Hawkeye Folkertsma

Friday April 30.
Hawkeye is my new nickname for Paulette. She spotted way more animals today than I did. The same was true for yesterday. Must be the Cherokee in her. Today's total: 1 bear, 3 deer, 11 caribou, 2 moose, and 6 buffalo. One realizes they are getting pretty far north when one starts to see caribou. They are not as large as I would have thought. They stand about 4 feet tall at the shoulder, and are stockier than a deer. They came down to the road to lick the pavement. All I can theorize is the snow removal crews salt the roads in winter and the caribou come to get the salt residue.

We left Dawson Creek/Ft St John very early and did 11+ hours today to beat the threat of snow, which they now say will happen early next week. The scenery was AWESOME for much of the way. Crossing the continental divide in the Canadian Rockies was a lot of work for the truck. Some uphill grades were 10%. Temps much of the morning were just above freezing and the continental divide was threatening snow. They say mountains make their own weather. I believe it. Lakes we passed most of the day were still frozen, but the ice seemed to be turning slushy on them. River ice was beginning to break up in some places. A different world than what we are use to seeing. We did about 300 miles to Fort Nelson by noon. When we left Fort Nelson after fueling we hardly saw a car on the Alaskan Hwy. I was worried they knew something we didn't about the weather ahead so they stayed in town. Once we went about 25 miles without seeing another vehicle. It's a bit early for tourists up here. Late in the afternoon we crossed into the Yukon Territory and tonight are in Watson Lake. As we dropped in elevation the temp came up to mid 60s. The suspect tire on the trailer got steadily more distended and worn on the side, so when we arrived here for the night I changed it. I figure that is better than fixing a flat on the side of the narrow roads. Now I only have the deteriorating tire for a spare, but think we will be OK. We have 270 miles to White Horse, and then 125 to Skagway where we catch the ferry. So only 400 miles to go. We have come almost 2800 miles since leaving Mentone. The Alaskan Hwy was bumpy for about 200 miles over the Rockies, but other than that stretch the road has been better than I expected.