On Saturday, May 13th, Alan and I crossed the Lower 48/Canada border at Sweetgrass, MT into British Columbia. BC has a nice turn out and welcome sign for visitors just after they are cleared through the checkpoint.

It took us all of two minutes to get through the checkpoint. I had been somewhat stressed over this part as the process can go from what we experienced to being held for a couple hours and having vehicles searched. I was relieved that it went so smoothly.

Our plan is to drive the Alaska Highway from its beginning in Dawson Creek to the terminus in Delta Junction. Since we are starting early in May, we elected to take the eastern route rather than go through the mountains. We didn’t want to get caught in a snow storm or encounter icy roads. From the border we drove to Calgary where we could get groceries, etc. The next morning we continued north and by-passed Edmonton. From that point the route turns west toward Dawson Creek.

This isn’t a particularly scenic route and it was made even more so by all of the wildfires burning in BC. We encountered some pretty heavy smoke along the route.

On Monday the 15th we reached our first milestone, Mile 0 of the Alaska Hwy in Dawson Creek, BC!

We planned to spend one night at an RV Park in DC. Tuesday morning we got ready to leave. I checked the highway condition on drivebc.com and was greeted with the news that our route, Hwy 97 was closed due to fires near the highway just west of DC at Fort St. John. We started looking at our options. Of course this was just an inconvenience for us, but a life threatening situation for thousands who were under evacuation orders. About two hours later the road reopened so we quickly prepared to leave. Of course, we had to go by the Welcome to Alaska Highway sign for the obligatory photo 🙂

Roughly 50 miles west of DC there were a couple fires burning near Fort St. John. When we passed through, there were small fires burning right at the side of the highway.

We made it through okay; we didn’t see fires after this, but there was still a great deal of smoke. We learned that a few hours later the highway had been closed again for several hours so the firefighters could work effectively. That night we stopped at Triple G RV Park in Fort Nelson. This was an excellent park. They have nice treed pull through sites. And the best thing is they operate a restaurant with delicious food. Guests can call in their order and it will be delivered to the site. We took advantage of that the first night. Our food was very good! As you can see in the photo below of our site, the air was still smoky.

After two nights in Fort Nelson, we continued westbound, crossing Summit Pass, the highest point on the Alaska Highway at 4,250 ft – not too high. At the top we pulled off to see Summit Lake. It still had a good bit of ice.

Not much further along was our stop for the night – Muncho Lake Strawberry Flats Campground. This is a provincial parks campground and first come first served for $20 CAD per night. We were fortunate that there was one pull though site available that would accommodate our rig.

We did see some wildlife along the way, including several black bears.

On Friday we headed towards our next destination, Watson Lake. Along the way, there was a short walk to a waterfall on the Rancheria River. We needed to stretch our legs; this offered a nice break from the drive.

Friday and Saturday we stayed at Watson Lake Campground, another provincial park. There were several large sites available. We occupied pull through site #43. There were a few sights in town to see and they have a grocery store so we could resupply.

A major attraction in Watson Lake is the Sign Post Forest. Travelers can add a sign to the forest, which now is said to contain 90,000 signs! We meant to make a sign but with all we had going on we didn’t get to it – maybe next time we pass through!

Some of you may be wondering how to find information on the highway and plan a trip on the AK Highway. One of the best resources is “The Milepost” travel planner. It gives mile by mile information on the full length of the Alaska Highway as well as the other highways in Alaska. We are making much use of it.

One of the sights mentioned in The Milepost is a stained glass window in the Anglican church. It was designed by a local artist and titled Our Land of Plenty. It features a scene just north of Watson Lake off the Campbell Highway.

As we continued west, we saw more wildlife, including Stone Sheep, which are primarily found in northern British Columbia.

And Wood Bison, which is larger and heavier than Plains Bison, according to Wikipedia.

This Yellow-bellied Sapsucker stayed around our Watson Lake campsite.

On Sunday, the 21st, we arrived at Pioneer RV Park in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Monday morning we got in the car to go to town. Our TPMS system notified us we had a low tire – it was down 10 pounds. We checked with all the tire places we could find in Whitehorse. Since Monday was a holiday – Victoria Day, everything was closed. We had to wait until Tuesday to get the tire repaired. We had picked up quite a large nail in the tread. So we basically lost two days. We planned to stay in Whitehorse for two days, but extended to four. The first two days were nice, sunny weather. The next two were rainy and overcast. But we went on with our plans. One day we made a loop drive that is described in The Milepost – Atlin-Tagish-Carcross Scenic Loop.

Atlin is a small hamlet about 60 miles south of the AK Hwy on Atlin Lake. The drive down is very scenic as is the harbor on the lake. Most of the boats were still out of the water as it is early in the season.

From Atlin, we continued on to Carcross which was a major stop on the White Pass Railroad. It is about 32 miles south of the AK Hwy on the South Klondike Highway, which goes to Skagway. Carcross Commons, the town center is just off the highway. The commons features artwork and wood carvings by First Nation Tagish artists.

From Carcross, we continued north on the South Klondike Highway. It was a beautiful drive with several lakes along the way. This is Emerald Lake.

Our time in Alaska is just getting started. We will be here through August, heading back to the Lower 48 early September. We are looking forward to a great summer!