Whitehorse to Beaver Creek
The real story about Frost Heaves;
A Frost heave is the uplift of water-saturated soil or
other surface deposits due to expansion or freezing of the soil under the road.
The heaves can be subtle and rolling, or more like a large speed bump across the road. The rolling ones get the whole rig bouncing like a roller coaster, to the point that everything in the coach goes airborne and the steering control is lost. The speed bump type just breaks things and pops tires.
The road crews have done a descent job of marking the heaves with red flags along the roadside. The problem is that sometimes the flags give you plenty of notice to slow down, and other times the flag is literally at the heave, and you never know what type of damage it is. The only way to survive these stretches is to slow down- way down, and enjoy the scenery.
The heaves can be subtle and rolling, or more like a large speed bump across the road. The rolling ones get the whole rig bouncing like a roller coaster, to the point that everything in the coach goes airborne and the steering control is lost. The speed bump type just breaks things and pops tires.
The road crews have done a descent job of marking the heaves with red flags along the roadside. The problem is that sometimes the flags give you plenty of notice to slow down, and other times the flag is literally at the heave, and you never know what type of damage it is. The only way to survive these stretches is to slow down- way down, and enjoy the scenery.
We now are intimately familiar with
frost heaves. The drive today was 246 miles, 5 hrs and 25 min mostly dodging
frost heaves. At times we drove no faster than 30 mph. Combined with unrepaired pot holes large enough to wreck a motorcycle, the driving was stressful. One of our new friends with a very large 5th wheel trailer is heading into Fairbanks to get a bent axle replaced. They are not sure exactly where it happened. Another 5th wheeler parked one spot over from us had the entire water tank bust loose when the angle iron holding it in place gave way, nothing that happens on these roads should be a surprise even if you drive slow.
Part of the drive was through a place
called Destruction Bay, so what does that say for the road? LOL
We are really enjoying listening to
audio books as we drive.
We ended our day at the cutest little
RV Park in Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory.
The park quite literally was in the
middle of nowhere and had its own airstrip. The 30amp power came from a
generator and they tried to have wifi for us but it was seriously lacking.
The only WIFI available was in the office, where there was a couch to relax on. The couch belongs to the office dog, and you have to negotiate a spot with him. It is hard to type while being forced into petting the dog in order to earn your space!!
Mile Driven: 246
Average Speed: 45 mph
Maximum Altitude: 3300
Weather: partly sunny and cool
RV Park: Yukon Lodgings
MPG: 7.7 trip to date
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