North to Alaska and Back
It rained during the night and continued to rain lightly for most of the morning. Low lying clouds limited our view of the distant mountains and countryside as we drove northwest from Muncho Lake. The road conditions, however, were decidedly an improvement from yesterday.
By the time we passed through Liard Hot Springs, the rain had stopped and we saw the first of several signs warning drivers to be alert for bison. Even so, we really didn’t expect to see any. We were so wrong! I think we had driven about a half hour after the first sign when we saw a herd of 40 to 50 bison, including calves on both sides of the road. A short distance later, we saw a second herd!
In addition to the bison, between km (kilometer marker) 765 and km 905 we had a total of 7 black bear sightings!
After checking in at Baby Nugget RV Park, we backtracked to Watson Lake to see the Sign Post Forest. In 1942 a homesick worker on the Alaska Highway started the “forest” when he added his hometown sign of Danville, Illinois to an army mileage post. That single signpost grew to a forest. The signs ran the gamut from toilet seats and dust pans, to engraved granite slabs. Jay and I had not made a sign to add, but no worries, within a short time, we spotted one already posed that said “Harrisburg, PA.”
jkfrese
43 chapters
15 Apr 2020
Day 16 - On to Watson Lake, Yukon
July 05, 2017
It rained during the night and continued to rain lightly for most of the morning. Low lying clouds limited our view of the distant mountains and countryside as we drove northwest from Muncho Lake. The road conditions, however, were decidedly an improvement from yesterday.
By the time we passed through Liard Hot Springs, the rain had stopped and we saw the first of several signs warning drivers to be alert for bison. Even so, we really didn’t expect to see any. We were so wrong! I think we had driven about a half hour after the first sign when we saw a herd of 40 to 50 bison, including calves on both sides of the road. A short distance later, we saw a second herd!
In addition to the bison, between km (kilometer marker) 765 and km 905 we had a total of 7 black bear sightings!
After checking in at Baby Nugget RV Park, we backtracked to Watson Lake to see the Sign Post Forest. In 1942 a homesick worker on the Alaska Highway started the “forest” when he added his hometown sign of Danville, Illinois to an army mileage post. That single signpost grew to a forest. The signs ran the gamut from toilet seats and dust pans, to engraved granite slabs. Jay and I had not made a sign to add, but no worries, within a short time, we spotted one already posed that said “Harrisburg, PA.”
1.
Day 1: Harrisburg, PA to West Branch SP, Ohio
2.
Day 2: On to Pokagon SP, Indiana
3.
Days 3 and 4 On to Illinois and Wisconsin
4.
Days 5, 6 & 7: On to Maple Grove, Mn and Fargo and Minot, North Dakota
5.
Days 8 & 9 - On to Saskatchewan,
6.
Day 10 - On to Alberta
7.
Day 11 - Elk Island National Park
8.
Days 12 and 13 - On to Dawson Creek, British Columbia
9.
Day 14 - Alaska Highway to Fort Nelson, BC
10.
Day 15 - On to Muncho Lake, BC
11.
Day 16 - On to Watson Lake, Yukon
12.
Day 17 - On to Whitehorse, Yukon
13.
Day 18 - Whitehorse, Yukon
14.
Day 19 - Whitehorse, Yukon
15.
Day 20: Klondike Hwy to Dawson City
16.
Day 21: Dawson City
17.
Day 22: Dawson City
18.
Day 23: On to Chicken, Alaska!
19.
Day 24 - On to Kenny Lake
20.
Day 25: Wrangell-St. Elias NP
21.
Day 26: Kenny Lake Area
22.
Day 27: Richardson Hwy to Valdez AK
23.
Days 28 & 29:Valdez
24.
Days 30 & 31: On to Anchorage
25.
Day 32: Katmai National Park
26.
Day 33: Lake Clark National Park
27.
Day 34: On to Talkeetna
28.
Days 35 - 38 Denali National Park
29.
Days 39, 40 and 41 - Fairbanks AK
30.
Days 42, 43 & 44 - Bettles, AK
31.
Days 45 & 46 - Tok to Kluane Lake
32.
Days 47, 48, 49 - Kluane Lake to Boya Lake
33.
Day 50 - Boya Lake to Iskut, BC
34.
Days 51 & 52 - Stewart British Columbia and Hyder Alaska
35.
Days 53, 54, 55 - Smithers to Jasper Park
36.
Day 58 - The Icefields Parkway
37.
Days 56 & 57 - Jasper National Park
38.
Days 59 and 60 - Banff NP
39.
Days 61, 62 63 - Banff, Alberta to Minot, North Dakota
40.
Days 64, 65, 66 - North Dakota to Minnesota
41.
Day 67 - Duluth, Minnesota
42.
Days 68, 69,& 70 - To Mackinac Island
43.
Days 71 thru 78, The Last Chapter!
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