AUGUST 16TH, 2009 TRAVEL DAY TO TOK

Guess what? It is still pouring down rain. Not much fun walking Rudy or hooking up the RV this morning. Denny is soaking wet when he comes in to leave. We have not had one minute of dry weather in Valdez, so we are not sorry to leave, even if it is 7:30AM.

The trip back was almost uneventful and for the most part, backtracking to where we took the Tok cut-off road. Road conditions were terrible. Frost heaves every mile or so it seemed. The temperature when we left Valdez was 60 degrees and was 40 degrees when we went over Thompson Pass. Because of all the rain, the waterfalls were spectacular, especially Bridal Veil Falls. Thompson Pass gets more snowfall than any place in Alaska.

About 39 miles south of Tok, Dave radioed he had trouble with his tow bar. That turned out to be an understatement. The main part of his hitch for his tow car had literally broke in half, causing his car to ride up the ball hitch and hit the back of his RV. Denny stopped and got out to help him and it was quite a feat getting the car loose so Maddie could drive it on into Tok. It was bad enough, but could have been a whole lot worse with them losing the whole car. They are hoping Blue Ox can over-night them one to Whitehorse or Skagway. Poor Maddie has to drive the car behind the RV to Destruction Bay, Yukon tomorrow.

We had our drivers meeting and it doesn’t sound like the road will be any better tomorrow. We do cross back into Canada tomorrow and then day after tomorrow back into Alaska. We should have a lot of practice.

Oh by the way, when we got to Tok, the rain stopped and the sun has come out. The campground worker said they had snow in the mountains yesterday, which the locals call “termination dust”. That means summer is terminating and fall is here. It sure feels a lot cooler than the first time we were here.