Day 8 Dawson Creek BC to Fort Nelson BC

---

Spent last night at Northern Lights Campground in Dawson Creek, BC., quite wet and sloppy with snow on the ground. Great laundry and shower facilities...we took advantage of both. We were all up early due to entering the Pacific time zone--it was starting to get light at 4:15 am--plus it was not yet dark at 10:30 pm.

Left Dawson Creek around 9 after filling our propane tanks--we've been giving our furnaces a workout with this cold weather. This is the beginning of the Alaskan highway. President Roosevelt authorized the construction of the ALCAN following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. We were considered vulnerable since the Japanese occupied the Aleutian Islands. The ALCAN highway, considered to be one of the modern day wonders of the world, was built in eight months, 1500 miles. We are currently at mile marker 300.
Like every little town in the Midwest, with its Casey's, every little town here has an A&W root beer stand, they are all over. As we proceeded west we passed a number of recently burned out forests, one was still smoldering and a gave off definite smell. Suddenly we looked up and there is blue sky, hallelujah! As we proceeded further it's become severe clear. Amen to that.
We stopped for lunch at the Bucking Horse River Ranch where we met three bear hunting outfitters. They were great fun and gave us a quick course on black bears, grizzlies, elk and caribou. One of them asked me if I'd ever been to Canada. I jokingly said yes, Toronto, he jokingly said so you've never been to Canada before. They don't consider eastern Canada the real thing. See pic.
We planned to end our day at Tetsa River campsite however because of the holiday (Victoria Day), they were full so we staked out at the Triple G campground in Fort Nelson. Turned out to be a great decision. Wonderful little place, even has its own restaurant. An additional bonus is the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum, which is right next to the campsite. White bearded,84-year-old, Marl Brown is the curator and quite a gent (see pic). The museum is incredible, I mean incredible, including a documentary video with actual footage of the building of the 1500 mile Alaskan Highway.
Must go now, as we have dinner reservations at 6:30 at the campground restaurant. How's that for glamping?
Post script: Had the greatest time at dinner with our young waitress Lauren. She was so fun and even photo bombed us, see pic. This has definitely been a highlight day for us. 288 miles

---

Photos

image.
The outfitters