Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

After finally saying Goodbye to our morning visitor, we headed down the road about 116 miles to the quaint town of Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. The Yukon is about the size of California but it's population is only about 35,000 people and the majority of those live in Whitehorse, the Capital.

Construction began on the Alaska Highway in 1942, bringing over 11,000 army personnel, civilians and contractors to the Yukon to work on the project. Watson Lake's world famous "Sign Post Forest" was started in 1942 by Carl Lindley, a homesick U.S. Army soldier. Today, over 68,000 signs are hammered row upon row on the signposts. I added a sign to the Forest.

The name of a popular recreation site at the edge of town is also a reminder of those early days when an enterprising lady set up a tent at Lucky Lake to "entertain" servicemen. Today, Watson Lake is known as the Gateway to the Yukon and the highway is still a central fixture bringing thousands of visitors to the North each year.

Watson Lake is also home to the Yukon's only visitor facility dedicated to the science and folklore of the aurora borealis or "Northern Lights".

Morning Visitor

We were getting the rig ready to roll down the road to new adventures when we spotted an early morning visitor.

Right in front of the RV came this rather large bull Buffalo slowly grazing. He was there for the better part of two hours and he didn't seem to be the least bit frightened when we went out to take his picture.

Here is what it looked like. You don't get to see this back home and this again is one reason we're "On The Road Again".

Laird Hot Springs, British Columbia

This morning after the rain stopped we refueled and started a long 93 mile trip to Laird Hot Springs.

There is a boardwalk across the marsh lands that support more than 250 boreal forest plants, including 14 Orchid species and 14 plants that survive at this altitude due to the hot spring water.

There are two hot springs pools with temperature from 106 to 126 degrees. Since the weather was still a little rainy we decided not to go into the pools. Maybe we can go on our way back home, the water was nice and clear and it really looked inviting.

Maybe these pictures will give you some idea of what they looked like.

It has been brought to my attention that I did not include pictures of the hot springs. It seems that the WiFi I was using stopped before all the pictures were loaded. I'm very sorry about that and hopefully now all of the pictures will be there.

Toad River, British Columbia

Today, we left Fort Nelson heading west on the Alaska Highway to find different towns and new excitement. Our next stop is Toad River, British Columbia and it's only about 121 miles away.

We drove through some of the most beautiful and rugged country side I've seen in a long time. Also today we ran into something we haven't seen much of on our trip...Rain. Thanks goodness it wasn't a hard rain and the roads were not bothered by it. We had some more rain tonight but it was a welome site.

As always, Jerry was very busy with her trusty camera and here are some of the results. Sit back, have the pop corn ready and enjoy.

Fort Nelson, British Columbia

Fort Nelson was originally established as a fur trading post in 1805. Fort Nelson flourished with the construction of the Alaska Highway, making it the bustling community it is today.

We went to the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum which was right next door to the campground where we're parked. It was an interesting museum.

Tomorrow, we'll be back "On The Road Again" heading further west toward Alaska. I believe I can promise more pictures.

The Alaska Highway

Today we began a 215 drive on the Alaska Highway. Although we're still technically in British Columbia, we're traveling on the Alaska Highway.

The Alaska Highway begins at Mile Zero in Dawson Creek, BC. The first 613 miles of the Alaska Highway are in British Columbia where it is designated as BC Highway 97 North. The highway travels in a northwesterly direction to the Yukon Territory border near Watson Lake.

The entire distance from Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks, Alaska is about 1,500 miles through some of the most unforgiving country in the world. Although it goes where "no man had gone before", it is a beautiful drive.

On our drive today, Jerry had her trusty camera ready and took some pictures to give you some idea of the beauty of this country. Get your pop corn ready and enjoy the pictures.

Kiskatonaw Bridge

Today we took a seventeen mile trip north of Dawson Creek to see the original bridge that was built on the Alaska Highway. This is the only original bridge still in use today. It is 531 feet long and about 200 hundred feet above the Kiskatonaw River. It was built from British Columbia Spruce timbers that were cut about 200 miles from the building site and brought in by truck. The bridge has a nine degree curve which makes it an engineering marvel. Remember it was built long before they had the bridge building equipment they now have.

We also went to the Walter Wright Pioneer Village which depicts Dawson Creek before the Alaska Highway construction period. It takes you back to the time when Dawson Creek was on the edge of the frontier. These houses and buildings were relocated from their original locations to the Pioneer Village. Great care was taken to move these building without damaging them.