another view of the Tanaka River
the end (or start) of the Alaska Highway
in Tok they also have stuffed black bears
the famous stuffed moose in Tok
a couple of Tundra Swans take off near Tok
You do not see her often, but Santa does have a loving and caring wife
we stop at Delta Junction for lunch, this seems a good place
The
Richardson highway runs from Valdez to Delta Junction to Fairbanks and has a total lenght of 600 km. The Tok Cut Off
provides a shortcut to Tok.
The origin of the road goes back to the
Klondike Goldrush when there became a need for a connection
between Valdez at the Gulf of Alaska and Eagle, up north at the Yukon River. Interestingly some of the workers on the road
were failed gold miners that needed money for the travel back home.
Nowadays the road is well paved and open all year.
Points
of interests are the
Thompson Pass just north of Valdez, the town of
Tok with the huge stuffed moose, the area around the Robertson
River,
Delta Junction where the Alaska Highway ends, the Tanaka River and of course the village of
North Pole where Santa Claus lives.
In
2007 we travelled the Richardson Hwy in two parts, in May, coming from Canada, we drove the segment Tok to Fairbanks and in June
we "did" Valdez to Tok, on our way to Dawson City in Canada.
the thompson Pass provides fantastic views of the Chugach Mountains
along the Tol Cut off section
the snowcapped mountains near the Robertson River, in May still covered with Ice
the Tanaka River
one of Santa's reindeer in North Pole, but judging by its nose it is not Rudolph
