Tok, Alaska

We have arrived in Alaska. We had a long drive yesterday, particularly with the 115 mile long section of frost heaves. We were bouncing all over the road. I have to say though, the Alaska Highway is in very good shape overall. The entire route through BC was in better condition than most roads in California, and the bulk of the driving in YT was also excellent.

GRIZZLY! Yes, we saw our first brown bear yesterday. It may have been a female, as it wasn't extremely large. She was eating grass on the side of the road, just minding her own business without a care in the world about us. We did stay in Thor though, just to be safe. 98% of all grizzlies in the world live in Alaska, so we should be seeing more.

The day before yesterday (Thursday), we were camped in Kathleen lake Campground. We went on a couple of hikes and didn't see any bears as we walked through the forest, but we suspect there were several who saw us and kept their distance. We did get some awesome views as we hiked up the mountain and looked down on the lake. We hiked above the snow line in the Kluane Range before heading back out. 

The Kluane mtns. are just spectacular. We were driving past them for more than an hour after we left the visitor center and stopped repeatedly for pictures. Here is a pic of the two of us reflected in the visitor center window with a portion of the peaks in the background.

We're off to North Pole, Alaska today. Since we're back in the US, we have full cell phone service again. While in Canada it was very limited and expensive. For all of you who wished Sue a Happy Birhtday, she says Thanks! She couldn't respond at the time with our poor service.

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