North to Alaska

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Tom:

It is six years old and if anyone wants it bad enough all they have to do is cut the strap.

Kodiak:

Yes, the fuel was 2.91 in Arlington. ::)
 
Day 12 The Alaska Highway

We spent a quiet day in Dawson Creek including a visit to the Visitor?s Center/Alaska Highway Museum at Mile 0 in town. The parking lot was full of both cars and pickups and RV?s as everyone checked out our route for the next few days.

The demand for a road to Alaska started in the early 1900?s as local proponents promoted the impact of having such a road for the Northwest Territories and Alaska. Early supporters included Donald McDonald, a senior engineer with the Alaska Highway Commission and Slim Williams, a promoter who rode a dogsled team from Alaska to Washington to promote the State.

Accelerated by the beginning od WWII construction on the 1522 mile primitive road began in March of 1942 and was completed 8 months later including over 100 bridges. Over 16,000 US Army and US and Canadian civilians worked feverishly to complete the road before winter set in to provide supplies for the military installations defending Alaska and Northern Canada. Civilian contractors continued working on a permanent road that was completed in late 1943. The highway remained under the control of the US army until the end of WWII and then was handed over to the Canadian Army who restricted its use to military traffic for several years. Opened to the public in 1948 it was finally paved and became a major civilian route in the 1970s.

Our day here included last minute shopping, lunch downtown, having a chip fixed in the CRV windshield that we picked up driving around Prince George, and replacing a battery cable on the motorhome. Hopefully everything is ready for the trip up the highway to Alaska. 

The next stop will be Fort Nelson at Mile 282.7.
 

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Thanks Jeff,  Now we can enjoy your journey as we have the others.
 
Hi Jeff

Following your travels - cant believe it was just a year ago since we were there !!!!

I noticed on your datastorm users link that another datastorm user is close by (http://www.sheppardsjourneys.blogspot.com/), staying at Mile 0 CG but using WiFi - do you "users" tend to contact each other when your paths cross, to discuss routes, technology etc. ?

Just strikes me as a good way to meet new people thru a shared interest of both RVing and Datastorm.

Paul
 
Jeff and Sue:

Will enjoy your travels through Alaska as we have the others.  Interesting note on the Alaskan Hwy.  I believe it was built into a serviceable road in 18 months.  It is going to take that long to reconfiigure an intersection in Tucson.  Boy, have times changed.......  ::)


Daisy
 
Thanks everyone.

Daisy it was named the 16th (?) Engineering marvel of the World for good reason.

I want to take a moment to thank Ron and Russ again. It is a marvel to sit here on the shores of Muncho Lake with a great sat signal off of 127W. ;D
 
Day 13 Muncho Lake

We are sitting on the shores of Muncho Lake enjoying a relaxing evening.

We started out very early this morning (for us), 7:00AM. Sue always gets up early but Jeff went to bed early and ended up at 5:30AM so with everything done we headed out for our first day on the Alaska Highway at 7:00AM.

Without really knowing what to expect the highway was a pleasant surprise. Traffic was light to moderate for the first 50 miles or so up to Fort St John but we mostly managed the speed limit of 100 kph, or 63mph. After Fort St John we were just about alone on the highway and hardly shut the speed control off for another 150 miles. After Ft Nelson we started encountering our very first minor frost damage but the road was still in very good shape and remained so until we climbed into the Northern Rockies where frost heaves became a little more common. As we came down onto Muncho Lake the highway has been rebuilt and it is smooth again.

Because of the early start and great traffic we kept driving and arrived here around 4:30PM here at Milemarker 442 for our first night?s stop. You never have to worry about driving after dark up here in the summer as it is 9:45PM and the sun has gone behind the ridge on the west side of the lake but has not set. It will still be light at 11:00PM tonight! We enjoyed dinner grilled out and a campfire before coming in around 9:00PM. Sue is reading and Jeff on the computer without a light on thanks to the daylight. (As I was finishing the post I noticed the sunset and ran back out for one more shot; it is 10:30PM here!)

We were on the lookout for wild animals all the way up today and although we saw lots of moose sign we had no luck until 15 miles south of Muncho when a cow got up out of the grass just as we went by. With a semi coming up behind us and no place to stop we did not get any photos. We also saw a grey fox, mountain sheep, and stone goat standing beside the highway. Sue will have to get quicker on the camera to capture more shots.

