Alaska Adventure–Day 12

Watson Lake YT to Whitehorse YT

Today we drove from Watson Lake to Whitehorse (Both in Yukon Territory).  The drive was nice, but we did not see a single sign of wildlife, as opposed to yesterday where surprises were around every corner.  Actually, except for a few black birds all we saw was a dead porcupine in the middle of the road.

Watson Lake’s claim to fame is the Sign Post Forest.  During the building of the Alaska Highway, a U.S. solder was homesick for his home town, so he posted a sign for Danville, Illinois on a tree near town.  Other solders did the same, and the result was the beginning of the Sign Post Forest.  In the late 40’s when the road opened to the public, travelers started posting signs from their home towns and the tradition continues to this day.  Today the sign post forest hosts 78,336 signs from travelers all around the world.  Many of the signs are really clever and sure tell a story.

Entrance to the sign post forest

The sign that started it all is now in the visitors center

Row after row of traveler’s signs

Not to be left out, we also continued the tradition by posting our sign which depicts Chandler, and the towns in Montana and Kansas where we are from (sure helps you have have an artist in the family!).

While walking around the forest we came across a sign that someone had posted from Great Bend, KS.  Not exactly my home town but its close (only about 19 miles away)

Tonight we are at the Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse.  We had planned to stay two nights here but the park is kind of crowded and “tight”, so we will will be moving on down the road tomorrow.  At a rest stop, we talked to a couple from Kodiak, AK who said that between here and the border we have about 180 miles of gravel road where they are repairing the road due to frost heaves.  It should be interesting…  This couple was on their 17th trip over the Alaska Highway!

Todays Stats (Day 12):

Miles driven:	271 miles
Hours on road:	5 hours, 45 minutes
Gas prices:	none

Route (Day 12):

Alaska Adventure–Day 11

Summit Lake BC to Watson Lake YT

Last night we got a little rain, which fortunately washed all the smoke out of the air, and this morning we were rewarded with a perfectly blue sky.  Today’s journey allowed us to complete the most remote and isolated stretch of the Alaska Highway.  The leg between Ft. Nelson and Watson Lake is about 325 miles long, with basically no towns or other services and not much traffic.  There were a few lodges that sold gas along the way but the law of supply and demand was clearly in effect.  We were able to complete the trip without stopping at them, by using 10 of our 15 gallons of emergency gas reserves. 

Shortly after pulling out on the highway this morning we spotted this porcupine on the side of the road.  There was very little traffic so we had an opportunity to get a really good look at him.  Little did we know that we would see much more amazing wildlife today.

Shortly after reading in the guide book that Stone Sheep are in this area, we came around a corner and this beautiful guy was standing on the side of the road.  We were able to stop right beside him and get some good photos.  He was not frightened at all and was still standing there looking at us as we pulled away.  The Stone Sheep are only found in Northern BC and Southern Yukon.

A few more miles down the road we spotted a moose and calf on the side of the road.  They allowed us to stop and watch them for a bit before they headed into the brush.  Sure is nice that there was no traffic on the road.

The terrain that we were in today was mostly mountainous, so were surprised to see road signs warning that bison might be on the road.  Sure enough there were several feeding on the road side.  Later in the day we had a whole herd of 40-50 along the road - complete with their young calves.

All morning we kept hoping to spot some bear and we weren’t disappointed.  Actually it got to the point that there were so many that we quit stopping.  All total, we spotted 10 bear today.  We would not want to be in a tent in this area.  We picked up a large can of bear spray back in Alberta and that will come along on any hikes….

Before reaching Watson Lake we passed a very pretty lake called Muncho Lake.  The water was very clear with a blue tint.  The lake was many miles long and we only spotted one boat on the water.

This evening we are at the Downtown RV park in Watson Lake.  It is nothing special but is the only place in town.  Tomorrow we will be heading to Whitehorse, YT which is about 250 miles away.

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	248 miles
Hours on road:	6 hours, 45 minutes
Gas prices:	$5.13

Route:

Alaska Adventure–Day 10

Dawson Creek BC to Summit Lake

Today we started our journey on the Alaska Highway - starting at mile 0 in Dawson Creek.   Shortly after leaving town we took a short detour to see the Kiskatinaw River Bridge.  This is the only original timber bridge along the Alaska Highway that is still in use.  The 531 foot bridge is unique in that it is curved. 

