We are finally getting to see the mountains and wildlife! Warning – this post will contain lots of pictures. But that’s what everyone needs to see…the beauty of British Columbia. For anyone not familiar with the Alaskan Highway, there is a book called the Milepost that tells you everything you can see or do at each milepost. You can go for miles without a gas station or cell signal. We believe it is better to plan your stops so you will not run out of gas and you will have a place to lay your head at night.
The first day of travel was over rather flat land and not quite as boring as farmland. The road was towered by tall pines and trees that looked like aspens. We saw quite a few warning signs for wildlife, but only encountered deer sightings. We also saw lots of signs to report wildfires with a phone number listed, but I was confused because how can you call without a cell signal?? There were a lot of oilfield trucks and small trailer villages where the workers would live, all along the way. Apparently, the oil and gas industry has picked up quite a bit!
We stopped after 160 miles at a small campground nestled deep in a valley by the Sikanni River. Link to their website is here. We had no cell signal, it was powered solely by a generator, but the internet service was better than we experienced in larger towns like at the outskirts of Edmonton. Go figure! The river was muddy and raging due to all the rain and our side trip to a waterfall was thrown out because of the road conditions and water flow. Oh well, maybe next time. We got gas earlier that day and I bought some bear spray to take on our hike to the waterfall. Darin about choked when it rang up at $100 Canadian! The sun would come up by 4:30am and it would stay light well after 10pm. To give you an idea, this picture was taken pointing toward the mountain across the river after 9pm.
What made me really sad was seeing acres and acres of burned forest. These would pop up about every 50 miles or so. I can definitely see why they post so many signs about wildfires. This picture wasn’t the best but this burnt forest was the largest we had seen.
The second day of driving was more interesting. We got into the northern Rockies and the road started to wind and we traversed up and down large hills. We knew when a giant hill was coming because they had spots for the big trucks to pull off and check their brakes. They also had signs posted that you should use tire chains from October 1 – April 30. Sure am glad we came after May!
At the highest summit on the Alaskan Highway, we had to drive single file at 20mph because they were doing road construction. We actually drove into the clouds at 4250 feet (for comparison, Estes Park is just over 7500 feet) and then we stopped at a turnout to look at the views. With the rain and clouds, we really couldn’t see anything but I took a picture of the bear-proof trashcans that were placed at all stops/turnoffs. Thank goodness, because I would not want to be surprised by a bear looking for food in the trash!
We had planned to stay at the Tetsa River Campground but decided to get a few more miles in for the day. They didn’t take reservations, but we have heard more than once that if you arrive by 5pm you should get a full hookup spot. So far, that seems to be true. The campgrounds don’t fill up until the evening when drivers are ready to rest. We have also been told that we are about 2 weeks ahead of the large caravans of RVs and the busy camping season.
Maybe they don’t come from the lower 48 states yet because it is still COLD! At least to us Texans, anyway. The lows have been in the 40’s and some days it does not get over 50 degrees. Last night we put a lot of shorts and summer tops under the bed and pulled out our heavier clothes. I’m not sure at what point we can wear shorts, but some Canadians have already been wearing them!
On the way to our next stop, we saw 2 smaller black bears right up by the road eating some flowers. We passed some stone sheep near Stone Mountain. Darin was amazed that they just stand and look at you and don’t try to cross the road, like the deer in Michigan where he grew up! Maybe they are smarter up here…
Once we set up at the campground, we took a walk around the property in the rain. Across the small lake, we saw a moose swim from one end to the other and then it stood on the shore eating stuff from the bottom. My camera lens wasn’t strong enough to get a good picture of him. Link to the Toad River Lodge is here.
We walked to another area and saw lots of beaver dams and beaver houses. Then 2 little beavers came out and patrolled the area checking on all the dams. The campground owners wrapped the trees closest to the water with plastic because the beavers are coming up and chewing on the trees.
We ate at the little lodge onsite (aka gas station) and it is known for all the hats hanging from the ceiling. They have the total number listed on a dry erase board and it was 10,906. Dad wasn’t willing to give up a hat, so it remained that number even after we left.
After dinner, the clouds cleared and Darin took some video footage with his drone. We are still working on that video and hope to master making videos so we can share the absolute beauty of BC nature with you. The next time you hear from me, we will be in the Yukon Territory. I’ll leave you with the picture we took when the sun came out and the wind stopped blowing….
This is so cool. I feel like I’m traveling with you all. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!