Steve set up the grill on the table so we could cook out for the evening. He and Nick explored the campsite while I got the things ready for our dinner.

Being out in the wilderness, it means we need to be constantly "bear aware" and have a can of spare spray and a canned compressed marine horn at hand.

(Especially if we're cooking good smelling food!)

The only wildlife we saw were some big snowshoe rabbits with their fuzzy white feet and a sassy little red squirrel that kept hollering at us.

We were tired and went to bed early.

Here's the link to the corresponding video on YouTube about this day: 

135 miles today

 3,185 miles so far

NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 22 - MUD BAY AND MILLION DOLLAR FALLS

We are officially into our fourth week of our travels since we left Wisconsin. There are so many places we want to see! Check out this Google map below where we've put little points of interest everywhere. Who knows if we'll get to see them all or not. But you get the idea of what our summer is going to be like...

It was time to get out of Mud Bay and head back north up into Haines. The winds were blowing and it was pretty darn cold across that area of the beach.

We noticed as we drove north, the waters along the inlet beside us was steaming... We are not sure if it was because there were hot springs back there? I don't think it was really a difference between air and water temperature, because that water just recently had ice on it. It really gave a strange illusion...

All along this whole stretch of the highway it seemed kind of eerie, like it was from another world. 

the air was cold

 the water was cold 

the wind was cold

 so I don't know where the steam was coming from?

Once we reached Haines, we had to take a left. Now it was time to head back North and West back into Canada again!

Why go back in to Canada? Because there are no roads between this part of Alaska and the rest of Alaska. We have to cross into British Columbia for a short stretch and then into the Yukon. The map below kind of shows what I mean:

We passed out of the United States and into Canada again at the border. No problems, easy crossing.

This route also meant crossing another mountain pass. Similar to what we crossed coming down into Skagway. 

We kept crawling up, up, up, and watched the elevation increase on the computer screen.  

Before we knew it, there was snow. And I mean *S*N*O*W* everywhere. At least the roads were clear, which made it great for us to travel.

We wound our way upwards and upwards through the rolling hills and into the lower mountain ridges. Up ahead, we could barely see the outline of the tallest mountains against the white sky. Covered with clouds, it was hard to see how tall they actually were.

As we got closer, we could glimpse the faint outline of how tall the mountains were that we were actually driving through. The camera couldn't quite catch it, but you can use your imagination. The whole upper part of this photo below is really all mountains!!

A few spots are cleared up enough so we could see. These mountains did not have any greenery poking through the white snow. No. They were all rock so they had a very vivid bluish purple look to them. It was in contrast through the snow. It looks like something was faked in a photograph, but it really isn't.

Then we descended down a ways and pulled into our next desired campground. It was called Million Dollar Falls.  The sites were only $18 a night, and it seemed to be in a pretty nice quiet area of the woods.

Read the last paragraph of this article to understand where the name came from. 

We picked out a nice site near the waterfalls. It wasn't perfectly level so we used our levelers and also set our front tires up on leveling blocks. That way the levelers aren't holding all the weight of the front end with the tires off the ground. Bigfoot Leveler Company said that it was okay, but I feel better having the tires on sturdy blocks.

We made up some lunch and the skies were still blue. We decided to take a little nap and relax a bit after our drive.

But, when we woke up, the sky started clouding up and we were having little bits of hard pieces of sleet come down. Some weathermen call that "graupel".

Graupel forms when snowflakes fall through supercooled liquid droplets and instantly freeze, creating small, crushable pellets. Unlike hail, graupel is not associated with severe weather and only requires cold temperatures to form.

We figured before it got any worse we better get a walk down and see these waterfalls. Find out why they cost a million dollars?

Ooooowieeeeee.... I don't like heights at all. But I did manage to go down all of these steps, holding the camera and my other hand. It's on the video in the You Tube link below.

We walked down down down as the roar of the waterfalls got louder and louder. It really was amazing how much water was crashing through that narrow channel of rock.

The water had a strange greenish color to it when it went over the falls. I'm not sure what is giving it the green tone. We do know the bluish color has to do with mineral runoff from the glaciers. But I'm not sure what this green was all about?

