Explorations and Adventures?

Day 20: Lake Laberge, YT to Sbekagway, AK (221km/137mi, 13293km/7638mi total) Most of this route was on roads we'd already seen back through Whitehorse. On the branch toward Skagway, though, there was one of the most bizarre landscapes in the entire north: the Carcross Desert. This tiny true desert, created by a mountain rain shadow, looks spectacularly out of place at best in its climate. The crossing back into Alaska, on the same mountain pass once traversed by the dreaded Chilkoot Trail, was still snowy even in late June. It's easy to see why so many 99ers' journeys ended here,…

Day 18: Anchorage to Tok, AK (318mi, 7061mi total) Leaving Anchorage, we passed through Mat-Su County, a region named for its two spectacular glaciers, the Matanuska and Susitna, which form the two main rivers of southeast Alaska. It was a tourist experience again, basically, but I got to see and almost approach the Matanuska glacier. (Leave it to my parents to stay off the ice, even the part on the tour, on trumped up fears of falling through!) From a distance, the glacier looks almost like a snowfall. But not so much standing at its icy face! This was as…

Day 11: Dawson, YT to Fairbanks, AK (623km/387mi, 8129km/5051mi total) In the mountains above Dawson, last winter's snow still hasn't melted, this despite being above tree line and in direct sunlight at least part of the day! It wasn't even cold here... maybe 60-65 degrees. Starting to sound like a broken record here but... I want to get outside and be a part of this! The border checkpoint was tiny, and consisted of this informational sign, a cabin, and a little shack no larger than a toll booth. Which is probably about what one would expect all the way up…