Part #2 of My Summer Vacation (:>)!

Part 2 of 7.. Check out part #1 for the beginning starting May 26th.

MAY 31 To June 2nd, 2009

May 31st, 2009

I awake to a very soft sound hitting the outside of my tent, it’s snowing. Not hard but steady and big wet flakes. Not quite cold enough to really stick much, but it is turning things white. Oh boy, I get to take down a wet tent, I’m thinking “glad I’m not backpacking” Throw everything into the Jeep and head down the road looking for coffee. Instead I find this Caribou staring at me as I leave the camp ground. The next picture gives a good view of the ALCAN Hwy. Notice the wide cut back along the road, both Canada and Alaska do this where ever possible. Makes for a beautiful drive. Wild flowers and grasses mostly grow there and the animals love it. It  gives the driver time to see animals and slow down.

Soon was in Fort Nelson, stopped for gas ( about $4.50 gal ) I believe this was the highest I had paid so far, got that cup of coffee, wish I hadn’t I think it had been brewing since 1942.  Visited the tourist information center and than the Ft. Nelson Heritage Museum.  http://www.fortnelsonbc.com/         This a very unusual museum, but was so interesting to me ( I like old cars and things ). Met “Marl Brown” the one with the beard and the founder, curator and main refurbisher. Quite a guy and he knows where every piece came from and why. The 1908 Buick below is one of his favorites cars, but he has many including some from tha ALCAN Hwy building like the ARMY Truck below. The little red truck is a 1951 Englsih Ford, the huge pistons had me going until a saw the sign. They are from generator that used to make the towns electric. Many small towns in Canada still use them today. There is an early snowmobile and the horns are two Moose that died after getting locked together, they had many furs and stuffed animals there too. The Army green “bull dozer” Cat is one that actually worked on the Alcan highway and the photo with Marl standing next to a small engine is his toy, it is a one cylinder engine and each time the exhaust fires it pushes the Coke can up a wire, seems to make him smile. There were many different rooms full of old equipment such as the telephone equipment.

  

 

  

  

I was talking to a volunteer there and we were talking about the weather in Ft. Nelson and she said it gets down 20 or 30 below in the winter. She also was school teacher an said the kids can play outside down to 20 below and they sometimes take them out even colder. She said it was important that they get the kids get outside in the winter because school time was the only daylight they may see for several months. The roads are kept open all winter and there can be 3 to 5  feet of snow on the ground all winter too. A very interesting town with lots of History. After several hours in Ft Nelson I was ready to move on North. The weather had not really improved a whole lot, other than the mixed rain and snow had come to a stop.

Soon after I leave Ft. Nelson I come upon another Black Bear, it doesn’t seem to paying much attention to me and won’t turn around. I already have plenty of Bear Butt pictures, I yell at it and that gets its attention, it turns towards me looking a bit miffed, I snap the photo and hop back in the Jeep. Soon I came to a small herd of Bison a distance field.

In couple hours the landscape changes from the flat to Mountains again. A Rock formation is ahead resembling a Indians Head and so it is called Indian Head Mountain.

 

Next I finally get a fair photo of a young Moose. They are the strangest animals, look as if they were made up of left over parts. Soon an Elk runs across the road and I get photo through the windshield.

 

The economy has hit the restaurant and motel business pretty hard, although this business looks like it has been out of business for sometime, I have seen many businesses closed over the last few days. I m now in what is called the Stone Mountain Range and it is getting Colder as I climb higher.

Next I come to Summit Lake where I had planned on camping. I get out of the car and a cold and steady wind is blowing as I check out the camp spots. Most of the lake is still frozen. It doesn’t take me long to realize that this place is too cold to stay, although one couple seems to be getting ready to stay in a tent trailer. In a short talk with them they said they had some propane heaters. My tent has no heater other than me, back in the Jeep and down the road. Over the next couple hours I check out a couple more parks, but nothing suits me. I drop down off the mountain and find a back road and sleep and eat in the back of the Jeep for the night. It’s been a really great day of interesting people, places, animals and views.

 

June 1st 2009

After a big a dinner of Top Ramon, a good nights sleep and hot breakfast of  Oat meal ( LOL ).  actually that is what I had.. I’m up early and back on the road by 6:30 am, soon I come to a bridge across the Racing River  river, just as I cross the river a BIG Grizzly Bear ( my first )  comes running down the right bank runs right in front of Jeep and heads for the brush. With no place to stop I have to move a little farther up the road to pull over, by than the Bear is heading into the brush, wow  another Butt shot. But it was a big Butt. This somewhat poor picture shows the bear heading into the brush with its head on the left looking back

Soon I come to a Cafe and I need another cup of coffee. A couple of the road construction workers ask me what part of Oregon I’m from. So in the conversation I tell them about my seeing a grizzly bear about 3 miles back down the road near where they were working. One guys says Hell ” I’ve been out here for 3 months and I’ve seen nothing but mosquitoes” , you drive through and see a bear and a grizzly bear at that. He said; I might tell the cafe owner, he has some cattle down there by the river. So I go back in and tell him about my siting, but he is not too concerned, says the bear won’t bother the cattle. But he does thank me and offers me a FREE refill on my coffee. On down the road I go and at 8:07 am I spot this Moose on the roadside. Seemed a bit shy, and kept one on me while I took its picture.

