What’s the story behind the Alaska Highway you ask? Glad to help… I will shamelessly lift from Guide to the Alaska Highway, by Ron Dalby:
“The dust had barely settled over Pearl Harbor’s sunken battleships in December 1941, when the US Government decided to build a road from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, through Yukon Territory, Canada, to the US Territory of Alaska.
The connection between Japan’s blasting the Pacific Fleet into rubble, and a road to Alaska isn’t immediately obvious, unless you’re staring at the globe Adolf Hitler and his minions might have prepared in late 1941. Save for England, Hitler basically ruled Europe, his armies poised at the gates of Moscow. Hitler’s Axis partner, Japan, was gobbling up Pacific islands and Asian mainland bases in southeast Asia and China. Japan and Germany, allied with Italy, looked all but unbeatable in late 1941 to many observers.
Only three countries of sufficient resources retained the independence necessary to prosecute World War II against one or both of the aggressors: Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States.
The only place where any two of these three diverse nations come close together is the Bering Strait, a narrow neck of water separating Alaska and Siberia. This distant but tenuous link in the far north looked mighty good indeed to the Allied powers in 1941. Frankly, there weren’t many other places to look at the time.”
Problem was, there was no way to supply Alaska. No roads. Shipping was too dangerous.
Fast forward: the US Army Corps of Engineers set out to build a road far enough inland to avoid Japanese airplanes. A few proprieties were overlooked, as the US forged ahead of any signed agreement, but in the end the road was built. Today, that road is the Alaska Highway.
There are endless accounts of how the road was constructed, the manpower utilized, the equipment transported, etc. We could take a lesson on infrastructure from this project…
There are several iconic photo ops EVERY visitor requires. For some reason, the true Mile Zero signpost is located in the middle of an intersection. No worries. Our intrepid leader Andy set up a tripod in the crosswalk and, armed with a remote for the camera, (eventually) got the money shot.
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A stop at the Visitors Center and Museum provided more historical context, and some maps.
And we’re off!
Everything along the Alcan is identified by mileage markers. Each town, each road, each scenic pullout is listed as “KM 146” for example. In the rural areas (90% of the road) the address of a place is the KM number.
Toad River Lodge, km 422, Toad River, BC
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Yes, it’s a place. Bills itself as “The Cinnamon Bun Center of the Galactic Cluster.” Of course, later we discovered that seemingly EVERY historical roadhouse makes this same claim.
We were originally going to stay at Toad River, but decided to push on to Liard Hot Springs. Uh-oh, everything was booked up. Yikes – next possible spot is Coal River. And… we snagged the last spot!
Lush and green, I took Milo to the end of a field towards the river.
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Next morning, Andy was headed out with Milo on the same walk when a neighbor casually mentioned the bear hanging out about halfway down the meadow. They shortened that walk…
Up until this point in the journey, we’ve been a teensy bit disappointed by the lack of visible wildlife. We dutifully screeched to a stop for the first bears we saw, and there were elk in the Parks. But the guidebooks say if you don’t see wildlife in the first half of the Alcan, you aren’t looking. They did not lie…
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Next day we pushed on and got to Yukon Territory.
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We stopped at the obligatory Signpost Forest in Watson Lake. According to lore, a lonely soldier working on the original construction of the Alaska Highway posted a sign with the name of his hometown. It caught on, and others added to the collection. Today, folks from all over the world bring street signs, license plates, and city limits signs to post in the Forest.
We eventually arrived in Teslin, and made our way to the RV park which the guidebook described as having the most popular restaurant in town PLUS a cocktail lounge. After slogging through rain all day, that sounded pretty good. Upon entering the office, I got a horrified look from the manager. “Most of our spots are under water,” she said. “The lake (Teslin Lake) is at a 60-year high. There are sandbags all over town.” She started to look at the map of the park, then just handed it to me and told me to go take a look for any spots not flooded. “Be aware the water may come up another 3” tonight,” she said. We walked down and found a spot near the entrance that we immediately claimed. Not terribly picturesque, but any port in a storm, as they say. Besides, we have a real restaurant to visit. And here it is:
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The “cocktail lounge” is a tiny room to the left, with a TV!
Next day, Whitehorse was the goal. A “real” town/city, it was time to stock up on groceries and gas. On the way, however, fate intervened – again. Again, there were sections of gravel road, plus semi-trucks traveling FAST. One of said semi’s was hauling gravel, traveling in the opposite direction, and WHAM! The windshield was splattered with gravel, resulting in ANOTHER dozen dings in the windshield!
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Again, we located an auto glass repair place in Whitehorse and headed for the RV campsite. Again, it was muddy and “sold-out” but we begged, and she let us use a spot intended for two small tents. Whew…
It was our anniversary, and we went into town for dinner.
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Tomorrow Dawson City!
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