Alaska #6: Leaving; little sleep; NWT; Forts Nelson and St. John
News, Photography ·Wednesday August 27, 2008 @ 22:19 EDT (link)
20080825: (Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, YT: 592 miles.) The return trip officially begins. It's a fairly straight shot southeast from Fairbanks to Whitehorse. We got up at 0750, showered, had breakfast with the Hernings at 0830, and headed into town at 0949. I took a photo of the sign on the way out (1157). Ran into a construction delay (1330-1344), stopped for gas in Tok at 1543 ($4.699/gallon, which seems obscene as I'm writing this in December, when prices are at around $2.50). More construction 1620-1634, 1648-1654. Went uneventfully through customs at 1930, and got to Destruction Bay, Yukon at 2149 (back on Yukon time, i.e. PST). Stopped again for gas near Haines Junction at about 2330.
Knowing the state of Whitehorse lodgings (rare, expensive, and decidedly average), we decided to keep driving through the night; we stopped at a Tim Horton's in Whitehorse at 0119, sat down and had coffee and donuts, and left at 0148. Speaking of donuts, at one of the small towns we came through, there was a cardboard cutout of a police cruiser at the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) outposts, with glow in the dark decals.
20080826: (Whitehorse, YT to Fort Nelson, BC: 591 miles, plus 170 miles round trip detour to NWT.) We slept 0450-0730 at a rest area and then again 0853-0912. At 1010 we got to the Watson Lake visitor center, got gas again at Petro Canada, and stopped again to rest at Old Mile 585 rest area (1132-1325). Short stops in a car don't replace a night of sleep very well.
At 1400 we stopped for lunch, reheating the last of the great Thai curry from Fairbanks with our camp stove. Gassed up again at 1800 in Toad River; stopped and fixed coffee (with the camp percolator) 1920-2030.
On the way back I wanted to drive into the Northwest Territories, just to say we'd been there; we didn't want to take the on the way up, but going back we took the Liard Highway (BC-77) and drove to the NWT and back, about 85 miles each way. It's not a great road: pitch dark, no lights, no road lines, 110 km/h (about 70 mph), lots of potholes and (signed) gravelly areas, and the occasional big truck oncoming. There wasn't much to see when we got there: I got a photo of the sign then we headed back, getting back to the Alaska Highway at 1227.
20080827: (Fort Nelson, BC to Fort St. John, BC: 236 miles.) Got gas at 0100 in Fort Nelson; slept 0338-0606, drove a little more, slept 0710-1021; arrived in Fort St. John, got gas again, reached the info center at noon, and registered at the Best Western. Ate at McDonald's, back to the hotel at 1320, and called Uncle Alan and Aunt Shirley in Williams Lake and Uncle John and Aunt Sharon in Abbotsford, to let them know when we'd be there. It was nice to sleep in a hotel for a night (and use their whirlpool/sauna).
