June 21, 2010
Day 17: Watson Lake to Rancheria
I followed the Alcan highway today. It's busier than the Cassiar. On the Cassiar it seemed polite to wave to passing cars. There are too many cars here for that. The Alcan Highway was build in 1942 as a military road to provide a land route between Alaska and mainland America. It was opened to the public in 1948. They had an informative film at the Watson Lake information centre about the history of the highway. The road itself was up and down today. However, the grades were gentle.
There were mackeral clouds in the morning. Usually, this is a sign that rain is coming within 24 hours. The skies turned blue, but you could see clouds growing ahead. By about 1:00 PM, there was a line of dark cloud parallel to the road. I road along side them for about an hour before I rain into a thunderstorm. It cleared just a bit before I arrived in Rancheria where it hadn't rained at all.
I stayed at Rancheria RV Park ($14.27 including a nice shower). Rancheria (historic mile 710) was one of the original refuges on the Alcan Highway. The campground was in a lovely forested area and just a quick walk from the restaurant where I had a filling meal.
Darkness has not been an issue for several days now. It is light when I go to sleep and it is light when I wake up. So far, the only affect is that it is very easy to stay up too late (and I sleep in as a result).
End point:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=60.08728,-130.60579&ll=60.08728,-130.60579&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1
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Today's ride: 122 km (76 miles)
Total: 1,630 km (1,012 miles)
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