9/4/2009 - Dawson Creek to Prince George, BC

Today we drove from Dawson Creek to Prince George, BC. One of the first towns we went through was Chetwynd, BC which holds the International Chainsaw Carving Championship. It will be on our list as a place to go back and visit as it looked like a really interesting town.

Here are a few photos of the carvings as we drove through town.

9/4/2009 - Happy Birthday Demetrius

Happy Birthday Demetrius! Although we can't be there for your special occasion, we wish the very best 16th birthday!

9/3/2009 - Dawson Creek, BC

We spent most of the day in the town of Dawson Creek exploring two museums. The following two signs are at the visitor center and museum.

And this sign also is at the visitor center. As you can see, it marks the beginning of the Alaska Highway. However, for us, it marked the end of the highway.

While at the visitor center, we toured their museum and saw a very interesting 60 minute film of the building of the Alaska Highway. There were some very tough men who withstood the terrain and weather to cut the road through over 1500 miles in just 8 months. After lunch we went to the Alaska Highway museum where they also showed a very interesting 60 minute film.

9/2/2009 - Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek, BC

We left Fort Nelson and made our way to Dawson Creek today. After getting set up, we drove into town. This photo is of Milepost 0 of the Alaskan Highway.

9/1/2009 - Liard Hot Springs to Fort Nelson, BC

We left Liard Hot Springs and drove to Fort Nelson, BC today.

Here's part of the bison herd that we didn't see yesterday.

And here's some very fresh bison scat.

The road paralleled Muncho Lake for several miles.

Here are a couple of photos of stone sheep which frequent this area.

This is a part of folded mountain ranges.

8/31/2009 - Watson Lake to Liard Hot Springs

Today we drove from Watson Lake to Liard Hot Springs.

This is a view of the Liard River.

The Milepost warned us herds of bison in the areas approaching the hot springs. We only saw three individual bison during today's drive. This is one of them.

We arrived at Liard Hot Springs campground and set up for our overnight stay. We then walked out to view the hot springs. We chose to walk, but there is a parking lot so that you can be closer to the boardwalk. The boardwalk is about .4 mile to get to the actual hot springs and it is a beautiful setting when you arrive there. They provide changing rooms and restrooms there. We didn't bring our swimsuits with us on our walk and decided not to go back later.

8/30/2009 - Whitehorse, YT to Watson Lake, YT

We left Whitehorse and headed to Watson Lake today. Here are a few photos of the journey.

This is the Teslin River bridge as we approach it from the north.

Before starting our trip to Alaska, many of our friends told us that we had to make a mandatory stop at Mukluk Annie's. They said that if you had their salmon bake dinner, that they provided you with a free boondocking sight for the night. Before we started north, we found out that Annie's had closed down at the end of last season, so we weren't able to enjoy this stop. I wasn't able to get a photo as we headed north, but did stop on the way south just to get a photo.

Ken spotted this unique car and trailer a few days before we actually got to meet up with them. It finally worked out that they were at the same rest area when we stopped for lunch. This is a 1915 model T speedster (all stock engine and running gear) that Matt rebuilt I believe as a school project a few years ago. He also built the trailer that they towed behind the car. Matt and his wife Jess had been planning the Alaska trip for several years. They waited until Jess graduated from law school, then took the ferry from Bellingham to Whittier, and were driving from there back to Mt Vernon, WA.

Here's the trailer.

This photo is of Matt and Jess all bundled up and ready to hit the road.

After arriving at Watson Lake and getting set up for the evening, we walked over to the famous sign forest. The visitor center told us that there were over 65,000 signs now posted there.

Another shot of the sign forest.

As we were going through the sign forest, we ran into Matt and Jess, and they took our photo.

And yet another shot of the sign forest. It's an amazing site and much more than we expected.