Day 15--Whitehorse, YT, to Tok, Alaska

Leaving Whitehorse, we are scheduled to go through exactly one "town" before reaching Tok.  Haines Junction is located at the intersection of the Alaska Highway with the highway to Haines, Alaska.  Haines is one of those towns in southeastern Alaska, which, like Juneau and Ketchikan and others, is on the inland waterway and is otherwise accessible only by air or by water.  But there is one highway from Haines Junction which goes about 125 miles to Haines.  We won't be going to Haines, however, but will turn with the Alaska Highway toward the border and Tok.  You can see downtown Haines Junction in the photo above.

The highway--it's the worst road we've seen on this trip.  We were warned yesterday that the road from Whitehorse to the border is undergoing much construction and repaving.  It seems that it suffers from the winter frost heaves and such more than other stretches of the road.  Every summer it has to be patched and repaved in large sections.  Until it is finished, it's really rough.  We did encounter a grizzly who was willing to pose for a few pictures.  The red flags on the side of the road warn motorists of a rough section.  There should have been a lot more of them!

We had just entered one section under construction when one of the state pickups pulled up alongside and waved me down.  He yelled that I had a flat!  We pulled over and it was the tire I had just changed two days ago.  Once again, a blowout had gone unnoticed and I had to stop and change the tire.  Again, the rim was ruined and I would have to replace it.  There was one little settlement up ahead, Beaver Creek, but I had little hope of finding a replacement tire and wheel there.  But, I've found that almost every little place that has a gas station also has a tire repair shop (with these highways it would be steady business, for sure).  And sure enough, there's a towing service/auto repair/tire shop in Beaver Creek, and the proprietor sells me a used wheel and tire that I can use as a spare.  It's actually in pretty good shape and I get both of them for just $70.   And on we go to Tok.  We cross the border about 4:00 and the highway improves drastically! We're back in the U.S.A. and the signs shift back to miles versus kilometers.  We'll be in Tok in a couple of hours.  Maybe we can get there without blowing out another tire.