California to Alaska: The Puppy Dog Edition is an eight part series. If you missed the start of the trip, Day One, click here. Day 7 is a ll about the challenge of the Alcan. For notifications, subscribe to the Retirement Monkeys Newsletter.
On the home stretch now! A day like today makes you appreciate the challenge of building a road in the middle of nowhere, over muskeg and permafrost, with the ever-present thaw and freeze of a harsh winter wreaking havoc every year.
The Alaska-Canadian highway, affectionally known as the Alcan, was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers during World War II. A rough and ready 1,500 miles of highway was completed in just eight months, overcoming a multitude of hardships. (Check out the Milepost for more on the history). Today’s road is paved and remains a marvel of engineering accomplishment. The toll of frost heaves on the road makes driving the Alcan never the same year to year. Always a new challenge!
For this trip, the Alcan after Destruction Bay starts as a gentle roller coaster. The ups and downs of the road slow you down but it seems quite manageable. Not so bad this year, I say to myself prematurely.
Rough Road, Craters, and Roller Coaster
The road deceives. It looks straight and smooth, and it will be for a bit, then suddenly there will be a dramatic dip. If you hit too fast, your stomach drops as does your car’s suspension. The skid marks on the pavement serve to warn of an impending dip, though there is no warning about the depth of the dip. More often than not it is all too late to avoid the plunge entirely.
The gentle rolls soon digress into side dips. You swing right or left to avoid the drop. You are in a real-life video game, managing the pitch of the road, making your way around the sudden rise and fall. But the roller coaster begins to add a new obstacle: The Crater.
They start off small, a pothole here and there but soon the road is missing great big chunks and the holes begin to cover your lane. I imagine you could drop into some of the craters and never be heard from again. They will swallow you and your car in an instant. Well, maybe that is an exaggeration, but they definitely will do some damage if you hit them at any speed. With not much traffic on the road, the best solution is to maneuver around by swinging into the opposite lane.
The road now adds in the gravel section. It is rough and not bad as long as you have nobody in front of you. The dust will engulf you otherwise. The big thing to look out for with the gravel sections is the transitions from gravel to pavement and vice a versa. There is often a cliff with jagged edges (or so it seems) that is just waiting for you to hit hard. I’m sure many a tire was lost on these transitions.
The Asphalt Filling
Today’s trip included a new feature. The asphalt filling. Along a long section of the road, the potholes and craters were filled with fresh asphalt. Sounds great, right? Well, possibly but the asphalt wasn’t packed down so as you drove over it, your tire (or the car in front of you or passing you) kicks up big chunks of asphalt wreaking havoc on the underside of your car or in the case of the car in front of or passing you, on your windshield. Asphalt bits were flying everywhere and landing with a ding here and there.
The stretch of road included a few spots of major repair, single lane traffic and following a pilot car. I hit two of them just right – pulled up just as the pilot car was pulling away. The other two spots, I waited 20 minutes. 50/50 on delays.
If you talk to old-timers, they tell you how the Alcan was much worse or much better. (Depends who you talk to.). Many thought the gravel was better but now the entire length of the Alaska Highway is paved except for bits and pieces that are being repaired. The highway used to have a reputation for its difficulty but now it is only short stretches that are a challenge. There has been progress.
Driving the Alcan remains a bucket list road trip for many retirees. The beauty of the scenery and abundance of wildlife has not changed much but the challenge of the remoteness and rough road is more manageable now. One day of really rough road gives you the feel of the legendary Alcan without prolonging the agony!
Crossing Border into Alaska
The border crossing is uneventful. Buster and Lily minded their manners and didn’t even bark at the officials. The guard rewarded them with a dog cookie and we were happily on our way. And just like that, we are back in the U.S. of A. Our evening stop is a fantastic AirBnB cabin in Tok. We get in early so we have a chance to enjoy the sunshine and view from the deck. I make a makeshift gate so the dogs are contained on the deck but they are also getting really good at being off leash, unfenced and coming when called.
Tomorrow is our final stretch. It’ll be a long drive but we’ll be home soon.
For more on the history and building of the Alaska-Canada Highway, watch PBS American Experience “Building the Alaska Highway”.