Maybe it was green from the color of money? From the million dollars? Lol

Steve walked a little bit further down than I did. It pretty much looked the same from either direction.  It was nice to hang out down there for a little while, but it was starting to get cold.

We headed back up the steps and I took time to look up at all of the trees surrounding us. It makes a very interesting viewpoint, and really makes a person feel pretty darn small.

Tomorrow we are going to hit the dreaded stretch of road known as "Destruction Bay"!

106 miles today 

3,050 miles so far

NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAYS 20 & 21 - CHILKOOT LAKE AND MUD BAY

After two nights at Chilkoot State Rec area, it was time to maybe move on again.

It sure was a peaceful site, nestled in amongst the tall trees. There was one other car that had come in our loop overnight. We think they slept in their car and left early.

Otherwise, we had the whole upper portion all to ourselves. We cooked up a late breakfast and took our time packing up our gear. We really weren't in any hurry. Our intended travel day was going to be pretty short.

We took off the front thermal windshield cover and let that dry out in the sunlight. It really helps on reducing some of the heat loss through the windshield a cab area. We've also learned that we need to close down the vents when we stop. Otherwise the dash vents allow air to come in when the winds are blowing down the mountains.

We slowly made our way out of the campground and down the road back to the town of Haines. Everything was so picturesque this morning and we were enjoying the non-rushed feeling of this side of the inlet. Over by Skagway everything was so busy busy busy. We found the town of Haines to be very laid back and non-touristy.

It was so pretty driving along, just taking in the scenery. This is one of the biggest things that I imagined we would be doing when we were planning this trip. Watching the terrain unfold before our eyes as we cruised along amongst the mountains and valleys.

Every now and then a little waterfall would pop up, gushing out of the rocks. Some of it I think is from springwater, others are from the snow melt. Either way, it is really pretty and something unusual to see.

There's still a lot of snow up on the top of the mountains. I'm sure it's the spring sun rays are hitting the tips that the snow is melting and rushing down onto the rocks below.

We meandered down to the town of Haines. We stopped at the little IGA store to stock up on eggs milk and bread. Those seem to be the only things we are running low on. Oh, plus my coffee creamer! I do have some powdered stuff along and reserve in case I need it. But I really enjoy the International Delights French vanilla coffee creamer. 

Most of the grocery store prices were to be expected. About the same as any little mom and pop store in a small town. The only thing we paid more for were bananas. But to get fresh bananas delivered all the way up the Alcan Highway to a tiny port side town has to be expensive. We paid $2.29 a pound for a banana to go with my yogurt and granola. Sometimes you just got to have what you got to have.

We fueled up at $5.02 a gallon and 

our mileage was really nice at 

15.2 miles per gallon 

We also stopped at a little hardware store for some bungee cords, and grabbed a different 12 volt socket adapter from Radio Shack. Yes there's actually still Radio Shacks in Alaska. We did a holding tank dump at the free city dump station in their sanitary district department parking lot. 

We were able to get fresh city water at the local car wash. The gentleman keeps his hose locked up and shut off because people steal his water. But if you politely ask he will give it to you for free! He was so generous and so sweet. Afterwards Steve tried to give him a tip and he wouldn't take it. So I insisted he take a tip and go by himself a coffee or some donuts or something. He smiled and took the money.

We drove on through Haines and out the other side on Mud Bay Road. We have been told this was a great area for watching or humpback whales, otter seals, and other types of ocean shore wildlife.

There's a big long paved pull off by a bay that can accommodate a number of RVs. It is perfectly fine to overnight in these roadside pull-offs. That's just what we plan to do.

It was a beautiful day with blue sky and puffy white clouds. But the winds were pretty ferocious coming across the water. We were getting blasted quite a bit. Little Nicky almost blew away.

We walked among the rocks on the rugged shoreline. The tide was low. You can see how high up it comes in the picture below where Steve and Nick are walking.

