Driving north from Jasper picking up Rte 40 and 43 brought us along the Northern Rockies back into British Columbia and Dawson Creek, mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. The highway is a 1500 mile road that was constructed in 1942 in less than 9 months by the US military and civilians for the purpose of facilitating military defenses in Alaska after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The road conditions varied from paved, chip sealed, gravel, potholes, patches and sections under construction. Most were chip sealed, a layer of gravel over tar. We hit many miles where this had recently been done with sand spread on top, plowed in and swept to the side with signage warning of “extreme dust” and “loose gravel”, all so true.
Coming out of the Rockies into the Southern Lakes of BC & the Yukon, we saw more animals including wood bison, elk, moose and black bears. I had really hoped to see the bison and we came across them when we pulled into a service area for fuel. On the Alaska Hwy., the service areas are low key usually with a general store, sometimes a small restaurant and gas pumps nearby with above ground tanks. Many of the buildings are old and of log cabin construction. Just as we were getting ready to leave, one bison came out, then another and several more with three calves walking all around the parking lot and vans. During calving season, they hang around the roads like the elk in Jasper for the protection against predators. Once the calves are older, they go back into the woods. These animals are similar to the bison of the plains but a little bigger with a bigger hump and live in the woods.
Both in Alberta and BC, the state parks are provincial parks that are quite a bit more managed compared to the Yukon. Here they are called government camps. The campgrounds are simple, clean and well designed in very nice locations and all offer the same - vault toilets, central water and firewood for $9/night. Rest areas along the highway seem to be an alternative but we have enjoyed the camps and will stay in more.
After another round of re-provisioning, laundry, dump, water and fuel in Whitehorse and a turn up the Klondike Highway, we are headed for Dawson City (gold rush territory) and the start of the Dempster Highway. A photo is included that shows the beautiful wildflowers along the highway, mostly bear root and lupine with dandelions and some kind of yellow daisy mixed in. Last night was spent near the Stewart River between the Klondike and Silver Trail regions. We’ve stopped along the way in museums, cultural centers, shops and restaurants that each serve the world’s biggest, best, worldwide famous cinnamon buns.
The Yukon is the land of the midnight sun. Today the sunset was at 12:28 a.m. and sunrise at 3:50 a.m. Takes some getting used to especially losing track of time and staying up too late but we have sleep masks, dark curtains and for Harry, sleep has never been a problem.
