Tom's Journal - The Alaska Highway Part 1, Days 7 - 13
Some of you have asked if my last log with all of the mishaps was a shameless plea for pity and sympathy? Well, YES and it worked. Were the mishaps all that bad? No. Really, all it was was a flat tire that I changed; we stopped and got four new tires which I really should have done before leaving and that was done fairly quickly; the fender came loose and I put some screws in it; we got stuck behind an accident (that Margaret wrote me was pretty bad with a guy on drugs in a Honda that sideswiped a Ford Expedition with two pregnant ladies and six children, none of whom were in car seats or wearing seatbelts. The Expedition rolled over the median into opposing traffic. Three were ejected and two children were still in critical condition. So I won't complain about a little delay; okay I did); the DVD player didn't work so I got a new one; and the generator gas tank has a drip leak at the top so I will only fill it half way with about four gallons of gas (which will probably last me the entire trip anyways).
I received several emails with encouragement (thank you) and suggesting that things will probably go better now. In particular, Jeff (Jeff Bigelow, Senior Pastor, Rolling Hills Christian Church) wrote "Sounds like you've had quite a trip with tires, fenders, fuel tanks, DVD players, etc…" Well, when retranslating Jeff's "encouragement" back to the original Greek, then translating to Latin, and from there to old English and then modern day English, it came out "Hey, things happen, get over it and get on with it!" Thanks Jeff for those encouraging words; quite a counseling style.
Actually, it was much easier and more interesting to write about the mishaps than the many trucks along I-5 (in Oregon, they pull triple trailers and you are not allowed to pump your own fuel). And there wasn't much in the way of picture taking either.
So have things gone better this week? You betcha!
In the last log, we ended up in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. We spent three days there catching up, sight seeing, cleaning, and getting up the courage to head out on the Highway. You can read a bit of an overview of the building of the Alaska Highway in my journal entry the Alaska Highway Overview.
I got in trouble last time for not telling Becky I was including a couple of pictures in my journal and not showing her how to also. Now that we are getting into some more interesting territory for pictures, we will both be including more pictures as they can often tell the story better. We will also be working on short photo albums to include in the Photo Gallery section but I am still working on the mechanics for that.
The Alaska Highway, Part 1
Onward!
Day 7 (Sunday, June 14)
Dawson Creek: we attended a small Baptist church with about 30-50 people for a very nice worship service. There were a number of churches to choose from. Dawson Creek is not a small town. They have a population of about 12,000 and their very own Wal-Mart.
After church and lunch, we went to the visitors center, the Alaska House, and the Mile 0 Post (see Becky's journal for picture). We learned a lot about the history and building of the Highway from a one hour film at the visitors center and the one hour PBS film at the Alaska House (see the Alaska Highway Overview). Becky got a new hat and pin but I didn't :( She has been wearing it since. I did get a magnet for my collection though.
Day 8 (Monday, June 15)
Still afraid of heading out on the Highway, we spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the trailer, planning meals, fueling the truck, and shopping (at the Wal-Mart and Safeway). Now we are ready and no more excuses!
Day 9 (Tuesday, June 16)
Okay, we head out on the Highway from Dawson Creek to let our adventure begin. The drive is very scenic with mountains, rivers, forests, and open areas. The road is a good two lane highway with very little traffic. What was I afraid of? It is a nice relaxing day but still no great photo opportunities. We stopped for a few sights.
The photo here shows a typical section of the road. You can see the "verge," the buffer between the road and the trees that is along most of the roadway. This verge is where most wildlife is spotted and provides some protection for animals and cars so there is less chance of an animal darting in front of you without warning.
The RV park at Fort Nelson (pictured below) is fairly typical. We were planning to take it easy and spend two days here but we have decided to only spend the one night and move on to Muncho Lake tomorrow and spend three nights there instead.
On our first day up the Highway we made it 281 miles to Fort Nelson. From Dawson Creek (Historic Mile 0) to the official end of the Highway at Delta Junction Alaska (Historic Mile 1422) is 1,390 miles (or 1,379 miles according to Microsoft Streets and Trips 2009). The current Alaska Highway is 32 miles shorter then the original historic Highway. The unofficial end of the Highway is Fairbanks Alaska which is 98 miles further from Delta Junction at 1471 miles by Streets and Trips.
Day 10 (Wednesday, June 17)
The drive from Fort Nelson to Muncho Lake was beautiful with many stops. What would normally be about a three hour drive turned into almost five and a half hours. We had some stops for great visits looking across canyons and mountains; we crossed the "Summit," the highest point along the Alaska Highway; we stopped for a walk about Summit Lake; and then we came upon two moose grazing along the roadside. Of course, I had to make an abrupt stop with the truck and trailer just past them so we could get out and observe them for a while and take pictures. Between Becky and I, we took over 60 pictures (I was going to include them all here but then came to my senses. Aren't digital cameras wonderful?).
We left Fort Nelson at 11:00 AM and arrived at the Northern Rockies Lodge and RV Park at Muncho Lake around 4:30. Muncho Lake is gorgeous and our campsite is right down on the lake in a secluded spot surrounded by trees.
Muncho Lake
Our campsite on the lake
149 miles today, 430 so far with 1041 to go.
Day 11-12 (Thursday-Friday, June 18-19)
We are secluded at Muncho Lake for three days with no Internet, TV, or newspapers and just a great opportunity to relax, enjoy the lake, and get caught up. The Northern Rockies Lodge was developed by a bush pilot from Germany. It is centered around three float planes with plane docks, pilot shack, hanger, and fueling station. It was fun to watch the planes come and go while taking people on flight-seeing or shuttling them in and out of remote camping and fishing spots. We did not avail ourselves of this adventure.
We took a drive around on Thursday and came across a herd of Rock Sheep causing quite a stir on the road with people like us stopping and getting out to take pictures. They didn't scare easy as some of them were in the road with cars honking to get past.
Day 13 (Saturday, June 20)
Off again at 9:30 after cleaning up and dumping tanks. The plan of the day is to drive 169 miles to Watson Lake for the weekend. Once again, the drive took longer due to the many stops and animal sightings.
Besides the normal stops for scenery, we came across three Bison grazing in the verge. Those things are HUGE! They didn't show any fear of us or our cameras. Little did they know that I captured their spirit in my little box.
Further on, we spotted a big black bear. Don't get too close!
It wasn't long before we came across another black bear with two very young cubs. Momma just kept grazing along the verge while the kids played and tagged along.
Further on we saw three more Bison laying in the verge but it was starting to rain and Bison were now old hat so we didn't stop for pictures.
Once in Watson Lake, we went by the visitor centre and saw the World Famous Sign Post Forrest. The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I., Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Il., Company D, 341st Engineers. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so to this day. The sign outside the visitors center indicated there are now 65,164 signs.
After dinner, we went over to the Northern Lights Centre to watch a planetarium movie on astronauts and another one on the Northern Lights; both very good. Day light for us has been starting before 4:00 AM and going to past 10:30 PM. I cheated however and have put up sun shades in the bedroom, similar material to what we put in our car windows. It has worked well.