After a relatively peaceful night in the Dawson Creek Wal-Mart parking lot, we are off to begin the Alaskan Highway. The parking lot was dotted with over twenty recreational vehicles that also spent the night. A vehicle next to us was a small-customized van. The couple sharing it were from Quebec and seemed very content. She went into Wal-Mart to shop and he played with his laptop.
We will be resetting our motor home odometer to “zero” when we position our vehicle at the official starting point, smack in the center of Dawson Creek. Many of you may remember the television program called, “Dawson Creek”. Can’t say I ever watched it, but I will attest to a friendly town. I met a 72-year-old resident when I exercised last evening at Curves. She has lived in Dawson Creek since she was fourteen years old. A rather spry lady, she shared the fact that she “ran away and got married” in Las Vegas eight years ago. Her husband will be celebrating his 90th birthday this November. I asked her about the winters in Dawson Creek. She said that their average snowfall is six feet and that the average January temperature is zero. She claimed that every fall she swears she is leaving for the winter, but every spring she is happy she stayed. Those who do leave the area for the winter, travel to Arizona for better weather. According to local information, they only have 100 frost-free days, with the first frost expected September 1st. My exercising buddy said that she has taken a cruise to the Caribbean, but has never been to Alaska. Go figure. I guess that is like some Michiganders that have never been to the Upper Peninsula. When it is somewhat in your backyard, you take it for granted.
“Click.” The odometer reads, “zero”. We’re off! We quickly find ourselves out of town, heading to Alaska. We reach a fork in the road and take the left. Ah, yes. This is what people dream of doing: leisurely heading to God’s country. Now, we both had studied a book that we purchased called, “MILEPOST”. This comprehensive book takes all of the Alaskan routes and in excruciating detail tells about everything you would ever want t
o know about turnouts, towns, rest areas, points of interests, markers, etc. For example, on Highway 97 North, at milepost 37.1, there is a turnout with litter barrels and a view of the Peace River Bridge. Or at milepost 62.4, there is a statue of a lumberjack on the left hand side of the road. It marks the site of the Clarke Sawmill Co. At Christmas time, the lumberjack wears a Santa suit. See what I mean?
So, as we began heading down the highway, we began looking for sites identified in the Milepost book. Hmmm. There is supposed to be a NorthWes Tel cell tower at mile marker 8.9. It’s not there. What’s going on? While we are trying to determine what is wrong, the Garmin GPS keeps chirping about turning left. We laugh at the Garmin, thinking it doesn’t know where it is going. It tells us again to turn left. It appears to be trying to make us turn around. This is going to drive me nuts, listening to an ill-informed GPS repeating erroneous information. We drive a bit further and don’t see the next identifier from the Milepost. Uh oh. No, we didn’t. No, we couldn’t have.
Yes, we barely got out of Dawson Creek and we had already made an incorrect turn. We could blame the lack of a highway number marker, but quite honestly it was 100% our fault. We were even second guessing our beloved Garmin.
We right ourselves and after a few miles, are back on Highway 97 North. Phew! That could have been a costly mistake. Four or five miles up the road and we are taken with a beautiful and sprawling farm. Below and above the barns and silos were fields of yellow green canola crops. We stopped and Dennis walked across the road to take some pics. Nearb
y, was a beaten up stop sign with, “Alaska Hwy” for a hat.
We crossed the Peace River Bridge after traversing a decline to the riverbed area with a 10% grade. Lumber and oil trucks heading the other direction looked like they were barely moving, while black smoke billowed from their exhaust smokestacks.
When we crossed the bridge, we noticed another suspension system towards the east, perhaps 100 yards. It looked like a phantom bridge, minus the roadway. Suspended instead were two huge, orange oil pipelines. Must get that oil to the states!
We continue our trek, drinking in the clean, unfettered beauty that surrounds us. I was reading the Milepost and quoted to Dennis, “Northbound travelers should use caution the next 15 miles, watching for moose.” Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes. On our right was a lumbering moose. She stopped, looked at us and began trotting away. Not
so quick. I rolled down the window, moved the side view mirror out of the way and captured her presence. Beautiful. The roadway is lined with fir trees, but there is approximately 100 feet between the tree line and the edge of the road. The 100 feet is covered with vegetation that is 2-3 feet high. This makes the two-lane road appear wider than it is. We assume it is done purposefully. By having the brush lower, it is easier to see wildlife that may be moving to cross the road. Probably has saved many lives. Also makes for better wildlife viewing!
The road meanders, up and down rolling hills, descending and ascending to small riverbeds. While on one hand the road appears desolate, on the
other hand there is significant recreational vehicle traffic and commercial truck traffic. We know that if a serious problem occurred, help would be provided. Gas stations are few and far between, so one would want to be sure to keep an eye on the fuel gauge. To our left, we see outcroppings of the Northern Rockies. Tomorrow we will drive through them.
As we begin the approach to Fort Nelson, the map shows that we will be a short distance from another, more remote province: the Northwest Territories. The border will be a mere 100 miles from our camp tonight. No, we won’t be venturing that way, as our compass points to a more westerly direction. Fort Nelson is a relatively small town, population 5000. The area boasts great hunting, including: beaver, wolverine (sorry U of M fans), weasel, wolf, lynx, bear, fox, mink, muskrat and marten. Black bear are also plentiful. Needless to say, this is also a large fur processing area (don’t tell your PETA friends). Fort Nelson is also a large lumbering area. January temperatures average –16 (that is Fahrenheit, not Celsius!).
