We departed Williams Lake yesterday around 11:00 am after a leisurely morning and a quick look inside the Discovery Tourism Centre. We picked up a ton of brochures to help us plan our activities. Soon we were on our way to Prince George and after an uneventful trip, we overnighted at the Treasure Cove Casino. The weather was warm and mostly sunny when we arrived, so we sat outside for Happy Hour and a planning session.
We enjoyed poking around the Discovery Tourism Centre at Williams Lake.
Lunch outside the Visitors Center in Quesnel.
Bill and Kelly have planned their trip about as much as we have, which is hardly at all. We decided it might be a good idea to drag out a calendar and work on some kind of itinerary. B&K want to be in Seward by May 25th, as they are working there for the summer and need a couple of days to get settled before their job starts. And they want to go to Haines. Steven and I have no set plans other than reservations in Denali National Park in mid-June. So what the heck, let’s go to Haines!
Planning our trip details at Happy Hour. Our site at the Treasure Cove Casino in Saint George.
Haines has been on our bucket list for years, although we always envisioned visiting in the winter months, at the height of bald eagle season. In 2002 we flew to Juneau for the Christmas holidays at a little B&B and afterwards planned to travel on to Haines to film and photograph the eagles, which can number 2,000-3,000. Juneau had a rare holiday snowfall, and unfortunately, just to the north, Haines got socked in and our flight was cancelled. Man, we were so bummed! So we are looking forward to Haines and a visit to the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.
Anyway, tonight we are happily ensconced at Walmart in Dawson Creek, BC, otherwise known as “Mile 0” on the Alaskan Highway. All those traveling to Alaska this summer on the Alaska Highway come through Dawson Creek, no matter where they crossed the border in the U.S. This is the beginning of it all!
The big news about our drive today to Dawson Creek is that we saw our first bear! S/he was a black bear, and looked to be a healthy adult. (But what do I know?) I spotted her just moseying along the train tracks and hollered at Steven. He had just a brief look before we passed her by, there was no time to snag a photo. How exciting!! So our wildlife count as of today is four bald eagles, one black bear and one yellow-bellied marmot. 🙂
The roads so far have been as good as any U.S. Highway. We encountered a small stretch with lots of potholes that had recently been filled, but it was bumpy nonetheless. That only lasted 30 or so kilometers. The further north we travel, the less traffic we encounter. We are 725 miles from Bellingham which we consider the start of our Alaska trip.
Kelly and Bill’s Fifth Wheel gets center stage for these scenic photographs on our way to Dawson Creek.
Bear Lake was where we saw our first bear. How fitting!! The light was beautiful along Highway 97.
Lunch at a rest stop on Highway 97. A good place to stretch our legs!
Rest Stop Selfie!
Tomorrow we are going to take it easy. It is supposed to rain, which is a very good thing because 45 kilometers north of Dawson Creek is a raging fire by Fort St. John and we must somehow pass through the affected area. We are hoping the rain will help lessen the smoke. As of this afternoon, the only way to pass the area is behind a pilot car.
So, if all goes well, on Monday we will travel to Fort Nelson. Hopefully we’ll have more wildlife sightings to report next time!
UP NEXT: A Photographer’s Perspective.
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Thanks for the preview of our route, we will be at all those same places within the next week!
Look at you all caught up and on top your posts!! Loving getting all the great pics and story as you travel north. So cool you've already seen your first bear :-))))
Looks like your trip is going great. Looking forward to the pics to come!
You guys are going to have an easy ride in your nimble set-up!
Right? This is what happens when there is no television and other distractions. Also, when there's wifi, we want to take advantage!
I saw your photo of snow covered peaks this morning! Have fun in Yellowstone!
Don't forget to stop and smell the roses. Fred was in an all-fired rush to get to Alaska too, but we enjoyed many multi-day stops in Canada on our way. Still so jealous of your trip. Just looking at your pictures makes me so nostalgic. One almost forgets the magnitude and majesty of the scenery.
Looks beautiful. It has been 13 years since we drove those roads. That is BIG country. Everyplace is a long ways and amazing to see. Hope the fires get under control pronto.
I knew you were going to tell me that. 🙂 I've been trying to text you from Dawson Creek to tell you we are all reading your blog about Dawson Creek, but it won't go through. I can text the kids, so I think it must be because you have a Galaxy. Anyway, know we are thinking of you and Fred and those who have come before us and paved the way. We sure appreciate all the info!
It IS big, and beautiful! We are five days in and still have nearly a week to go just to get out of BC! That just boggles my mind!
So fun to be traveling along with you vicariously. You're helping to pave the way for us (and we'll be consulting Fred and Jo's blog, too, of course :-)) Sounds like we had worse roads traveling I-10 through Louisiana than you've had on the Al-Can. Keep on blogging!
glad you landed in Dawson Creek unscathed..BC is indeed a big beautiful province with tons to see!!
We've made the trip 4 times, looking forward to our AK summer 2017 trip. I am happy to see the snow in your pics. In 2015 there was little to none. We took the Dawson City route in summer 2015. It's beautiful but I think we like the traditional route all of the way up the Alcan best. Travel safe, we saw 5 bear on the Alcan alone on our last trip. Be prepared in rest areas, had a black bear sneak up on me.
I was actually going to mention the roads are better than in Louisiana and Oklahoma, but I thought better of it. 🙂
It is so vast! We've really enjoyed the scenery, in fact, I slow way down trying to see everything, then I have to hurry to catch up!
OMG, a sneaky bear! We all purchased our bear spray, so hopefully we can remember to bring it with us when we're out and about! You must have this route memorized by now!