Thursday June 24, Morley River, YT

230 Miles

Finally, today we came across a black bear just grazing the roadside and we were able to stop the van and I got photos of it from my seat, 10 metres away. It was quite a sight and it wasn’t at all concerned that we were there.  We also came across quite a few bison just on the side of the road so a good wildlife day. 

We are now at about Mile 750 of the Alaskan Highway, about half way through. It has been a great drive today and although there are very few settlements the trees are always changing, and there are expansive views to the mountains as well as little lakes and streams and big rivers. The road itself is far better than we expected and there is quite a bit of traffic on it, although today seemed a bit quieter. Everywhere you stop you end up chatting with people in their RV’s who have either been, or going to Alaska.

We stopped at a small fuel stop/general store at Contact Creek to refuel…at 1.09c/litre it is pretty good. The owners keep it open all year round, and only go out to a major centre 2 or 3 times a year. It is open from 7am till 9pm….they deserve everything they make.

Watson Lake was the next town with a population of about 1500. All these towns on the highway look the same, lots of broken down cars and building that are not that well cared for and really showing their age, but they are service centres. We heard about their Sign Post Forest and couldn’t believe how many signs there were…at last count there were almost 70,000. It started during the building of the Highway and serviceman that were feeling homesick would put a sign of their hometown on a pole…it has grown from there. The town just erects more posts. We spotted one from Tauranga NZ but nothing else.
The girls in the information centre were great and helped us a lot about what we were likely to find on our trip north.  They told us about the pilot at the helicopter service in town who was from NZ so we went to see him. Vince was from East Coast and had been in Watson Lake for 3 years. What started out to be a summer job turned full time and he brought his wife and 2 daughters over to join him. They just love the area. Dion, another pilot had just arrived and he was looking after the base while Vince and family took a break in Edmonton. Evidently there are more NZ chopper pilots in the Yukon than Canadians!

Then it was back on the highway for another 2 ½ hours. Spotted this picnic spot beside the river and saw another fellow camper had already set up for the night so pulled in. Great little spot. There is no problem finding these sort of place and we much prefer them to the private campsites….and they are free.

10.30pm…still daylight and by now there are 4 other campers arrived at this spot. Have sat around the campfire enjoying chatting with a retired pharmacist from Texas, a gentleman from South Dakota and a chap from California who runs an internet radio station  www.radioparadise.com   will be checking it out when I get home. Life on the road is never dull!