Hard to believe that this bridge was built over 70 years ago.

Ever since we entered Canada, we have noticed how dirty the air was and today we learned that it is not normal and is due to forest fires burning in the Northwest Territory.  Fortunately, as we continued west today the air did clear a little.  We could see several places where the views would have been fantastic but the smoke was too thick.  We are hoping that the air will continue to clear as we proceed north and west.  We were lucky today to see our first mouse and our first black bear along the side of the road.  We weren’t quick enough for photos but there should be many more opportunities in the days ahead.

Another unfortunate trend we are seeing is that the further north we get, the higher the gas prices climb.  We filled up in Ft. Nelson BC and this was the damage… Converting to gallons and considering the exchange rate, the price per gallon was $5.61.  We did notice a small station later in the day that was offering it for $6.71.  We were told to expect it to be in the $5-6 range, but that may have been optimistic.

 

This evening we are camped in a large pull out along the highway next to a small creek.  It is actually very nice, as we were able to get back into the trees.  Shortly after arriving another rig pulled in at the other end of the pull out.  Tomorrow we will leave BC and head into the Yukon Territory and plan to stay near Watson Lake.

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	358 miles
Hours on road:	8 hours, 30 minutes
Gas prices:	$5.07, $5.61

Route:

Alaska Adventure–Day 8 & 9

Valley View, AB to Dawson Creek, BC

We left Valley View Alberta in the morning with a relatively short day of about 150 miles.  The road was a nice 4 lane highway, but had lots of traffic.  This is definitely oil country with lots of oil field trucks on the road.  We stopped at a small town called Beaverlodge for lunch and had to get a few photos of the 15 foot beaver at the town entrance.  After lunch, is was on to Grande Prairie which is the last relatively large town on the route.  We were really surprised with the air quality as we approached town.  The air was brown with pollution much like you see approaching LA.  In general, the horizon all across Canada was been filled with gray/brown air unlike the clear blue horizon we had in Montana.  Not sure if it is due to forest fires or something else.

We arrived in Dawson Creek BC in the early afternoon.  After getting set up at the Northern Lights RV park we went into town to explore.  Dawson Creek is the beginning of the Alaska Highway.  So far we have been on the road for 8 days and have covered 2237 miles and just now reached the BEGINNING of the Alaska Highway.  Fairbanks AK is another 1522 miles more. 

History

The Alaska Highway was built in 1942 as part of the war effort.  By this time Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor and had already invaded and were occupying  the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.  There was a real fear that they would invade main land North America via Alaska.  In an effort the provide better defense for North America the US Army was task with building the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek BC to Fairbanks as an overland supply route.  Dawson Creek was the farthest point north that the railroad reached.  They were given one year to build it.  Ultimately 11,000 troops and 16,000 civilian workers were able to carve out a two lane road through 1500 miles of wilderness and mountains in 8 months.  They worked under horrific conditions ranging from 90 degree summers to –70 degrees in the winter.  When completed the road was very basic with 90 degree turns and 25% grades but met the objective of providing a supply route to Alaska.

 

Mile post “0” for the highway is in downtown Dawson Creek

A large percentage of the troops building the highway were from Black units.  Notice the logs under the jeep.  In many areas the permafrost was so soft that the road was built on cut trees which formed the road bed.  They were all cut and placed by hand.

Tomorrow we set off into wilderness.  Not sure how much connectivity we will have for the next week.  We plan to make stops in Ft Nelson BC, Watson Lake YT, Whitehorse YT, and Koiderm YT before reaching the Alaska border near Tok AK.  The only town of any size along the route is Whitehorse, where we plan to spend two nights with a possible side trip to Skagway AK.

 

Todays Stats (Day 8):

Miles driven:	170 miles
Hours on road:	3 hours, 45 minutes
Gas prices:	$4.64, $3.67

Route (Day 6):

Alaska Adventure–Day 6 & 7

Vulcan AB to Valleyview AB

When we left Vulcan, we decided to continue on the secondary roads toward Edmonton.  Once again we were rewarded with some fantastic scenery and stunning canola fields.  We took the drive slow, as we weren’t due in Edmonton at our friends house until late afternoon.  The closer we got to Edmonton, the more cloudy the sky got.  We finally got a little rain as we approached the city.   The worst part was the high winds for the last hour or so, which really whipped us around. 

