beautiful british columbia

the next day i drove about 700 miles over 13 hours.   i left early morning from the spot that i found to sleep in the northwest territories, i drove through more of british columbia which truly is beautiful - prepare for photo onslaught - and then finally reached whitehorse in the yukon which gets it's own post next.  whitehorse had been my desired destination the day before, but i had to get around the forest fires. the only bad thing about the day was where i got gouged with an unnecessary $7.20/gal fuel cost!  i had even passed up the places before it because i thought they were too high at $4.90...  at least i was gaining knowledge for the return trip.

a large patch of morning fog

then back on the alcan......

wildlife

yeah, some people actually live out there

me on the alcan highway : )

1000 miles? / northwest territories

i had about 1600 miles left to get to alaska.  i figured i'd shoot for 1000 on one day to whitehorse and 600 the next to fairbanks to get it done in two.  well that plan got shot about two hours into the first day.   i left at 5:30 in the morning so i could drive straight through from twilight to twilight.  over 150 miles of driving were completed when i saw a variable message sign on the shoulder indicating the route i was on was closed before it connects to the alcan highway.  i verified this at a gas station...   basically there is only one other route out of prince george around the problem.  bummer!  not only did i have to back track that 150 miles, but the other route is also 200 miles longer.  so basically the fire added a total of 600 extra miles than what i was planning for.  not cool.  time, progress, money - all impacted.  yeah, i was pretty bummed.   i sat for a minute to contemplate any other options, but waiting out the fire could take a long time...  better just go back and start over...  i retraced the 150 miles through very thick smoke with my eyes itching and my lungs hoping for some fresh air.  i spent half that time getting my attitude in check.  smoke coming out my ears wouldn't help the already poor air quality.

the radio news reported there were over 300 fires in the bc and in the previous two days as much area had been burning equivalent to about 80% of their yearly average!   so basically i was breathing in a years worth of forest fire smoke by driving through there.   the smoke was spreading across british columbia, alberta, saskatchewan, and even parts of ontario!

i was finally back into prince george around 10am and then started up the alternate (and longer) route.  smoke was still thick for the next 150 miles.  then the smoke finally cleared up!  i was very happy to find fresh air.

the alcan!

after a little while, some rain was off and on.

then all of a sudden...  white stuff on the ground.  what?  

really?  it was an inch thick of slush!  um...

this made me think several things:  1) i have respect for this road because the weather is fickle around here.  2) i'm super glad i have nice new tires on my van  3) if this keeps up, i won't make 1000 miles today and it'll be a very long and tiring way.    but thankfully it only lasted for about a mile and then all was fine.

i figured i could make it to fort nelson with light to spare.  then on the map i noticed an offshoot road, hwy 77 that went north by 90 miles to the border with the northwest territories.  that's something i had considered for my return trip but since i was right there i figured i'd drive up in the remaining light of the day and hopefully sleep that night in the northwest territories!   

most of the road was newly paved - super smooth!

bear

wooden bridge

i made it!  i had driven 16 hours and covered 900 miles.  though my original destination for the day was still 700 miles away...  oh well, blame it on the fires.

  

as the road enters the northwestern territories it immediately turns into a rough dirt road.

conveniently there was a pullout at the border perfect for a spot to sleep.

the night was very quite and still.  the only sounds i could hear as i was going to sleep were my van and my heart beat - from the van it was a clanking sound that metal makes as it expands and contracts from temperature change - maybe my muffler pipes and such, and from my heart beat it was a sound in my ear against the pillow.  so very peaceful!

smokey drive

for the first of a few simultaneous long driving days to get to alaska, i drove for about 9 hours getting about 450 miles to prince george.   that's a long drive, so naturally there were a bunch of "drive-by shooting" photo opportunities.

in the morning i saw a casual looking person hitch hiking and decided to pick her up.  the lady was on her way to work and only needed a mile or two ride.  she was australian but had travelled a lot and ended up liking it there in the bc and has been there for the last 16 years.

some of the earlier miles of the day went up and over a mountain with 13% grades and offered views which were super amazing!  

british columbia was suffering from major forest fires, so for the last 350 miles of my day's drive i was smothered in smoke.

gasp!

i slept in a smokey walmart parkinglot.  my eyes were itchy.

first time i've seen someone dare pitch a tent in the lot.  let's not press it too far folks!