Rocky Goes to Alaska

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.

Actual Mile 0 Site of Alaska Highway

Sections of highway under improvement

RV Parade

Muskwa River - lowest point on the Alaska Highway

Nice Museum

Antique shovel used on Alaska highway

Do you believe this is 10:30 pm!

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.

We camped at the Northern Rockies Lodge and RV Park on a very nice setting on Muncho Lake. The lodge was built in 1995. Urs, the Swiss owner, is a pilot and loves to take folks to nearby national parks and fishing trips in his seaplane. The glacial lake itself is over 400 ft. deep. Rustic cabins housed vacationing fishermen, and they had a beautiful dining room in the lodge where we took advantage of the fine menu.

Summit Lake - highest point on Alaska Highway

Northern Rockies Lodge Campground

Northern Rockies Lodge

Northern Rockies Lodge Dining room

Urs' seaplane on Muncho Lake

Day 33, 27 June 2015

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.

Trout River

Stone sheep

Liard Hot Springs

Buffalo herd with babies

Contact Creek

Signpost forest

Hometown was here

Our very own sign

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.