Prince George to Fort Saint John

Hi All,
On June 7 we left Prince George and drove to Chetwynd and then Dawson Creek. Along the way we saw our first moose and another bear, both as we sped by at 100 kph so once again no pictures. I have pictures, just not of a bear or a moose. Here are a few from our campground outside Prince George.

Lupines, but they almost look like Texas Bluebonnets

This might pass for an Indian Paintbrush, but we don't think it is

At a rest stop north of Prince George, some of the biggest dandelions I've ever seen

The route map later will show it a bit differently but we drove through Chetwynd, took a few pictures, and then went on to Walmart in Dawson Creek  .Chetwynd is home to an international chainsaw carving contest so we went back the next day to watch. All through town are carvings that have come from the various years. Here are some we liked though I would say there are easily 40 around town.

 It was pretty amazing to watch live. There were twelve artists competing.

One guy from Japan

Each contestant started with a log of this size

Look at all those chainsaws

A lady from England was also competing

We wanted to go back by this morning and see how things looked after a full day of work but the weather turned cool and rainy so we headed back to Dawson City and then on to Fort Saint John.

Dawson City is the start of the Alaska Highway. It was built in 1942 - 1944 by the US Army Corp of Engineers purely for military purposes. The US military needed a reliable way to get people and equipment to Alaska in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor and our entry into World War II. At the time it was called the AlCan Highway but since 1948 when the general public has been able to use it the name changed to the Alaska Highway. Over the years as improvements have been made the original 1,523 miles has been shortened by 35 miles. In the 1970's Canada converted to the metric system and mile posts were replaced with kilometer posts. But some historic mile posts remain and many businesses are know by the mile post where they sit. It can be a bit confusing figuring out where something is because the mile posts were set for the full 1,523 miles. Changes to the road and conversion to the metric system have made it impossible to do a simple math calculation to figure out how far until you reach your destination.

Sculpture of the beginning survey

This sign commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway. Just so happens we'll be driving it on its 75th anniversary

Between Dawson Creek and Fort Saint John we took a small detour that takes you across a bridge that is no longer on the Alaska Highway due to those aforementioned changes. It is a curved bridge across the Kiskatinaw River that is made of wood. It was really neat to drive over it and is gorgeous.

Mosquito update: They are everywhere. There was a day we didn't see but a few and thought we had entered the Twilight Zone.

That's about it. Here's the route map that goes with this post.

Take care.
Brian