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<\/a>More snow!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Later in the day we saw some great fall colors<\/p><\/div>\n
We arrived in Tok late in the afternoon to find that all of the commercial campgrounds were closed for the season. We drove 5 miles out of town and camped at the same state parks campground that we stayed in some 3 weeks earlier. And what a difference three weeks makes! Where before Quinn spent the evening playing in the sand near the river and we ate at the picnic table, now Quinn and Jen played games making tracks in the snow while I cooked dinner. Needless to say we ate in the van with the heater on. The space heater is one of our appliances still working correctly, and we\u2019re very thankful for it!<\/p>\n
It got down to the low twenties over night and snowed a bit too. Since we\u2019ve now turned south toward the coast, we\u2019re hoping that it will start getting warmer.<\/p>\n
A couple of hours\u2019 drive brought us to the US \u2013 Canadian border for our entry back into the Yukon. We stopped to top off our fuel in the first town we arrived in on the Canadian side.<\/p>\n
In the US, diesel fuel fillers always have a green handle. In Canada, I noticed on our way north, this isn\u2019t always the case. Without thinking, I reached for the green handle. It wasn\u2019t until I had topped off with 20 liters of fuel that I noticed the word \u201cUnleaded\u201d printed on the pump. My heart sank into my stomach like a rock. I had just put gasoline into our diesel van, and we had only 2 days left to make it to our ferry in Haines, still 500 miles away. As if we hadn\u2019t had enough fuel-related problems already, now I was creating them myself.<\/p>\n
There was a mechanic at a nearby repair shop who said that he could get me in to drain the tank the next afternoon. That was too late for us. The only alternative, he suggested, was to add 2 quarts of automatic transmission fluid to the tank and go on our way. He said it \u201cprobably wouldn\u2019t cause too much damage.\u201d No thanks.<\/p>\n
I considered starting the van long enough to move it out from in front of the fuel pumps, but fortunately Jen talked me out of that idea. I had learned enough from our previous fuel mis-adventures to know that if you disconnect the fuel line, it seems to siphon out of the tank on its own. So, gathering as many containers and buckets as I could find, I unhooked the fuel line and started draining about 29 gallons of fuel from the full tank. It took over three hours to drain the fuel, with me telling my sad tale to every curious traveler who stopped in to fill up. It made me feel a little better that more than one told their own story of having done the same thing.<\/p>\n
Once I got all of the fuel drained out, I then had the pleasure of filling up the empty tank with the most expensive fuel we\u2019ve seen on the trip \u2013 around $7 per gallon. $200 later I was happy that I had at least noticed my mistake before we started down the highway.<\/p>\n
It was 4pm when we finally got underway. Jen had made us all Sunbutter and jelly sandwiches so that we could make it to our next destination and get back on track toward meeting the ferry. At one point Quinn commented that, \u201cIt\u2019s too bad they didn\u2019t have the kind of gas written on a sign.\u201d \u201cThey do,\u201d I replied humbly, \u201cDaddy just needs to learn to read them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where earlier in our trip the Alaska Highway was heavily traveled by RVs, it was now largely deserted. That combined with the fact that the tiny population centers are few and far between gave us a real sense of wilderness.<\/p>\n
The afternoon passed with more great fall scenery, and by 8pm we decided to pull off to bush camp along Kluane Lake. Quinn was brave enough to head outside in the cold and throw a few rocks in the lake while Jen prepared a quick meal from some leftovers we had in the fridge.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A US geological survey marker installed in the middle of Canada during construction of the AK Highway<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Our campsite along Kluane Lake<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Messages in the sand<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Who turned the van upside down?<\/p><\/div>\n
We stopped the next morning for fuel at Haines Junction (where Quinn reminded me to get the diesel kind) before turning south on the Haines Highway for the last leg of our marathon drive.<\/p>\n
We arrived in Haines in time to watch some bald eagles hanging out in the river bed plucking out the last of the season\u2019s salmon. After a stop at the grocery store for some ferry snacks, we went to Chilkoot State Park to camp for the evening, having been told that we might be able to see bears fishing in the river. It wasn\u2019t until our way back to the van that we saw two Grizzlies crossing the road near where we were parked. This was our first bear sighting on foot, and it\u2019s definitely a different experience. The bears were more interested in going fishing than in us, and they crossed the road and headed down to the river and we were able to make it back to the van.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A bald eagle and two juveniles in the river bed<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bears near our campsite<\/p><\/div>\n
The next morning we boarded the ferry. I\u2019m sitting in the observation lounge as I write, watching the mountains under partly sunny skies. We\u2019re all enjoying the relative luxury of our 10\u2019x10\u2019 cabin complete with its own bath and shower.<\/p>\n
After changing to a BC Ferries boat in Prince Rupert, we\u2019ll be arriving in Port Hardy, at the north end of Vancouver Island on Saturday morning. <\/p>\n