Mile 0 – The Alaska Highway Begins

We got a slow start as we had some camper chores to do (dump and fill water), plus we enjoyed good WiFi to catch up on work and life. After driving over 1900 miles in less than a week, we reached Dawson Creek on June 21, and the official Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway by lunch time. We have dreamed of this trip for years, planned for months, invested money, time and energy, so to get to this point was a very sweet moment as we realized this dream is now our reality. We took the obligatory pic, refueled (lunch and gas) and hit the road again.

Besides the “starting line” photo, our first tourist opportunity was a 5 mile detour that took us from the Alaska Highway to the Old Alaska Highway and the last remaining timber bridge that can still be driven on. It’s called Kitkasinaw Bridge and was built in the 1950s. (Check facebook to see the video.)

Mountains, lakes, evergreens, aspens, and wildlife. It’s like we’re right at home, but no big cities or crowds. In my research, I was careful to note all the roadside stops for hot cinnamon rolls. Our first came at Testa River Campground and gas station. (Even though they claim to be the Cinnamon Bun Centre of the Galactic Cluster, we rated their buns a 5.5 on a scale of 10 but it was still a fun stop.) We chatted briefly with a cyclist making his way on the Alaska Highway. The road is bad enough (we haven’t covered anything bad yet other than snow), the shoulder is truly terrible. Gravel and debris in some places, nonexistent in others, this trek does not look like it would be safe, let alone any fun. Yet there are plenty of cyclists riding with panniers, some pedaling in Keen sandals, making their way and dodging rain, wildlife, vehicles, and crappy roads.

There were a few provincial parks on the route today with strong possibilities for hikes and ATV rides. Unfortunately, the first one (Summit Lake) had an unappealing campground. We weren’t able to find the actual ATV trailhead/parking area so had to bypass that excursion. The second park (Muncho Lake) I was really excited about as I had seen other RVers pics posted on facebook during our planning phase. There were two campground options. The first had some open sites but not really accessible for our setup. Maybe it was the overcast, cloudy, rainy day, or maybe it was our overcast spirits, but the lake’s blue green color just didn’t hold the appeal we expected. The second campground turned out to be full so we had no choice but to keep driving. Once again, it was getting late for the second night in a row and we were still on the road. Trying not to get discouraged, we were out of campground options but felt we could keep driving, even though it was 6:45pm and dinner still wasn’t a consideration. It was then, just when we needed a boost, that we saw a black bear right off the highway. We skidded to a stop to get some photos. Hearts buoyed, we moved on and quickly spotted another. And another. And another. 10 bears in an hour! We knew it was time for dinner and time for rest. There were no campgrounds or towns in the vicinity and at this point, we were desperate for a pullout and finally found one to suit our needs just before 9pm. As I cooked dinner, we watched an elk run across the highway. It’s been a rough week of driving day after day, getting adventures and plans cancelled, but we know there is still plenty of road ahead.

At this point, we’re all three getting sick of driving and being in the truck. We’re on our third audiobook already. My biggest wish is simply to stay in one place for 2 nights in a row. Thankfully we have another hot springs planned today, after a half day of driving. We pull into Liard Hot Springs only to find the campground full. They have overflow camping available across the street, which is a parking lot of RVs stacked together. Come on! We gambled on our last hope, a private campground 2km up the road, called Mould Creek Campground. It turned out to be just the forest paradise we needed. There are wood bison along the road here and more bears in the area than normal (though we haven’t seen any here.) As I write this, I’m sitting in our Clam screen tent reflecting back on how thankful we are for this stop. Last night, we enjoyed the hot springs, met some new friends who came over for homemade cherry, berry pie at 11pm (it’s still light out), and saw a mama and newborn baby moose (which we weren’t able to get pictures of as we didn’t take cameras or phones to the hot springs.) Today we took several ATV rides, including the Liard Corridor, an overlook, and an awesome waterfall.

Mark wanted to fish so we found a perfect spot in the Liard River. He threw the pole in, wham! First cast was an arctic grayling (which we’ve never seen before)! We didn’t fish very long, and didn’t catch any others. The best part of the day was the sunshine! It was the first time since we left home and the sun was out and shone almost all day for us, with temps hovering around 60F. What a spirit lifter! Days like today are what we’ve been waiting for, and expecting more of. We’ve battled some mosquitos but it’s more of a tolerable annoyance for now. Rejuvenated body and soul, we’re ready to hit the road again tomorrow. It’s been an awesome, much needed two days of camping and adventure along the Alaska Highway.