FORT NELSON, BC TO LIARD HOT SPRINGS, BC

 The first of several Black Bear sightings.

The drive from Fort Nelson to Liard Hot Springs, through the Canadian Rockies, is one of the most scenic stretches of the Alaska Hwy.   When we pulled out of Fort Nelson, the sun was shinning, it was warm, and I knew the sights ahead would be memorable.  When we pulled into Liard Hot Springs, I was a little surprised to find that it wasn't very crowded, and we had room to park where we usually do, near the boardwalk entrance to the Hot Springs.  Last time we parked here in 2007, the cost was $10.  This time it was $21.  We had no Internet, no TV, and no phone at Liard, so this post is being done from our destination today - Watson Lake.  I'll post tomorrow on the drive from Liard to Watson Lake.  I was able to load more pictures than I usually do, so I'll let them speak for themselves.

 The cinnamon buns at Tetsa River are too die for!  Not cheap @ $5 each, they're worth every penny.

 Glad we didn't need to fill up here.  $1.79 per litre = $6.81 a gallon.

 Stone sheep just before we got to Muncho Lake.

Muncho Lake is the classic turquoise color of many north country lakes and rivers.

 These Bison are almost always near the Liard River Bridge.

 The Liard River suspension bridge was originally built during the initial phase of the Alaska Hwy project during WWII.

When Gracie our four legged feline began to act very strange around the bottom of the recliner, Patty said  "she's after a mouse".  I thought she meant her toy mouse that always seems to end up under something.  When I looked under the chair to retrieve her playtoy, I was face to face with the real thing, and it was still alive!  It must have been shell shocked by Gracie's attention, as I easily picked it up by the tail, and released it in the woods.  The phrase "catch & release" gained new meaning, as the cute little critter was still kicking when I let it go.  Where in the heck this hitchhiker got on board, is anybody's guess.

Liard Hot Springs, a little over 100 miles south of Watson Lake, is a must stop for anyone traveling the Alaska Hwy.  This visit was somewhere around our 11th time we put our bodies in the soothing 100-120 temperature natural hot springs.  Since our last stop in 2007, the deck, stairways into the pool, and the changing rooms have all been redone.  It was good before, and it's even better now with the improvements.  After we soaked for awhile, we walked back to the motor homes, where I BBQ'd some pork tenderloins for dinner.  When we were finished, we all walked back to the pool, but I was the only one who went back into the water for a second time.  If you like natural hot springs, it doesn't get much better than Liard.

 The boardwalk to the hot springs is about 1/4 mile through an almost tropical environment.

 The bathing beauties!

Northern Lights RV Park (2nd day) $40.50
Triple G RV Park Ft. Nelson $39.90
Cumulative RV parks - $388.43
Miles traveled - 191  Cumulative 3,385

DAWSON CREEK, BC TO FORT NELSON, BC

The first 300 miles of the Alaska Hwy, from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, is very similar to the first two pictures.  An excellent road, lots of trees lining both sides of the road, with an occasional glimpse of wildlife, like the Elk cow pictured above.  We also got a quick view of a black bear, who was near the tree line.

We checked into the Triple G RV park on the west end of Fort Nelson, a place that we stayed at 12 years ago.  Lots of changes for the better, with a lot more room for big rigs.  Even though they advertised WiFi, neither Nancy or I could get on the Internet all day yesterday.  Same thing this morning.  I brought the lap top to the office, and told the gal that I was disappointed that they advertised Internet connectivity, and hadn't delivered.  She went into the office, and said "try it now".  I turned on the computer, and low & behold, it connected!  I'm sitting in the cafe right now, writing this post.  I wonder if they just never turned it on yesterday?

 Bridge maintenance is one of many construction projects we'll be encountering.

After we got parked, we walked next door to the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum, and spent about an hour looking around.  There is an amazing collection of everything from vintage cars, to turn of the century furniture.  Several buildings are located on the property, and it's well worth the senior price of $3.

The owner of the museum Marl Brown, has been collecting "stuff" for over 60 years.

 

 Patty and Nancy couldn't resist posing with a true north country icon.

Today, we're off to Liard Hot Springs, a place that no Alaska Highway traveler should miss.  It's only about 150 miles, so by this afternoon, we'll be soaking in one of the worlds greatest natural hot springs.

Northern Lights RV Park, Dawson Crk  $40.50  Cumulative - $286.93
Diesel @ Petro Canada Ft. St. John - 204.9 liters @ $1.349 = 54.1 Gal
$276.30  Cumulative $1,640.61
MPG - 6.2  Cumulative 7.9
Miles traveled - 284  Cumulative - 3,194

PIONEER VILLAGE & N.A.R. MUSEUM

On the radar yesterday -  Pioneer Village, and the Northern Alberta Railway (NAR) Museum & visitors center.  Dawson Creek was a sleepy little town before WWII, but it was at the end of the  NAR line.  When the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands, the U.S. & Canadian governments quickly decided that a supply road to Alaska was a necessity.  Dawson Creek served as the southern starting point, and the rail line was the method of transportation for all of the troops and equipment.

Pioneer Village is a collection of buildings and equipment, dating back to the early 1900's.  We spent an hour or so, transporting ourselves back about 100 years into what was a much simpler life in Northern British Columbia.

