Canada

Although the forecast was rain it was a lovely sunny day today. We have visited the Beringia Interpretive Center which was fuuuun! Luckily we got there just in time for a short demonstration of spear throwers. I have never heard of it but it is worth learning about it. Here is a video about this prehistoric tool.

The kind lady from the museum showed how to use it and we all tried it too, aiming at the cardboard animal pictures in the distance. Using the spear thrower you can throw the thing surprisingly far. I was able to hit the bear so after fixing the bearings I am proven in another life-saving skill.

We also enjoyed the exhibits about the ice ages and how humans wandered from Asia to North America through the Bering Strait and how changing climate changed the landscape and thus the fauna. Excellent dioramas, a nice corner for the smallest kids so overall a must see when in Whitehorse with kids.

Then in the afternoon we met with a Hungarian blogger, Élet a Yukonban, who lives in the area for several years. I started to follow her facebook page earlier and now I have seen a post from her about the same Millenium trail we also visited. So I wrote to her and we made a short hike to the Miles Canyon. We had a very nice chat with them and it was great to connect.

The Canyon is very beautiful and the autumn colors made it even more impressive.

We had a very late dinner at exaclty 10pm. After it we still did the laundry, then showers and bedtime was at midnight. Time management is not easy when camping.

Whitehorse is a lovely town in Yukon. We stay here for a few days as our temporary tag of the trailer expired and we are waiting for the new temp tag to arrive from Delaware. We used the time well, started on a large playground where we were freezing in coats in the wind. A 3 year old local boy was half naked on flip flops. Eh, different feels of temperature.

Then we went for a hike which starts at the S.S. Klondike paddlewheel boat. It was the biggest boat used from 1934 till 1955 for transporting goods and passengers on the river.

The Millenium trail runs on both side of the river and passes the dam and the fish ladder where salmon can swim upwards on the river.

It was a nice 5 km walk on a nice sunny day.

We just drove on and almost reached Haines Junction when we have spotted a nice little parking space in the bend of a creek so we stopped there for the night.

Yesterday we met a full time RV family with 5 kids and we had a nice chat with the parents. They were very kind beforehand when I was checking our newly fitted wheel and asked if we need help at the oetrol station. Then we met the third time this evening as they noticed our trailer stopping at the roadside and they took a stop there too! Another nice chat in the evening and as from here we go a bit different routes. Happy camping folks!

After our morning routine (good breakfast, today some bacon and eggs), packing up the trailer and dumping / filling water tanks and refueling the car we left Beaver Creek around 12:30. The Canada / USA border was just 30 minutes, I mean we left Canada in 30 minites and then we had to drive another 30 miles to reach the USA customs building. The officer was a bit upset due to the guy in front of us who did not declare a wild animal he was shooting in Canada and tried to drive it through the border. They had a lenghty discussion and finally they let the guy go. I am not sure what happened to the wild animal they talked about.

We also had a long conversation about our travels and we got admitted to the USA. The road conditions were very good until Beaver Creek but then the next 80-100 miles has been described as awful by fellow travellers we talked to. It was quite damaged in several shorter spans and we have seen many fresh repairs as well. We talked to a woman in Beaver Creek who had to stay there for days as the main structure of their trailer broke in one of the potholes. So we drove very carefully and even slower than usual, around 50-60 km / hour.

The season quickly chamged from summer to autumn in the last few days as we pressed on Northwest. All the trees were yellow and temperature dropped to 10-12 celsius.

As we grinded miles the landscape was becoming more and more dramatic. The clouds and the ice covered mountains in the distance looked majestic. Endless forests, wide rivers. Unreal.

We crossed another time zone amd arrived in the evening to the end of the Alaska Highway in Delta Junction.

We started the day washing the car and the trailer which is quite a long job to do. The place we stayed (Downtown RV Park) is in the center of Watson Lake but do not think anything similar to downtown New York or other large cities. The park's RV wash was well equipped (meaning a bucket and a good quality brush on a long rod). So the whole rig became nice and clear again after the road constructions and rain. I am also grateful for the two new propane hoses I purchased from Archie, who even kindly installed yellow tape (propane) on the end of the hose to make it safe. Another update to the maintenance post.

After a quite uneventful, long drive we arrived to Yukon River and decided to stop in a rest area and boondock. We had water and tested the new generator which runs the fridge easily.

We started after a lazy morning and passed by the small airport opposite our night stop. On the road we have seen different animals today, after our recent bear spotting. We have seen caribous, later buffalos and a coyote.

Then at a road construction we were led by a pilot car again through the closure. This time we had to drive far into the woods on a temporary detour which was created to skip the construction part of the main road. It was fun following the truck with a large "Oversize" sign on its back.

The main programme for today was the Liard Hot Springs which is a natural hot water source available for bathing in its natural setting. A nice little pond is accessible by a ten minute walk from the parking on a wide boardwalk. The kids including me enjoyed the pond especially the small stream of water running under trees.

After the splashing we finished a nice meal in the parking area and I even had a short nap before continuing. We have crossed from BC to Yukon for thr first time and we have stopped for fuel at a retro petrol station with analogue counters and a quite damaged welders and tire shop.

By 7:30pm we have arrived to Watson Lake where we first visited the Signpost Forest.

Then we stopped at Downtown RV Park where we washed Fordy with Ábel and planned to wash Sally in the morning before leaving.

After the long weekend ended the busy campground at Hinton suddenly became almost completely empty. We spent a day relaxing in the empty campground. A grey crane bird visited our campsite, Echo was in such a shock that he even forgot to bark.

