Blogs from Tok, Alaska, United States, North America - page 3

Left Anchorage yesterday and took the Tok cutoff on the Richardson Highway. Wow lots of rough spots. Spent the night in Tok before heading for Canada. We have had a great time but am ready to be heading back home. Left early this morning so that we can make it to Destruction Bay which parallels the Kluane Park. Boy we thought the road was rough coming from Anchorage to Tok....Nothing in comparison to this one. Hard to believe that it is the main way to get to Alaska but ad experience. Had the bonus of seeing some Trumpeter swans south of Tok. No problems at the border crossing (pn Canadian soil again) and off the Cottonwood RV Park. Long day of driving but a nice quiet campground to stay at and super friendly people. Off to ... read more

The day started at 4:30 am. We had to be on the road by 5:30 am so we could catch the ferry across the Yukon river at 6:00 am. There was a caravan group of 23 RVs that were scheduled to be at the ferry at 6:30, so we had no choice but to be there before they were. Today's journey took us from Dawson City, Yukon to Tok, ALASKA. Yes, we finally made it to Alaska. We were warned the road was mostly packed gravel, but the scenery would be well worth the trip. Let's just say it took us 9 hours to go 186 miles. Other than a few pee stops and a stop in Chicken, AK, for a lunch break, we were on the road all day. It was slow going, but it ... read more

I have simple goals for today – Church, wash clothes, visit the Tok Visitor Center, maybe take a drive but more likely rest and relax a bit. For the most part, I will succeed. First, some info about Tok itself: · Tok (pronounced to rhyme with poke) had it’s beginning as a construction camp on the Alcan Highway (later named Alaska Highway) · Population 1,435 · Nobody is sure how Tok got its name. One theory is it was derived from Tokyo Camp, the name of an Alaska Highway road construction camp that was patriotically shortened to Tok in the 1940s. Another story is that Tok was named after a husky pup of that name, mascot to a US Army’s Corp battalion who were breaking trail north from Slana in 1942. Historical research on its name ... read more

August 6, 2011 FAIRBANKS TO TOK, AK As we left Fairbanks this morning we were grateful for sunny skies once again. Heading south now along the Richardson Highway we passed the little town of North Pole once again, then just a little further out we noticed snowcapped mountains to our right. Everyone got very excited thinking that we would finally see Mt. McKinley because the mountains were very clear. However, when we arrived in Delta Junction at the Visitor’s center we were told that you could not see Mt. McKinley from this road because it was too far away. Our first stop along the way was to visit the Knotty Shop. This interesting little gift shop has a collection of burl creations out front as well as an impressive burl railing along the front of the ... read more

July 17, 2011 DESTRUCTION BAY, YT TO TOK, AK Tok was the site of one of the largest construction camps during the building of the Alcan Highway in 1942. So much money was spent on it that it earned the nickname “Million Dollar Camp”. The actual name of the settlement was “Tokyo Camp” and the nearby river was called the Tokyo River. However, during World War II the name was shortened to “Tok” because of sentiments against the Japanese. Today we traveled over some of the roughest roads we have encountered so far on our trip. The severe winters here cause huge frost heaves in the roads and all summer road crews are working to straighten and repair the roads. We traveled many miles of loose gravel where you need to stay back from the vehicle ... read more