Fort Nelson, BC to Carcross, BC
May 16 - 23, 2019
While in Fort Nelson we went to the Fort Nelson Heritage Museum. It started as a transportation museum with antique cars and trucks, and grew into a museum of antique things, just about anything you can think of.
Here are some of the antique cars and trucks.
Here is some equipment that was used to build the Alaska Highway.
This was the telephone/telecommunications building.
How many of you remember using one of these?
There were many more things to see but I didn't take pictures of everything.
On Friday, May 17 we we drove by Summit Lake, which was still frozen, and over an old bridge.
We camped at Muncho Lake Provincial Park, BC. God's creation is certainly beautiful!
There was still ice on the lake (see the video on Facebook of the ice breaking) but it was in huge sheets and was moving all the time. You can see how thick the ice is. We would throw rocks on it and they would just bounce.
Saturday, May 18 we went on the Stones Sheep Trail, which was very rocky. I thought all us 'old people' with our 'old people hiking poles' did a very good job of it.
You can see how rocky it was, and that there was still snow on the ground. Notice the switchback trails on the side of the mountain that the stone sheep use.
We worked up an appetite so drove to Toad River Lodge for a piece of pie. They are famous for all the hats hanging from the ceiling.
On the way we saw some caribou and stone sheep, and on the way back a moose.
On Monday, May 20 we crossed into the Yukon, after seeing some bison on the side of the road.
We stayed at the Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake. It wasn't much more than a parking lot with hookups, but we got laundry done, had 2 hours free wifi a day, and could walk to the Signpost Forest, the Visitor Center, and the Northern Lights Center. We were getting smoke from the High Level fire in Alberta, which lasted until Thursday morning.
On Tuesday, May 21 we took our sign and hung it in the Signpost Forest. Here's the history (from the YukonInfo website):
"The tradition began during the Alaska Highway Project in 1942, when U.S. soldier Carl K. Lindley spent time in Watson Lake recovering from an injury. A commanding officer asked him to repair and erect the directional signposts, and while completing the job, he added a sign that indicated the direction and mileage to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. Others followed suit, and the trend caught on. In 1990, a couple from Ohio added the 10,000th sign in the Signpost Forest. Today, there are over 77,000 signs in the Forest, and the number grows each year as visitors contribute signs and continue the tradition." At the last count there were over 75,000 signs.
We also went to the Northern Lights Center, which was much more interesting than I thought it would be. There are a couple of movies about the sun and how the northern lights are created. They show it on a domed ceiling and chairs tilt back. (You can get a dollar off coupon at the visitor center, good for everyone in your party).
We encountered our first construction zone stop, but we only had to wait for about 15 minutes. We were pretty close to the front but there was a line of vehicles behind us. We heard of over an hour wait at that stop.
On Wednesday, May 22 we drove to Teslin Lake Government Campground for the night. It was $12 Canadian ($8.93 US) and we got free firewood. It was good for an overnight.
On Thursday, May 23 we drove to Carcross Grocery and RV Park/Montana Services (they go by both names). Once again, it's pretty much a parking lot with hookups (it does have free wifi), but we're going to Skagway tomorrow and didn't want to pull the RVs down there and back up again so it's a good base camp.
It also has a pretty view of the mountains as I sit here and do this blog.
Roving on...
The heavens declare
the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1
