- Actually five days ago marked the 30 day point for Kathy and I.....Ed and Kay are a couple weeks (and a few more scars) behind us. They are not many miles behind us but they changed horses ;-)
- We have traveled 6,335 miles to this point since leaving home
- We have seen 7 states and 3 Canadian provinces so far
- We are currently 3,356 miles from home
- And we are still 657 miles from Alaska (Tok, Ak - our first planned point of entry)
- But we are doing well and having the time of our lives
We departed the Whistler's Campground in Jasper National Park around 8:00 headed for about a 320 mile run up to Dawson Creek in British Columbia which is where the Alaska Highway starts at mile marker "0". This leg was on a two lane secondary road called the Big Horn Highway.
We had views of mountains for much of the drive but eventually got into some pretty remote heavy forest areas. The logging industry was very big in that part of Alberta and heavy trucks have taken a toll on the roads....not terrible but heavily worn in spots and a lot of road work. Also along this stretch the towns were few and far between....gas stations too - I remember seeing signs saying the next gas station is 184 Kilometers (about 115 miles) so you need to plan carefully. Glad I installed an auxiliary fuel tank.
We stopped in one of the small towns called Grand Cache and refueled and found a diner called the Big Horn Restaurant and Pub where we had lunch. "Would you like gravy on your fries" the waitress asked all four of us.....I was the only taker - when in Rome, right? It was not bad but not sure I'd do it again.
My weather lady and co-pilot had been keeping an eye on the Dawson Creek weather in anticipation of our arrival because we hoped to spend a couple days here shopping for supplies, doing laundry, and weather permitting, playing some golf. She kept seeing rain advisories for the couple of days prior and it did rain a little the day of our arrival but the following days were to be in the 70's and sunny (sign me up for some of that). As we got closer to Dawson Creek on the drive in, there were a couple places where flood water was crossing the road and we could see farms and homes with a lot of rising water. Turns out the town is flooding pretty bad.
Highway 43 headed to Dawson Creek
As we follow the GPS to our campground we approach a bridge that appears to be washing out so we are detoured to another bridge that was closed by the time we got there. Like good campers do, we headed for the Walmart parking lot to regroup and come up with a plan. We learned from our friends Jim and Sheila (who were ahead of us a bit) that there was an alternative way and they told us how to get there. Ironically, the alternative way took us right by the Dawson Creek County Club and Golf Course which, you guessed it, was mostly under water. Won't be playing golf in Dawson Creek and we immediately turned our planned three night stop into two and began wondering if there would be other issues up thee Alaska Highway.
Hole #3 at Dawson Creek Country Club
(cancel our tee time please!)
We finally get settled into camp about 6:00 P.M. local time.....we gained another hour on this leg.....now three hours behind the east coast. After setting up we were really glad that I had grilled a pork tenderloin the night before (while Ed grilled the chicken) so dinner tonight was pretty easy to prepare. Four tired pups went to bed soon after dinner.
17 June - Dawson Creek down day
The weather is perfect for golf if the ground was not so saturated and the course flooded. We are still taking full advantage of our stop to rest, catch up on chores/maintenance, etc.... This is the first day in awhile that I would consider wearing shorts, I'm not but did consider it. It is a very nice 63 degrees and sunny with little wind. Feels great!
Grocery shopping and laundry were high on the list for us and the Culpeppers and I needed to try catching up on the blog while I had service and electricity. It was a pretty productive day and we managed to get some much needed rest also.
We went to the mile marker "0" for a photo session this afternoon and after that we decided to run north on the Alaska Highway for 20 minutes or so without the trailers to see an old wooden bridge called the Kiskatinaw Bridge. It was part of the original highway and is an amazing piece of work....a wooden bridge that is curved and still in use today...we just didn't think driving our RVs across it was a good idea. This part of the Alaska Highway has been rerouted.
Heading north to Fort Nelson tomorrow.
Mile Marker "0" Photo
Kiskatinaw Bridge - built 1942
Ed & Kay
18 June - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek to Summit Lake
As we left the campground in Dawson Creek both Kathy and I commented on how warm it was and we wished we'd put on shorts....really felt hot to us. We looked at the thermometer on the truck and it was 59 degrees....you know you've had some cool weather when you complain about the heat at 59 :-)
We said good bye to Jim and Sheila as we left the Mile "0" campground headed up the Alaska Highway. They had met many of the folks that were gathering there for their caravan. We promised to meet for lunch some time in Atlanta or Chattanooga to compare notes of our Alaska trips. Our travel plans for this day were to make it to Fort Nelson and spend the night but we had such a good travel day that it was just 3:00 or so when we arrived there and we decided to press on a bit farther.
