DAWSON CREEK TO WATSON LAKE
Just before leaving Mackenzie, we forgot to mention that we were lucky enough to see an Arctic Fox! He had a darker coat for the summer but will be pure white through the winter months and is much bigger than the foxes we see in England. Dawson Creek, in Canada, is ‘Mile 0’ and the official start of the Alaska Highway (previously known as Alcan – Alaska- Canada Highway). We took a detour for a while and got to drive on the original windy gravel road. The permafrost made for an interesting adventure! We drove over Kiskatinaw Bridge which is a 162 metre curved structure. It was one of the first of its kind in Canada and today it is the only original timber bridge built along the highway, still in use today. We have had lots of warning about the size of the ‘bugs’ as we head north......mosquitoes the size of birds.....however – we didn’t realise they meant ostriches! So what effect will these flying critters have on us? Who knows? Only time will tell! We have all the lotions, potions and candles that are possible to fight the War of the Killer Mossie! We have bought a sticker which says that there is not a single mosquito in Alaska – because they are all married with large families! – Fantastic! Pink Mountain was the next great place to camp. We took a wander in the woods for as long as our nerves would allow! No bear luck yet but lots of warnings that Brown Bears are a fact of life in these parts- Do not be alarmed! Another fantastic wildlife spotting day as we drove between Pink Mountain and Beaver Lake. We passed through Fort Nelson and through more amazing scenery. We spotted 3 moose and a baby along the way and at Beaver Lake we saw 2 beavers at work! Busy as a beaver! Phil took the dingy fishing but spent more time watching the beavers! This lake was perfect for the boat but not good for swimming as there were lots of big hungry leeches! We had set up camp here, which was in the bush, all alone, many miles from any civilisation. The remoteness reminded us of being through the centre of Australia. Kangaroos are one thing – angry bears are another....... We had seen bear tracks, earlier, down beside the lake – of a mother and cub...... Just after Phil and the children had enjoyed smoked kippers for tea, cooked outside (hindsight is a wonderful thing!), I decided that I needed to chance the bush toilet hut! As I was walking down the track and minding my own business – there was a rather loud and continuous, spine tingling growl, coming through the bushes.......Realising that Phil was too far back to be winding me up , I shouted for him to ‘PLEASE STAND UP AND MAKE LOTS OF NOISE!!’ I retreated slowly back to base (no longer requiring the toilet!) Phil took a wander in that direction, brandishing an axe for protection and came back confirming that he too had heard ‘SOMETHING BIG!’ So we thought of our plan B! So - just to recap......we are in the bush, somewhere in British Columbia, in dense woodland, no telephone, no internet, no nothing.......sun setting as we speak.....and Nessie. It was a unanimous decision that we leave NOW! It was our quickest pack up ever (including getting the boat back up onto the roof). Jemma and Ben were placed on lookout duty facing the bush and told NOT to take their eyes off once! We made our escape........ We would like to point out how very keen we are to see a bear – but there is a time and a place- and an angry bear is probably not the best one to begin with! It was too hot for the windows to be shut and if we had stayed there, in the pitch black, we had visions of us being on century duty-all night long! So we travelled again through the evening, with camp grounds few and far between! We had interesting stretches of road and mountain passes, where the surface dust was as thick as dense fog and Phil was getting rather concerned about his new air filter! Eventually we found the Tetsa River Recreation Park and we opted for that idea! Even though we were in the bush again, we were not alone! We visited the toilet huts all together! As we rounded a corner we were honoured to see a MALE MOOSE this time-with his antlers in all their glory, wading in a roadside water hole-just for us! WOW! We were all mesmerised as we watched – very quietly and got some good movie shots and photos! At the Strawberry Flats Campground, our pitch allowed us to step right out of Nessie and into a crystal clear lake! The children lasted a little while with their wet suits on and then resorted to the boat! The lake is glacier fed-so no wonder it was a tad on the chilly side but they still insisted on snorkelling as the water was so tempting! They are still remembering the Great Barrier Reef! We spent a lovely time with our neighbours, Sandy and Margaret and wish them well on their travels too. As they are also heading to Fairbanks, maybe we shall meet again along our way! The evening bought a spectacular sunset over the Rocky Mountains –‘Red Sky at Night – Shepherds Delight’. The children are asleep, it is 10pm and still very light- the silence is golden and tranquil....and at the water’s edge the overgrown mossies are having their own party, because they think we are their supper! Dream on! The next day – we WERE the mossies lunch! We had another amazing day for wildlife – one of the best day ever on Macswayround for variety! We walked down to the river to take a close look at a wild herd of Bison (approximately 30 with 6 calves) and the mossies saw us coming.....all this amidst the freshly trodden footprints of deer, elk, wolf, bear and bison down at the water’s edge! A few minutes before – along the Alaska Highway from Lake Muncho to Watson Lake we had been lucky to see Stone Sheep, Caribou and a BLACK BEAR eating his morning clover!! After being eaten down by the river we chanced upon another herd of Bison, casually resting by the roadside (maybe 25 with 5 calves) and then a solitary Bison Bull who was clearly on a mission as he tramped along the roadside beside us! All this wildlife to be seen – and from the safety of our Nessie – it has been an absolutely superb day.......bites and all! Our fuel ran VERY low again (bringing back memories of us being in the centre of Australia!) as we kept stopping to see the wild animals, in their natural habitats! It feels like a safari, as we wonder what we might see next! This time, we had a couple of full spare fuel cans (we learnt our lesson!) and we made it to Watson Lake without any bothers! A welcome SHOP for supplies, and a FUEL station met us! Afterwards we set up camp at the Campground Services site in Watson Lake. This is home to the infamous Signpost Forest.....which was began during the construction of the Alaska Highway, by homesick soldier, Carl Lindley, in 1942. He put up a sign pointing to his hometown of Danville, IL. Now, the forest consists of more than 61,000 licence plates, road and traffic signs, and unique home-made signs. Each year more than 2000 signs are added by travellers and the forest continues to grow! We added our own sign –so that ‘Macswayround’ will live on, in Signpost Forest!
Sunday, 02 August 2009 07:30:10 (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)      Comments [0]  Canada