Alaskan Highway - The 'ALCAN' - 2014

We’re currently in a place called Skagway which as it turns out is back in the USA and quite a bit has happened since the last post, so read on, but this one will be a tad longer so apologies up front.

The map is at the end of this by the way.

Continuing north up Hwy 97 from Barkerville we had become aware of 2 key things.  All the Provincial Parks (State Parks) in BC were still closed for the winter and by closed, the gates are locked and there was a public holiday long weekend looming.

After visiting a little town called Chetwynd and it’s fantastic wood carved sculptures, their Visitors Centre told us about a local park to free camp in until it opens on the long weekend, Cameron Lake.   They also warned us that it would be hard to get into many places including some RV parks over the long weekend so we figured that after a fairly long and very cold winter, people were certainly coming out to play. Well apart from being a really nice spot right on the waters edge and warm weather, we also got to observe the locals.

For hours, including until after sunset which is getting later and later now, they would turn up with their caravans, 5th wheelers and motorhomes, find a site, set themselves up including extending any slide-outs and placing tables outside.  Then off they would go, leaving everything as is until 2 days time when they would be back.

sunset at Lake Cameron

Dawson Creek was a destination we had been looking forward to reaching because it's here the Alaskan Highway, previously known as the ‘Alcan’ starts.  To learn more about this highway’s history, we visited the 2 places in Dawson Creek to do this but unfortunately, both were closed!

Located in the middle of a major intersection, for Dawson Creek anyway, stands proudly the famous Mile “0” Post and is apparently one of the most photographed objects in Canada. The Mile “0” Post has had its own chequered ‘career’ because the first post was erected in 1942 but only lasted until 1946 until a drunk driver hit it and stuffed it.  There was a second larger wooden post but it was subjected to numerous pranks so the steel post that actually stands today replaced it.  

There is also a Mile “0” Cairn in Dawson Creek which is the point the surveyors used as the actual starting point for the Alcan.  Confused… we were.

Well someone had to get their photograph taken with the Mile “0” post or get their photo taken after being hit by the traffic to reach it, so  Rob graciously volunteered to be the photographer.

Time for a few Alcan facts.  It was built for World War 2 due to concerns about Japanese attacks in Alaska, and work started in 1941 to build a highway 2,450 kms long through some of the more inhospitable country there is.  

It was completed in just over 8 months with 11,000 US troops and 16,000 US and Canadian civilians working on it.  They built 8 miles (13 kms) of road each day, there were 133 bridges constructed, some in just 3 days and 8,000 culverts installed.  

An amazing effort considering the gear they were using to achieve this.  The Alcan was opened to the public in 1948 and has become one of the ‘must do’ iconic drives in the world.

So that’s what we’re here to do… drive the Alcan which goes from Dawson Creek to near Fairbanks.  

This time in May, for heading up the Alcan, is considered early in the season, so the weather is likely to be changeable and places worth visiting may be closed for the winter,  or there is simply too much snow still on the ground.

So having found both Mile “0’s”, we started our Alcan journey and it wasn’t long before we detoured to the only remaining original all timber curved bridge built back in 1942.  It is called the Kiskatinaw Bridge and its big.

all timber construction

Continuing on, it quickly became obvious things were changing.  For a start, there were slightly fewer semis on the road wanting to get past and secondly, the number of animals seen on the side of the road began increasing.  For example, we had a 5 black bear and 1 moose day and the following day, more black bears and 1 brown black bear, yes brown.

brown black bear

Some of the early towns we passed through have interesting names reflecting the history in northern BC.  Names like Fort St John and Fort Nelson.  Both of the forts were established around 1805 by the Northwest Company as fur trading posts and Fort St John was closed for 40 years after a massacre of some of the inhabitants by local indians.

After staying in a few RV parks, there was a lot of motivation to find somewhere ‘bush’ to stay in as the availability of ‘boon docking’ sites had been limited to date.  After turning off the Alcan and a driving a few kilometres down a muddy dirt road due to the rain, we found the open Tetsa River Regional Park.  The rain eased up and then stopped overnight but next morning Homer’s heater was put to good use because it seemed abnormally cold.

Homer in Summit Pass - note beaver dam below

Back onto the Alcan we climbed our way into the Rocky Mountains and through beautiful Summit Pass where there was a light dusting of fresh overnight snow everywhere .  Tetsa River park was a mere 20 kms or so back down the road, no wonder it was cold.

