Carcross to the Cassier Highway

The drive to Carcross was disappointing.  From what little I could see, the scenery looked spectacular but everything was socked in fog.  I took my time but it didn’t burn off during my drive.  There was a line of bicyclers coming from the other direction and I was very glad to see they were followed by an end vehicle with flashers, otherwise, you would not have been able to see them in the road.

The summit was at 3200ft.

I feel for the people in the tour buses stopped along the road for pictures and you can’t see your hand in front of your face.  How disappointing.  You can hardly read the signs telling you what you can’t see.

I would be interested in the difference in views from taking the train and driving the road.  Maybe I’ll take the train if I come back this way.

Unfortunately, it is hard for me to take any pictures while I drive, especially with my wrist and a dirty windshield (I’m eliminating the mosquito population one at a time), and when there is somewhere to pull over usually the view is blocked by trees.  You’ll just have to come to see for yourself how awesome it is.  The pictures do not do it justice.

Carcross is actually a shortened form of Caribou Crossing, a name earned for the herds that once migrated through the narrow strip of land between Bennett and Nares lakes before the gold rush.

Carcross Commons / 4 totem poles designed and carved by Master Carver Keith Wolfe Smarch.

They also claim to have the world’s smallest desert; one square mile of rolling dunes.  Although not technically a real desert, this geological anomaly is still an exceptional sight.  Plus, it is home to two rarities:  the endangered Baikai Sedge plant and a moth with a name I can’t pronounce – Gnorimoschema Moth.

To get to the Stewart Cassiar Highway (Hwy 37), I had to drive a part of the Alaska Highway I had driven back in April when it was completely covered in snow.  It did not look familiar.  Ha 

I am very glad the ranger suggested that I take this road back rather than at the beginning because it would have been hard in the snow, (and I would have missed all the beauty).  It is a narrow, two-lane road and no shoulders, with no cell service and few services, all of which would have been closed for the season.  I also found parts of it very windy.

Although I know the song refers to the Rocky Mountains, I couldn’t help but think “purple mountains majesty” when I saw this view.

That is actually fire

I only spent one night at Dease Lake because the smoke was so bad, it was unhealthy. In hindsight, I wish I had just spent the night at one of the turnouts. The lakes were so beautiful and the smoke was not yet as bad.