Lindsay and I had agreed to drive straight through to British Columbia after leaving Jasper National Park. Jasper to Dawson Creek, British Columbia is about a 6 hour drive. We headed east a bit to the town of Hinton.We saw the sign for Highway 40 : the Scenic Drive to Alaska. Finally hit me, we’re going to Alaska!! There was a sign on the side of Hwy 40 that said there wasn’t any gas stations for like 200 km, so we went back onto the main road and found a gas station where we fueled up and made sandwiches. On to Alaska!
We got back onto Highway 40 and cruised north. We are getting so far north that we have an abundance of daylight, which helped with the idea to drive all night. We wanted to make up some of the time we had not planned to spend in Wyoming and Montana and we figured we could rotate drivers so one could sleep and one could drive and vice versa. The plan was going great… the extra daylight had given us the opportunity to see more wildlife, like a wolf (or a grey fox), elk, bighorn sheep (a pack of them running along the road), and plenty of deer. Don’t worry, these are smart deer. They stop on the side of the road. The sun didn’t even start to go down until like 10pm, so it wasn’t even completely dark until midnight. We had planned to stop and get gas in Grande Prairie but every gas station was closed and the pumps didn’t allow you to pump 24-7 even with your credit card. We had about a half tank and 81 miles to Dawson Creek, where a little googling on my phone had told me there was a 24/7 gas station. Plus we had filled up a 2 gallon emergency gas tank. Like boyscouts, preparation is everything.
Lindsay took over driving, after stopping to pee on the side of the road. I dozed off for a bit, but woke when we got to Dawson Creek. Unfortunately there were no spottings of Dawson, Joey, or Pacey Wittier in Dawson Creek… must have left town after the WB cancelled the show. We did see a police officer, or should I say “Peace Officer”, who looked at us strangely. Must have known we were out of towners. We considered rolling down the window and asking him for some grey popuon or more importantly, where we could get some gas. Running out of the gas in the middle of British Columbia was not our idea of smart traveling. After more searching for an open gas station we found one.. connected to a 7-11. God Bless America. We filled up and continued on. Dawson Creek marks the beginning of the Alaskan Highway…here we go. I fell asleep and would wake up when Lindsay came across animals. Like Moose, an owl, wild horses, and more elk. Lindsay was getting tired and I was half asleep so we pulled off the road for about 2 hours and slept. Sleeping on the side of the road..that’s a new one for me. But its not much different than camping… except we’re in a locked vehicle. The road seemed pretty safe, there was very little traffic. However, there was about 3 abandoned cars on the side of the road at different locations. One was upside down, with the trunk open and all the doors ajar. Really strange. Nevertheless, I felt pretty safe sleeping for the hour or so on the pull-off. About 7, I woke up, switched seats with Lindsay and kept driving.
While Lindsay was sleeping I saw 4 black bears. 1 in the ditch, 2 a few miles down on the edge of the forest, and 1 eating grass on the side of the road. I fueled up and kept driving. Lindsay slept until about 10:30, when she woke up and we found another gas station to fill up, brush our teeth, and the kicker: wash our hair in the bathroom sink. It’s been 5 days without a shower. It was necessary. Toad River, thank you for the poor man’s shower. I drove for a while longer, looking at some more mountains and glacier lakes. We stopped at one such glacier lake…the water was such a bright blue. I decided it was time to sink my toes into some glacier lake water. I almost slide down the side in my flippies…not the best climbing shoes. But I got safely to the shore….and toes in. Wowza, it was ICE cold. Now, this is an obvious duh…it’s GLACIER water. It was painfully cold, so I quickly removed my feet…and placed them on the rocks. Needless to say, my feet are going to need one heck of a pedicure when I get home. This roughing it lifestyle isn’t what I call ideal, as a big fan of regular hot showers, but you sometimes have to experience something new. That’s what this trip is about after all. And the scenery… miles and miles of beautiful. We found some buffalo along the way, and we both got awfully close to them. They are just massive animals but docile. We switched drivers, and kept driving. We saw a black bear on the side of the road and a few miles ahead we were able to pull off to see a mama grizzly and her two cubs, although there were some big cubs. The Alaska Highway is all paved so far, but very curvy and there is loose gravel in some parts. It’s full of semis and motorhomes, so the twists and turns get a little sketchy at times. We’re headed to the Yukon!!
- B
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