We spent part of this day on a hunt for a mouse. Yes, we seem to have another mouse. Yikes! We found a nest and have put out “humane” traps. And we are heading out on day 10 on the Alaska Highway.

Day 10 driving recap:

Road Name (s): Yukon Highway 1

Road Type: 2-lane

Road Conditions: Starts out pretty smooth with some dips, bumps and patches.  Overall not bad.

Miles Today: 84

Miles driven from Canadian border: 1838

Miles on the Alaska Highway: 1034

Driving Time: 2:15

The above includes an extra 30 miles from our campground back to Haines Junction. The Haines Highway is an excellent road. Back on the Alaska Highway there are more views of the spectacular Kluane Range. 

This day we had our first grizzly sighting. Hector has perfect eyesight and is able to spot wildlife from pretty far, a great skill for a photographer. The bear was eating dandelions by the side of the road, he was VERY beautiful.

On route, we stopped at Kluane National Park’s Tachal Dal Visitor Center. Tachal Dal is the First Nations name for Sheep Mountain which towers over the visitor center. It is a remote and gorgeous location. Starting in early May, Dall sheep have their lambs on the Southern slope of the mountain. They remain here until early June, when they climb to higher altitudes.

But our arrival in this area was just a tad late, we only caught a glimpse of two sheep high on the mountain in the ranger’s scope, but they were too far for photography.

This is also where we got our first views of Kluane Lake, the largest lake in the Yukon.  The highway follows along the shore of Kluane Lake for many miles.

Cottonwood R.V. Park was the first of three potential R.V. Parks that we considered for our overnight stay. Although it was still kind of early when we arrived there, when we saw its beautiful setting we could not resist staying there. 

Even though it is a private campground it looks much like a government campground with lots of natural plants and trees throughout. Normally CA$35 for electric only, but when we told the proprietress that we would not need the sani-dump nor a water fill, she gave us a CA$25 rate.

Tip of the day:  Always mention if you only need a night’s stay with no hookups and no use of the sani-dump nor water. We have gotten lower rates than those published by doing this.When we arrived at the campground, Hector went for a bike ride while I went to the office to access their WiFi. Unfortunately, WiFI was extremely slow there and I was only able to post two things on social media.

Hector had a more interesting experience on his bike ride, which was mostly on the Alaska Highway. He rode right by a young grizzly bear just off the road but was able to pass him before the bear spotted him. Shortly thereafter several cars stopped to look at the bear so Hector could hide behind them to photograph the bear.

But he does not normally carry his long lens on the bike so he did not get any super closeups.  Still, it was a bit close for comfort.  At one point he asked a truck to drive past the bear slowly so he could use the truck as a screen to pedal by.  He was pretty excited when he arrived back at the campground.

The long day allowed us to enjoy a nice long time by a campfire overlooking Kluane Lake and mountains towering above it. A very relaxing evening with an awesome view.

~ Brenda