Previous travel logs are at  Travel 2012 Itinerary , Travel 2010 ,  Travel 2009  and  Travel 2008

Alaskan Trip 2012

Day 1-June 30^th

We started our trip just before 8:00 a.m.  Weather was showers and rain for most of the day.  There were a few dry spells.  We went thru the border at Sumas with no problem.  We took the Trans Canadian Highway 1 till Hope, B.C.  We went into Hope and transferred to Highway 97.  We followed the Frazer River for awhile.   We stopped and took a picture from  a viewpoint of the raging river.  We spent the night at a campground just north of Williams Lake B.C.  There were quite a few lakes and ponds along the way.  Around Williams Lake there were many ranches.  We spotted 1 deer along the side of road.  We went about  440 miles today.

Picture along the Frazer River

Day 2-July 1^st

Today is Canada Day.  We started the day with a couple showers then high clouds and no rain for the rest of the day.  Saw 2 deer and 2 bears and, then a female moose.  Arrived in Dawson city and we went to see Milepost 0 of the Alcan Hiway. There is an outdoor pool, with the temperature around 60 and lots of kids swimming.  We went about 400 miles.  We talked with a couple bikers who had ridden over 900 Kilometers and were not done.  By the time they finish the day they will have gone nearly 600 miles.  They have iron ----s.

Female Moose along the road

Mile 0 of the Alcan Highway

Day 3-July 2^nd

Today we drove to Fort Nelson.  It was a day of driving with a lot of beautiful scenery to see. Along the way we spotted 2 brown bears .  We also saw a marmot sitting on the yellow center line and then he ran away as we passed.  There were fields and forests full of tall thin alpine trees.  Interspersed among the green trees were trees that were rust color.  They were in the process of dying due to a pine beetle epidemic.  When we arrived at our destination we went and toured the Fort Nelson Historical Museum.  There were exhibits relating to the area.  We watched a video that showed the making of the Alcan highway.  There was an exhibit of old antique cars. The owner of most of the cars was a curator of the museum.  We chatted with him.  He showed us a car that he had driven to Whitehorse on its hundred year anniversary.  It was a 1908 Buick.

We saw a number of trucks and equipment for drilling oil.  They have plenty of oil in the area.

Curator of museum on his custom bicycle.

Day 4 – July 3, 2012

Today we drove from Fort Nelson to Watson Lake.  We stopped at Liard Hot Springs for a dip in the hot springs and then had lunch there.  Along the way we saw 2 Stone Sheep near Stone Mountain.  We saw two black tail deer bucks.  After that it was mostly bears, 9 black and one brown.  There was also a Bison on the shoulder.  Along the way we passed Muncho Lake.  It was beautiful with turquoise water. Watson Lake is famous for the signpost forest. There are over 72,000 of them.

Brown Bear                                                                                           Bison

Signpost                                                                      Stone Sheep on Stone Mountain

Day 5 – July 4, 2012

We drove 285 miles today and saw 2 deer.  It was a pretty boring ride today except for dodging pot holes and bouncing across where the road had washed out a couple weeks ago.  We went to the Transportation Museum which was pretty good. We drove over to check out the fish ladder on the the Yukon River.  A staff member stated that the fish are coming later this year.  There was a lot of water flowing in the river.  We checked out Miles Canyon which is pretty amazing. Sunrise tomorrow morning will be at 4:40 AM. Sunset tonight 11:30PM.  over 5 hour of darkness.  Fairbanks probably  will only get 3 hours and still not be completely dark. We have insulation blankets in the windows to help with the light filtering in.

Miles Canyon                                                                                  Picture taken at Fish Ladder in Whitehorse on the Yukon River

Earthmover from Alcan Road construction at Transportation Museum        Train Station for White Pass & Yukon Route in Whitehorse

Day 6 - July 5

Today was a long drive to Tok from Whitehorse.  There was road work being done and many spots that need to be done.  We saw 3 brown bears and 5 swans and 5 babies,  possibly Trumpeter Swans.

Curious bear that crossed the road behind the truck                                  Anyone know where there is a car wash?

Swans

Day 7 - July 6

Easy drive today from Tok to Fairbanks.  First day without seeing any large wild animals.  We had to stop at the North Pole for shopping at Santa Clause House. We arrived at our friends Mike and Bernie's house on the Chena River.

Nancy at Santa Clause House                                                          Trailer on the Chena River

                                                                    Alaskan Pipeline which looks and functions as good today as 40 years ago.

Steve'n Nancy (stevennancy.net)