We boondocked in Sherry and Dennis’s drive way for the night, and were treated to a great home cooked supper and breakfast.  We had a nice visit.   Thanks for the wonderful hospitality, and we will see your back in the valley this fall. 

In the morning of Day 7 we left Edmonton heading for Valley View, which is in the far western part of Alberta.  Along the way, we had an opportunity to stop at our first Canadian grocery store in Whitecourt, Alberta.  Our observation is that grocery prices are about 2-3 times higher here than at home.  Fore example, at home a gallon of milk  is usually about $2 but in here it is over $6.  It was interesting that most of the produce was from California.

The drive was very nice as the road is 4 lanes all the way.  The terrain changes from farm fields near Edmonton to pine forests as we headed west.  There was a lot of traffic on the road, with over half being related to the oil industry which is very big in this area.

Tonight, we are in the Sherk’s RV Park in Valley View.  It’s a fairly nice park about a 1km from the highway.  This basket of flowers was hanging at the office entrance.

We were really surprised at the number of pay phones we noticed today at gas stations, rest areas, and here at the RV park.  We hardly ever see one at home but lots here.  We even noticed a couple of real phone booths!

Tomorrow, we have a short day as we only have about 150 miles to Dawson Creek, BC where we will stay for two nights.  Dawson Creek is the START of the Alaska Highway. 

 

Todays Stats (Day 6):

Miles driven:	306 miles
Hours on road:	7 hours
Gas prices:	$4.51, $4.44

Route (Day 6):

Todays Stats (Day 7):

Miles driven:	245 miles
Hours on road:	6 hours
Gas prices:	$4.33, $4.64

Route (Day 7):

Alaska Adventure—Day 5

Shelby MT to Vulcan AB

Yesterday we knew that the RV park we choose was across the street from the rail yard but little did we realize that the rail yard had 9 tracks and trains passed through about every 10 minutes all night long.  Apparently Shelby is a major Intermodal Hub for BNSF.  Lesson learned!

In planning this trip, we have spent countless hours discussing and researching the requirements for crossing the border, even going as far as calling the Canadian border control office.  After all that, the border crossing was a non-event.  As we approached the border this morning there were about 20 cars ahead of us but they soon opened another lane and we were on our way in about 15 minutes.  At the crossing, the border agent scanned our passports and asked us if we had any firearms, pepper spray, tasers, fireworks, or fire wood.  We answered no to all and he then asked where we were headed and how long we would be there.  Satisfied with our answers he said “see you”.  Even though their website makes a big deal about taking food across the border there was not a single question relating to that. 

Approaching the border. 

At the visitor center a few kilometers into Canada…friendly neighbors!

Good words!

After we reached Lethbridge, we decided to head north on some of the secondary roads instead of taking the 4-lane highway through Calgary.  As we proceeded toward Vulcan, we drove by field after field of canola.  Most of it was a bright yellow which was really pretty against the nearby fields of green wheat.  We also identified several fields of peas.

Driving on Canada’s roads takes a little getting used to, as they have slightly different signage and the road markings are somewhat different from ours.  They use the metric system, so seeing speed limit signs that read 110 looks a little strange at first.

Canola fields in southern Alberta

We are staying in a city park tonight in Vulcan.  This is an interesting little town that has built a tourist industry around the Star Trek show and Spock in particular.  All through the town, street signs relate to Star Trek, along with museums and other Star Trek related attractions.  They even have a two-day celebration in June called “Star Trek Days”.  The town is a little strange but very similar to Roswell, NM.

The visitor’s center in Vulcan was made to look like a space ship. 

Need a shuttle craft?

Some wacky signs around Vulcan

Went for a walk around town this evening and found a city park with a WWI and WWII memorial and found it interesting that the dominate flag flying at the memorial was British.  Guess there is still a strong British connection even today.

This evening we bought our first tank of Canadian gas…Ouch!  The price after making the liter to gallon conversion and accounting for the exchange rate was $4.51 per gallon.  At about 9.5 mpg that is painful, but well worth it.  Looks like they have a little over a dollar per gallon tax. 

Tomorrow we will continue north on the secondary roads and plan to boondock in a friend’s yard in Edmonton tomorrow night.

Live long and prosper as Spock would say…

 

Todays Stats:

Miles driven:	163 miles
Hours on road:	4 hours, 30 minutes
Gas prices:	$3.59, $4.51

Route: