Day 2: Pink Mountain to Fort Nelson, BC – 143.2 miles traveled (April 29, 2016)

We pull out of Pink Mountain Campsite & RV Park at about 10:30 am. For the first hour, the only “town” we pass through is Sasquatch Crossing. Spring hasn’t arrived yet to this more northern area; the spruce and birch trees are still bare. We climb and descend some grades, which let us look out over the unending forest that stretches to the Rocky Mountains in the distance. The other vehicles on the road are mostly oil & gas trucks that climb grades very slowly.

Signs of civilization begin to appear as we near the town of Fort Nelson. We pass a huge building, the Spectra Energy Gas Processing Plant, and a gas pipeline that actually crosses the Alaska Highway. Muskwa Heights is an ugly unincorporated area with a rail yard, gas processing plant, fuel outlets, and the ubiquitous row after row of converted containers that serve as housing for the oil & gas exploration workers.

Just outside of Muskwa Heights, we cross the wide Muskwa River. Midpoint of the bridge is the lowest elevation on the entire Alaska Highway at 1,000 feet exactly.

We arrive at Fort Nelson at about 1:00 pm and although we’ve only been driving for 2-1/2 hours, we’re ready to stop for the day. It takes just three minutes to drive through Fort Nelson and stop at the Triple “G” Hideaway campground at the northwest end of town. It’s the most expensive campground so far in Canada at CN$40.00 but has good Internet, laundry, and best of all, it’s located near the Northern Rockies Regional Recreation Center where there’s a 25-meter lap pool!

Although the whole population of Fort Nelson is just 6,147 people, their recreation center is meant to serve the entire region. The whole facility is brand new. It houses (as one would expect) two ice arenas and a rink, racquetball and squash courts, a gym, climbing wall and Aquatic Centre. The 25-meter lap pool is amazing! No lanes are marked off; one just swims aligned with the lines on the bottom. Only two other swimmers besides Mike & me use the pool for the entire hour that we swim. And after our swim, Mike & I soak for ten minutes in the huge hot tub – heaven!

Day 1: Dawson Creek to Pink Mountain, BC – 143 miles traveled (April 28, 2016)

To get to Anchorage, Alaska, from the U.S., many travelers drive the Alaska Highway (sometimes called the ALCAN). The Alaska Highway starts in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. It then travels 1,387 miles through B.C. and Yukon Territory to its official endpoint in Delta Junction, AK.

After leaving Vancouver, it takes us three and a half days of driving through British Columbia just to get to the town of Dawson Creek where the Alaska Highway begins.

This mural in downtown Dawson Creek shows what the “Mile 0” marker looked like in the 1940s

Linda & Mike at Mile ‘0’ of the Alaska Highway

We find the “Mile 0” marker for the beginning of the Alaska Highway, park the RV in a vacant lot, and walk over to take a photo to commemorate this historic occasion. The marker is in the center of a busy intersection so we have to dodge traffic to run out to it. It seems like the drivers are used to tourists doing this! Interestingly, the milepost shows 1,398 miles to its official endpoint at Delta Junction but due to some improvements to the highway a few years ago that straightened it out, the actual mileage is now “just” 1,387 miles.

Mike with a map of the Alaska Highway in the Alaska Highway House museum

The nice woman who took the photo runs a small but extremely interesting museum called The Alaska Highway House. We take some time to tour the (free) museum. We learn that the Alaska Highway was constructed by the U.S. Army in just nine months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1942. Since Canada took over responsibility for the Alaska Highway in 1946. It’s been improved over the years – it’s actually several miles shorter now than it was in the past because it has been rerouted and some of its curves straightened out – but it has only been fully paved since the 1980s.

We also learn that the Alaska Highway was constructed largely by African American enlisted soldiers in the Army Corps of Engineers, many of whom were from the South and had never experienced extreme cold.  “…the black soldiers received insufficient equipment and clothing, long hours of duty and very little recognition by their white officers.” In spite of all this, “…these troops are also often cited for their incredible hard work and skilled road building.”

It’s 3:30 pm by the time we start our journey on the Alaska Highway (aka BC-97 north). And then we only drive 17 miles before we take our first detour to see a section of the old Alaska Highway and the only original timber bridge still in use. We drive across the curved Kiskatinaw River Bridge and then park so we can walk back across it in order to take in the view of the river far below.

We cross the Peace River Bridge – the red & white pipe also crossing the river is for oil & gas

The side road that takes us over the bridge is a short loop and we re-enter the Alaska Highway at Mile 22.5. A few minutes later it starts to rain as we cross the Peace River Bridge and pass through the town of Taylor.

We take a break about 4:45 pm when we reach Fort St. John, which is definitely the biggest town we’ve been today (population 18,000) with several malls, a movie theater, hospital, airport, etc. We stop for coffee and a donut at Tim Horton’s, where we discuss whether or not to stay in Fort St. John tonight or keep on driving. It’s stopped raining, we’re not tired of driving yet, and Fort St. John seems like an ordinary city without much interest, so we decide to keep driving for another hour or so.

We stop at Charlie Lake to see the memorial to twelve U.S. Army soldiers who died in 1942 when their pontoon boat capsized and they drowned. It doesn’t seem like that large of a lake for such a disaster but the interpretive sign explains that most of the soldiers couldn’t swim, the water was icy cold, and they were wearing heavy winter clothing and boots. Five soldiers were rescued by a local fur trapper in his rowboat.

Mike at the memorial to the soldiers who died in 1942 when their pontoon boat capsized on Charlie Lake

There’s a wetland area under restoration at Charlie Lake – I can hear the distinctive trill of a Red-winged Blackbird and finally see one perched atop a cattail as they typically do.

As we continue driving through gently rolling countryside broken only occasionally by a small farm or ranch. There are acres and acres of trees, mostly spruce and birch. We pass through the amusingly-named town of Wonowon at Mile 101. We occasionally pass “camps” consisting of row after row of modular housing where the oil and gas exploration workers live.

Our campsite at Pink Mountain Campsite & RV Park

We stop for the night at about 7:45 pm at Pink Mountain Campsite & RV Park at Mile 143. We get a nice pull-thru site for the discounted price of CN$30.00 because as the woman in the office explains it, “There’s no sewer because the septic hasn’t thawed out yet.” We’re the only ones staying there tonight.

To drive to Alaska from the U.S., most travelers take the Alaska Highway, which extends 1,387 miles from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska. But before we can do that, it’s a three and a half day drive from Vancouver through British Columbia just to get to the beginning of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek.

Linda crossing the Suspension Bridge over the Capilano River

Before we leave Vancouver, we spend a few hours at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. I’m a little nervous at first but both Mike & I thoroughly enjoy the view as we walk across the 45 feet long, 230 feet high Suspension Bridge. Far below, the Capilano River rushes through the canyon. The bridge sways quite a bit as people walk across it but I remind myself that there’s been a bridge here since 1889 and there have been no accidents.

Once we’re on the other side of the canyon, we explore Treetops Adventure. It starts in a treehouse and continues on seven suspension bridges through magnificent old growth Douglas firs. These shorter suspension bridges don’t sway as much as they connect platforms high in the canopy. We enjoy Treetops Adventure so much that we walk around and do it again!

Some of the suspension bridges that connect magnificent Douglas firs in the Treetop Adventure

Mike bravely standing on the Cliff Walk grate

The Cliff Walk is our last activity. It’s a narrow wooden suspending walkway winding its way down the cliff face with spectacular views of the canyon and the river below. I like it because it doesn’t sway like the Suspension Bridge. At one point there’s a glass panel to stand on over the abyss and at another point there’s a grate that juts out over the canyon, which is actually more unsettling to stand on than the glass.

We could spend all day at Capilano Suspension Bridge Park but we want to make some progress today so we start driving at 3:00 pm. BC-99 is known here as the “Sea to Sky Highway”. It runs along Howe Sound past Horseshoe Bay, Lions Bay, and Furry Cove. It looks like a fjord with the heavily forested mountains (topped with patches of snow and wreathed in clouds) sloping steeply down to the bright blue water.

Along the “Sea to Sky Highway”

Whistler

It takes about two hours to reach Whistler, where we take a drive through Whistler Village. It reminds me a lot of Breckenridge with its condos, hotels, and restaurants. Although it’s almost the end of April, the gondola is still running, the parking lot at the ski area is full, and there are lots of skiers and snowboarders walking back after a day on the slopes.

The drive after Whistler is one of the prettiest we’ve ever been on. The mountains with their snowy peaks and glaciers surround us while we drive through healthy green conifer forests, along rushing rivers and creeks, past too many waterfalls to count, and along scenic lakes. We drive for at least 100 kilometers without any sign of human habitation and only a few cars pass us.

Glaciers and waterfalls

As it starts to get dark, we see numerous deer munching on the foliage along the side of the road so Mike has to drive the RV extra carefully.

