There it is – kilometre after kilometre of spectacular scenery; raw untouched wilderness surrounding the narrow ribbon of road marking man’s invasion in the pristine frontier of rivers, lakes, wildlife and dense vegetation. If it weren’t for the occasional settlements along the way, it felt like I was on the outside looking in at this vast expanse of nature untouched by human development.
My imagination often got the best of me and as I saw the piles of rocks that extended way up the mountain-side, I envisioned the snow and rocks cascading down from the enormous glaciers that covered the whole area.
It didn’t take much to imagine snow up on the mountains – here it is the middle of June and there are snow-capped peaks all around us.
Nature can be peaceful or she can be violent. It is something that the animals accept but we human seem to be especially affected by the unpredictable changes nature throws at us. The unusually intense run off from the heavy mountain snow-pack this year and the recent rains resulted in slides and washed-out roads. People were stranded all up and down the highway but good stories came out of calamity. Watson Lake and north was running low on supplies and at the Rancheria Cafe, a grocery transport truck opened up his trailer and distributed the food it was carrying.
NEVER have the Motorhome and car been so dirty and muddy.
And you do have to be prepared for any and all eventualities.
Alcan Highway Communities
Each settlement along the way has tales to tell and a walking tour guide to help you navigate the highlights and unique history of the place.
After Dawson at Mile “0” the next settlement is Taylor (Mile 36). It sits on the shore of the Peace River and was the site of treaty signings between the Cree and Beaver First Nations. There was a ferry service across the river until a suspension bridge was built in 1942 but it collapsed in 1957. Rumour has it that Taylor once had an oil refinery but the oil was sent to Edmonton to be re-refined because it did not reach quality standards.
The next sizeable communities are Fort St. John and Fort Nelson. Both have become primary oil field servicing centres are busy and bustling. The only wildlife we saw there were the two legged kind and it was pelting rain. Not my idea of places we wanted to explore, so we moved on (Except Fort St. John’s wonderful City Sani-dump).
We stayed at a small Provincial Campground called Buckinghorse Campground between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson. I was surprised how many rental RV units that were on the road and then realized that most of the travelers are European. We parked next to one couple from Germany and his English was about as good as my German. Through it all, we did manage to find out that they would be in Canada for a few months and that they had flown directly to Whitehorse from Frankfurt.
He did coined one phrase I thought should be put on a bumper sticker Adventure before Dementia. What do you think?
The Real Wildlife
Most of the Northern Wildlife is certainly willing to share their space with the many tourists that wander up and down the pavement in and amongst their homes. Here in the middle of June (before the Summer Solstice) the animals were just shedding their winter coats and the babies with their Moms had recently joined the herds.
Many of the animals have become VERY human savvy as they travel along the roads and invade the camp grounds.
My Sighting of a Moose!
The funniest sign was the one that said CAUTION: Watch for Moose for the next 88 km.
Why 88 km? I never did figure it out.
To Be Continued
1 comment:
Nice photos! The three times I've been up the Alcan we had no problems with weather. We were delayed in Dawson Creek by fire- not sure if we should take the Cassier. But it worked out.
Jaimie
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