Day 3 Land of the Raven

Mile 0 Alaska Highway

345 miles today- Woodpecker Rest Area to Charlie Lake Provincial Park. Better but the sad thing is all of the really cool places I don’t have time to stop at and enjoy. I realize that this journey is worthy of a couple of months with no job that one has to return to by a certain date. It is a bit frustrating however, I stay in the day and enjoy the time I have exploring.

Got an earlier start this morning since I actually slept last night. I talked to a woman who cleans the Woodpecker rest area bathrooms. Her opinion is that the human race is doomed based on the amount of shit (literally) they smear in the pit toilets. She might have a point.

The original Milepost 0 is in the middle of an intersection!

Only brief stops here and there today. Dawson Creek for the Alaska House and photo op at the Mile 0 pole. Plus viewing the Alaska Highway museum. 

Road trip

More road tripping

Boreal forest and muskeg and all of the amazing plants are all along the drive from Prince George to Fort St. John. No surprise since the boreal forest covers 60% of Canada's land area. Spruces- black and white- stunted from growing in such a harsh climate, many ancient. Jack pine, balsam fir, and tamarack are also found here. Many aspen groves, poplar, and other deciduous shrubs round out the ecosystem.

I heard the delightful calls of loons at a lake near my Windy Point gas stop on Hwy 97. 

Ahhh road construction

I enjoyed my construction stop today because I was able to stop and look around a bit. All these amazing lakes, ponds, and bogs (muskeg) and no place to pull over and explore.  Once the pilot car rolled around I decided that the muddy fine gravel might be a challenge so I put the truck in 4 wheel drive which was a good call.

The drive today had some pretty hairy moments with blinding rain and winds. A later construction area was damn scary. An 8% (at least) grade at 50km/hr with sharp curves and a sheriff following behind me. I couldn’t gear down low enough! Whew! But then it’s onto a mile-long metal grated bridge! I could feel every groove in the grates. I swear the trailer and truck were driving on their own. At least it wasn’t wet!

Near the Dawson Creek visitor center

Dawson Creek- Milepost 0 for the Alaska Highway. I was unable to spend much time there, just enough to learn that men died to build this crazy highway in 9 months in 1942. So far I’ve learned that a total of 30 men died. Some froze to death (-70 degrees Celsius) and 12 drowned in Charlie Lake when their raft sunk in a sudden storm. Even horses died from too many mosquito bites. The highway has been moved and straightened (shortening it) and most of the bridges have been replaced but some of it is still true to the original alignment. It makes the trip a little somber knowing that men died building this highway to protect Alaska from the Japanese after they bombed Pearl Harbor. The whole thing seems sad.

A link to the PBS documentary- 
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/alaska/

Side trip just north of Dawson Creek to one of the original Alaska Highway trestle bridges still intact.

Wooden deck

Tonight I am at Charlie Lake Provincial Park just north of Fort St. John. There’s a bird peeping outside my trailer that I don’t recognize. Of course it’s twilight so I won’t be able to see it. There was a time I'd spend hours chasing that call down to identify it. These days I just enjoy listening. This campground is entirely aspen, cottonwood, serviceberry and I have no idea what all of the other shrubs are; all deciduous. Apparently it’s known for its unique diversity of plants. I’m a bit out of my league with identifying the trees and shrubs here.

My campsite tonight

Wildlife sightings: swans sleeping in a pond, beaver lodges, golden eagles, more kestrels, and red-tail hawks. Every day is a raven day with crows only near towns.

Lesson #3 Don’t turn back no matter what the critics in your mind might say. This is an adventure; life is an adventure.