Lowes Travels

Beautiful British Columbia

Our first milestone of our Alaskan adventure places us at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, where Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway begins.

We took the classic itinerary to Alaska  via the West Coast route  starting at Vancouver . The drive towards Dawson Creek took us  along amazing sights and  scenic highways known as the Trans-Canada Highway 1  that  links to  the Cariboo Highway (97) and  finally on the  John Hart Highway. The drive in every turn reveal to us  canyons,  tunnels, sweeping vistas, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, green  valleys, Canadian rockies, wildlife and on and on. It was just beautiful ! However it was not your normal drive on a highway. Since it is mountainous we were cautioned with steep grades, winding curves, narrow steep climb, truck traffic, sudden changes in weather  and most importantly to watch for  wild animals. This league covered 732 miles, with overnight  stops at Cache Creek, Quesnel, Chetwynd and finally at Dawson Creek.

After visiting the Visitor center at Dawson Creek we were told that a portion of  Alaska Highway in the Yukon territory is closed due to mudslides. Since this is the only major highway in and out of Alaska, the Canadian crews are working non stop to repair the damage,  and we are keeping our fingers crossed. In this part of the world weather and highway conditions are major factors  and travelers  must be on the know or you will be stuck in the wilderness.

One of the 7 tunnels to go through at Fraser Canyon. Although it’s hard to find information regarding the height of the 7 tunnels, they are all plenty tall for any RV, even if you left your satellite dish up!
Lunch break at Fraser Canyon
Rock mountains
one of the many rivers
Desert scenery at Cache Creek
Just beautiful
Grade signs
every turn is a vista point
Steep Climbs
Moose crossing the highway
Warning signs
Canadian Rockies at Pine Pass
Non ending construction on the road
One of the many waterfalls along the highway
Table Top Mountain
one of the many sweeping vistas
We encountered lots of truckers on the road
Bear Mountain Wind Farm
Welcome Sign
Heading towards Fraser Canyon

 

 

5 comments

  1. Looking forward to following your adventure. Al and I have talked at length about such a trip to Alaska but have concerns. You first 🙂

    • Hi, good to hear from you! What are your concerns? We may not be able to answer them intelligently since we have not made it to Alaska yet, but we spent many months preparing for our trip and hope we can help anyone thinking about the trip. We decided to go now because our RV and car are fairly new and hopefully in good shape. My impression so far is that it is a strenuous driving trip, but the most awesome trip experience that can be taken in an RV. We are sitting at Dawson Creek now and ready to head up the Alaska Highway. Getting here has been slow at times due to road construction, but there is no reason you wouldn’t want to do it if you have plenty of time. It is the trip of a lifetime, do it! Follow our blog for a while if you want more real-time information, but we are going to do this if at all possible. Keep in touch!

      • I guess it’s the road conditions that are most concerning and then the cost…i.e. fuel. Since it’s a trip we recently started discussing, we need to do good planning, being properly equiped, and funded and then I think I’d be less concerned. Totally agree, trip of a lifetime and I’d like to do it while still relatively young and healthy. Will be following….happy travels.

        • Guess what, your first concern has just been demonstrated. A portion of the southern part of the Alaska Highway by the Yukon Territory had been washed out due to mudslides. So we are hanging out for a few more days in Dawson Creek until the road closure reopens 😦

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