The scenery here is breathtaking! We have gone from miles of wooded rolling low country where we crossed several large rivers to our gradual climb into the Northern Rockies and back down to the lake.

Tomorrow we drive 32 miles up the highway to Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park for a dip in the warm water and then we will either stay there or go on to Watson Lake for the night.
 

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I feel like we're doing the trip all over again.  You'll see a lot more of that moose sign than you will moose on the highway :)
 
Agreed on the Sunset, beautiful.  Appears as if you have taking those pictures in a MH.  Have you been hitching a ride on this trip?  Great Pics
 
Thanks everyone, glad you are enjoying this.

I have not found anywhere in BC that has the discount books for sale. I assume we can get them in Skagway Saturday.
 
Hi Jeff

We got ours at Safeways Valdez - so I guess most Safeways up there would do them.

Im not sure about getting it in Skagway as its not that big a place - could be wrong though.

Paul
 
Day 14 Watson Lake

We enjoyed a beautiful morning at Muncho Lake watching float planes arriving and departing followed by a short drive of 32 miles to Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. The natural hot springs are a must stop for those that enjoy a relaxing soak. For the rest like Jeff it was a chance to relax for a couple of hours and putter around the motorhome.

The day was also a good one for seeing wild animals and even getting photos of a couple of them. The take today was a large black bear not 5 miles from the Muncho Lake Campground followed by stone sheep, long horned sheep, and a couple of buffalo. We came over the brow of a hill in the middle of a conversation about the highway and the bear was right alongside the road. By the time we stopped, grabbed a camera and were ready to shoot he had ambled into the woods.

After the visit to the hot springs and lunch we drove 120 miles to Watson Lake where we are spending the night. Watson Lake began life as a trapper?s cabin for John Watson but went through a large transformation when the RCAF designated it as a key supply base for the chain of air bases leading to the Northwest. It later became a major staging area for the construction of the Alaskan Highway and is still one of the primary stopovers for those of us traveling the route.

We enjoyed the forest of direction signs that have become a Watson Lake trademark as well as visiting their interpretive center with a great 18 minute video presentation of the highway and its impact on northwest Canada and Alaska.

After dinner at the local hotel we attended a movie at the Watson Lake Northern Lights Space and Science Center that displayed the Yukon Territory Northern Lights in all their glory on an observatory overhead screen.

We returned to the campground for a little relaxing and Jeff washed the CRV that was showing a thousand miles of the motorhome?s dust!

Tomorrow we move up the highway another 180 miles to Teslin and a salmon bake at Mukluck Annie?s.
 

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Absolutely love the animal shots.  Great pics.  This is the only way I'll ever enjoy it the same as when Betty, Terry, Russ, Lorna, and Ned recorded their trip, because the Boss won't go.  It's very much appreciated.  Thank you.
 
Jeff,

If you have lost your DirecTV signal, because of being to far north, there is a campground at Solders Summit that is at 4,000 feet.  We were able to catch up on TV the night we stayed there.  Solders Summit is where the final connection of the Alaska highway was achieved in 1942.  It was at this point that the black regiment of solder highway-builders met the regiment of white solder highway-builders when the US Army was still segregated. 

Have fun...we're enjoying your posts.

JerryF
 
Jeff,

Muncho Lake was mentioned last night on the History Channel in a show about building the Alcan.  Enjoying all the photos.  I've never seen buffalo in that area so that one was a surprise.

ArdraF
 
I hope you have a better experience at Mukluk Annie's than we did.
 
Alaskansnowbirds said:
After reading many of these posts I think we should be thanking SUE for the excellent travel log.  Am I right?   ???

Don & Peg:

Nope, Sue takes the photos while we are on the road (unless the shot is better out my window ::)) but leaves the rest to me. The posts usually are my quiet time after she goes to bed.

Ned:

We had a great time at MukLuks. I will catch up on the posts tonight.

Ardra:

Both BC and Yukon introduced buffalo herds into the North 25 years or so ago. Both herds have become so large both Provinces are allowing hunting along the highway to try and prevent more buffalo/vehicle accidents.

 

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