Homebound Down the ALCAN: Yukon and British Columbia

From Whitehorse we continued south and east across the Yukon Territory, then into British Columbia.

Camp near Pine Lake YT (MP 699). A super-wide double ender with toilets

We chased the pot of gold but it eluded us

The Sign Post Forest is Watson Lake’s most famous attraction. Travelers from around the world have been bringing signposts from their hometowns to the Sign Post Forest since 1942 and continue to do so today.  The tradition began during the Alaska Highway construction in 1942, when U.S. soldier Carl K. Lindley spent time in Watson Lake recovering from an injury. A commanding officer asked him to repair and erect the directional signposts, and while completing the job, he added a sign that indicated the direction and mileage to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. Others followed suit, and the trend caught on. Today there are over 83,000 signs in the Forest, and the number grows each year as visitors contribute signs and continue the tradition. The Town of Watson Lake maintains the site, adding more sign posts as they fill up.

We posted our sign

Real estate was at a premium on the posts.  I was tempted to pull an older, less substantial sign down to make room for ours.  Many folks had done just that.  At the bottom of each post were several older signs that had "fallen" off.  However, I was prepared and carried a 3' step ladder and was able to reach high on a post where there was some room.

We even found the sign we posted in 2011

On September 28, 2016 there were 83,886 signs in the forest.  But who's counting.  No really, I mean, who's counting???

Watson Lake signpost forest: sign count by year

After we left Watson Lake we almost immediately crossed into British Columbia.  We had hoped to spend the night at Liard River Hot Springs, but the campground was full when we arrived.  We had met to a lady at Watson Lake who was from Juneau and was traveling to Idaho to watch the solar eclipse.  We ran into her again here at Liard, and she had scored the last campsite.  DANG!

No room at the inn

Flexibility is a virtue, and we made the best of it.  We parked in the day use parking area and hiked to the spring for a dip.

What CAN you do here?

We had dinner at the day use area and went back to the hot spring one more time for a final dip.

Toasty water at Liard River Hot Springs

After our second visit to the spring we left the park and found a nice spot to park just a few miles down the road.  Faithful readers will know we are not strangers to roadside camping

Camp near Liard River YT

At one point we rounded a bend and found ourselves smack in the center of a herd of bison.  This ain't Yellowstone, folks.  They were right there in the middle of a 100 kph (62 mph) highway.  Click HERE to see a video of the bison

Bison on the boulevard

Caribou on the carriageway

We also saw some less conventional wildlife.  We later learned that a nearby outfitter was letting these horses roam freely on the highway.

Horses on the highway

Between a rock and a wet place

When we passed through here in 2011 this place had excellent home made cinnamon buns.  We were looking forward to some more.  DANG!

It's a good thing we didn't need any fuel!

At $1.59 per liter, I certainly would snivel (~$4.79 per gallon US dollars)

Another interesting potty door.  Kinda like a freezer latch

There is a reduced speed zone coming into the Village of Teslin.  We saw this mountie on the side of the road and hit the brakes.  They sure fooled me!

Faux Mountie

A glorious sunset

Flowers at the Fort St. Nelson Visitor Center 

This map gives a good depiction of the length of the Alaska Highway

Normally Mile 0 is at the beginning of one's trek up the Alaska Highway.  We're a little different; we did it backwards.  We came by here only on our way home.

Does anybody really know what time it is?  Does anybody really care?  (Chicago/Robert Lamm 1969)

On this day we had a strong tail wind, which seems to almost never happen. I was getting a little over 10 mpg.  SWEET!

Flags blowing at the Dawson Creek railroad depot museum and visitor center

Departing Dawson Creek we entered Alberta CA and began our long trek across the Canadian plains.


Oh, by the way, news from the good luck department:  I am a long time subscriber to Sirius satellite radio.  I received an email for a sweepstakes offering free tickets to this event.  I entered, and we won two tickets.  The event is in Charlotte on September 15.  It will be tight, but we plan to make it home just in time.

The Yellowhead Highway from Jasper to Prince Rupert

On Wednesday we departed Jasper headed west on the Yellowhead Highway towards Prince Rupert BC, 680 miles away.  The weather forecast for points along our route for the next 5 days was for near constant rain.





We quickly crossed the border into British Columbia and into Mt. Robson Provincial Park.

Matilda herds the Canada geese

After we dropped out of the Rockies, the terrain and scenery were less spectacular.  It was kinda like northern Minnesota, but with less pot holes.  We stopped at the Costco in Prince George and pumped 345 liters (92 gallons) of fuel.

We spent Wednesday night at a great free campground in Burns Lake.

We found this place on free campsites.net

There were about a dozen campsites with a great view of the lake.

They even had Pickleball!

I've played Pickleball on a number of different surfaces, but never at a curling rink

Houston is the Steelhead capitol of the world.  A steelhead salmon is essentially a migratory rainbow trout.  They boast the worlds largest fly rod.

Let's go fishin'! 

Eventually we entered the Coastal Range mountains and again enjoyed spectacular scenery.  It continued to mist and rain, which added a different dimension to the views.

The driving mileage count:  Myron-3492; Dorcas-0

 After three weeks and 3492 miles on the road, the coach was filthy.  I asked Dorcas to see if she could look on-line and find an RV wash down the road.  Before she could act (sometimes she's a little slow) we stumbled onto the Suds 'N Bay in Smithers BC.

One might ask why Dorcas is doing the washing. Well, someone had to take the pictures.  Actually we took turns.

Baby gets a bath.  The motor home too.

The coach and the car looked much better after the bath, but our efforts were somewhat wasted.  It continued to rain, and both were quickly dirty again.

 We stopped for Thursday night at the Kinnikinnick Campground and RV Park, a Passport America park (i.e. half price camping), in Port Edward BC.  We stayed here in 2011, and it is only about 12 miles from the ferry docks in Prince Rupert.

It was a dreary day at camp in Port Edward.  Little change in the weather is expected for the next week

Our ferry to Ketchikan didn't depart until after 6:00 pm, so we had a little time to kill in the greater Port Edward area.  We visited the North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, the last intact salmon cannery of dozens that once existed along the North Pacific coast.  The cannery operated in the early 1900s and most of the buildings and equipment are still intact.  Here they illustrate the canning process from when the fish are unloaded at the docks until the product is warehoused for shipment.  When the cannery first opened it used much manual labor, but the various processes were mechanized as time went on.

Today ends our long cross-continental journey and begins the Alaskan phase of our Great Alaska Adventure.  This afternoon we will board the MV Matanuska for a 6-hour ferry passage to Ketchikan AK.