D32 - 05/30/24 A RACING MOOSE AND BUCKINGHORSE

Good morning! Our little monster got us up at 4:21 am this morning. She was thinking it was 7:21 am. I thought it was 5:21 am because when I peaked out from under my eye mask my watch told me it was 5:21 am but it hadn’t updated! Woof! I’m so confused on the time of day and even what day it is now. With no reservations it definitely makes it harder. 

Yesterday began our no reservations for almost the next month. Today began our journey on the World Famous Alaska Highway. And it started out with the most beautiful blue skies and crisp white clouds. Perfect for our Historical Milepost 0 picture. This milepost is marked with an arch and a cairn. Thank you to the lovely couple we met there and who took our pictures! We passed you again this afternoon. Hope to see you along our journeys. 

The Alaskan-Canadian Highway (Alcan) began in March of 1942 as an executive order to build a military road to Alaska. It was finished in November of that year. Eventually being opened to public traffic in 1948. It took much hardship and dedication to build the 1,523 mile highway. 

Since we had departed the campground early. We made a number of stops to find parts for the oven. Tim thinks he found a solution at the Canadian Tire store. What a store! There is everything thing there from auto parts to home décor, outdoor living products, gardening supplies, camping gear, fitness/sports equipment, tools, tires and more. I finally found my coffee pour-over items there today. 

The drive to our stopping point this evening was easy even with rain and 10% grades. Gorgeous changes in the landscape along the way! Traffic wasn’t bad but seemed a bit heavier than previous days. We didn’t see much wildlife. There were lots of signs warning about moose, caribou, wild horses, bear and deer. But nothing until we spotted a moose standing a safe distance off the road ahead. Tim had just taken over driving and was beginning to slow as a precaution. The moose saw us as we approached. Watched us for a bit. Then began running toward the truck like to get ahead of us. Really?! Nooo. Tim had to accelerate and get into the other lane to keep him from running into us. The moose finally climbed back up the embankment to safety. What a moment! 

Today also begins what we believe to be the beginning of being off grid for periods of time. We have landed for the evening at Buckinghorse River Wayside Provincial Park. Just shy of two hours south of Ft. Nelson where the wildfire had just been. There is no cellular service here and we have Elthree-37 deployed to help us out with internet. There are no camping services (water or electric) here either. It’s a very scenic off grid spot. Our campsite on the river is beautiful. There is still snow and a small ice shelf here  along the rivers edge. Only a few others are here camping in the other section. Just realized how dirty the Airstream is now and how far from home we are! 

Tomorrow we will pass through Ft. Nelson with hopes of making some purchases. Hopefully what we do spend there will help in some way. I can’t even imagine what they have gone through. 

Sunset: 9:54 pm

Sunrise: 4:23 am

Elevation: 3,310’

Miles from home: 

5,328 km/3,310.7 miles

Wildlife viewings:

Moose

D31 - 05/29/24 DAWSON CREEK!!!

Wouldn’t ya know it? We had rain most of the night last night in Jasper. Travel day! Departed this morning with partly sunny skies. Our departure took us east on Highway 16. This gave us opportunity to view the one area of Jasper National Park that we had not been to … the Miette Hot Springs area. Gorgeous!

Our first stop was in Hinton. Hinton was just past our turnoff to head north. This stop was to do a little grocery shopping outside of a tourist area. It was great! Hit a grocery store,  hardware store and even made a beer stop. Canada doesn’t sell beer or wine in their grocery stores. 

The drive north from here was beautiful. The aspen are all leaf popping their beautiful bright green leaves for spring. Lots of pine forests along the way. Lots of rain. Lots of steep grades. Lots of big trucks. I handled it like a pro! When we fueled in Grande Prairie we saw our first Alaska direction sign here. Tim took the wheel at this point after fueling for the last 90 minutes of today’s drive. 

The final destination for the day is Dawson Creek, British Columbia and we are at the Mile 0 Campground. We have crossed into another time zone. It was pouring on our arrival through town so we did not get our 0 Mile Post picture. We will hopefully backtrack to get that in the morning. This is the start of the world famous Alaska Highway.

Ended the day with a propane leak in the oven. Hope to fix that tomorrow! Sun came out. LOL Now let’s see where this evening’s drivers meeting gets us tomorrow. Jett always loves helping with that! 

Miles from home:

5,051 km/ 3,138.5 miles

Elevation: 2,180’

Sunset: 9:31 pm

Sunrise: 4:26 am 

*Note shift in sunset/sunrise times due to … crossing into another time zone! Now 3 hours behind Eastern time. 

