Cross Country Trip Day 5 - Dawson Creek to Hinton

Day 5 – Dawson Creek to Hinton

Even early on today’s drive, the day started out much more promising than the day before.  Within a few minutes, we spotted a moose on the side of the road.  Already surpassing yesterdays today quickly into the trip, everyone’s spirits were up.

Lunch at Grand Cache was another perfect setting for a picnic.  However, the real excitement began when a large bug was discovered walking on Alex’s leg shortly after everyone got back in the car..  After letting a wail out that almost caused Greg to drive off the road, we were able to pull over to the side of the road and remove the bug from the car.  After about 5 minutes of emotional counseling, Alex regained enough composure to get back in the car and continue with our travels…although promised that the incident would haunt him for the rest of his life.

With no excursions planned for the day's 300-mile drive, we arrived in Hinton relatively early, even with the lost hour due to the time zone change.  We had scouted a pretty cool skateboard park during our pre-trip planning, and headed over there to kill some time and let the kids release some energy with their scooters.

Ash & Alex testing their skills at the Hinton skate park.

After about 45 minutes, the kids had enough and the bigger kids were starting to take over the park, so we decided to pack it up and head to the next item on our list - Hinton’s famous Beaver Boardwalk.  Essentially a Disneyland for beavers, apparently a whole community of beavers reside at this multi-acre park and build dam after dam after dam.  After yesterday, we were happy to see any form of wildlife, and it was cool to watch a lone beaver swimming laps around the pond.  We also learned that this area of the world were serious about their beavers, having seen a 17-foot beaver statue marking the center of the appropriately named town, Beaverlodge.

If you look closely, there's a beaver swimming there...I promise.

After dinner, Ash & Alex took advantage of another hotel pool with a two-story hotel waterslide.  Thankfully, it did the trick, as shortly after returning to the room, the kids were quick to sleep.  Although a relatively slow day, the scenery on the drive continued to impress, and we looked forward to tomorrow’s drive as Hinton is situated just a few miles from the entrance to Jasper National Park.

Daisy wanted to watch the movie, too!

Tomorrow – Calgary

Wildlife sightings:

4 deer

1 moose

1 beaver

Cross Country Trip Day 4 - Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek

Day 4 – Fort Nelson to Dawson Creek

The word of the day was “looooooong.”  The most exciting discovery of the day today was locating the precise location of where time actually stands still.  For any of you lucky enough to transit the ALCAN, it is approximately one-quarter of the distance between Fort Nelson and Dawson Creek, where despite appearing to make good time in looking at the speedometer, it seemed as we never really got any closer to where we wanted to go.

road...sky...trees...

This phenomena may be due in part to the lack of success we had in observing wildlife. After yesterday, we had hoped that we had entered a new stage in our trip, one where we’d quit taking pictures unless the caribou herd topped at least 30 or more…alas, that was not the case.  The decision was made halfway into the trip to loosen the strict criteria we applied in defining “wildlife.”  Before today, we had applied the definition to only include the bears, goats, moose, elk, etc. that one traditionally associates with the term .  If we stuck to that approach, however, our final number would’ve been really depressing.  However, once we added cows to the mix, our success ratio seriously took off!  Our decision was validated when upon seeing our first cow herd, Alex declared that he had never, in fact, seen a cow with his own eyes.  After initially dismissing his claim, we thought about the places we have been and also that we moved to Juneau when he was three…not many cow herds roaming around in SE Alaska.  So, after some thought, his claim actually seemed plausible, which was backed up with his excitement every time we came across another cow herd.  As you can image, this small change upped our numbers from a very disappointing zero to a “more than you can count” figure.  

Four hours into the trip with zero actual wildlife sightings to our credit, we reached a decision point on our voyage; either just call it a day, press on to Dawson Creek and forget about this day forever (not hard, since there was not much to remember), or continue with our previously planned detour over to Chetwynd, BC, site of the Annual Internatioanl Chainsaw carving contest.  Chetwynd was added to our iteneray after a positive review from the Clarke’s (again), who passed through during the actual tournament, which occurred about three weeks ago.  After a tense lobbying session, the electorate was polled and cast their votes for the future of the day.  With a result of 3-1, despite the extra 2 hours it would add to the trip, the majority elected to continue onto Chetwynd as planned.

I can't believe this was done with a chainsaw!

