Day 26 – Frost Heaves!

There are these things in the north lands that are called “Frost Heaves”. We encountered them from British Columbia up to the Arctic Ocean and then throughout Alaska. The lumps, bumps, dips, cracks, and slumps in the roads are caused by the extreme cold. The freezing and thawing, along with the permafrost layer in many places wreaks havoc with the asphalt and cement roads.

Sometimes you have warning flags for these frost heaves and other times you don’t. Sometimes there are little “stop” or “slow” signs and sometimes there aren’t. Sometimes when you have a warning flag or sign it turns out to be no more than a minor blip. Other times without warning there are large frost heaves that send vehicles bouncing. Even though Pat was extremely wary of these road hazards, I think that a few times all four wheels were off the road. We would look at each other and go, “Where’d that come from?”


These road challenges do make driving up north interesting. This little bear must have thought it was a good place for him to sit to watch all the cars bounce by.  

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