It’s 8:00 pm by the time we pull into the First Nation town of Lillooet. We’re a little worried because we haven’t seen an open campground since we left Vancouver – they’re all “Closed for the Season”. But a few more kilometers down the road, we find the lovely, OPEN Fraser Cove Campground on the banks for the mighty Fraser River and stop for the night.

Our campsite along the mighty Fraser River at Fraser Cove Campground

The next morning we take a walk around the campground and along the Fraser River before we continue driving on BC-99. We get only a few kilometers down the road when we see such an impressive waterfall bursting out of the cliff across the river that we have to stop to appreciate it (and take some photos).

The landscape changes, becoming drier with less trees. There are some widely spaced pines but mostly the vegetation is characteristic of high desert. The winding road follows a deep canyon through which the Fraser River flows.

The mighty Fraser River

We take a little detour to the town of Cache Creek for lunch and have some absolutely terrible Chinese food for lunch; although they call it Chicken Chow Mein, it’s basically Top Ramen with no vegetables or sauce, topped with a couple of microwaved chicken pieces. I don’t know how the waitress is able to serve it with a straight face.

We get on the road again but now we’re driving on BC-97, known as the “Cariboo Connector – Gateway to the North”. Our next stop is the town of 100 Mile House. Originally a stage stop, it was named for its distance from Lillooet. It’s a big town with a car dealership, airport, banks, and the Caribou Mall. There’s even a Safeway where we stop to do a little grocery shopping before continuing our drive north.

Our afternoon drive takes us past several beautiful lakes full of waterfowl – Lac la Hache, 130 Mile Wetlands, Williams Lake, and McLeese Lake. We stop at a small no-name lake where we walk down to the public floating fishing dock. I see several Lesser scaup swimming and hear, but can’t see, Red-winged blackbirds in the cattails.

After driving almost 300 miles today, we stop for the night a little earlier at 6:30 pm in the tiny town of Hixon at the Canyon Creek Campground & RV Park. Very few campers at this time of the year but at least it’s open!

Pretty Canyon Creek as it flows past the campground

Hixon Falls & Chute

The next morning, thanks to a suggestion from our campground hosts, we backtrack south on BC-97 for a few minutes, and then turn onto a dirt road. We drive for a couple of kilometers until it looks too steep and narrow for our RV. So we park, continue down the dirt road on foot, and then hike on a path across two foot bridges. We hear Hixon Falls before we see it. Because it’s spring, the water is literally exploding over the falls and then tumbling down Hixon Creek in a torrent.

After enjoying the beauty of Hixon Falls and Chute, we get back on BC-97 and resume our journey north to the fairly large city of Prince George. After Starbucks, lunch, and a trip to the post office, we continue driving north. The scenery is pretty monotonous with trees, lakes, trees, rivers, trees, lakes…and then at about 5:30 pm we see our first black bear foraging in the foliage at the side of the highway!

Bijou Falls (Provincial Park)

Ahead of us we see a mountain range with snow-covered peaks. This is the Rocky Mountain Trench, marking the western boundary of the Rocky Mountains. We’re steadily climbing through the Misinchjnka range of the Rockies when we see a sign for Bijou Falls Provincial Park and decide to stop. Another amazing waterfall gushing down the mountain, full of spring run-off – really spectacular!

We continue to climb until we crest Pine Pass, elevation 3,061, the high point on this highway, even though it’s not really not all that high. We pass frozen Azouzetta Lake (although I wouldn’t walk out on it). Snow is everywhere along the highway until we descend to a lower elevation.

Dusk is a great time to see animals but we have to be very alert to avoid animals on the highway. A second black bear ambles through a grassy meadow by Pine River. A few minutes later, two white-tailed deer run across the highway right in front of the RV but Mike avoids hitting them. Then we see a herd of about six elk in a meadow.

At 7:50 pm we see a sign for the Peace Foothills and we’re treated to a view across a wide verdant valley with a river snaking its way down the middle. We stop for the night at the first open campground, Caron Creek RV Park.

The next morning, it’s just a 10 kilometer drive to Chetwynd, a town renowned for its chainsaw carving and the “Home to the International Chainsaw Carving Championships”. We spend the next hour walking around the town to see as many of the chainsaw carvings as we can. They’re everywhere: along the main street, in vacant lots and shopping centers, and in front of businesses. Apparently, the carvings are all finalists in the chainsaw carving championships of years past. Subjects include mystical creatures (especially dragons), animals from moose to tigers, First Nation warriors, cowboys, hockey players, and even little green men in a flying saucer.

Chainsaw carvings in Chetwynd, BC

Next stop is the town of Dawson Creek and the start of the Alaska Highway!