Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, British Columbia
We left the Northern Lights RV Park in Dawson Creek relatively early Saturday morning. We have learned that it works best for us to get on the road between 7:30 and 8:00 in order to get in a good 6-7 hour day driving. It’s not like there’s a lot of traffic on the roads here. Just gets us into the next location before dinner time.
We stayed at the Northern Lights RV Park in Dawson Creek. I had read about it in the Milepost Magazine (Alaska highway roadtrip guide). It was a nice little park with real friendly staff. As we were getting ready for bed, I peeked out the window and caught the most amazing sunset. There’s no filters on the picture. That’s exactly how incredible it was.
We got our first taste of Alaska Highway wildlife on this leg. We saw our first moose, a mama and two babies beside the road. I couldn’t get a picture before we passed by her though. The landscape changed from rolling hills to mountains with some really beautiful views. We pulled into Fort Nelson just before dinner.
We stayed at the Triple G RV Park in Fort Nelson. It had a real cute saloon, gift shop and nice campground, full of Alaska Highway travelers. Greg was sold on the campground when I told him they had ice cream in the saloon and restaurant. He also loved the sign on the saloon door, warning campers about bear activity in the area. It’s no joke!
Fort Nelson, British Columbia to Watson Lake, Yukon
Today was a day when the animals were out on the road showing off. We lost count of how many bears we saw. I’m guessing there were at least ten. We also saw caribou, wood bison, lots of rabbits and deer. There were signs on the road to watch for sheep but we didn’t see any. I told Greg, I think I saw one bear in all the years I lived in Alaska and it was pretty far away in Denali National Park. I don’t remember ever seeing all the wildlife we saw today when I was a kid traveling the Alaska highway. It was pretty cool.
There’s an informal competition on the Alaska Highway for the restaurant with the best cinnamon rolls. We stopped at the Testa River Lodge and got two of theirs today. Getting from the RV to the door was interesting. The mosquitoes were out in force. I had to run through the swarm of bugs to get inside before I became lunch. The cinnamon rolls were worth it though. They were amazing! And that doesn’t really give them the credit they deserve. They were every bit as good as people online had said they were..melt in your mouth good!
The highway took us to higher elevations in the mountains today with quite a few 9 and 10% downhill grades. We saw several turquoise colored lakes and rivers. I remembered how beautiful Muncho Lake and Watson Lake from when I was a kid. They are still just as stunning.
There was a moment on the highway today when we were reminded how important it is to “respect the road”. We saw a motorcycle accident about halfway between Toad River and Muncho Lake. Just as we got to the top of one of the highest packed gravel passes, there were about a dozen vehicles stopped on both sides of the road. A motorcyclist laid his very nice touring bike down in the middle of the road. It looked like he was trying to avoid a huge bull caribou. He was sitting in the middle of the road waiting for first responders to arrive. His jeans and leg were pretty torn up. The caribou was standing on the side of the road between some of the vehicles that had stopped. Alaska Highway road rules say you never drive past someone who’s stopped on the road but there was plenty of help for the poor biker. Who knows how long it took first responders to get to him. He was easily 30 miles from the closest town. All we could do was pray he was okay and help was on its way. It’s a great reminder to all of us that the roads and wildlife can be pretty unforgiving in this part of the country. We can never be too careful.
Several people had recommended we stop at Liard Hot Springs so we did that today too. It was every bit as amazing as we had been told. The water was about 106 degrees and the landscape around it was stunning. It was just the break we needed from the road.
One of the things Watson Lake is known for is its signpost forest. It was started by members of the military who were in town building the highway in 1941. Since then, it’s become a tradition for many travelers to add their own hometown sign to the forest. We didn’t add a sign but stopped for a few minutes to see all the signs. I can’t tell you how many there are but there are a lot!
We are staying at the Nugget RV Park west of Watson Lake tonight. We are hoping to make it to Haines Junction tomorrow.
