“North, to Alaska!” How can one not think of the Johnny Horton song at this point?? So here was another 5-ish hour jaunt west to the U.S. border into Alaska from Yukon… I heard somewhere in my travels that this border is at the 141st meridian, longitude!! I’m used to hearing about latitudes and parallels at borders such as the 49th (Canada/U.S.) and 60th (NWT), so it’s kinda neat to hear about longitudes and meridians at a border now… Pretty fascinating stuff. 😛
Oh and hey, it just happens to be July 4th as well, Happy Independence Day USA!! Well I timed this trek appropriately, didn’t I!!
When heading west toward Alaska from Yukon, the Alaska sign is actually before the U.S. Customs and Border Protection stop, so I guess you can do your photo ops regardless if you go into the U.S. or not. There was a nice stop/rest area as well which was convenient. And wow!! There were other humans at this sign, so I didn’t have to do a selfie!! I think they may have been waiting for me to come along, since they approached me immediately and we swapped cameras and took pictures, woo hoo!
Here’s a classic border picture… Half my butt is in Alaska and the other half is in Yukon!!
The Alaska Highway is a big deal. There were signs and tributes all the way up from Fort Nelson for the American and Canadian military and the people who helped build it. The portion of highway from this border to Fairbanks, AK is known as the Purple Heart Trail.
Aaaaand a message of peace between countries:
