Wednesday August 18, Junction Alaskan and Cassiar Highways, YT
Tonight we are parked in a pull over beside the highway along with other RV’s waiting hopefully that they will take us through the fire on the Cassiar Highway in the morning. We arrived here mid afternoon and were told that the road had been closed for most of the day apart from a few trips this morning, and there was no chance of it reopening before 9am tomorrow. So we went into Watson Lake, about 20kms away and filled with water and fuel then back out here to park for the night. We were about 30 miles away when we first saw the smoke, the sky is just amazing, all purples, pinks and blue and when the sun tries to shine through it is orange. Evidently it is burning over some 75,000 acres and there is a strong wind blowing at the moment so who knows how long before it burns itself out. Chatted with a few locals at the little diner and they said that a big part of the problem was back burns that had got out of control, also it is on the border of Yukon and British Colombia and there appears to be infighting re the management of it!
We had a good trip along the highway this morning, the road condition is excellent.
Had a chat with a couple who are cycling south along the highway. Laura and Eric had flown to Anchorage with their bikes and started their trip from there. Their plan is to cycle right through to South America. Really admire these people especially when there is a head wind or it is raining. Good luck to them. I haven’t had a chance to check out their blog yet but will keep an eye on it. www.polarbearstopenguins.com
Decided to have dinner tonight at the little diner….a bit of local colour!
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