“Winding in and winding out,
leaves my mind in serious doubt,
as to whether the lout who built this route,
was going to Hell or coming out.”
-Anon.
No one knows exactly who originally penned those words. They were, however, an apt description for the Alaska-Canada Highway, or ALCAN as we call it. I say “were” because while the road is still an impressive drive through the most incredible lands and it does still have its special challenges, the fact is that every year they do more maintenance and improvements the shorter it gets and the straighter it gets and the less steep some of the grades get. Today, the road is still a challenge…..but compared to the first time I drove it, it is a super highway. Don’t get me wrong, it is a road that can still spank you in a hurry if one is not careful and respectful of it and the surrounding environment. Frost heaves will promptly disassemble your vehicle, and running into a bear or bison will ruin your day….yet for the most part, the days of potholed gravel, tight turns, metal parts lurking in puddles to eat tires, and 15-20% grades are no longer the biggest day to day worry. But a part of me, crazy though it seems, sort of misses some of the adventure of the particularly challenging places along the route. You would not give this much thought if it was your first ever drive–unless perhaps you noticed some of the glimpses of old road that still exist….now bypassed, left to grow over, or even obliterated in some cases…these shrinking remnants of tight turns and steep grades, woodwork from wood-stave culverts, old bridges, and corduroy road bed give a look into an adventurous past born out of the urgency of war and maintained by the commerce and wanderlust of post war motorists of the far north.
There is a glimpse into a time and technology in the ruins. Some not even so ruined, really….just disused. The overgrown scars tell the story. Sometimes the old parts are in plain view and parallel the new, other parts are now miles off the main pathway. Someday I hope to properly explore some of these left-over pieces…..I would love to park for a month and explore what I can find with ATV, metal detector, and camera. For now, my third trip on what really is my favorite drive, I am photographing what I can as time permits and looking for what was there before, what is still there, and what is entirely new.
