Road Trip 2010: Days 16 Dawson Creek to Ft. Nelson

June 23rd

[Let's travel back in time a few days to last Wednesday morning. That's when we officially began the travel portion of our little trek.]

We rolled out of Dawson Creek early on the morning of Wednesday June 23rd. This caraventure operates on what’s called a shotgun start. Rather than travel enmass, we leave our campgrounds individually during a set time period. If you wish, you can travel with another rig or two, but it is not necessary. Each evening, you’re given a briefing of what there is to see and do along the route coming up. Exactly what you do is up to you. Travel at your own pace. Stop when you feel like it along the way. Just stay on the path and arrive at the next campground around a given time. One of the Good Sam leaders goes out early (hopefully before anyone else) and the other rides drag, sweeping up any sluggards who may fall to far behind or who may have suffered a breakdown along the way.

These first few days it’s been pretty easy traveling. Hey! You’ve only got one road and one direction to follow. From Dawson Creek, BC take BC Highway 97 north. That was it until we reached Yukon and the highway changed its name. Now it’s Highway 1.
Back to Wednesday morning. A short distance out of Dawson Creek, Terry and I took a side road off to the old AlCan Highway where there was an original trestle bridge crossing the Kiskatinaw River just 17 miles from Mile 0 post. The bridge is the only original wooden trestle bridge still in service—and it is curved. Both are unique characteristics in their own way. Oh, and the surface of the bridge is wooden, too.

Wooden trestle bridge over the Kiskatinaw River.

Wooden trestle bridge over the Kiskatinaw River.

Another 17 or so miles up the road, and we rode down the hill into the Peace River Valley and crossed the Peace River at the town of Taylor. Originally one of the two suspension bridges built for the Alaskan Highway spanned the Peace River here, but that bridge collapsed in 1957 after the northern anchor block was undermined by erosion. Today, a truss-type bridge carries traffic across the river. A suspension bridge of sorts is still in use, however. It carries a gas pipeline across the river to the gas purification plant in Taylor.

Bridges over the Peace River

Terry and I were going to stop at Fort St. John and visit the museum, but, doggone it, we were too early. So after a brief spin around town, we headed back up the highway. It was also too early when we got 71 miles up the road to stop at the Shepherd’s Inn for lunch (and too late for breakfast, too) so we kept on rolling.

141 miles into our trip, at Historic Mile 143 we stopped at Pink Mountain for fuel. As you noticed, there’s a difference between the distance from Mile 0 today (141 miles) and the historic value (143). The reason lies in the changes made to the roadway since the Canadians took over maintenance and repair. Sections constructed during 1942-43 that were suitable for quick completion and military usage were deemed unsuitable for long term usage and/or public usage. The grades were too steep or the roads too dangerous or the winter melt and flash flooding just destroyed some sections too frequently and so had to be replaced. With more modern equipment and the ability to work a little more deliberately, many miles may have been shaved off the old highway.

Currently 145.1 miles from Dawson Creek, there is a plaque commemorating Suicide Hill. (Seems like a silly name considering the steep grades to come in the Rocky Mountains. But there you are. In this case they went straight up the bloody hillside instead of across the face in something of a switchback manner.) The plaque is located in a flat plane. There isn’t a hill around. But, way off in the distance is that famed hill where drivers were warned: “Prepare to meet thy maker!” Old photographs show what appears to be a hill with a near 45 degree slope.

The gap in the trees w-a-y over there is where Suicide Hill is located. I think.

Terry and I had a packed lunch with us so we continued on our way enjoying the scenery along the way as we were finally getting back into forested and hilly terrain after the flat, flat lands of North Dakota, Alberta and southeastern British Columbia.

It's a long and winding (NOT!) road.

At least there's some topography to enjoy!

We finally rolled into our destination campground at Fort Nelson (mile marker 283) around two in the afternoon and, after getting the trailer parked, we moseyed on over to the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum at Historic Mile Marker 300.



The museum has one of the best collections of antique automobiles I’ve seen put together by one person—Marl Brown, founder and curator. It also has a growing collection of local artifacts, buildings and displays representative of the local culture and history. Well, worth the visit.

Two of the many antique vehicles at the museum.

The next day we were off to Liard Hotsprings.