Miles 1-438,The Alaskan Highway (06-09-14)

Our first day on the Alaskan Highway was uneventful. We did cross over the Kiskatinaw Bridge, which is the only original timber bridge still in use along the highway, although its now off the main road and has been replaced by something that can handle the weight of big rigs. 

We elected to spend our first night in Fort Nelson.  The RV park we stayed in was right next to a museum run by the historical society so we were once again able to walk to see the sights. Some of the memorabilia included some original equipment from the building of the Al-Can Highway.

The museum had more to it than machinery though- it had a pioneer house and the original post office on the grounds. While touring the “historic” house I was saddened to realize that I remember what these were used for. 

At the RV park in Ft Nelson we noticed another Lance truck camper parked near us, and while I was checking in on the Lance forum online, I realized that it belongs to a couple who post on that forum. We chatted for a bit and hope to catch up to each other again.

The next day we were up bright and early and raring to go. Actually, getting up bright and early is beginning to be a habit.  The sun comes up well before 5 am and we are struggling to stay asleep much beyond that.  It works out ok because at “night” its still light out at 11 pm but by then we are so tired, we have no trouble sleeping.





We were hoping for decent weather but were disappointed that it drizzled most of the day. We debated staying put for another day but decided to push on.  This stretch of road is probably in the best shape of any road we’ll be on from here on out so we put a lot of miles behind us.

Along the way we were alert for wildlife.  Its not unusual to see stone sheep, bears, fox, moose and elk on this road.  We drove for quite a while with no sightings, and were finally rewarded with a peek at the elusive Stone Bear. This is not to be confused with the much more common Stump Bear.

Eventually we actually did come upon a real black bear who was grazing by the roadside.













 

It wasn’t until much later that we saw a Stone Sheep. No, really, that’s their name. They are named after an explorer named Andrew Stone.

 

Along the way we passed by Folded Mountain, which used to be a flat seabed, but 175 million years ago, the continent of North America began shifting, uplifting the seabed, and one of the results was this folded mountain. (my favorite example of Tectonic plate movement is Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland).

Unfortunately, with the next fuel stop always an uncertainty, we are never able to pass by a chance to fuel up. We tried not to look at the pump as it pumped diesel at the rate of $6.82 a gallon.

These are appropriately named the Saw tooth mountains.

Soon enough we reached our destination- Muncho Lake- and immediately felt like we hit the jackpot.   This is a small provincial park campground, and many of the 15 sites are waterfront, including ours.

This is the view from inside the camper.  If only the sun would come out!  Without much debate, decided to stay two nights.

The sky is going back and forth between sunshine and rain many times a day , so we decided to ignore the raindrops and hike to the top of the nearby hill.

The view of the lake was awesome and we saw a huge porcupine on the way down the trail.  He waddled off when he saw us, but we did get to watch him for a bit.

We met several nice people at Muncho, including Glen and Donna, who offered us the use of their kayaks. We declined, but I couldn’t resist getting their picture as they paddled past our campsite.