Travels with Shelby

Dawson Creek to Liard River Hot Springs

4-5 July 2016 – Dawson Creek BC (Farmington Fairways RV Park)

We started our visit to Dawson Creek at the Visitor’s Center, and picked up the historic walking tour guide. 

The visitor center is in the building in the background

Our second stop was at the dog-friendly Alaska Highway House, a small museum that chronicles the building of the highway. We found a clever geocache that was incorporated into one of the displays. The woman at the desk was very friendly – she provided a red-white-and blue iced cake to visitors in honor of the 4^th of July, came out to take our picture at the original Milepost 0 sign in the center of the intersection, and gave us a small annotated map locating the wooden curved bridge north of town.

The walking tour consisted mostly of plaques on buildings explaining what used to be in that spot; the many murals painted on building around town are also explained in the tour book. One tromp l’oeil mural actually incorporates a real telephone pole into the mural.

Note the telephone pole in front of the "Main Street 1948" mural

All around Dawson Creek we were impressed by the beautiful flowers in planters and hanging baskets – very colorful and cheerful.

The 531-foot long curved wooden bridge over the Kiskatinaw River sits along a section of the original Alaska Highway that is now bypassed by a shorter, less rugged route. It was quite the engineering feat, and is the only wooden bridge from the original highway that is still in use, for vehicles up to 14 tons – no motorhomes! It took from Nov 1942 to Jul 1943 to build, while construction crews used a crude water-level temporary riving crossing.

We still keep getting sticker shock at the prices in BC. Two large loads of laundry cost $14.75 to wash and dry, and basic hamburgers start at $10 or more. The favorable exchange rate doesn’t quite compensate!

Farmington Fairways is a nice 9-hole golf course with some interesting holes and unpredictable greens. We enjoyed playing on $10 Tuesday with no one in front of or behind us for most of the round.

First tee and fairway at Farmington Fairways

6-8 July 2016 – Fort Nelson, BC Triple G Hideaway RV Park

Crossing the Peace River into Taylor, about 30 miles north of Dawson Creek, was our first experience with serious road repair. The steep, 6-10 percent grade, winding 4-mile descent to the bridge is one lane of dirt where the road is being replaced.

Descending to the Peace River on bare dirt

We stopped at the Walmart in Fort St. John to have a brief visit with Diane and Jerry Block, members of the Newmar Kountry Klub BC Dogwoods Chapter who had seen our blog and contacted us. They live in Fort St. John, and Jerry is an oilfields engineering consultant. We always enjoy meeting other RVers who share our love of travel.

The drive from Fort Saint John to Fort Nelson was actually fairly boring. We had the odd sensation that we could be anywhere on a road driving through dense forest. Very few grand vistas, although we did spot an elk cow by the side of the road before she fled into the woods. We saw a big lightning storm off to the west, but only got a little rain as we drove. On both of the first two nights we were in Fort Nelson, brief but intense lightning storms with cracking thunder nearby kept Shelby trembling in Barbara’s lap. The prior week or two had been quite wet, and bugs were out in force. We really could not sit outside at all. We’re thinking we should have bought a screen tent before embarking on this trip!

About the only attraction in Ft. Nelson is the Heritage Museum, which is right next to the RV park. It’s an amazing collection of random stuff that people have donated over time: old children’s toys, antique outboard motors, various mounted examples of BC wildlife, old school and army items – most without any explanation or context. Outside the main display building sit various antique farm vehicles and trucks, and in a big garage is a collection of perhaps 30 or so antique cars, ranging from Model A’s to 1950’s roadsters. Several historic buildings have been moved onto the grounds, complete with their original contents – a trapper’s cabin, a house belonging to one of the Alcan engineers, an old Hudson Bay building.

The blue building in the background was packed with antique cars

9-10 July – Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park

As we started west toward the Canadian Rockies, we encountered very little traffic; I counted about 10 cars coming toward us in the first 30 miles or so. The sun was actually shining, with big puffy clouds not threatening rain – first day of sun in a while.

This 188-mile stretch of road is the most scenic we’ve found since leaving Jasper National Park. In many places the road seems more like a little county road rather than a major highway, as it’s narrow with no shoulder. We again encountered places where the road is being replaced from the dirt on up, one of which was so pot-holed that 5 mph was the best we could do. Several stretches of 8 percent up and downhill grades with 30 mph turns are interspersed with river valleys. All along the way the mountains grew more impressive!

Large slide on left mountain; interesting butte beyond

Tetsa River valley -  all along the way were mixed forests of aspen and spruce

Tetsa River

Stone Mountain - very aptly named

Stone sheep ram and doe

Part of the stone sheep herd that was licking minerals from the roadside; note the baby lying nonchalantly right beside the road.

Very narrow, curvy road through one of the few cuts along the Alaska Highway

MacDonald River- named after a Cree Indian who helped plan the route for the Alaska Highway

Emerald slopes; the highway crews periodically burn off the growth so  that new shrubs will grow to feed the stone sheep during the winter. Note the narrow road with  grass encroaching on the pavement

Toad River Settlement nested in the Toad River valley

Folded Mountains - a result of continental collision eons ago

Folded mountain detail

Centennial Falls

Layers of misty blue mountains with rain

Muncho Lake with mountains in background

 We stopped at the Northern Rockies Lodge at the north end of Muncho Lake to top off our diesel – big mistake! We knew we’d be running the generator at Liard River Hot Springs, and were sitting just below half a tank. This was the most expensive fuel we’ve bought since we were in Newfoundland -$4.81/gallon for 51 gallons; we should have bought 40 liters instead of 192.

Adding a passing land and rebuilding road north of Mucho Lake

Liard River

Liard River Bridge - the last original suspension bridge on the Alaska Highway

Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park is a lovely campground, with sites separated by trees and shrubs. Dry camping, but that’s why we have water/holding tanks, propane, and a generator. 

Site 27 at Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park

Sunday morning we put on our suits and went to the hot springs. A 0.4 mile boardwalk crosses an extensive marshy area full of boreal forest plants and little fish. The upper pool at the hot springs is really hot – over 125 deg F, while the lower pool is a more moderate 105-110 deg. The upper pool has a gravel bottom and is clear turquoise, while the lower pool has a muddy bottom. Early in the day, it’s clear, but by mid-day enough mud has been churned up by waders to turn it milky. We found that after acclimating to the lower pool we could enjoy the cooler end of the upper pool – toward the hotter end at the inlet, is too hot for most people, us included.

At the hot springs - this is the clear upper pool - the far end is too hot to enter