Day 22
7/12/26.
Mosquito count: slight breeze slightly so very few mosquitos at camp tonight. A few to slap in the van.
We had a nice sleep last night. Even though we were just in a pull off of the highway there isn’t really much traffic. Especially between 6pm and 9am.
This mornings view were even better because the winds have shifted and blowing the smoke back to NWT.
Everything is BIG in Alaska!
Like I mentioned yesterday we are pivoting on our plan to drive to Valdez today. That is a huge bummer but the 3 days we were planning to be there are going to be soaking wet. Over an inch of rain everyday! Our plan was not to sit in our van that long. We had hoped to take a boat trip to a kayak trip into the calving Columbia glacier area of Prince William Sound. We do not want to do that in poring rain all day. We are hoping to pick up this experience before we leave Alaska but we shall see.
Check out the rain for days!
The weather further north including Fairbanks looks much better so we’re going that direction for the next three days.
not the name of where in Canada
Our first town of importance is Tok. It’s a big intersection of highways… east, west, north and south. Whether you are coming or going into Alaska you will drive through on the way there AND the way back.
First project is our attempt at self windshield repair. On advice of other Alaska travelers we bought the windshield repair kit. Our chip is a pretty big bullseye so if this works… fingers crossed.
Second stop in Tok is the car wash. There’s one at a gas station. Free with fillup. We need one pretty badly. Until the next dirt road and rainy day. This was a dirty project… we had to clean it twice just to make it more presentable. Not perfect but clean. We may be doing it again after the next gravel road.
We’re headed to Paxson and what they call the “Denali Highway”. It’s a gravel road between Paxson and Cantwell. We are planning to do a little bike riding tomorrow on this highway. Our friends Gregg and Ning said we should bike it and Jana (from Anchorage mentioned it as a good ride). At that time we didn’t think we would be able to work it in… but as things evolve…here we come.
Leaving Tok we headed south first on the Tok Cutoff Highway. We followed the Copper River. The other side of the river was the Wrangell Mountains National Park. Good views while driving but not good pullouts to take a photo. Mt Sanford is 16000 ft . It’s the one we thought we could see this morning and now it’s much closer. Since its afternoon clouds have rolled in and the summit is obscured. But the area and all its mountains is impressive.
Next we are on the Richardson Highway that follows TransAlaska Pipeline from Valdez to Fairbanks.
On this stretch Jim spotted one moose off the side of the road… munching
Occasionally the Trans Alaska Pipeline is above ground.
Primitive camping at Sevenmile Lake with view of small lake and the Alaska Range mountains in the near distance.
Tomorrow we will drive a bit further up this highway and then take an out and back ride along it.
cinnicrew 