We filled up with gas here and paid over $4.00 per gallon. Gulp.
This will be our last day in British Columbia. Tomorrow, we will end our day in the Yukon Territory.
We will be resetting our motor home odometer to “zero” when we position our vehicle at the official starting point, smack in the center of Dawson Creek. Many of you may remember the television program called, “Dawson Creek”. Can’t say I ever watched it, but I will attest to a friendly town. I met a 72-year-old resident when I exercised last evening at Curves. She has lived in Dawson Creek since she was fourteen years old. A rather spry lady, she shared the fact that she “ran away and got married” in Las Vegas eight years ago. Her husband will be celebrating his 90th birthday this November. I asked her about the winters in Dawson Creek. She said that their average snowfall is six feet and that the average January temperature is zero. She claimed that every fall she swears she is leaving for the winter, but every spring she is happy she stayed. Those who do leave the area for the winter, travel to Arizona for better weather. According to local information, they only have 100 frost-free days, with the first frost expected September 1st. My exercising buddy said that she has taken a cruise to the Caribbean, but has never been to Alaska. Go figure. I guess that is like some Michiganders that have never been to the Upper Peninsula. When it is somewhat in your backyard, you take it for granted.
“Click.” The odometer reads, “zero”. We’re off! We quickly find ourselves out of town, heading to Alaska. We reach a fork in the road and take the left. Ah, yes. This is what people dream of doing: leisurely heading to God’s country. Now, we both had studied a book that we purchased called, “MILEPOST”. This comprehensive book takes all of the Alaskan routes and in excruciating detail tells about everything you would ever want t
o know about turnouts, towns, rest areas, points of interests, markers, etc. For example, on Highway 97 North, at milepost 37.1, there is a turnout with litter barrels and a view of the Peace River Bridge. Or at milepost 62.4, there is a statue of a lumberjack on the left hand side of the road. It marks the site of the Clarke Sawmill Co. At Christmas time, the lumberjack wears a Santa suit. See what I mean?So, as we began heading down the highway, we began looking for sites identified in the Milepost book. Hmmm. There is supposed to be a NorthWes Tel cell tower at mile marker 8.9. It’s not there. What’s going on? While we are trying to determine what is wrong, the Garmin GPS keeps chirping about turning left. We laugh at the Garmin, thinking it doesn’t know where it is going. It tells us again to turn left. It appears to be trying to make us turn around. This is going to drive me nuts, listening to an ill-informed GPS repeating erroneous information. We drive a bit further and don’t see the next identifier from the Milepost. Uh oh. No, we didn’t. No, we couldn’t have.
Yes, we barely got out of Dawson Creek and we had already made an incorrect turn. We could blame the lack of a highway number marker, but quite honestly it was 100% our fault. We were even second guessing our beloved Garmin.
We right ourselves and after a few miles, are back on Highway 97 North. Phew! That could have been a costly mistake. Four or five miles up the road and we are taken with a beautiful and sprawling farm. Below and above the barns and silos were fields of yellow green canola crops. We stopped and Dennis walked across the road to take some pics. Nearb
y, was a beaten up stop sign with, “Alaska Hwy” for a hat.We crossed the Peace River Bridge after traversing a decline to the riverbed area with a 10% grade. Lumber and oil trucks heading the other direction looked like they were barely moving, while black smoke billowed from their exhaust smokestacks.
When we crossed the bridge, we noticed another suspension system towards the east, perhaps 100 yards. It looked like a phantom bridge, minus the roadway. Suspended instead were two huge, orange oil pipelines. Must get that oil to the states!
We continue our trek, drinking in the clean, unfettered beauty that surrounds us. I was reading the Milepost and quoted to Dennis, “Northbound travelers should use caution the next 15 miles, watching for moose.” Suddenly, he slammed on the brakes. On our right was a lumbering moose. She stopped, looked at us and began trotting away. Not
so quick. I rolled down the window, moved the side view mirror out of the way and captured her presence. Beautiful. The roadway is lined with fir trees, but there is approximately 100 feet between the tree line and the edge of the road. The 100 feet is covered with vegetation that is 2-3 feet high. This makes the two-lane road appear wider than it is. We assume it is done purposefully. By having the brush lower, it is easier to see wildlife that may be moving to cross the road. Probably has saved many lives. Also makes for better wildlife viewing!The road meanders, up and down rolling hills, descending and ascending to small riverbeds. While on one hand the road appears desolate, on the
other hand there is significant recreational vehicle traffic and commercial truck traffic. We know that if a serious problem occurred, help would be provided. Gas stations are few and far between, so one would want to be sure to keep an eye on the fuel gauge. To our left, we see outcroppings of the Northern Rockies. Tomorrow we will drive through them.As we begin the approach to Fort Nelson, the map shows that we will be a short distance from another, more remote province: the Northwest Territories. The border will be a mere 100 miles from our camp tonight. No, we won’t be venturing that way, as our compass points to a more westerly direction. Fort Nelson is a relatively small town, population 5000. The area boasts great hunting, including: beaver, wolverine (sorry U of M fans), weasel, wolf, lynx, bear, fox, mink, muskrat and marten. Black bear are also plentiful. Needless to say, this is also a large fur processing area (don’t tell your PETA friends). Fort Nelson is also a large lumbering area. January temperatures average –16 (that is Fahrenheit, not Celsius!).
We filled up with gas here and paid over $4.00 per gallon. Gulp.
This will be our last day in British Columbia. Tomorrow, we will end our day in the Yukon Territory.
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