Dawson Creek to Whitehorse Yukon

     Last Saturday morning (Almost a week already).....we said goodbye to Dawson Creek at around 8:30 am.  We had decided to stop in Fort St John to meet up with Karen Lowry (Kokoska).  Karen and I went to high school together way back when!  I knew that she was living in Fort St John but thought she had just moved down to the Vernon area.  But they are in the midst of moving from their beautiful home on Charlie Lake.  In fact by the time I get this posted, they will be gone from the cooler north to the sunny Okanagan.  We spent about half an hour with Karen and her husband Dean at the Tim Horton’s.  Just as we were coming into Fort St John we were involved in a bit of a road rage incident.  Well we weren’t the “rager”, but perhaps the cause of it.  The lines on the roads up north are horrible (worse then those on the Coq)  and basically non existent, most likely due to the salt and sand that is put on the roads in the winter.  At times you are literally guessing as to where your lanes are, and there are no shoulder lines in a lot of areas.  As a tourist, this is very frustrating and I would imagine can be very dangerous.  So as we drove into Fort St John, all the cars in front were driving in two lanes.  We followed a truck into the right lane, when he suddenly veered to the left.  The “lane” we were in was blocked off with orange traffic cones, so we too veered into the left lane.  Now I am not sure if Ray did a shoulder check or not, but a black truck came speeding up beside us honking his horn.  We stopped a few feet ahead at the traffic light and the guy pulled up beside us in yet another lane, jumped out of his truck and came up to the window screaming at Ray.  You can use your imagination as to what exactly was said.  It all happened fairly quickly.  Anyway Ray apologized to the guy of course, because we were in the wrong by “veering” into his lane.  The guy went back to his truck and made a left hand turn, but was clearly very mad.  We were at fault for pulling in front of him, but really?  I thought the road rage was in high metropolitan areas only, but apparently not! All in all that is the only issue that we have encountered so we are doing pretty good and Ray is managing to keep his stress levels down!  We had a great visit with Karen and Dean and then we were off as we had a very long drive ahead of us.  

     I can’t stress enough about the beauty of the Peace River country and if wasn’t so far north, I could live here!  After leaving Karen and Dean in Fort St John, we continued north west on the Alaska Highway.  Our destination for the night was Liard Hot Springs.  From Fort St John, you head pretty much straight north into Fort Nelson.  Now I thought that Fort Nelson would be at least the same size as Fort St John or Dawson Creek.  There was not much in this tiny little town, but we did gas up the truck.  So far we had been getting about 13-14 miles per gallon, which is great considering we are pulling the fifth wheel and are going through a few mountain passes.  Much better then the 7 miles per gallon we were getting in the Chev!!!  Fort Nelson is the first “major” town you come to after leaving Fort St John.  Saying that, it is not major by any means.  There is a small airport there although we didn’t see it at all.  After stopping some fuel and I bought a cup of coffee from the store.  Knowing that it was not going to be anything special, but it was really awful!  If the male clerk in the store had not been so friendly I might have taken it back in and asked for my $2 back.  I really am turning into a coffee snob.  If the coffee is too weak it sets my heart a fluttering.  If it is too old (more then 20 minutes is my maximum) then it bothers not only my taste buds, but also my tummy.  I prefer a nice freshly brewed cup of bold coffee.  And it doesn’t have to be a Starbucks blend.  It can be made in a coffee press, coffee pot but most definitely not a camp pot as that just tastes like boiled coffee to me!  So you see,,,,,I am a coffee snob!  Anyway I gave Ray the cup that I bought as he is NOT a snob when it comes to the java bean.  

As we left Fort Nelson we noticed that it was getting quite foggy.  It turned out not to be fog, but was a forest fire.  The thicker the air got, the worse it smelled.  Like burnt wood (oh duh!!!).  I did have some hospital masks an my oxygen concentrator in the truck thankfully, as I ended up putting both on.  

I googled fires in the Fort Nelson area to see if maybe we should go back to the town and wait it out or continue ahead.  The fire was north east of us, we continued on as we were heading north west.  At times you could see the pink glow and a plumage of smoke coming off the mountain range directly north of us.  The air thankfully finally cleared and we were back to driving that long and winding road again. 




     As we were nearing Muncho Provincial Park we started to see some signs indicating mountain goats ahead.  The terrain in this particular area is very rocky and the mountains are also very rocky.  Large boulders litter the sides of the highway for miles at a time.  There is a mountain called Stone Mountain, and it is this area that is the rockiest of all.  And this is where was saw some mountain goats.  They just hang on the cliffs or stand on the side of the road watching all the traffic go by.  I wonder what they are thinking???

