~Sunday September 18, 2022~
Day 826 (Travel Day)
Day 90 of Alaska Trip
A perfect day to travel. The cool, crisp, refreshing air only enhances the spectacular Fall scenery as we drive east with a little bit of south on the Alaska Highway heading to Watson Lake (still in the Yukon). We originally hit Watson Lake in the early part of the Alaska trip, getting just a quick glance at the famous Sign Post Forest while stocking up on groceries and gas. We chose Watson Lake this time, as a good stop over because it breaks up our miles between Whitehorse and our upcoming stay at Liard Hot Springs. Plus it pretty much has everything you would ever need while putting on the miles, i.e. propane, gas, groceries, tire repair, dump station, water facility, etc. However, this time we’ll be able to have more than just a glance at the unique sign forest.
We are not taking for granted for even a second, the nice PAVED highway driving that we DIDN’T have in most of Alaska…very few potholes and no frost heaves here. But it is Canada, eh? We’re really taking in the openness
and the quiet highways with just us, the changing trees, the mountains and the blue sky.
It really feels like we have the entire Alaska Highway to ourselves right now. It will be quite jolting being back in big, congested cities again. And because of the sunnier weather, we can see as far as the eye can see as this is some of the cleanest, purest air we’ve ever encountered. Cars with full spare tires on their roofs is still a common sight since a “doughnut” wouldn’t be all too reliable on these remote, quiet highways.
Upon our arrival to the Watson Lake Campground, things were definitely a lot quieter than the last time we were here. Surprisingly for a Sunday, this late in the season, there were quite a few campers, trying to squeeze just a little bit more of summer out of their September. We even recognized our old site, which was already taken. In any case, it wasn’t hard to find an available one. Arriving pretty late in the day, we made minimal setup and a quick dinner of leftovers before hitting the hay, enjoying the peace and quiet until……