After breakfast at the Toad River Lodge on May 2, I began my trek northwest through British Columbia and into the Yukon. I had wished to go camping the previous night, but despite the high temperatures being just about 50, the ground was still frozen, forcing owners in the area to keep their campgrounds closed.
I continued to smile each mile, eagerly awaiting what greeted be at each turn. What initialized looked like boulders on the side of the road were bison, grazing the grasses along the highway. Further down the road I came across a car parked on the shoulder, with its hazard lights flashing, looking into the woods I saw a black bear emerge into the grass and begin poking around for food. It stayed there for 20 minutes, occasionally looking around at the cars and smelling the air, before returning to eat some local vegetation.
In Watson Lake, I had hoped to see the Northern Lights exhibit, but like many attractions it had not yet opened, relegating me to walk through the sign forest, a collection of street signs and license plated from around the globe. At least it was a good opportunity for me to stretch my legs.
As I had gotten used to, an afternoon storm rolled in, I was thankful that this one didn’t produce hail as I had encountered the previous day. I slid once, briefing, but it was enough to catch my attention and not want to repeat it again. The storm cleared, and I arrived in Whitehorse, the only true city, along the highway. The city had grown from the gold rush days in the Yukon. The city is filled with memorabilia from the area and attractions with a gold mining theme. Outside of my hotel was a bust of Jack London, whose time in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush, inspired him to write Call of the Wild and White Fang, among others.
Wednesday morning, I finally went to Tim Horton’s to see what the excitement and hype was about. Their breakfast sandwich (sausage, egg and cheese) was very good, and not greasy. The coffee was pretty good, also, but I would not sit in line for 30 minutes to get it (or Starbucks). My journey then took me west, past wild horses, bald eagles, Dahl sheep, swans, and a grizzly bear. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture the horses or the eagle with my camera. The grizzly bear, much like the black bear, however did not mind vehicles pulling over to watch him eat for 30 minutes. Did I mention I was loving this?
After five hours of driving, I reached the border, and arrived in Alaska. The roads immediately turned smooth, completely paved. The yellow lines to mark the center of the road reemerged. One hundred miles further, I reached the first town Tok and enjoyed a delicious hamburger at Fast Eddy’s as recommended by the Milepost (I believe it is the only restaurant in town, though).
As I had not run into any delays on my trip, I decided to use the extra days I had allocated to reach Alaska to head North to Fairbanks before heading southeast for Anchorage. On my drive up to Fairbanks a couple of moose were grazing on the side of the side of the road. Passing through Delta Junction, I took a photo at the the post marking the official end of the Alaskan Highway, but it was otherwise uneventful ... It turned out to be the proverbial calm before the storm, but that’s a story for next time.
Call of the Wild (1935) - Stars Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie. Plot: Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf.
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I have arrived in Alaska, and the stories are happening quicker than I can type them out on the keyboard. I am also starting to fill the eternal hard drive I bought with photos and videos from my cross-continent adventure, as well. Let’s start to catch up on things…
Last I wrote, I was in the town of Jasper, situated in the middle of the Canadian Rockies, a picturesque, town full of families, college students, and skiers on a weekend getaway. I began to travel northeast for a few miles. Out of town, the amount of cars on the highly quickly faded, as did the mountains into rolling hills. 40 miles later I turned northwest onto the Bighorn Highway. This was my first taste of the remote highways I would travel few days. In this new land, potholes begin to show up with greater frequency as do bumps cracks and other pavement anomalies, limiting my top speed to around 60mph, in the smooth sections. Two hours later I drove through the small town of Grand Cache, and continued my descent north into the high prairieland for another two hours before arriving in the town of Grand Prairie for a lunch break. From there I turned west crossing from Alberta in the province of British Columbia before arriving at my destination for the night, the town of Dawson Creek.
Dawson Creek marks the beginning of the Alaskan Highway, which officially ends in Delta Junction, Alaska – 1,365 miles away. My planning for this next section of my trip has largely come from reading the Milepost, an annual publication detailing mile by the attractions, services, and amenities along the Alaskan Highway and several major connecting roads. Twenty miles in, an elk darts across the highway. One hundred miles later, the flashing lights of a tow truck have me slow down as I pass by a semi-truck that has overturned into a ditch. These early incidents help me to remember to stay alert and to travel within the speed limit.