My first impressions based on the first 350 miles of the Alaska highway were:
- The road is better than expected (I'd heard some horror stories)
- Not much wildlife for the longest stretch but just before Fort Nelson we started seeing bears
- Not many people or homes anywhere
- A lot of natural gas industry and several work camp type lodging facilities
- Lots of wilderness and not much traffic
- It could get lonely out here - glad Ed and Kay are with us
Alaska Highway (from first 350 Miles)
Alaska Highway (from first 350 Miles)
Alaska Highway Construction Zone (from first 350 Miles)
Just prior to arriving at Fort Nelson (within the last 30 miles) we began seeing some black bears in the area just off the highway and we naturally had to try photographing them. We ended up seeing 7 or 8 of them and after the first several we just rode by and admired them. (No more photos). Kathy did manage to get a good/different looking black bear photo that we were quite entertained by. As she shot the picture she said she thought the bear was peeing....liquid flying as he reared back. On the back of the camera we got tickled trying to figure out if that is what it was and identify the body parts we were seeing. After getting it on the computer we realized that the Bear was in or near some water (creek or ditch that we couldn't see) and when we raised his paw to scratch the wet paw slung water everywhere.....a unique photo none the less.
Kathy's Wet Bear
Look at those teeth
When we rolled into Fort Nelson we had a team meeting to discuss how much farther to go and when to stop. In our trusty Milepost (Alcan Travel Guide) Kathy had read me an article about a campground on the Tetsa River where they also had a bakery and brag about the cinnamon rolls fresh baked.....that sounded like a good target to me so we headed there. Upon arrival, the smell of cinnamon buns was nice but they had none left and wouldn't have anymore 'til morning. Although we were temped to stay, they only had 15 amp service and we decided to push on a bit farther.
Another 20-30 miles we came upon a Provincial Park (much like our state parks) that was called Summit/Stone Mountain Park....turns out it is the highest location on the Alaska Highway at 4200 feet and the campground was in between some mountain peaks and right on a lake and stream.....no hook ups - no phone, no internet, no problem ;-) but a nice setting and the price was right. We set up camp, grilled some pork chops and were able to sit outside (72 degrees today) and enjoy the weather.
This area is known for Stone Sheep and a park employee told us they were out a couple miles down the road while we were cooking. After dinner we rode down to see if we could find them but no luck.
Summit Lake Campsite
Lake Summit Wild Flower
19 June - Summit Lake to Watson Lake
We all agreed that Summit Lake was a great stop....most of us slept well (not Ed) and it was just a beautiful setting. Before we got on the road to our next scheduled stop (Watson Lake) we took another ride (without campers) to look for the stone sheep and sure enough, eagle eye Ed spotted a group of them and we enjoyed watching and photographing them before returning to hook up the campers.
Young Stone Sheep
We had travel plans to make it to Watson Lake, only about 240 miles away but a couple scheduled stops on the way.....not counting the unscheduled animal stops.....there were many. Ed and Kay had the lead and not long on the road they spotted a female moose (first one on this trip) but by the time Kathy and I got there she was heading into the woods so no photos. They ended up seeing another moose later in the day, again when they were well ahead of us and we missed that one as well.
Alaska Highway Construction zone
Alaska Highway
First stop was Muncho Lake - a really large and pretty mountain lake. Ed and Kay camped here on their trip ten years ago. It was a good break from the drive to get out and walk around a bit. And as we were leaving that area we saw some more stone sheep really close to the highway and they did not seem as skittish as the ones at Summit Lake in the morning.
Baby Stone Sheep
Muncho Lake
By the end of the day we had also seen several more bears including a cinnamon brown black bear....I think that is right but honestly they are all grizzlies to me. We did manage a few good photos....can't stop photographing the bears.
Cinnamon black Bear (I think)
We pulled into a Provincial Park called Liard Hot Springs as lunch time approached. This too was a scheduled stop as we wanted to experience the springs. After fixing some lunch in the campers and changing over to our bathing suits we headed down the boardwalk for the springs. They are a natural spring that maintains between 107 and 127 degrees. It felt great and was very warm. Only mishap there was Ed jumping in without first taking his hearing aide out....not sure yet if it will live.
Liard Hot Springs
Leaving Liard Hot Springs with the water truck leading....oh yes, we have walkie talkies and my handle is "Water Truck" and Ed is "Dodge-Pepper." I tried to give him a handle with diesel in it....Diesel Dan, etc... but he was sick of diesels at this point and wouldn't have it.
As we rolled on across the Yukon border just prior to getting into Watson lake we stopped at a place fuel stop/store that Paul and Eugenia (people we met in Columbia Falls from Mitchell County) recommended called Contact Creek....said the couple running it were originally from Florida and had moved here in 1979. I asked the guy about the winters and he said he nearly froze to death the first winter it got to -70 degrees but he is used to it now.
We pulled into Watson Lake and are at a full service campground but the power has gone out at least four or five times already. Someone said this town produces all power via generators and the heat (83 degrees today) has put an overload on them. We walked across the street to a local diner to eat and then went to a Northern Lights Planetarium show. Ed made up for the sleep he lost last night in that show.
Heading out for Whitehorse, Yukon Territory tomorrow.