Liard Hot Springs

     Just before we got to Liard Hot Springs, we saw a young bull moose standing in a gravelled area eating something off the ground.  We managed to get turned around so we could get a photo of him.  We are seeing lots of wild animals on this trip,,,,unfortunately I can't add them to the blog as the wifi is so slow that adding photos is a nightmare!!!   Liard Hot Springs (which is in Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park) is Canada's 2nd largest outdoor Hot Springs and is well known for its natural setting and lush boreal spruce forest  Situated amongst the bushes and trees it is rugged but charming.  Walking on a wooden boardwalk through a marshland, you come to the change rooms.   Once changed into your swimsuit you step out onto a wooden deck which surrounds the lower hot springs.  The temperatures range from 100 to 130 degrees.   We of course chose to go into the cooler end.   Stepping down into the hot springs you cannot help but notice the wilderness around you.  It is so quiet!  One could almost meditate, it is that peaceful!   If it were not for the walk into the park, this would be an amazing place to visit in the winter!  There is something to be said about sitting in 100 degree water in a forest for 10 minutes.  The smell of sulphur is thick in the air, but after a minute or two you don’t really mind it.

Long walk out on the boardwalk to get to the springs

The mosquitoes were not so bad, you just had to make sure that you are sitting in the water up to your neck and watch each others faces so see if the bugs land on you.  When it was time to get out of the pool, you had to move quickly to get changed before the mosquitoes realized there was fresh meat out and about!  The campsites are spacious and as in all Provincial Parks, have no hook ups.  The Rangers were coming around selling firewood if you wanted to have a campfire.  I thought that was odd as I was sure there was a burning ban on for the whole Province?  Later that night we were inside our Fifth Wheel when we hear a male voice calling out “Hey Rockwood”.  Ray went outside to find a fellow and his wife who had some questions about our 5th wheel.  Ray invited them in, but they declined.  I stayed inside and chatted through the screen……..I was at least protected from the mosquitos that were flinging themselves at our screen door trying to get to my veins!!!  The mosquitoes were about the size of a dime!!!  No I am not an idiot!  The next morning we were up and on the road fairly early.  We had about a 6 or 7 hour drive to get to Whitehorse which was the next destination.  Between Fort St John and Liard we had seen so many black bears that we were not getting too excited to see them, but what we started to see more of was wild Bison.

     You know my blog would not be the same without a bit of playful ribbing at Ray’s expense.  We have left Liard Hot Springs behind us and are heading towards Watson Lake with just less then half a tank of diesel in the truck.  Ray of course doesn’t tell me this and I don’t ask because after our trip last year he promised me he won’t let the fuel get too low.  But after driving about 135 kms I do notice that he is driving a bit slower then he had been.  A sign on the side of the road for Iron Creek indicates a store and fuel stop.  There is a “closed” banner across the sign.  I don’t think anything of it, in fact I don’t really pay any attention to the sign.  A short distance up the road is a sign for Contact Creek also indicating a store and fuel stop.  This is about the time that Ray tells me that he hopes they have diesel.  I look over at him and ask “why”?  He tells me that we have been driving on fumes for awhile.  ARGH!!!!!  I can’t believe it,,,,there was a gas station in Liard but Ray thought that having just less then half a tank would get us to Watson Lake, but apparently the last half of the tank goes down faster then the first half????  Thankfully this tiny place of Contact Creek had gas and diesel pumps.  And they even have “full service” with an old guy pumping your fuel!  After the fill up Ray says that we were not totally dry but had 1 & 1/2 gallons of diesel left.  Ray says that would have only taken us maybe 20 miles and Watson Lake was still 68 kms away.  Contact Creek was the last place with fuel and with no cell service we would have been food for the mosquitoes or bears!!!  Or should I say Ray would have been because I would have stayed in the truck!!!

Watson Lake

     Watson Lake is first town once you cross the border into the Yukon.  I thought it was going to be bigger then it was, but no it was quite small at least at the highway there was not much to it.  No Tim Hortons and definitely no Starbucks.  Perhaps it was larger and we just couldn’t see the town.  We did stop at a “TAS” service centre and had breakfast, which was very good  There was a young biker who was on his way back home to Spokane.  He had ridden his Suzuki up to the Arctic Circle.  He looked like he was craving people to talk to se we had a nice chat with him.  As you enter Watson Lake, there is a “Sign Forest”. It is a park that has hundreds or possibly thousands of street signs and city signs from all over the world.  There is a path you can walk so you can read all of them.  

This not the best photo of the Sign Forest, but definitely gives you a good idea of how many signs there are.  The day was very overcast.

The drive from Watson Lake to Whitehorse is very long.  Between Watson Lake and Spirit River you will see many names "written" in rocks.  Miles of names placed securely in the dirt alongside the highway.

You have no idea how isolated I felt making this drive.  Constantly wondering who on earth would live up this far north away from everyone!  There is nothing but long lonely roads snaking their way through the forests and mountains.  As far as you can see.

I am unable to add the photos to this blog that I wanted to add and that would make it far more interesting.  The wifi experience in the north is not the best.  Yes we do have it, but it is extremely slow!!!  I will post our three days in Whitehorse, but want to be able to add photos to the blog,,,,,perhaps tomorrow?

Happy travels,,,,

Lori and Ray

****Update,,,,, managed to get the photos added!