Update!

Dawson Creek marks mile zero of the Alaska Highway. Did you know the Alaska highway in an engineering marvel as it was constructed in a mere 9 months! Some sections of the highway have been updated while others look a little neglected with few lines visible and lots of bumps. Of course we took a picture at mile zero in Dawson. Pictures or it didn’t happen.

Just North of Dawson is Kiskatinaw Provincial Park where we stayed for the night. Another rec site on a river. A muddy river, but the sound of running what we nonetheless. It was Mr Noodles for dinner. It was drizzling when we set up and the park guy said it has be raining for the pat week. However we got a tiny break of sun at dinner, and it was cloudy but bright on the morning. It was coffee and a quick snack for breakfast and back on the Alaska Highway! Drove over Dawson’s historic curved bridge, of course took a pic, and kept going.

I’ll let you in on a secret.. There’s not a lot to see along the Alaska highway. Don’t get me wrong, the drive is beautiful! Just not a lot to see outside the general beauty of the nature and winding road.
We drove through Fort St John, where a Crossfit was spotted, and kept going through Pink Mountain, which is named after the pink flowers that bloom in spring. About 10km before Fort Nelson, Joe noticed something off about the truck… We had lost boost. A clamp came loose, a roadside repaid was needed. In the pouring rain. Oi. Back on a road for about 5 minutes before we hear the clamp pop back off. Fuck. Time for a stop on Fort Nelson for some parts! Luckily there were plenty of auto parts shops there. Had to make a handful of stops before finding what Joe needed, but he got it and fixed it what a guy.
While Joe was being a mechanical superman and fixing the truck, I was looking up where we would be staying that night. It was already approaching eve, around when we like to set up for the night. Due to time and distance restrictions it looked like we were heading to Tetsa River regional park. While doing my my research, I found out this was currently the coolest place in BC and had a severe rainfall warning. Joy. I wasn’t too happy about what lay ahead and I think my silence was a sign of that. Considering it was pouring when we set up camp, my mood didn’t improve much until after Chunky soup for dinner and I was in our truck-home, cozily and happily reading my book (Shelley Hrdlitschka’s Dancing in the Rain, oh the irony).
Woke up a bit before 9am on September 3rd (already?!?!) well rested and in a WAY better mood. I would have been considering myself chipper. Had a simply but perfect breakfast of toast with peanut butter a few slices of ham and coffee for me. We packed up and hit the road by 10:40am.
Leaving Tetsa River, we started going up into the Summit Lake area and quickly were graced with the beauty of snow capped mountains, sheer rock faces, and simply breath taking scenery. Lots of “wildlife on road” signs so we had our eyes peeled! Also lots of ooohh’s and awww’s. Found a little gas station up there and Joe was able to fill Sally up on diesel.
Continuing on through the Northern Rocky Mountains provincial park we encounter for spectacular scenery around every bend. And there are lots of bends. We seemed to drive through the clouds and ended up I sunshine! We then stopped in Muncho Lake provincial park, just on roadside pull out, made some sandwiches, set up the camping chairs and had a little picnic by the emerald green lake. The sun warmed us up real quick.

Now we are back traveling north on our way to Liard Hot springs! We are both excited to check them out.
WOW. Everyone put Liard Hotsprings on your bucket list. Got it on there? Good. This place was amazing. I was a little skeptical, wondered if it would be over commercialized, crowded, etc. However, I found a little piece of heaven on earth in Northern BC. We had panned to camp here, but somewhat didn’t consider it was a weekend, let alone a long one. Campsite was obviously full so she pointed us to the overflow campsite … a parking lot… across the street. So we parked the truck-home in a corner with a fire pit and walked back across the highway (looking both ways of course) and headed to the Hotsprings. Noting the blue sky and sunshine, Joe says to the campsite lady how it seems like a perfect day for hotsprings. She shrugs and says it’s better in the rain or snow. Shut down.
To get to the springs themselves you walk for about 5 minutes down a boardwalk through the boreal forest. I found myself practically tiptoeing as to not disturb the absolutely stunning nature. At the end of the boardwalk you reach the “alpha pool”. Water on one end reaches 110 degrees and is cooler at the other end. A beautiful wood structure is there with change rooms.

Side note: BRING WATER. We duffed that one and you most definitely will want it. The bottom of the pool is just lose pebbles and feels lovely to walk over. This was one of the most relaxing places I have ever been. If only it were a bit closer to home so it could be a easy weekend getaway.
After our uber relaxing time at the hotsprings, we wandered back to our “campsite”, made spaghetti and sausages for dinner, made a fire, and made friends. We noticed a couple who were also living out of their tailgate, something we haven’t really seen as everyone seems to have massive RVs. We chatted, the men discussed truck stuff. They were from Vermont, went to Alaska for their daughter and hadn’t been home since May. They were heading home now. Safe travels, Steve and Karen! We opted to not set up the tarp and shelter as it was clear sky and sun on the forecast. A gamble, but it paid off when we got to just get up, and head right back onto the Alaska highway.

And now we have made it to Watson Lake Yukon! Mandatory stop at the sign forest, added something to it, sandwich lunch, and back on the road!

It seems we have hit the halfway point on our road trip! We wanted to step into the Yukon but now it’s back down into BC to explore a bit more.

Until next time!