Big Cashew Adventure - Day 11

Where are the citizens of the Forest?

So it’s the second Monday of this trip and we have seen minimal activity from the wildlife part of the equation.  Sure there we the prong deer in the States and let’s not forget the Prairie dogs in the Badlands, cute as a button.  But, come on, where is the real wildlife?  I did not come on this trip to see trees, plowed fields and roiling hills.  I want lions and tigers and bears, oh my!  At least bears and let’s add moose and Elk.  Well, I guess the squeaky wheel gets the oil.

Today we finally got some wildlife to show for the trip.  Unfortunately, the first offerings was not a good one.  As we were heading from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, we watched as two fairly large deer came bounding out of the woods about 600 feet in front of us.  There was a semi coming towards us at about 65 MPH.  The lead deer ran right into the side of the truck at full speed.  It was not pretty.  The truck kept going and all we could do was feel sorry for the animal.  That was a bit unnerving to start out day.    Thank heavens this was not our only encounter, although the change would occur on the last leg of today’s trip. 

The goal for today’s drive was to reach Fort Nelson, a small town about 250 miles from Dawson Creek.   It is also 320 miles from our next stop, Watson Lake.  Since we want to try to keep the driving to 6 hours, if possible, the Fort Nelson part fit the bill.  The only issues was that it left us a 7+ hour trip to Watson Lake, with stops would be probably a 9 hour day.  That would be a bit much, so we studied the Mile Post book provided by GAH which advised us of a RV park about 75 miles further towards Watson Lake.  We decided to head to Tesla’s campground (more on this site later).  On the way we encountered not one, not two but three bears, each individually in about a 20 minute time period.  As I was driving along, Chiara spotted a black motion just off the left side of the road.  As we drew closer, she said “bear” and she was right.  A black bear was just wondering along the road, stopping and foraging for food, I guess.  We stopped the RV, rolled down the driver side mirror and took these pictures.  We were there for about 5 minutes.  I was stopped in the road and there was no traffic either direction the entire time.  We then drove on and after about 10 minutes, we see another bear, this one also on the driver side of the road, or just off it.  We got a few more pics and then moved on.  About 15 minutes late, a third bear was spotted on the passenger side of the road, or just off it.  This one was the closest yet.  I would say it was about 12 feet away, looking at us every so often.  We got pictures with my camera, Chiara’s phone and her IPAD.  Again, we were there for about 5 minutes, and again, there was no traffic from either side.      I finally got my first bear sighting.  Say halleluiah, say amen!  The day was must brighter now.

Back to the drive, itself.  The Alaskan highway was, initially in excellent shape.  As we moved along, the first 120 miles were fairly smooth.  The wind was not a factor and some sites were fantastic.  The ride to and over the Peace bridge, which spans a gorge,  had wonderful scenery before and from the bridge.  We continued on through a number of small towns and hamlets, but our luck would change quickly.  Once we got past the Peace bridge area, the weather started to change.  It became cloudy and started to sprinkle.  This would be the patter for the rest of the day.  Some light rain, then heavy, then light then no rain and then back to light/heavy rain.  The wipers were going on and off every few minutes.  I had to slow down for the rain.  Then, after we hit the 120 mile distance, the road surface changed and become much rougher.  There were pot holes and possibly some frost heaves.  Then we started to climb.  And we climbed and climbed.  Before we knew it, there was snow on the ground.  We were in the mountains, but these were just the foothills of the Rocky’s.  We were up and down, at times slowing down because the hill was that steep.  We drove for three hours, as there were no rest spots or places to accommodate the RF.  We finally reach the summit of one mountain, in the town of Bucking and found a small restaurant.  We stopped here for lunch.  I had a BLT and Chiara had a Buffalo burger.  She said it was OK, but not spectacular.  Oh well, some people cannot be satisfied.  Also, I noted snow earlier in this write up.  Bucking had received 15 inches just 2 days ago.  15 inches of snow in mid-May.  What is the world coming too?

We got back on the road and continued on to Fort Nelson.  The road was still a bit rough and there were pot holes every few miles.  They have this sign placed on the road side.  It is dark orange and shows 3 what look like hills end to end.  When I see them I slow down and look.  For the most part I am able to avoid the pot holes.  There is so little traffic that I can have most of the road to avoid the hole.  Still, one has to be vigilant at all times.  We finally arrived at Fort Nelson, at about 2:30 PDT.  We stopped, took a break and rested, then made the decision to move on.  Besides the bear sightings, the extra leg we added gave us a look into the next day’s drive.  We are in the Canadian Rocky’s now and they do go up and down.  As we drove past the bear sightings, we started to really climb.  Before we knew it, we were on top of a mountain and we could see the valleys below.  The sightseeing was incredible, but we are on roads that are on the edge of the mountain, and there is not always a guard rail to hold you back.  I love this kind of drive, but I cant say the same for Chiara.  So tomorrows ride will be interesting.

 The owner at the campsite saws the drive and scenery is the most incredible in all of Canada.  I sure hope so.

And speaking of the campsite, it is just a small park in the valley right on the Alaskan Highway.  It is run by a couple who also have a small dining nook where they serve breakfast.  They have a Canadian breakfast with Canadian bacon.  We will try it in the morning.  They also back breads and cinnamon buns.  We tried it and it was pretty good.  They run the site from about mid=March into October.  I believe they are more of a fishing lodge type of operation and the RV sites are just a means to pull in the sports men.  The site is nothing spectacular but they are very friendly and seem to enjoy this lifestyle.  

Please note, we have more pictures but have not been able to transfer from phone.