There are not Hilton, McDonald's, or Exxon stations along the route, except for the town of Whitehorse about 850 miles into the trek. For the remainder of the route, local lodges, or roadhouses, are family run businesses, offer lodging, meals, and/or fuel. Some of these roadhouses are run by families, now in their third generation. With this, some are well known by travelers of this highway, like the cinnamon rolls at Tesla River, others provide their own charm - like the roadhouse owner in her 70's who comes out to run the old analog gas pump and exchange information travelers have passed on about the weather, road conditions, and wildlife viewing along the highway. Other must stops include the relaxing Liard Hot Springs, and bison-watching around Muncho Lake. I would add the beef stew at the Toad River Lodge to the list, as well, although the Milepost only mentions their impressive hat collection an view. This is where I spend my first night, before moving on to Whitehorse.
By the end of this first day on the Alaskan Highway, I had once again returned into the mountains, passing by ice-covered lakes that stretch for miles. I felt like I was living in a Bob Ross painting (remember the guy on PBS with the afro) and understand why travel through this region has inspired many. Next up for me was the Yukon section of the highway, filled with animals and ever more changing weather patterns... I hope to post that portion of the trip tomorrow to help catch up.
Roadhouse (1989) - Stars Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, and Sam Elliott. Plot: A tough bouncer is hired to tame a dirty bar.
The last two days I have had the amazing opportunity to drive through Banff and Jasper National Parks. Much like our parks in the United States, these Canadian parks are simply stunning gems to go through, and truly national treasures. From outside of Calgary until Lake Louise, I traveled through Banff National Park, on Friday. It’s full of snow covered mountains surrounded lakes fed by the snow melts. Yesterday I traveled north of Lake Louise to Jasper, the mountains were even more impressive, classically pointed mountains that you pass right by, and yet them seem to extend out and up forever. I know the pictures to not do it justice. The weather changed throughout the day, sometimes every five minutes- clear to cloudy and sunny to driving snow; temperatures fluctuated between 50 to 28F (10 to -2 C for the international crowd). In addition to a ground squirrel coming in and out of his home, I was fortunate enough to see big horn sheep next to the road, mountain goats in the road, and a coyote run out in front of me. By the time, I was able to stop and get the video started, I could only catch it in a few frames, scurrying away.
One pleasant part about doing tourist things, like stopping every 5 minutes to capture the next breathtaking view is, realizing everyone else who has is there is there for the same reason. Today, me, a French Canadian, Chinese, and Brazilians all took turns helping each other climb over the snow drift to capture a photo. It was so amazing to watch and participate, knowing what each what was trying to do; no one minded helping anyone up, or taking a photo - overcoming the language barrier. It was pleasant to watch people around the world be decent to each other. It was a scene repeated throughout the day. I love this part of travel! Oh my gosh, I'm becoming a hippy....
I did truly impress one Chinese couple. Knowing how to say “hi”, “1, 2, 3”, “thank you” and “you’re welcome” in Mandarin impressed them so much that they took my picture (maybe for their blog :-) ) and when I threw a peace sign during the photo they went crazy. I wish I would have thought to get a picture of them!
I’ve truly enjoyed the drive, but these sights were a joy to relax to. I’ve done so little driving that I completed two days of driving on less than a half tank of gas. I have been averaging two tanks of gas a day. Today, I will head up to Dawson Creek (yes, it’s actually called that) the official start of the Alaska-Canada (Alcan) Highway. From there my route will follow the Alcan into Tok, Alaska, over the next few days. After arriving at Tok, if all goes well, I will need to decide whether to go north – the long way around – through Fairbanks and up into the Arctic Circle, then to Anchorage, and then to my home at the Matanuska Glacier; or go south – passing by my summer home to go into Anchorage and then south into the Kenai Peninsula for a day or so.
3,271 miles (5,264 km) driven; 1,708 miles (2,749 km) to go directly to the glacier.
Pictures and time lapse below
Leach Lake Time Lapse
Sorry for the poor quality, I had to upload it this way because I entered the wrong password, locking my YouTube account until I get to Alaska and can access my phone (without international roaming fees).
National Treasure (2004) – Stars: Nicholas Cage and Diane Kruger. Plot: A historian races to find the legendary Templar Treasure before a team of mercenaries.
