Wednesday, June 11, 2008
We woke up to clear blue skies in Mackenzie, BC this morning, 42 degrees. It’s another beautiful day for riding in British Columbia. Before departing at 0830 we posed for pictures in front of the world’s largest tree crusher. I didn’t even know there was such a vehicle, but supposedly this is the largest one around. Who could argue the point?
Our lunch destination was Dawson Creek, BC, 180 scenic miles away, taking us through deep Canadian Rocky Mountain valleys with meandering rivers, creeks and frequent waterfalls.
Traffic has not been an issue for us in BC, in fact, aside from a few logging and wood product trucks, motor homes and travel trailers; we have practically had the road to ourselves. The posted maximum speed limit in BC is 100 kph, which we now know is 62 mph. We’ve seen a very few Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the roads during our travels in Canada.
Traffic has not been an issue for us in BC, in fact, aside from a few logging and wood product trucks, motor homes and travel trailers; we have practically had the road to ourselves. The posted maximum speed limit in BC is 100 kph, which we now know is 62 mph. We’ve seen a very few Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the roads during our travels in Canada.
Today was a pretty good wild critter viewing day. In our 460 miles today we saw two brown bears, one with a cub, a white tailed deer and a moose, all near the highway.
Arriving in Dawson Creek we had to ask directions to Start of the Alaskan Highway sign for the obligatory photographs. Our vision of Dawson Creek as a small Northern Exposure type town was dashed upon arrival. It is in fact a large city with all of the usual fast food and chain stores, although there is a quaint old-town section that is often featured in travel advertisements.
For all of you nostalgia buffs, rest assured, A& W Root Beer stands are still well represented in BC, there is one in every city, town and village.
Leaving Dawson Creek at Mile “0” of the Alaskan Highway toward Fairbanks, AK, some 1,500 miles away, led us through some rolling hills of agricultural prairie lands, not unlike many areas of the mid-west in the US.
Thus far, the frequency of gas stations has not been a problem. Generally gas is available every 90 to 150 miles. We did have to stretch our range some this afternoon when we pulled into Prophet River, BC just as the only employee was locking the door and calling it a day. There was no convincing him to sell us gas. So, after 90 miles we had to go another 60 to Fort Nelson, BC. Sylvia was sweating bullets with her 4.5 gallon gas tank. It was doable, but the bikes are loaded heavily they don’t quite get the mileage they would normally. It’s just something for us to keep in mind.
For all of you nostalgia buffs, rest assured, A& W Root Beer stands are still well represented in BC, there is one in every city, town and village.
Leaving Dawson Creek at Mile “0” of the Alaskan Highway toward Fairbanks, AK, some 1,500 miles away, led us through some rolling hills of agricultural prairie lands, not unlike many areas of the mid-west in the US.
Thus far, the frequency of gas stations has not been a problem. Generally gas is available every 90 to 150 miles. We did have to stretch our range some this afternoon when we pulled into Prophet River, BC just as the only employee was locking the door and calling it a day. There was no convincing him to sell us gas. So, after 90 miles we had to go another 60 to Fort Nelson, BC. Sylvia was sweating bullets with her 4.5 gallon gas tank. It was doable, but the bikes are loaded heavily they don’t quite get the mileage they would normally. It’s just something for us to keep in mind.
We ended our day in Fort Nelson, BC with an excellent supper at Dan’s Pub just as the first rain of the day began to fall on us.
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