This is a cracking stage if only for the fact that it crosses from British Columba into Yukon not once but twice, and it crosses back from Yukon into British Columbia twice also: it starts in BC and it finished there, just. The elevation profile resembles two normal distribution curves: one big and lumpy, the second less so and swayed towards the downhill. It’s a big stage in every respect, but it’s one that further enhances the journey east across Canada.
The rollout is downhill simply because the Alaska Highway crosses the Hyland River after three miles at the Hyland River Provincial Park. The road approaches the bridge on a long right hander and as soon as the road swings back the other way, you’re over the water. Up the other side of course, it’s a different story. The five hundred foot climb to seven miles is lumpy, steep in places and demanding: the road swings right, then left, then right again before arriving at the highest elevation of the stage.
There are many, many small lakes to the south of the highway as it winds its way north east, but the good news is that as the road twists and turns its way to fourteen miles where it crosses Irons Creek, much of it is downhill: intermittently lumpy yes, but generally downhill for certain. Beyond that point, hills to the north encroach right down to the banks of the Liard River (which flowed south of the Hyland River but has now swung back north) and that implies more climbing: that’s the focus of the second, smaller normal distribution curve of the elevation profile.
The road gains two hundred feet between miles fourteen and sixteen while it climbs up the ridge north of the river. Once on the top, it’s flat to eighteen miles and then as the road drops back down off the ridge to the water’s edge, the last three miles are downhill to the lowest elevation of the stage approaching the finish.
Distance: 21 miles / 34 kilometres
Distance: 21 miles / 34 kilometres
Ascent: 954 feet / 291 metres
RGT Magic Road: 0jx3SqbtYVrP
Max elevation: 2411 ft
Min elevation: 1757 ft
Total climbing: 952 ft
Total descent: -1250 ft
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