I camped out at Wolf Creek, just south of Whitehorse for my extended stay.  A nice campground, already fairly full, no doubt due to the road closure.  It was also one of the few already up & running for the season.  Had two Germans camp next to me.  Not much for campfire skills, as they had the entire area filled with smoke.  The tent definitely has a nice woodsmoke scent to it now.

In British Columbia, there was an obvious push towards spring.  It was far greener than in the midwest of the U.S., and the trees were well on their way to leaves.  The Yukon and Alaska are still in hibernation.  No leaves, no buds, no green tint to the grass.  There is snow still, especially at any sort of elevation, and very little mercury rise.  It’s a bummer.  Talking to a native woman in Haines Junction, she made the comment that obviously “winter doesn’t want to let go.  It reminds me of a spring when I was a little girl, and we had no summer.”  I cried out, “Don’t even think such thoughts!”  When I left, she was still giggling to herself.  Highs in the thirties are forecast for the next two days in Fairbanks.

Once again, the border crossing was a breeze.  The woman was great, although she did ask for my registration because the front plate was “procured” by some ass in Montana.  In the end, she said to me, “Welcome home.”  In all my crossings, that was the very first time an agent at Port Alcan has said that.