Ashleigh posing next to "Building Character"

intricate detail on one of the carvings.

Shortly after arriving in the small town, we were glad we continued with the plan.  To think that these figures were crafted primarily with chainsaw’s was beyond impressive.  I did learn that touch ups with Dremels and sanders were permitted, but that at least 85-95% of each carving was completed with a regular, ordinary chainsaw, and done within a 36-hour timeframe.  We walked around the area where they had all of the 15 or so entrants on display, and both Alex and Ash took turns posing with each one.  We also saw that throughout the town carvings from previous years were posted everywhere…it was really kind of cool.  After about 30-45 minutes of admiring the carvings, it was a unanimous 4-0 vote that we made the right decision and it was certainly the highlight of the day.

With everyone in a better mood, we made the quick hour or so trek over to Dawson Creek and took some pictures at “Mile 0,” the beginning of the Alaska Highway.  We felt a great degree of accomplishment, and despite the relative lack of non-bovine wildlife we observed today, we all agreed that the trip was very much worth it.

Mile 0 landmark family photo.

and we can't forget how we got there!

We had an excellent dinner at Mr. Mikes Steakhouse & Bar, highly recommended for any people passing through. 

Tomorrow – Hinton, AB

Wildlife:

Cows (too many to count)
Others - 0

Cross Country Trip Day 3 - Watson Lake to Fort Nelson

Day 3 – Watson Lake to Fort Nelson

The morning started with yet another beautiful sunny day.  Nugget City is just outside of Watson Lake, so after a short breakfast in the hotel, we had a relatively short drive into “downtown.”  Watson Lake is home of the world famous Signpost Forest where travelers from around the globe have posted tens of thousands of homemade signs and license plates from around the world on hundreds of 4x4 timbers planted throughout the several acre lot.  The kids were committed to finding the Clarke family’s sign they posted during their journey, but were unsuccessful.  After finding an empty spot relatively close to the entrance, Ash & Alex each took a turn hammering in the nails for the Versaw family sign that we had put together before our trip.  Greg also found a nearby post to mount the D17 Legal Office sign that the office gave to him at his going away party.  For anyone passing through the sign forest in the future, let us know if you can find it!

Ash and Alex in front of the Sign Post Forest entrance

Family Picture in front of our sign in the Sign Post Forest.

Within minutes of leaving Watson Lake, there was a big sign that our luck was changing as we came across a huge bison relaxing on the side of the road.  We stopped on the side of the road to take some pictures, the animal was massive and thankfully seemed to care less that we were hanging out about 40-50 feet from our car.

Large bison relaxing in the morning sun.

A few minutes later we came across 4 more bison meandering along the side of the road, and put us on notice that the person in charge of the camera had to stay in the ready position for this leg of the trip.  Our luck continued as we came across a huge (to us) herd of bison with around 34 or so, including 6 calves, all within about 10-30 yards of the highway.  By lunchtime, we had seen 73 total bison, give or take a few, including another large herd that we came across.  It was shaping up to be an awesome day for wildlife!

Bison calf walking with mom.

Herd of bison meandering next to the side of the road.

The trip also included some other animals on our check-off list, the first of which was a black bear laying dead on the side of the road, victim of an unfortunate meeting with a passing car.  Our first moose sighting came under similar circumstances, with the large creature apparently choosing the wrong time to cross the road…it also served as a stark reminder to stay alert as we drove through these parts.  Fortunately, we came across another moose, of the living variety this time, which we found much more enjoyable to watch and take pictures. 

Moose hanging out next to the road.

Another highlight occurred when we passed through the Stone Mountain National Park, where we saw two stone sheep hanging out on the road, one was completely engaged in enjoying the tasty pavement, the other walking around the nearby hill.  The sheep almost completely blended into the road, making them difficult to see until you were just a few dozen yards away.  Even though we didn’t see any elk or caribou, we felt as if we had a relatively successful wildlife viewing day.

Stone Sheep having a salt snack.