 The General Store was stocked with most of what was available in 1915.  

 

From Pioneer Village, we drove into town, stopping at the old railroad depot.  The Northern Alberta Railroad museum is more of a visitors center, with very little information about the early Canadian Railroads.  From one of the maps on the wall, I could see that Dawson Creek was the end of steel in 1942, and when the troops and civilians arrived to build the ALCAN Hwy, the small town grew to several thousand people almost overnight.  The rail line now extends north to Fort Nelson, where it ends.  There has been a lot of talk and some studies over the years, regarding a rail connection between Alaska and Canada.  Considering the cost, and terrain, I'm pretty sure that's never going to happen.

Our time in town was finished with a stop at WalMart & Safeway.  I started to BBQ a couple of pork tenderloins around 5pm, but an afternoon rain storm put a halt to that effort.  We went to plan B, and called it a day.  We're still able to get most of the TV channels on our Winegard Traveler satellite antennas, but any farther north, and it's doubtful.  This morning we'll be leaving mile O of the Alaska Highway, destination Fort Nelson.

HINTON, AB TO DAWSON CREEK, BC

Even though we had no Internet connectivity while spending the night at the Hinton Wally World, we always appreciate the opportunity to use their parking lot for overnight parking.  Our travels yesterday took us north on Hwy 40, that connects Hinton to Grande Prairie, with the small town of Grand Cache at about the half way point.  This short cut is a good road with lots of scenery, and quite a bit of wildlife.  It saves over 100 miles from the longer route through Edmonton.

3 sheep decided to cross the road in front of us.

 More Alberta wildlife.

Road construction is something you have to deal with on a journey to Alaska.  The window of opportunity (short summer season) is small, and all of the road improvement projects are compacted into just a few months.

Our destination yesterday was Dawson Creek, the official beginning of the Alaska Highway.  We pulled through town, then checked into the Northern Lights RV Park, located on Hwy 97 about a mile out of town.  With good WiFi Internet, and a 50 amp full hookup, we're happy campers, and here for one more night.

I unhooked our Jeep, and we drove back into town for a few pictures.  The sign pictured above is a required photo stop for anyone headed up the Alaska Highway.  This is the official mile zero when construction on the "Alcan" began in 1942.  If you're N/B, when you pass the sign, there is a parking lot on the right that is large enough for big rigs to enter, park, and turn around.

How often do you find a gaming establishment with your name on the sign?  When we passed by this Casino on the south side of Dawson Creek, Patty and I did a double take!  Since we were already back in town, we drove to "Chances" for a few pictures.  What are the chances that one of the Chances will strike it rich in Chances?

As we continue to travel farther north, the days are getting longer and longer.  I'm usually in bed by 9pm, and up with the chickens.  Well, I'm still up in the morning with the chickens, but as you can see by the thermometer/clock, the sun was still brightly in the western sky at 9:43pm last night.  With an inside the motor home temp of 78, and an outside temp of 72, bright sunshine all around, it was a good travel day.

Miles traveled - 290  Cumulative - 2,910

GOLDEN, B.C. TO HINTON, ALBERTA

We pulled out of the Whispering Spruce RV Park (not a good place for big rigs) yesterday morning, turning east on The Trans Canada Highway.  We immediately started climbing into the Canadian Rockies, where we entered Banff National Park near Lake Louise.  The very steep road up to Lake Louise almost gave someone an anxiety attack, but she didn't even call me on the radio to question my sanity.  Once at the lake, we oooed & aaaawd at this world renowned beauty, taking some pictures of the magnificent scenery.  We all wondered what a room costs at this famous hotel.

We dealt with light rain all day, including our brief time outside at Lake Louise.  Once we had some pictures, we headed back to the motor homes,  then drove back down the hill to Hwy 93 (ice fields parkway).  The drive north through Banff & Jasper National Parks is filled with incredible scenery, and despite the clouds covering the snow covered mountain tops, we still got our money's worth.  We paid a fee of $19.50 to drive through the parks.

I can't remember the name of this lake, but it was still frozen.  Against the mountains on the other side, several small glaciers were clearly visible.

 The climb up to this viewpoint was pretty steep.  Looking south, you can see the road below.

 

I suspect the ice fields parkway got it's name from the area where the road travels right below the huge Athabasca Glacier.  We stopped at the visitor's center, had lunch, and took in the view from the deck of the lodge.  Not too many centuries ago, this glacier filled the entire valley, and building a road through here would have been impossible.

These ice buggy buses transport folks up onto the glacier, but we weren't interested, so didn't check into prices.  These things are definitely buses on steroids!

 The two dots are those big snow buses on the glacier.

 All of these temporary signal lights should have a countdown window like this one.

So far, wildlife that we have seen while driving include - Black Bears near Lake Louise, Deer, Elk, Moose, Bighorn Sheep, and a small flock of wild Turkeys.  This Elk was munching on the grass in Jasper National Park.

We parked last night in the WalMart parking lot in Hinton, and had no Internet connection.  I'm posting this from the Northern Lights RV Park in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where we'll be for a couple of nights.

Diesel Petro Canada, Hinton @ $1.179 per liter = @ $4.46 per Gal (71.7 Gals)

MPG - 7.5  Cumulative average - 8.1

Miles traveled - 249  Cumulative - 2,620