We looked around at the beauty of the natural shore. The piles of kelp drying in the sunlight. The mossy bright green lichen hanging onto some of the rocks. Every now and then a hunk of driftwood. It really was nice if it had been easier to walk on than the large awkward rocks under our feet.

We shared our pull off site with a travel trailer on one end and a pickup camper on the other. We were in the middle. With plenty of room between us we had privacy. Every now and then a vehicle would go by. But not too many. This road kind of dead ends down at the end of this peninsula and another state park. Somewhere between here and there it turns to rugged gravel. But there is a high grade to get up into the campground I think something like 13 or 14%? So we opted to stay here on the blacktop pavement pullout site.

We settled into watch the inlet waters for any signs of whales for sea otters.

Sure was a beautiful day, and we took the time in the afternoon to lay down and take a nap. Listening to the winds outside and gently rocking us to sleep.

It was getting close to supper time. I had managed to squirrel away three jars of my own canned tomatoes to take along with us. It was time to open one up to make some chili! Whenever I open a jar, the first thing I do is scoop out the first forkful. I shake a little salt on it and pop it into my mouth. That is my reward for all the back breaking work of picking, cleaning, scalding and steaming with my hot canning kettles in August and September. Making all of these home canned tomatoes from my own plants. Each bite tastes like "summertime". What a delightful little thing to enjoy. It may sound silly, but it's one of those little perks that I find are pleasant life rewards.

I simmered up the chili on the stove top. It smelled so good in the motorhome. On the side I boil up some elbow noodles. I know some people insist you don't need noodles in chili. But my mom was German and she always made noodles in her chili. It was more like chili soup. I find that if I cook them in the chili, when reheating leftovers the noodles get kind of mushy. Instead, I boil them separately and drain them. Then we each put some in the bottom of our bowl and ladle the chili on top of it. That way the leftovers can go back in the fridge and remain noodleless.

It made for a great evening meal, topped off with a little bit of shredded cheese and some saltine crackers on the side. No fast food for us. We take it long and slow and make our own.

Like I said, it was quite cold and windy. I happened to pull up the weather report for Mud Bay and it showed the weather for back home in Oconto in Wisconsin. Ack! We were almost the same temperatures!!!

We started to look out across the water and kept our eyes peeled for any water spouts. The humpback whales usually first start out a big burst of air which makes a spout above the surface of the water. Then you watch to see if they will arch their back up or if you are really really lucky, flip up their tails! 

We saw a number of the spouts, and trained the camera on them each time. Waiting patiently to see if we could actually see a humpback whale...  here was a small peek:

Yup!!!! We were finally rewarded with seeing one. I know it doesn't look like much in a picture. But it was amazing that a huge animal like this would come so close to the shoreline at high tide. 

This was taken right through the front windshield of our motorhome.

I know people go out on these expensive cruises to do whale watching. But we decided that just watching them from here would be interesting to see what we could see. For free! (Later on on the Kenai Peninsula, there's a place you can stop and watch for beluga whales).

The next morning it was kind of cloudy, and the winds really didn't let up at all.

I looked out in the morning while sipping my coffee... What did I see? What is that way over on the end of that pile of rocks next to the water?

I got out my good camera to zoom in close. Ahhhh Mr Bald Eagle came to see what we were having for breakfast?

I zoomed in closer because he didn't seem like he wanted to fly away yet. My oh my, I just love this camera!

He was still hanging around looking for something. And I zoomed in even closer. I am just marveling at the ability of this lens. The camera is Lumix from Panasonic and the lens is a 20/1200 That really can bring in the detail from a far distance.

He looked around back and forth, I think he was surveying the beach to see if there was anything interesting to eat for breakfast. Don't worry, Nick was safely put away inside the motorhome with us. We told him he's too furry for an eagle to eat.

This was our breakfast view out the window. Even though it was a dreary day, it has a beauty all of its own looking at the snow capped mountains.

Pretty soon, we were packing up and heading back up through Haines. We were now going to go through another mountain pass to get up in the Haines Junction area and rejoin the Alaskan Highway.

Here is the corresponding YouTube that goes along with today's blog post:

only 23 miles today

2,944 miles so far