ALASKA 2012 - DAY 8

Friday was a beautiful day to drive from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska.  This is probably the least populated section of the road.  There is pretty much nothing up there except beautiful scenery.  But the sun was shining, the trees and roadside shrubs and grasses are changing colors, and we totally enjoyed our trip.

This beautiful guy was sitting right next to the road on a dead branch, overlooking the road and probably counting the cars coming by.  And there weren't very many.  It was pretty quiet along the Alaska Highway.

One of the first views of the lovely mountains coming up ahead of us.

Beautiful doesn't seem like a good enough word!

Some people say it's just another mountain, what's the big deal? To me, it's a big deal.  I love mountains and I never tire of looking at them.

The mountains in the background make even the burned out area in front look beautiful, don't you think?

We stopped at a roadside overlook and dug out the little stove and cooked up some potato/leek soup.  It was a wonderful way to warm up a bit in the chilly air.

Some areas had turned a vibrant yellow.

And the empty firewood stems are a brilliant red with the fluffy white seeds they produce each year.  There were also some lavender flowers that I don't know the name of, and some white queen's lace looking kind of flowers that created this lovely bouquet in the ditch.

We have driven the highway before, but in June, July, and early August.  It's now the first of September, the air is fresher, it's cooler, and it is not just shades of green on the mountains.  This is my favorite drive yet!