Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek to Watson Lake Part 1

Before thinking about taking the trip up the Alaska Highway I read reports about it. The articles told of the road being a steady stream of RVs housing recent retirees. They labeled the trip as a rite of passage. I imagined bumper to bumper RVs. Guess what? The road has been a pretty lonely during long stretches of highway. We have seen RVs and big trucks but never enough to feel that we were part of a cattle train. Pictures speak more eloquently than I.

Dawson Creek was a big city by Alaska Highway standards. Our Comfort Inn hotel was one of many offerings in the town and it was very comfortable.

Shortly after leaving Dawson Creek, we diverted toward the old Alaska Highway road to see the curved Kiskatinaw Bridge. This was a wooden bridge, 534 ft in length with a 9 degree curve. This bridge was made entirely from wood. It was bit scary to cross and very impressive from the other side. This was the only remaining wooden bridge left from the original road construction.

Further down the highway, in Taylor, we missed the vegetable market. Taylor was a natural gas town and the heavy duty power plants distracted us from seeing any signs about fruits and vegetables. Luckily we had stored up on fresh produce before reaching Dawson Creek.

After Taylor we drove and drove and drove some more. (I have driving pictures from the road and have uploaded only the best pictures.) Finally we came into Fort Nelson. This town reeked of dust. Many of the inhabitants work in the lumber or energy business. They drive long distances along dirt roads for their jobs. We also encountered some very dusty road construction before arriving in Fort Nelson. (In the construction zone, dust from the truck ahead of us was so dense that Sandy, the driver, could not see beyond 30 feet. It was a car joke that when Sandy got behind the wheel we would experience bad weather or bad road conditions or bad traffic.) The town's self service car wash was a popular spot for locals as well as visitors. I begged them to allow me to wash my car after hours. The hotel was pleasant. After settling in, we walked around town. Found the most wonderful health food store. The woman running it was very friendly. She gave us the Fort Nelson news and her history. She had a high paying job with a lumber company and gave up her job to setup this health food store. The store also has organic baby products. She claimed the town supports her work and she is planning on expanding the store. She and the woman at the hotel both complained about the lack of a bookstore in town. That night we ate at Dan's Neighborhood Pub; it was quite pleasant. They offered poutine as a side dish option. Poutine is french fries covered with a cheese sauce then smothered in gravy. None of us tried this rich dish though we have been assured it is quite tasty.


With Fort Nelson behind us we started to see some interesting scenery. The road was heading into the upper Rockies. Notice the plethora of traffic in these pictures. The mountain in the picture on the right has a rock top that is rippled. The earth dynamics that caused the rippling was a mystery to us.