Alaska Highway

Born out of fear, the Alaska Highway cuts through what was one of the largest remaining wildernesses in the world. Superlatives are applied to the 9-month gestation of the road in 1942, but the reality is jarring. While enjoying the grand vistas and wonderful wildlife, I am also only a little aware of what was lost along with the gains. America cut a hole in the Canadian wilderness to supply war material to protect Alaskan holdings and security for the 48 in WWII and Canada gained protection from the augmented American military presence in the far north. Later civilians gained an overland route for commerce and tourism to see a vast ribbon through the territory. Probably the road would be completed by now without Japanese threat out in the Aleutians during WWII, but perhaps not.

On Muncho Lake, I paddled in the early evening, enjoying views of the mountains across lake water. In Williams our bird watching was rewarded by good views of yellow-headed blackbirds, tri-color blackbirds, a cedar waxwing and numerous ducks and geese. We look like true bird-geeks with binoculars and field scope and our cameras. Probably these activities don’t fit the 41-day schedule of the caravan whose leader explained the benefits of traveling with them. Our days vary from fewer than 100 miles to 300+ with stops for anything that looks interesting. Anxiety comes when looking for a landing. Locations glorified in the Mile Post are sometimes roadside wrecks more than resorts.

Overheard at a pie stop, tourists were talking about the road ahead. Should they drop down into Alaska to Skagway? Maybe the “Top of the World” road would be good to do? One man described blowing out the tires of his jeep while pulling it! The motorcycle rider talks himself into an alternate route while I listen to him arguing the virtues to the driver at the next table. Ours is a pilgrimage to see the Alaska Highway from end to end. The privilege of the trip is clear from drinking in the landscape, looking for the wildlife and walking or paddling at our stops. Meeting and observing Canadians in their daily life along with fellow tourists is a bonus to the road experience. Our gracious host at a small, modest riverside camp ground inspired positive regard for Canadians in general as did our bar maid when she offered up free drinks at the Dawson Creek Hotel Bar. The lady trooper who gave me a warning for a faulty left turn left me humble and appreciative for the second chance.

The wildlife report now includes numerous individuals and clusters. Both the coyote and red fox seemed larger than life. The bears we’ve seen all appear to be small. The surprise to me for the trip is large number of wood bison of which I had no prior knowledge. There they were standing near the highway sign warning to look out for them! We stopped for those first three and then saw 70 more through the day. Stone sheep is a new species to me. Over 60 of them were on the road the past couple of days, licking up last winter’s salt used to clear the roadway. Darker by far than their big horn cousins, they appear very similar in other respects. One moose, a couple of deer and many, many birds caught our eyes while stopped or rolling. Ruddy little squirrels shyly appear and dash away. We watched a brief sky-dance of three bald eagles creating a spiral of wings.