Dawson Creek to Tok, Alaska

During the last week we traveled from Dawson Creek to Tok, Alaska. Here's how it went......

May 31   Grande Prairie to Dawson Creek     89 miles     2hrs 

We drove to Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada today. This is where the Alaska highway begins, also referred to as "Mile 0". The drive was nice, only took 2 hours. The temperature was about 70 when we pulled in and will probably drop to the low 40's tonight. We're staying at the Mile 0 RV Campground.

Joe cooking dinner

June 1     Dawson Creek to Sikanni River     155 miles    4hrs 15mins 

Joe taking a much deserved break

Before we left Dawson Creek this morning, we had to stop at a bakery for cinnamon rolls. We've been hearing about all the  ono cinnamon rolls along the Alaska highway, so we had to go find some. Well the ones that we bought was so junk...what a waste of money. There has to be some good ones up the road somewhere. When we got to the Sikanni River Campground we filled gas. $1.56 per liter, that come out to $5.94 per gallon. So for half tank it cost us $201. Wow!!! We knew gas was going to be expensive in Canada, but this is kind of ridiculous. Can't wait to get to Alaska.

 June 2     Sikanni River to Liard Hot Springs    311 miles     9hrs 

 Today was a real long day of driving but we covered a lot of ground. We left pretty early and saw a lot of wildlife today. We stopped at Testa RV Park for cinnamon rolls. Was $5 each but looked real good. Oozing with lots of cinnamon and butter. We're dry camping at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park. $21 but it includes swimming in the hot springs. There was a boardwalk about 1/4 mile long over some swampy areas to get to the hot springs. The springs are really nice set in natural surroundings. We ended up talking to a lot of people all headed towards Alaska. Shared some stories and picked up a lot of tips.

Not sure what kind of sheep this is

Boardwalk to the springs

June 3     Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake     129 miles     2hrs 45mins
We saw some wildlife again this morning. Lot's of buffalo and a few black bears. There was this herd of buffalo with some calves playing right alongside the road, I caught it on video.

The big attraction at Watson Lake is the famous Sign Post Forest. It was started by a US Army soldier in 1942 who was working on the construction of the Alaska highway. Travelers are still adding signs to the collection which is more than 72,000 signs.

June 4     Watson Lake to Whitehorse     264 miles     6hrs 30mins 

We drove into Whitehorse today, it's the capital of the Yukon Territory. Was another long day of driving. We pulled into the Pioneer RV Park right outside of town. It's kind of nice, it cost $31, but like the last park, it's just a gravel lot and they park us right next to each other. When we arrived, the Kia was dead. The people at the park had to help us jump the car. So after we got the car going, we had to find NAPA to buy some jumper cables, $104 another unexpected expense. We went on the SS Klondike for a self guided tour. At midnight it was still light outside, kind of weird.

June 5     Whitehorse - Kluane Lake     150 miles     3hrs 50mins
No wildlife on the road today. We traveled only 150  miles but it took us a long time because the road wasn't that good. We checked in at the Cottonwood RV Park and got a spot right on the lake. Really, really nice park with only electric hook up and only 15 amp so need to watch what we run. We paid $35 and they told us they don't have trash bins so we need to take our rubbish with us. What a rip-off, I guess we're paying for the view.

Looks like we're on the water

We paid for the view

June 6     Kluane Lake - Tok, Alaska     238 miles     7hrs 30mins
We left early this morning for our long drive to Tok. We're kind of anxious to be back on American soil. About 1 mile into our trip this morning, we saw a grizzly, right on the side of the road.

Then later on, Joe saw a moose but didn't stop so I couldn't get a picture. The road was real bad in certain areas. This section from Kluane Lake to the border was the worst so far on the Alaskan highway. We put gas in Tok, $4.29 per gallon. Less than Canada, thank goodness. We're so happy to finally reach Alaska.

This is the international boundary marker