The Alaska Highway from Ft. Nelson isn't quite as good as the road from Dawson Creek to Ft Nelson, though not bad. Sections have always had construction when we’ve driven it, but that is par for the course in the north. We had to stop for a bit here where they are constructing a new bridge after Fort Nelson and there was about a 20 mile stretch of gravel between Watson Lake and Teslin. We encounterd some other bridge work and a few other small construction projects as well. One the whole, it wasn't too bad. RVs need to take their time and drive defensively on gravel stretches.
Some sections of construction are long lasting and even have signals. You might see creative warnings about frost heaves - flags or small stop signs stuck in a bucket. Often your warning is wavy lines, especially early in the season.
While maybe not as smooth as the first leg, the drive from Ft Nelson to Watson Lake is probably the prettiest - so far! As our post, "Wildlife mecca" showed, we saw a lot of wildlife along here.
Muncho Lake is pictureseque. We arrived early enough to score a campsite right on the lake at Strawberry Flat campground in the provincial park. The lake has a beautiful aqua hue with snow-topped mountains framing the valley.
Liard Hot Springs was outstanding. George likes very hot water and I don't so Liard is ideal. The end near the source is practically scalding; below the water flowing out of the pond is like a bathtub. You can situate yourself wherever is pleasant to you or let hot water bombard your back at the spillway. George was up for the challenge of wading to near the source to add a rock to the stack. I wasn't fast enough with a photo to get him putting it on top, but he wouldn't give a repeat performance!
We did make it through the wildfire area without a problem, though parts were still smoldering and smokey.
Of course we visited the sign forest in Watson Lake. George found the Roving Rods sign and added our names in permanent black marker.
In Teslin we visited the George Johnston Museum and the Tlingit Heritage Center. I love the Tlingit designs. George Johnson shipped a car to Teslin in 1928 and built 4 miles of road to drive it on. As a photographer, he captured daily life of his people. The film about his life included a portion on building the Alaska Highway through their area. No one had told them about it. Some people had been away working their traplines, returning to find their homes gone- bulldozed to make way for the road. Many natives lost their lives to disease that came with the military. Army personnel were allowed to hunt in off hours and dragged bears out of hibernation, slaughtering hundreds of them.
At Jake's Corner, we took the cutoff to Carcross to the Klondike Highway South to visit Skagway. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak
Photos by George and Jaimie Bruzenak
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