For lunch we stopped for another picnic at the Liard Hot Springs, almost halfway between Watson Lake and Fort Nelson.  The kids were beyond excited, as they put together an impromptu song celebrating our arrival.  After lunch, we made it down the long boardwalk through the grassland and trees to the hot spring, where we all changed into our suits and took a dip into the pools.  The water was amazing, as long as you could tolerate the ever-present aroma of sulfur that permeated the air.  Aimee and the kids stayed in the lower pool, where the water was a more tolerable 100-105 degrees.  Greg ventured into the upper pool, where the water was significantly hotter, but didn’t stay long as he started to resemble a lobster after a few minutes.  After about 20-30 minutes, we had to change back into our clothes and move onto the rest of the journey.

Greg, Ash and Alex hanging out in the Liard Hot Springs.

A few minutes after the Liard Hot Springs, we passed Muncho Lake, a famous lake noteworthy for its light turquoise color.  The pictures don’t quite do the color justice., we’re hoping to get better pictures down in Lake Louise near Banff , which is also famous for having the same deep turquoise color. 

Muncho Lake with ribbon of turquoise color (where sun is shining on lake)

At the end of the drive, we stayed at the Fort Nelson Super 8 Motel, which was pretty nice as far as Super 8’s go.  The kids were treated to a very cool pool with a two-story waterslide.  Despite the long day with lots of excitement, they somehow found the energy to go swimming for another 45 minutes or so.  However, I think they were just about spent when they were done because they both fell asleep shortly after getting into bed, with far fewer challenged over territory infringements in their queen size bed.

Alex flying out of the Super 8 waterslide.

Tomorrow: Dawson Creek

Wildlife sightings:

73 Bison (incl. 6 calves) (1 herd of 32 w/ 6 calves, 1 herd of 34 w/ 6 calves)

2 Stone Sheep

2 Black Bears (incl. 1 dead on side of road)

2 Moose (incl, 1 dead on side of road)

Cross Country Trip Day 2 - Whitehorse to Watson Lake

Day 2 (June 25): Whitehorse to Watson Lake

Today started out a little slower than expected, as we forgot to adjust our phones for Pacific Time zone - the ranch owner seemed a little surprised when we wandered in for our breakfast after 10 am.  After breakfast, we spent about an hour with the dogs again, most of it in the kennel playing with the 4 new puppies.  After about 20 minutes, the dogs all of a sudden started going crazy, running circles around their kennels and barking non-stop...we we wondering what was going on. after a few minutes we saw one of the ranch workers walking around rounding up "volunteers" to do some training - they all wanted to go.  We wish we could've stayed longer but had a lot of driving to do, so we packed up and got back on the road.

Alex enjoying some "puppy love."

The kennels were only a few miles away from Whitehorse, so the first leg of the trip was relatively short, as we ventured off to find the Yukon Brewery.  The importance of this visit was magnified since we were traveling beer free after the disappointment in Haines yesterday.  Half-expecting our sour luck to continue and find the brewery closed, we were quite relieved to find it open so we could fill our cooler with a growler of Yukon Discovery and a few extra bottles for emergencies.  With our cooler stocked, we were ready to get on the road.

Yukon Brewery in Whitehorse.

As far as wildlife sightings, it was a relatively slow day (we hope) 270 miles of driving netted 4 bears and a marmot.  Not a complete disappointment, but we're hoping more is waiting for us as we make our way to Jasper and Banff.  

We did come across the part of the road that washed away in the mudslides from 3 weeks ago....the damage was pretty impressive, and had to travel on a makeshift one-lane road for a few miles, but not too bad considering the shape it was in when it happened.

We stopped for lunch at an RB park in Teslin - unfortunately, it was quite chilly and we had to put on our sweatshirts back on - we were hoping those days were over when we embarked the ferry in Juneau.  A quick stop in the gift shop ended up with an unexpected surprise with a cool wildlife gallery with all sorts of taxidermied animals.  Very cool!

Chilly picnic lunch in Teslin.

After about 5 hours of road time, we ended up in Nugget City...after all the time we spent trying to find a suitable place near Watson Lake, we were very happy we made the choice to stay here!  We quickly noticed the mosquitos were not quite as plentiful nor as persistent as the Whitehorse breed we had deal with yesterday, although they were smaller and much more difficult to smash. When we made it into the room, we were greeted with a very nice welcoming gift, a bottle of white wine waiting for us in the fridge and some chocolates for the kids - compliments of the Clarke family, who stayed there 3 weeks ago...the wine tasted awesome, especially considering today we got to enjoy it chilled! We had a pretty decent dinner at the "Wolf it Down Restaurant" with an ice cream dessert for the kids.  Afterwards, both Ash & Alex took advantage of the jacuzzi tubs. By this time, it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night - although it took Ash & Alex about an hour to ensure that their queen size bed was evenly divided, and we're quick to protest any time their brother or sister encroached on their side!