 A little farther on and I come to this unusual Rock formation called “Folding Mountain”. The layers of the mountain appear to have been layed down in folds.

At 8:11 am I see this Stone Ram Up on a hill-side. After several different shots of his you know  what, I get this nice shot of him looking back at me. These Sheep are called “Stone Sheep” and are pretty common in this area. Both male and female have horns, except the Males are larger and curl more. A lot has been happening fast here this morning, looks like another great start to a day!  

Soon I come to Muncho Lake, a beautiful 7 mile long lake of amazing turquoise color. It’s only about 9 am, but I’m ready to stay here!  So I look around and find a nice spot over looking the lake. http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3616

Additional Photographs at : www.donsiebelphotography.com

Shortly after getting set up this Pontoon plane came in for a landing, they were using this end of the lake to take off and land since the other end was still frozen. The only Lodge on the lake is the “Northern Rockies Lodge” where the Pontoon Plane  is normally based from. http://www.northern-rockies-lodge.com/

 Here he is taking off on this beautiful lake, was interesting seeing it come and go for a while, but did make a lot of noise. I met the Camp attendant for late Breakfast at a small cafe a couple miles away. My first REAL breakfast since started. Ham and eggs, the ham was about 5 inches by 8 inches and 1/2 inch thick. Home made bread for toast, and home-made hash brown potatoes. I ate it all, like a good little camper.  The camp attendants story was like many I would hear about. Visited Canada about 15 years and fell in love with the country, moved his family there and loves his work and the country.  After breakfast I went for a hike the attendant told me about and came upon these Stone Sheep on the way. I had a really great  place to set up my tent, over looking the Lake.

   

My hike took me to the top of a hill that over looked Muncho Lake. As you look to the far end of the lake you can see it is still frozen, what a view. Took the rest of the day off and talked to a couple of other campers. Now have traveled 1799 miles.

June 2nd,

After a nice quite evening watching the Sunset, I get an early start. Stop at the Lake one more time to get ice for my cooler. This picture of the lake shows how the ice formed small waves on the surface.

At 7:15 am I come across a small herd of about 6 Bison, this big fellow seemed to be enjoying the morning sun. Next at 7:40 am I spot this smaller Black bear enjoying his morning stroll for breakfast.

 

Soon I come the “Yukon” Border and within a few minutes I come to a Historic spot. Mile Post 585 on the Alcan Highway. This place is called “Contact Creek” . This is where the southern section was completed on 09/24/1942. An  Army group working from the Northwest and an Army group working from Dawson Creek meet at this spot, completing about 1030 miles in just under 7 months. The first truck to drive through took 71 hours. from Dawson Creek to get to White Horse. Average speed 15 miles per hour. The Yukon has 35,000 people living there and it is about the size of Oregon, 23,000 live in or around White Horse its biggest city. Canada has some of the greatest Sign.

 

Here is a link with facts about the Yukon    http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/canada/facts/yt.html

I’m heading towards “Watson Lake” when I get this great view of the Alaska Mountain Range.

A few miles south of Watson Lake I come upon another Black Bear and then a Bison eating alongside the road.

 

About noon I come to Watson Lake, famous for its Signpost forest. Over 40, 000  city, town or state signs, licence plates and pieces of wood with names and dates nailed to posts.

http://www.bellsalaska.com/watsonlk.html

I checked out several motels and end up at the Air Force Lodge.  http://www.airforcelodge.com/index.html   This was really a nice place and very reasonable too! A couple of the other motels were smelly (cigarettes) and dirty. Several were closed. I thought this sign was interesting, most likely stolen from the Borough of Plum, where ever that is. The Watson lake Hotel was closed due to economy I suspect. Did some laundry, washed my Jeep and restocked some food and visited several local attractions and got caught up on my e-mail.

 

Had a BIG hamburger at local fast food. The cook/waiter/owner would keep throwing french fries out the open front door to a huge black raven, it would keep tossing the hot french fry in the air until it cooled enough too eat, once it did that it would craw for another. No one seemed to pay much attention to this other me ( the tourist ) . Tomorrow I leave the ALCAN Highway for a while a take the Campbell  Highway Northwest. { A 374 mile mostly gravel road that sort of parallels the Alcan highway. The highway follows the explorer Robert Campbell 1840 search for the a westward river to the coast for the Hudson’s Bay Co.}  We’ve heard that before. SEE NEW POST NUMBER 3 soon!   More Photos at www.donsiebelphotography.com