Mendenhall Creek, YT to Lakeview, AK Part 2 (6/25/2017)

Sunday, June 26, 2017 (continued)
Continuing along the Alaska Highway/YT-1...

This pit toilet is typical of what is found at rest areas;
fortunately, there was almost always toilet tissue

The Donjek River and white volcanic ash is part of a deposit from 14 centuries
ago ranging from Watson Lake, YT to a point west of the Alaska-Yukon border

The Donjek River photo also illustrates a glacial river, where the glacier deposits so much sediment into a river, the water is unable to carry it all away. The debris piles up on the river bed, creating multiple braided channels of water. The channels and debris piles are always shifting.

Evidence of the Alaska Highway Permafrost
Research Project, which is testing specialized
construction techniques to minimize melting
of the permafrost

Building on permafrost is challenging, because if the permafrost is allowed to melt, the underlying ground will liquefy and sink or slide. When it freezes again, the ground rises, resulting in those frost heaves that make the road so bumpy.
The Alaska Highway was built in two sections, with construction crews at each end working towards a central meeting point. The 97th and 18th Engineers pushed through to meet at Beaver Creek, YT on 10/28/1942, to complete the northern sector. Finally vehicles could travel the entire length of the Alaska Highway. (The other section was completed in September 1942.)

Our Lady of Grace Mission (1961, also from
a salvaged Quonset hut) in Beaver Creek, YT

Buckshot Betty's, more than a restaurant, with a bakery,
rooms, tent sites, a gift shop, and "off sales"
(Canadian for take-away alcoholic beverages)

Kent waits for lunch at Buckshot Betty's

1964: Canada Customs at Beaver Creek, YT (Dr M)

2017: It looks like the Beaver Creek RV Park and Motel is
using the former Canada Customs building

2017: Canada Customs a couple miles north of Beaver Creek, YT

1964: The Explorer Scouts at the USA-Canada border marker (Dr M)

2017: Kent at the USA-Canada border marker

Tamiko sitting on the Border Bench of International
Friendship that straddles the border
(a Roadside America attraction) (KSS)

1964: Explorer Scouts photographing the Welcome to Alaska sign (Dr M)

2017: Selfie photograph of the Welcome to Alaska sign

Continuing along the Alaska Highway/AK-2...

Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in replica
trapper log cabin with a sod roof, and meat cache

A Tachycineta thalassina/Violet-green Swallow returns to its nest (KSS)

View from the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center of the Scotty and Desper Creeks drainage area,
with the Mentasta Mountains and barely visible on the left, the snow-capped Nutzotin Mountains 

1964: The Explorer Scouts at Forty-Mile House (Dr M)

2017: Our transport at Forty Mile House

1964: View from Lakeview Campground (Dr M)

We could not find a Lakeview Campground when booking our trip, so we planned to spend the night in Tok, AK. However, we did find it eventually and made the stop.

2017: View from Lakeview Campground

1964: Explorer Scouts camping at Lakeview Campground (Dr M)

2017: Site of the 1964 Explorer Scouts camping in Lakeview Campground

We continued on the Alaska Highway/AK-2 to Tok, AK.

1964: US Customs in Tok, AK

Since 1971, United States Customs is located only a half mile from the border at a station called Port Alcan, not 93 miles away at Tok!

The entrance to Mukluk Land in Tok, AK (KSS)

Mukluks are soft boots made from sealskin or caribou skin. They are worn by the Arctic natives.
Mukluk Land was established in 1985 with family entertainment such as miniature golf, whack-a-mole, and skeeball lanes, as well as displays of Alaska memorabilia.

Santa's Rocket Ship at Mukluk Land (a Roadside America attraction)

All Alaska Gift Shop has a tube on this post
to show how high the sun gets on the shortest
day of the year, just above the horizon

All Alaska Gifts is known for its action taxidermy

Birch bark basket with split spruce root border,
held together with moose skin cord

Burl bowls are carved from burls, which are deformed growths
on trees; most, but not all, seem to be made from birch trees

You are supposed to have a great view of the Alaska Range from Tok, but not if the clouds are low.

The Alaska Range

We stayed at the Alaskan Stoves Campground's hostel in a room with a half bath.

Alaskan Stoves hostel room

Alaskan Stoves hostel room;
the TV had three channels!

Tok was a construction camp in 1942. Crews here worked on both the Alaska Highway and the Gulkana-Slana-Tok Junction road (now Tok Cutoff). After the Japanese invaded Attu and Kiska islands in the Aleutians, the Alaska Highway became the priority.

Now Tok is the Sled Dog Capital of Alaska. We could hear dogs barking, but nothing was happening at the Tok Dog Mushers Association track and grounds.