Northern Streamin': Dawson City, BC to Muncho Lake, BC

It’s a drippy, misty morning, which seems to follow a pattern of rain during the night, clearing as the day progresses, keeping it all so green and lush. The rain clouds don’t seem to move, but instead drop their water in one spot, like the cloud that sometimes hovers over Winnie the Pooh. So, we drive under a rain cloud then back into sunshine many times today.

We are so full of anticipation that we’re on the road at 7:15am. It’s a thrill to be on the Alaska Highway at last. The first part of the day we gaze at rolling timbered hills. There is no shortage of trees, deciduous and evergreen blanket the landscape with many stands of aspen and white spruce. We have long views of our gray ribbon of highway stretching into the distance, cutting through the infinite green.

The grassy border of the roadway is a perfect place to spot animals who have ventured out to graze. We see two mama black bears, one with two mid-sized cubs, and the other with one cub. Later, we see another lone bear and then a beautiful big guy who posed for a photo. Lots of bears.

At Charlie Lake stands a monument to 12 American soldiers who drowned in 1942 while working on the Alaska Highway. Their pontoon boat sank in a storm as they were ferrying heavy equipment across the lake.

There were several other historical markers of note.

Blueberry Control Station was a 24 hour military checkpoint operated by the US Army throughout the war years.
“The Cut”, where the highway goes through a small rock cut. Relatively few rock cuts were necessary during highway construction.
Suicide Hill where a sign commemorates one of the most treacherous hills on the original highway. It’s noted for its ominous greeting “prepare to meet your maker”.

We drive through several rocky areas in Stone Mountain Provincial Park where we are told the Stone sheep are so plentiful that they often are found standing in the roadway. Not today. We are totally shut out on sheep!

We just have to stop at Toad River Lodge when we read that they have a collection of 6,800 hats. Well, they have 7,951, all hanging from the ceiling and mostly baseball caps. We snag a slice of their homemade bumble berry pie to share for dessert tonight.

Later in the day we’re back in the Rocky Mountains where we learn from an information panel that they were likely as high as the Himalayas when they first rose above the sea. The peaks have eroded over the last 45 million years to a small fraction of their original size. Still and all, they are big old impressive mountains.

Learn a new word today: riparian which is the interface between land and a river or stream. Love it!

Today we conquer the lowest point on the Alaska Highway over the Muskwa River Bridge (1000 feet elevation) and the highest at Summit Pass at 4250 feet elevation.

Jim reflects on the quality of the roadway thus far. There are more potholes in Spokane than we’ve encountered in 400 miles of Alaska Highway today. We see exactly one.

Our site at Muncho Lake is on the water’s edge. While we settle in we watch a float plane land. This lake is seven miles long and a mile wide. It’s known for its deep green and blue water. The colors are attributed to copper oxide leaching into the lake. Stunning.

Wildlife count: 1 whitetail deer, 1 caribou (our first), 7 black bears

Airstreams: 0

Miles: 420

Gratitudes: PKB: the bounty of bears JMB: I still have Costco ice in the cooler after 5 days.

Gin Score: J: 640 P: 625