August 27, 2019
Today was one of the most beautiful days of our trip! It was chilly when we woke up…38 degrees! There was even frost on the picnic table! Soon the sunshine warmed the air and it became a comfortable sweatshirt day.
Today we decided to take the longer route to Tok, AK via the Richardson Highway (highway 4). At this point we were in new territory. The highway took us through Paxon to Delta Junction, where the Alaska Highway ends. At Delta Junction, we re-connected with the Alaska Highway and continued towards Tok.
The Richardson Highway climbed gradually to the top of Isabel Pass. At an elevation of 3,280 feet. This was a great place to pull over…lunch and a view! Before we could get out of the RV, a tour bus pulled in and all the passengers got out and were lingering in front of our motorhome. It was entertaining watching them! We discovered later that our dashcam captured them on video! After the bus departure, we were able to get out and soak up some sunshine and enjoy the views. The Galkana Glacier was close by and we could see a narrow road leading to the base. The road was too narrow for us! Also, at this stop, there was an information board about women in the gold rush and a memorial monument honoring Gen. Wilds P. Richardson, for whom the highway is named.
Continuing of the road, we passed several lakes: Paxon Lake, Dick Lake, Meiers Lake and Gillespie Lake.
This section of the Richardson Highway was all about the views. There were many opportunities to view the Alaska pipeline parallelling the highway. We drove through endless wildlands and the Alaska Range. We were dazzled by the hanging glaciers and towering peaks.
The Rainbow Ridge and Rainbow Mountain area was the most scenic part of the drive. I commented to Ken that I thought the scenery was very Denali-esque. Lots of color in this area!
A few miles south of Delta Junction, the road passed Fort Greely, a strategic air defense field during World War II that became one of the army’s cold-weather training and test centers. The area has temperatures as cold as -69 degrees during the winter. Today, the fort is used by the Alaska National Guard as a ballistic missile defense site.
At Delta Junction, 96 miles south of Fairbanks, the Alaska Highway (Route 2) to Tok departs to the southeast.
It was a longer drive today, but the weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing!
Our destination was the Tok RV Village, the same RV Park that we stayed at on our drive to Alaska in July. All Tourists driving to/from Alaska have to drive through Tok twice. Business should be good!
This is our last night in Alaska!