“Seven days left before arriving in Alaska” sounds pretty straightforward, however this was the most demanding portion of our trip so far: driving each day, trying to find overnight camping, adjusting to longer daylight hours, concerns for fuel, poor road conditions, and bugs, bugs, BUGS. We started the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia at Mile Zero, traveled through the Yukon, and arrived in Alaska just outside of Tok. This scenic portion of the journey totaled 1,202 miles and provided new challenges.
Day 1 - 7 Days to Alaska starting from Dawson Creek, British Columbia Canada!
Day 2 - Arrived at Triple G Hideaway Campground in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. Warmer temperatures and mosquito season had arrived so we broke out the screen tent and Steve found the most affordable coldish beer at the camp store to quench our thirst!
Day 3 - The drive from Fort Nelson to Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park was filled with dramatic scenery….plus horrible roads and parking lots.
Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park in the Northern Rockies of British Columbia was simply magical. As you move around the natural pools you can enjoy cooler to warmer to unbearably HOT water nearer to the spring source. We were able to actually see the water boiling at the spring entry point. There was a waterfall located up a short distance and the flora was incredible. Steve and I both slept very well that evening! The mosquitoes at the campground were fierce, along with other annoying insects, and due to the high bear population there is now an electric fence all around the campground. The boardwalk to the hot spring is open to all animal life so Steve was armed with bear spray!
During our Liard Spring soak we met dog mushing champion Jessie Royer, an Alaska and Montana resident, who has raced in the Iditarod as well as many other mushing competitions. If you would like to read about her story check out the links below!
https://www.ktvh.com/news/helena-news/royer-takes-top-spot-at-race-to-the-sky-2022
Day 4 &5 - We drove to Watson Lake, Yukon Canada where we stopped to visit the Sign Forest and added my Rise Shine Repeat business card for a photo. Unfortunately our next campground stop at Teslin Lake (Yukon Government Campground) was closed due to to flooding. We tried a second campground……however that was full. We ended up driving all the way to Whitehorse and spent two nights in store parking lots. During the day we were able to catch up on laundry, went to the Whitehorse Library for WiFi, and stocked up on a few groceries including MORE mosquito repellant items!
Canadian road signs we have seen along the way so far!
Meeting new friends has been amazing throughout this journey. This rowdy group caught up at Yukon Brewing in Whitehorse!
Destruction Bay - Yukon, Canada. The roads (from this beautiful point until we reached Alaska) were the worst we had encountered since leaving Buffalo, NY: relentless potholes all the way, roller coaster frost heaves, long loose gravel sections, endless stretches of dusty construction. We met a couple in Tok, Alaska that told us the roads have been the same since they relocated there in 2012. It was slow going and plenty of “Yikes!”. While enjoying the view at D-Bay we used up all of our fruits and vegetables prior to our border crossing and had a relaxing lunch.
Day 6 - Our final night in the Yukon was spent at Lake Creek Campground, so full of mosquitoes that we stayed hunkered down in the Scamp and retired early. Once again our fabulous portable toilet saved us some uncomfortable trips to the bug infested campground outhouses.
Day 7 - We crossed the border into Alaska! Even though we had spent only two weeks crossing through Canada it was still a bit emotional when the U.S border guard said, “Welcome home.” We will be spending about four weeks exploring our 49th State starting in the Fairbanks area, then visiting Denali National Park, the Kenai Peninsula, and Valdez. Thanks for following along!
Throughout the past week, lessons have been learned. I would like to share some advice regarding our travel from Dawson Creek to Tok, Alaska in case anyone reading would like to follow our Scamp steps.
Prior to leaving Dawson Creek set one of your trip odometers to zero if you are going to use the Mile Post book (buy one!) for reference. Dawson Creek is Mile Zero for the Alaskan Canadian Highway and the Mile Post gives detailed information using the mile (and kilometer) posts on the road. The issue for us was that the kilometer posts were far and few between, almost like they were removed. Kilometer posts that we did start seeing were sparatic. If you start your trip odometer at zero in Dawson Creek you can follow the miles listed in the Mile Post book!
Yukon Government Campgrounds are beautiful, however no reservations. Do not purchase your permit online (can pay exact Canadian cash at campground as well) until you arrive and know the campground has availability. If the campground is full there is no refund. I purchased the permit ahead of time and we ended up staying in a Walmart parking lot instead due to no availability.
Potholes, road construction, gravel, dirt, and dust made some of the driving hazardous and slow. Leave enough time and stay the within the speed limit or slower. If Google tells you it will take 3 hours to get to your destination, it will be longer than that!
The long daylight hours will mess with you. Bring a sleeping mask! It was still sunny at 10:30pm last night in Whitehorse, Yukon.
There are bugs, lots and lots of bugs. The mosquitos are fierce. Be prepared!
The #1 piece of advice - Top off your gas whenever possible, even if you just dropped the level a little bit. I knew this before we started this trip via YouTube travelers and it truly saved us. Even though we had steadily followed this rule we still ran into an issue that could have ended in a big problem. On a portion of our route from Liard Springs to Watson Creek we stopped at one gas station that was out of gas and the next one had broken pumps. Luckily the third place had gas available. Gas stations in the more remote areas are far and few between and many are no longer in service (see just a couple we captured below) so be cautious. Since we were towing the Scamp, and only have about 14 gallon tank, we had to be careful.
Coddiwompling “To Travel in a Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination”
“The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.” - Dolly Parton
https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/liard_rv_hs/ Liard Hot Springs
https://www.travelyukon.com/en/things-to-do/article/sign-post-forest