The driving through the Rocky Mountains in this part of northern Canada is really very beautiful and this section of the Alcan south of Muncho Lake especially so.  Muncho Lake was pretty spectacular also, with hints of its green/blue colour beneath the 1-2m strip of unfrozen water near the shore.  It was the 15th May and this meant this Provincial Park was open which was great because the camping was right on the bank of the lake.  We heard of this lake via the blog of friends who had been here a few years back so now it was our turn.

Things here were also a bit different, apart from the layer of very white ice across its massive surface.  To start, there were  seagulls lying on the ice of the lakes surface, well they looked like seagulls.  Why would they want to lie on ice?

very weird

top rock is 'floating' just below the surface

Next were the ‘floating’ rocks!  After backing Homer in amongst some trees right next to the lake, it was off to explore and this was when we found ‘floating’ rocks.  In the ice, not far from the shore was a fresh looking circle of water and in the middle of the water was a rock lying very happily just under the surface.  In front of the ‘floating’ rock in the fresh strip of very clear water could be seen all the other rocks lying on the bottom.

The ‘floating’ rock was actually being held up by clear shards of ice about 6 cms thick.  Rob discovered its thickness by disturbing some closer to the shore and picking it up which lead to much complaining about how cold the water was.  What was she thinking anyway and its as close as she will ever come to a polar plunge.

The photography opportunities here were amazing, as they still were next morning when we woke to another very chilly morning.  We ventured outside to discover the fresh water near the shore from yesterday, now had a 1 cm blanket of re-frozen clear ice over it.

the clear water in front has new ice layer on it

We wandered up the highway further to a place we had also heard about from the same friends, but also by numerous other travellers beginning their own journey along the Alcan, Liard Hot Springs.  Before reaching the springs we were in for yet another experience this part of the country is warming up to throw our way.  We had seen a few highway warning signs and sure enough, heading their way south down the Alcan,  was a small herd of bison.

These are the huge herds early settlers talked about as they headed west into the interior of the USA.  By huge, some of these herds used to take literally days to pass.  So we stopped on the side of the road and watched them meander past us, not a care in the world and very slowly wander off, including a few new born bison.

Not very far from the hot springs we had our next ‘interesting’ experience and this time it involved Rob the ‘bear believer’ becoming the ‘bear whisperer’.  Till now when we saw a black bear we would pull over and wind down the window to take photos. The bears usually became nervous and made their way for the trees.  This time however as Rob begun to take some video, this bear gets up and walks straight over towards her open window.  

one black bear beneath 'bear whisperers' window

“Will you please put the window up!” or words similar to this came excitedly from her lips a few times and yep, it went up alright because the bear ended up sitting then lying directly underneath the window looking up at us.  Certainly got the adrenaline pump working.

It was now the long weekend and Liard Hot Springs is a Provincial Park, which means you can camp BUT all the camping areas were already reserved.  The choice then was to camp in the car park near the springs which we did for a night.

There is a 700m walk along a boardwalk over marshy ground leading to the springs and sitting in 40+C very clear water is a great way to relax, which we managed to do 3 times during our stay here. 

There is a layer of hot water on the surface and cooler water underneath and at the end of the springs at its source, it can be up to 53C.  Both of us managed to get up to that end, briefly, after a tip from another bather on how to do it.

After Liard we stayed in Watson Lake for a night, which is just over the border into the Yukon and  visited the Northern Lights Centre and spent time looking at some of the 70,000+ signs in the signpost forest.

The Yukon has a population of around 35,000 but a land mass of 483,450 sq km which simply means there are a lot of black and white spruce trees and not many people.  The Yukon has a large number of lakes and rivers and over the last week we have been using a few of them for camping, places like Big Creek, Teslin Lake and Tarfu Lake after looking at Snafu Lake.  

camping next to Big Creek

Tarfu is an acronym meaning - ‘Things are really f***** up’ and Snafu means - ‘Situation normal all f***** up’.   Many of the Yukon Government campgrounds next to these lakes are still closed but we have used them anyway and they supply firewood, so the campfires have been great during some colder weather.  The Lakes have also meant a little more wildlife.

So as I said at the beginning, we have detoured off the Alcan and in 2-3 days returning to it. We have travelled down the Klondike Hwy to reach Skagway which I will write about next post.

This map below shows our route from the Canada/USA border to where we are currently in Skagway, Alaska.










The second map simply shows the entire route we have taken since leaving San Francisco.

Yes there are more photos just click on the link below:

CLICK HERE for more photos - Starting up the Alcan 2014 

So what will happen after Skagway?