Traveling to Dawson Creek, took us from Alberta to just over the border to British Columbia, still in Canada, just a different Provence. Dawson Creek is an important stop for Alaska bound travelers because it is the official "Mile 0 of the Alcan (Alaska-Canada Highway)". The official beginning of construction was March 9, 1942, the official ribbon cutting ceremony was November 20, 1942. Most of it was simply a bulldozed path from Dawson Creek, BC to Delta Junction, AK. To view the full article go to www.themilepost.com/articles/.
Today, the highway is, for the most part, paved, with gravel breaks, pieces of construction and frost heaves. There are two seasons in the far north, as far as the roads are concerned...winter and construction. They only have about 3 months to work on the roads up here, so they go after it with a vengeance!
Upon our arrival in Dawson Creek, we arranged a catered dinner of Lasagna, garlic bread and salad, then we had a guest speaker from the Visitor's Center, who gave us the history of the Alcan Highway and Dawson Creek. Her presentation was very informative and everyone seemed to enjoy it.
We seem to have left the cooler weather behind, the days are getting longer and warmer. Hard to believe but this whole area up here has been in a long drought, and right now there are several fires burning out of control in Alberta, BC and the Yukon, as well as Alaska. Most are caused by lightening, but there are a few man made fires as well.
The day after the presentation, we all met up at the Alaska Highway Mile 0 Sign, where we had our group picture taken. I have to tell you that getting everyone in a group of 40 to stand so that everyone can be seen can be a real challenge, but we accomplished it!
It was about this time in the trip that our official Alaska Caravan Facebook page was started. Everyone is sharing their pictures on this page. If you would like to be a member of the page (it is closed), sign up to join and let me know so that I can inform our admin people and they will let you in. There are some great pictures of wildlife on there!! So far, as a group we have seen moose, fox, porcupine, bears, bison, a herd of about 100 Caribue, beaver and a bunch of crazy people who are doing this trip by bicycle!!
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