Destination Circle: Day 27

June 9, 2016

dead spruce trees south of Fort Nelson, BC

At Fort Nelson I turned south and slowly, throughout the day, re-entered civilization - telephone poles, traffic, commerce, all of which was depressing, especially as the skies were gloomy and it was raining. My plan was to go to Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway since I would then have driven the entire route. It begins at the eastern edge of British Columbia in Dawson Creek. I did stop once along the way at Sasquatch Crossing for a cup of coffee, a banana and two regular postcards, and the guy at the cash register said, "$15.25." I choked and he explained "postcards are $4 a piece" whereupon I put them back, and in this complicated math transaction, my total dropped to $4.88.

Black Bear along Highway 97 south of Fort Nelson, BC

The road south from Fort Nelson was still through wilderness for a couple of hours, but the Rockies were now out of sight to the west and the landscape began to change to more deciduous trees and open ranch- and farm land. I did see one large Black Bear munching at the edge of the spruce while still relatively far north, but that was the only "megafauna" of the day.

I walked into a Visitor Center 30 miles west of Dawson Creek where I was accosted by a middle-aged East Indian lady working there and trying her best to be the most helpful volunteer on the continent:

"OK, so you're traveling south to Dawson Creek, to get to Mile 0. I understand why you want to do that...OK, so that's not the most scenic route but I know you want Mile 0. Would you like some coffee? The restrooms are over there and here's the key. Where are you staying tonight? Well, when you get to Quesnel, you should stay at the Fraser Inn. I'm not supposed to tell anyone this, but I always stay at the Fraser Inn on the Fraser River. I'm really not supposed to tell you that. You can use hotwire.com. Here I'll write it down for you....(Me: Thanks, but I know about hotwire; you don't have to do that...) Do you want any coffee? I'll get a map and show you where it is. (Me: that's OK; I have a map). If you need to use the restroom before you go, the key is on the little hook over there. Here's the map and I'll show you the route. And here, I wrote down HOTWIRE.COM for you. So tonight, you will stay in Chetwynd? Good; you better make a reservation because the chainsaw carving competition is going on this weekend. You can use hotwire.com to do this. Here is some coffee if you want...."

As I moseyed about, checking out all the pamphlets and brochures, she began talking with a young Italian couple about the Dempster Highway so I perked up and then asked them if they were going to drive it. They said they only had a regular car and were going to see if they COULD, but otherwise they might fly there from Fairbanks or Dawson City. (The Dempster is the 450-mile unpaved highway north to Inuvik from Dawson City.

dempsterhighway.com

The Dempster Highway is a 740 KM (460 miles) hard packed, but well maintained, gravel road that winds its way through two mountain ranges, the Oglivie and the Richardson; crosses the continental divide three times, traverses the Arctic Circle and loosely follows the old dog team routes on its way to Inuvik and the Mackenzie Delta where access to the Arctic Ocean is available.

I did make it to Dawson Creek and immediately, without stopping to take even one photo, I went. I hope there is more charm to this town than I saw in the gloom and rain. I expected a totally different venue and make in the sunlight and off the main highway, there is more than the dreary business section I saw. I was driving a wedge-shaped route here, coming into town from the northwest, arriving at the point of the wedge and then turning sharply to head southwest, kind of retracing my route for about 40 miles. But I could now legitimately wear a hat or T-shirt "I Survived the Alaska Highway." 

I spent the night in Chetwynd, ate schnitzel at a newly opened restaurant owned by a Chinese couple, and spent 30 minutes trying to find a Priceline motel, going in circles following the directions of a harried Siri and finally asking someone. The motel was spartan in a modern way, new, but not cosy. 

Everywhere in this small town (which used to be known at Grande Prairie) were chainsaw sculptures. This competition began in 2005. It vies with the Husky Cup in Germany for the world's best carving contest. This year there are 12 entrants. They are allowed 36 hours to carve and start with huge pieces of cedar, but of different shapes, and drawn by lottery. So the artists have to be prepared to adjust what they will carve according to the size and shape of the block of wood they get. 

Chain saw carving in Chetwynd, BC

Their work is amazing. I have only ever seen the rough chainsaw carved bears, etc. These are nothing like those...