On the Alcan

Today was one of those just perfect days -- cool, sunny, not too windy and I was finally on the Alcan Highway. Did you know that the original was built (1942) in just 8 months?  1500 miles of clearing forest, building roads, crossing rivers and creeks and brooks and ditches... I saw a short film about it this afternoon and was simply amazed. World War II was the impetus for a lot of things, and this is one of them. But back to yesterday.

Saw my first wildlife; there was a moose grazing along the treeline( the road is cleared about 100 feet back on both sides) but I didn't see it until it was too late to take a photo. But there were also these sweet geese next to a pond-- there were about 6-8 geese and a whole bunch of goslings -- and just two of the geese were watching over the goslings. It was like a preschool!!

I had lunch in Prince George (after visiting a quilt shop!) at the Fort George park. It was a lovely municipal park with walking paths, gardens, and picnic tables. Such a pleasant place to eat a meal. 

The park was right along the Fraser River

I love pasque flowers -- used to grow them when I lived in Seattle.

A bit later in the day, I passed the Bijoux Falls Provincial Park, and this waterfall so close to the road that I just couldn't miss it.

A bit later in the day, I arrived in Chetwynd, a town known for it's carved wood sculptures. There were several hundred of them, and I couldn't photograph each one, but these appealed to me.

There's actually a baby eagle in the nest at the top (a carved one!!)

I got into Dawson Creek pretty late, found a campsite (on an old baseball field -- at home plate!) and ate a quick dinner. It was still light out (about 9 PM) so I went looking for a grocery store and found a Safeway not too far away. Got some fresh veggies (and apples and pears!!) for the haul up the Alcan, and filled up with gas. So this morning I was ready to get on the road fairly early. (When I woke up this morning, the sun was already up, and it was only 4:30 AM. I'm going to have to find a way to get used to this!!)

Mile 0 sign.

This is what it looks like -- long stretches of empty highway with the trees cleared back about 100 feet on each side.

Something has been killing a lot of the trees --- whole hillsides are mixed dark and lighter green and this rust color of the dead evergreens.

The day ended with a visit to a quilt shop here in Ft. Nelson, a trip to the visitor center, and the local museum.  Now it's time for bed, but it's still light out.  The sun is down and it's the twilight kind of light, but I can see all the way up to the road from my campsite and that's about 300 yards away.