The next morning we left towards Dawson Creek where the World famous Alaska Highway starts with a Zero Mile Signpost. There are two main routes to Alaska from Canada, one of them is called Alcan. This is we use Northbound. The other one is called Cassiar, we plan to explore that Southbound in a few weeks. Now we enter the land of long drives in the remote Northern territories. No cell signal for hours, no townships for long miles. We fill fuel wherever it is available.

Our first stop after Hinton was a kind Harvesthosts couple near Grande Prairie where we did some shopping to refill our supplies. Then we stopped for a good midday rest at the Mile Zero signpost at Dawson Creek.

Next day we have reached Pink Mountain which was a small and somewhat rundown campsite. They were out of gas (only diesel) and the electricity was quite unstable at the small site we stopped by. It was ok for one night but nothing more than that. The next morning we were able to fill up our car and left.

The scenery is very nice and a lots of hills are up and down which kills our fuel economy. We have seen a large black bear just next to the road for the first time! It was sitting in the grass peacefully and everyone was very happy in the car!
Later we have seen elks as well.

The road condition was quite fine until then except one unfortunate accident (which happened a few days ago). A big truck hit the bridge and caught on fire at Sikanni Chief and the bridge was damaged. So there was single lane traffic and after we have stopped the traffic control guy came to our car and told us a wait time of about an hour to be expected. As he only talked to us I got out of the car and walked backwards to tell the news to fellow travellers behind our car. Right after us in a black unsigned car there was a law enforcement officer in a uniform and he was not so happy about the news. When I returned to our car he stepped out of his car, talked briefly to the guy managing the traffic lights and suddenly our one hour stop was gone! The control guy radioed the other end and a few cars (including us, the policeman and a few more) were let through. We could not be happier skipping the one hour stop.

Our next stop was Toad River Lodge. This was a much better location with nice views, free firewood and a nice steak in the evening crowned with the Georgian red wine we got from Kanadabanda's Lázadó.

We press on to North to make sure we enjoy some time in Alaska before the snow arrives.

After our great overnight stopover at Athabasca Glacier we headed further NW to Hinton. We stopped at Sunwapta Falls first. We walked about 1,5kms to tge lower falls and enjoyed the forest and the river with relatively few other people despite the last summer long weekend.

Then we continued our journey to Athabasca Falls which place was much more crowded. All RV parking spots were full (mostly with normal passenger cars which was a bumner) but we managed to stop at the side of the parking lot.
Then we walked to the falls in a queue of people (it was about 150m so no big deal), took some pics and quickly left. By now we all realised that the whole family enjoys less crowded or empty nature parks versus the highly frequented touristic places.

Our last stop for the day was in Jasper where we filled our tanks and got icecream at a place where the owners are dog-buffs. Our friends had the photo of their previous dog eating icecream on the wall so the were happy to see that after 3 years. Their dog and ours as well were invited by the owners to a scoop of vanilla and pictures were taken! So next time you visit check our dogs photo on the wall at "Grandma's Icecream", Jasper.

After leaving Jasper we have seen a huge wildfire on the left side of the road and firefighters were already working on it by planes and helicopters. The daylight was gone and visibility was down for about 5 kms, it was quite scary. We have seen a 45 minnplay at our Tunnel Mountain camping about the importance of wildfires. Our kids enjoyed a lot the play performed and it was also very informative how fire cleans a lot of illnesses and hiw it refreshes the forest making it a new beginning fir bears and trees. It was still very frightening to see how much damage is done for that kind of rebirth.

Then we arrived to another KOA at Hinton with still a lot of smoke and debrish falling almost like snowing.

We had a nice grill to finish off the weekend with our friends. Noe they are heading back to Calgary and we turn North towards Alaska.

We quickly completed our breakfast and attachment procedure and headed to North. Our first stop was at Bow Lake. The road is still scenic and very dear to our mountain loving eyes.

Then we stopped at Peyto Lake. No, it is not photoshopped. Amazingly blue colors again!

We also stopped at Waterfront Lake for a quick photo

Then continued to the Columbia Icefield (Athabasca Glacier) where we stopped for the night. After setting up the trailers Zsuzsa went to the visitor center with the kids while I took a nap.

Afterwards we all climbed to the glacier which is an alerting and unforgettable place. Similar to European glaciers I have visited there are signs of the earlier places of the ice and the rate it melts is frightening. We climbed rigth up to the icefield and while it was a nice 20 degrees at the camping lot it was almost freezing cold at the glacier, despite the sun. It looks like the moon with the rocks and the gray colors everywhere.

The blue stripe where the ice melts resembles the vibrant blue of the glacier fed lakes.

The coming weekend was a perfect opportunity to meet our Calgary friends again (after the fantastic Queensland weekend). We agreed earlier to meet Friday evening at Lake Louise and explore further North towards Columbia Icefield and Jasper. In the morning we did our routine of dumping our black and grey tanks, filling the freshwater tank and visited a petrol station in Banff to fill up Fordy as well. By 2pm we stopped at the agreed spot, dropped off the trailer and drove to the base station of the Lake Lousie Ski Resort. There we took the gondola to the "Top of the World" which is a bit of an overstatement while the views are very dramatic and breathtaking.

We hiked the Pika Trail further up an additional 200m elevation gain in just 1 km. We had to push the kids a bit but afterwards they were very proud of their performance (just like us). The view from the top was worth the effort and Lake Louise showed us a very different face compared to our lucky kayak session earlier.

We got back to the parking spot which was filling up for the evening and around 21:00 our friends arrived. After a quick chat we agreed the strategy for the next day and went for the well deserved rest.