The Alaska Highway
Day 31, 25 June 2015
Dawson Creek, BC to Fort Nelson, BC 281 miles
The Alaska Highway connects Dawson Creek, BC with Fairbanks,
AK. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the construction of the highway was
deemed a military necessity to defend North America. It was built from March to
October 1942. Although Dawson Creek placed a Mile 0 marker in its town center, the
actual start was at what is now the visitor’s center a few blocks away. At the
time, Dawson Creek’s population was 600. But 11,000 American troops, 16,000
civilian workmen from both Canada and the US, and 7,000 pieces of equipment
arrived, mostly by train, to build the 1500-mile highway through the
wilderness, at a cost of $140M. It was opened to the public in 1948. Since
then, it has been widened, improved, and paved, and we’re going to drive the
length of it to Fairbanks. This section of the highway is in pretty good shape,
with a few construction areas where crews were repairing winter damage. We were
not alone – caravans were coming through. We crossed the Muskwa River bridge,
which is the lowest point on the Alaska Highway – about 1,000 ft. Our first stop was Fort Nelson, originally a
fur trading post. The Heritage Museum features the history of the Alaska
Highway, with a display of pioneer artifacts, antique cars and machinery. Interestingly,
the sun rises here at 4 AM and sets at 10:30 PM.
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Actual Mile 0 Site of Alaska Highway
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| Sections of highway under improvement |
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| RV Parade |
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| Muskwa River - lowest point on the Alaska Highway |
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| Nice Museum |
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| Antique shovel used on Alaska highway |
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| Do you believe this is 10:30 pm! |
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| Enjoying the fire at "Camp Cocktail" |
Day 32, 26 June 2015
Fort Nelson, BC to Muncho Lake, BC 153 miles
The section of the Alaska Highway from Fort Nelson to Watson
Lake is said to be the nicest stretch of the trip. The drive to Muncho Lake
certainly verified that. Although there were spots that were being rebuilt, the
highway was in good shape and quite scenic. We passed Summit Lake, the highest
point on the highway – 4,250 ft. We
spotted Stone Sheep who were crossing the highway.
Muncho Lake, BC to Watson Lake, YT 165 miles
The road snakes through the canyon alongside the Trout River.
We saw more Stone Sheep - no idea why they were nibbling on the dirt on the
road. Liard Hot Springs was near one of the highway’s major construction camps,
so hot baths were in order. Now the springs are within a provincial park at the
end of a boardwalk with changing rooms and hanging gardens. We couldn’t resist
soaking in the hot water in this natural setting. We finally saw a bison, just
munching on grass by the road – well, it was lunchtime. At Contact Creek
soldiers building the highway from the south met those coming down from the
north, completing the southern portion of the Alaska Highway.
More bison were near the highway. We entered
Yukon Territory just after Contact Creek. The Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake
was nothing spectacular, but it had a self RV wash (which we took advantage of)
and it was within walking (in our case bicycling) distance to everything. The
liquor store and grocery were normal stops, but the coolest, most unexpected
place was the Signpost Forest. A US Army soldier working on the construction of
the highway in 1942 posted a sign to his home town on a pole near the highway.
Since then, over 75,000 signs have been added by visitors, now including us.
Folks post license plates, frisbies, pots and pans, cutting boards, you name
it. We had no idea there were so many, but we had to add our own, as makeshift
as it was. If anyone travels through Watson Lake, check out our sign near the
visitors center. The Northern Lights Center was also cool. The
planetarium-style show featured black holes and aurora borealis. Nice surprise
on the Alaska Highway.
Day 34, 28 June 2015
Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT 265 miles
Never heard of this before, but there was a section of the
highway where people left messages in the hillside – they spelled out names or
notes with rocks. We even saw a guy shaping a heart with rocks – maybe a love
note? We stopped at Rancheria Falls, a beautiful little trail to two waterfalls
in a canyon that was originally a gold mining settlement. The continental
divide was interesting. The river systems split – the streams that lead to the
Yukon River flow to the Bering Sea (Pacific), and the water that flows to the
Mackenzie River flows to the Beaufort Sea (Arctic). We crossed over the
Nisutlin Bay Bridge, which is the longest span (1917 ft) on the Alaska Highway.
We also enjoyed visiting the Tlingit Heritage Museum in Teslin. We met a Tlingit
woman, named Margaret Douville, who teaches the traditional skills of tanning
hides and making gloves and moccasins. She gave a presentation at the center
and told some heart-warming personal stories about her children. We visited the town of Whitehorse, including,
of course, the Yukon Brewery. And we had dinner with our new found friends from
CampCocktail, Dave and Susan, who we caught up to in Whitehorse. A good day.
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| Happy rock message |
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| Love rock message? |
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| Rancheria Falls |
