Skagway North

It did rain hard overnight and also we experienced an earthquake that really shook Vanessa. Of course, at the time we didn’t realize it was an earthquake, but when we went into town in the morning to pick up a few things we had forgotten the day before, we learned that an earthquake had caused the shaking (not just wind or an angry bear) and also found that the internet cable to all of Southeast Alaska had been broken during the night so none of the stores could accept credit cards electronically. Some were using knuckle busters to take the cards, others were dealing in cash only.

On the way out on the Dyea road we met another Sportsmobile owner, Suzanne from Austin, Texas. We enjoyed talking about our travel experiences and our Sportsmobiles. She is an artist so she has hers outfitted with workspace for her drawing and painting as well as storage closets for her inventory. She admitted that she is enjoying her travels in Alaska so much that she hasn’t settled down to much art production this summer.

Since we were now covering the same road as yesterday as we headed out of Skagway, the scenery was about the same – just different light and different clouds. We did enjoy seeing three different trains on the railroad tracks across the valley. We never saw the passenger train that we had passed up traveling on (so we aren’t sure that the passenger trains were running today either), but did see a freight car, single engine, and a train carrying freight and ferrying back empty passenger cars to Skagway.

After many photo stops along the Klondike Highway, we headed east on the Tagish Road that took us to the Alaska Highway. We stopped for the night at the Teslin Lake Yukon Territorial Campground which is right on the lake which is huge — 1 mile across, but nearly 100 miles long. Dinner was homemade chicken soup. Our GPS reports that we have 785.3 miles to go to reach the beginning of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek. From there it is 2140 miles to West Lafayette.

Teslin Lake YT Campground Review: Like all of the YT campgrounds we have seen Teslin is very nice. It has about 28 large, gravel spaces well-spaced in among the trees (some sort of poplar with a few spruce). Picnic tables, fire rings, and free wood are provided. Pit toilets, but no running water (not even a hand pump), and no RV dump. Bear proof trash bins. Fee: $12.

-- Janet (text) and David (photos)