Wildlife sightings:

Black Bear

Elk

Moose

Canada Geese 

Deer

Caribou 

D30 - 05/28/24 THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

THE GOOD:

Highway 97 through Ft. Nelson re-opened yesterday. Yes! Now we won’t have to detour. We were able to get another night, tonight, in Jasper here at our Whistlers Campground.  This gives that community time to get their residents relocated back home after almost three weeks evacuated due to a wildfire. We will drive through with all our necessary supplies (fuel/groceries) as to not deplete anything from them. If possible we will make purchases of unnecessary goods, as we navigate through, to help support the community due to loss of income/revenue recently. 

THE BAD:

It rained today. On and off all day. So grateful we decided to make the summit yesterday! 

After we moved the Airstream into our new site for one night, just in the next loop, it was clean up on aisle #1. I try to do major cleaning on moving days. Light cleaning on ‘stay’ days. 

THE UGLY:

It was laundry day. We found an amazing and super cool laundromat. Coin Clean Laundry! This laundromat offered gourmet coffee and pastries, lounge areas and even showers. Our lattes were very delicious and perfect on this rainy day. The amount spent … $34 CA to wash only three loads of laundry. Would really like to wash more but WOW!! And then add the $12 for two lattes that we had to have! ;-)

On our return to basecamp a detour was made to visit another area of this gorgeous National Park. The drive up to Pyramid Lake was beautiful even in the rain. Our destination was Pyramid Island! Such a beautiful and treasured setting. I can see why many brides want to get married here. Especially with Pyramid Mountain and Whistlers Mountain as spectacular backdrops. 

Sunset: 10:03 pm

Sunrise: 5:36 am

Wildlife sightings:

Black Crow fighting a Ground Squirrel 

Elk 

Deer

Canada Geese 

D29 - 05/27/24 I CLIMBED A MOUNTAIN AND I TURNED AROUND …

WHISTLERS MOUNTAIN SUMMIT 

The views are stunning no matter where you look in Jasper, but there's something special about seeing it all from above. And turning around to see the entire 360* view is another experience all together. Our day began driving a short distance from basecamp to the Lower Station and then taking a ‘flight’ as they call it on the Jasper SkyTram. It is the longest and highest-guarded aerial tramway in Canada. The seven minute journey in the gondola gets you just a part of the way up this beautiful majestic mountain. 

Once at the Upper Station then the hard work began. We now realized that today was the best weather day to make this hike happen. Here are a few statistics for you:

Elevations …

Town of Jasper: 3,489’

Our Basecamp: 3,550’

SkyTram Lower Station: 4,280’

Upper Station: 7,410’

Summit: 8,110’

And we did it all!! 

This summit hike took a little effort. When I got to the false summit point I considered myself done. Then Tim TOLD me that I would be disappointed if I didn’t summit. So we did! Onward. And it wasn’t bad at all. Not at all!! I had more of an avalanche fear and a fear of not heights but a fear of falling. INDESCRIBABLE VIEWS!  (and haven’t even viewed the GoPro pics yet)

Soooo 1,000 percent worth the effort! We had put on our micro spikes part of the way up for safety. It was just what I needed. The trail at this point was not only super steep but covered in snow. What did we see at the summit? A breathtaking 360* view of the Athabasca Valley and all the surrounding peaks. Just a winter wonderland spectacular! And of course no words or pictures do this amazement justice. Thought we were prepared. Had hats. Gloves. Hiking poles. Water. Snacks. Micro spikes. Needed more gloves. Needed my snow boots and my scarf! Needed a few trees and my emergency hammock!! 

Once back down to the Upper Station we stopped in at the Summit Restaurant for a much needed cold brew and some amazing hot and yummy Whistlers Mnt. Bison Chili. It was so good! And great to replenish a few calories before heading back to our basecamp. 

Just as we were settling back at basecamp (note: we were inside the Airstream) Tim noticed a line of seven to eight or so cars (just happened all were black) coming into our camping loop and stopping in front of our site. He figured he’d go out see what was going on. Keep in mind there is not much vehicle traffic here and you knew these cars were not ‘campers’. Just as Tim opened the screened door to step outside the Airstream a somewhat large mama grizzly and her cub came walking by between our campsite and the next one. WOW! (no time for pics) They were moving through!! We just stood frozen in the doorway watching them. We kinda tried to get a picture but sometimes you just need to observe and take in the view. 

Appears weather wise we will have a lovely evening. Tim started another campfire. Head on a swivel! 

What a day! 🌸

Oh-ohh, the landslide bring it down. 

Sunset: 10:02 pm

Sunrise: 5:37 am

Wildlife viewing:

Elk 

Chipmunk 

Ground Squirrels

Mama Grizzly and cub