Hunting for Alaskan history

When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers threw together the Alaska Highway in 10 months or so during 1942, it was the ultimate patch job. Hundreds of bridges were thrown together from nearby trees and nobody really knew anything about the permafrost that underlay the ground on much of the route.

Very little of these original efforts can be found today. The highway has been continuously upgraded and often rerouted from its original path. One of the original log bridges, though, can still be seen alongside today's Alaska Highway some 78 miles northwest of Whitehorse where the road crosses the Aishihik River. The old bridge is to the right, and there is a pullout next to it large enough for RVs.

You can walk over the bridge and marvel at its construction and perhaps wonder just how something like this could support a loaded truck carrying war supplies to Alaska.