Nugget City cabin #5

All things considered, not a bad day.  The weather has been beautiful. And we're all getting settled into the routine...tonight, we'll make sure the camera is fully charged and ready for lots of action.

Tomorrow: Fort Nelson

Wildlife sightings:
4 black bears
1 marmot

Cross Country Trip Day 1 - Juneau to Whitehorse

Day 1 (June 24): Juneau, Alaska, to Whitehorse, Yukon

We got off to an early start this morning, waking up at 3:30 to get the kids ready and last minute cramming of everything into the car.  After picking up Daisy from the Dwyer’s, we set off for the first and probably easiest leg of the journey, a 15 mile trip to the AMHS (Alaska Marine Highway System) Auke Bay Ferry Terminal.  The adventure started a little earlier than we expected, though, while Greg was walking Daisy near the road, he witnessed a hit & run car accident right in front of him at the ferry entrance.

Last Picture of the Mendenhall Glacier from the Brotherhood Bridge Trail (Juneau).

The ferry “Malaspina” was an easy 4-plus hour trip where we arrived in Haines ready to check a few landmarks off the summer to-do list: the Fireweed Restaurant for lunch, the Haines Brewery to pick up a few growlers of beer, and a stop at the Hammer Museum just because.  Unfortunately, lunch at the Fireweed didn’t happen as it was closed on Sundays.  The trip to the Haines Brewery was just as disappointing, as it too was closed.  The hammer museum, like the rest of Haines it seemed, was closed.  (Mental note: next time we plan our Alaska to Virginia summer trip, we’ll visit Haines on a weekday!)

After regrouping with an impromptu trip to the local playground, we reshuffled our plans and set out on the Haines Highway.  After a brief stop at the 33-Mile Roadhouse, (best burgers in SE Alaska they claim, I must say they backed it up!), we meandered through the Chilkat Mountains en route Haines Junction, where we stopped for a quick ice cream snack and a chance for D-Dog to walk around a little, and then back on the road for the final stretch.  We did get the first glimpse of wildlife on the way, 3 black bears and a duck leading her ducklings across the highway.  Hopefully, the first of many to come.

Black bear munching on a dandelion off the Haines Highway

After 240 or so miles on the road, we stopped at Muktuk Adventures, a ranch for training sled dogs with a few cabins scattered around the property.  Muktuk was a late addition to our travel plans after hearing the feedback from the Clarke’s who had passed through Whitehorse just three weeks ago.  Daisy was a bit out of her comfort zone when we arrived, as she was greeted by dozens of VERY excited dogs very anxious to get to meet the outsider, but she handled it very well even considering all the excitement.  We get settled in a small cabin with no plumbing or electricity (reminding us of our camping times back in Juneau), and a healthy supply of hungry mosquitoes.  (An extra bonus, an outhouse without the novelty of a front door.)

“Riley Roost” Cabin at the Muktuk Adventure Lodge, Whitehorse, Yukon.

Ash & Alex went around the various “stables” (100+ dogs) to say hi and meet all the dogs who were all VERY excited to get some attention.  After about an hour spent wandering around the kennels, we decided it was time to call it a day.  After such an early start, we were all exhausted.  However, even though it was approaching 10pm, it was still pretty bright outside.

All things considered, we were very happy we changed our reservations and added Muktuk to our trip.  The dogs were a huge hit, and we didn’t even notice the lack of electricity, as the sun was still shining when we went to sleep and there to greet us early in the morning when we woke up.

Ashleigh making one of dozens of new friends at the Muktuk kennels.

Alex hanging out with one of the other Muktuk sled dogs.

We celebrated the successful first day with a bottle of room temperature champagne, not the ideal serving conditions, but appropriate considering our accommodations…champagne served in pint glasses was also a first for both of us.

Day 1 complete: time to celebrate!!!

Next stop: Watson Lake, Yukon

Wildlife seen today:
3 black bears (incl. 1 cinnamon bear w/ her cub),
1 duck & 6-8 ducklings crossing the road.
7 swans
Countless sea lions on the ferry.
5-6 whales (too far to identify type)