There are two good things about this stage: firstly it goes downhill, although there’s also a heck of a lot of climbing to go with it, and secondly it heads east, which is good because it takes the route further away from the Rockies. It’s a meandering route, with multiple twists and turns, and strangely, for a route that’s been dominated by them, only one water course to cross.
The rollout is uphill for a mile, carrying on from where the finish of stage 549 left off, into the community of Pink Mountain where the road bends left next to the Pink Mountain Campsite. There’s then a lumpy but gentle descent to four miles along a pair of straights joined by a right hand bend. The Alaska Highway then regains all of that elevation on a similar gentle but lumpy climb to eight miles where the summit marks the highest elevation of the stage at almost three thousand seven hundred feet.
The run off the top is an interesting and fun one. After descending gently for four miles, the gradient gathers pace on a long left hander at twelve miles. Then after running flat for a mile, Route 97 descends more sharply before crossing Townsend Creek just after fifteen miles. However with only four miles left on the stage, there’s just enough time for a nasty up and down to spoil the party: the climb of almost four hundred feet in a mile and a half is by far the steepest of the stage and even though the road loses nearly all of that elevation on the run down to the finish, the climb will have come as a real shock to the system.
Distance: 20 miles / 32 kilometres
Distance: 20 miles / 32 kilometres
Ascent: 1135 feet / 346 metres
RGT Magic Road: xeGoeoJcdvta
Max elevation: 3677 ft
Min elevation: 2858 ft
Total climbing: 889 ft
Total descent: -1470 ft
You must log in to post a comment.