Distance: 555 miles
This has been the first day since leaving Anchorage that we’ve been able to drive from morning til night, so we covered quite a bit more ground.
The Milepost Guide warned us to watch for bison in British Columbia, so once we crossed the border I kept my eyes peeled for critters that might leap out of the darkness and into the path of our headlights. As dawn began we could see that we were in a deep valley of mountains and foothills. The snowdrifts were deep and soon we were able to make out the shapes of dozens of sleepy bison on either side of the highway! They were all huddled together and some of the males were standing guard nearby. It was an awesome sight. I wish I’d had the wits to pull over and take a few pictures. These thousand-pound beasts are known to charge vehicles during mating season but early on this cold winter morning they weren’t very lively.
Several hundred miles later we reached the highest elevation of the highway at Summit Lake (4250 feet) and began to wind our way out of the mountains and at one point the hills opened and we could suddenly see that we were descending a large plateau to a great plain on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. We stopped in Ft. Nelson for dinner, but since there was another hour of daylight we decided to drive another three hours to Ft. St. John.
This has been the first day since leaving Anchorage that we’ve been able to drive from morning til night, so we covered quite a bit more ground.
The Milepost Guide warned us to watch for bison in British Columbia, so once we crossed the border I kept my eyes peeled for critters that might leap out of the darkness and into the path of our headlights. As dawn began we could see that we were in a deep valley of mountains and foothills. The snowdrifts were deep and soon we were able to make out the shapes of dozens of sleepy bison on either side of the highway! They were all huddled together and some of the males were standing guard nearby. It was an awesome sight. I wish I’d had the wits to pull over and take a few pictures. These thousand-pound beasts are known to charge vehicles during mating season but early on this cold winter morning they weren’t very lively.
Several hundred miles later we reached the highest elevation of the highway at Summit Lake (4250 feet) and began to wind our way out of the mountains and at one point the hills opened and we could suddenly see that we were descending a large plateau to a great plain on the edge of the Rocky Mountains. We stopped in Ft. Nelson for dinner, but since there was another hour of daylight we decided to drive another three hours to Ft. St. John.
Near Summit Lake
One of the many grated bridges that tried to destroy our hitch
Leaving the Rockies
Those last few hours were a little difficult for me. We were passed by many semis going in both directions and each time our car was plastered with mud. The Passport got so dirty that several times we had to stop and wash the headlights in order to be able to see the road. At the end of our drive snow was falling so thickly I had to close my eyes when Hans drove so that I would not freak him out with my anxiety. By the time we got to our stop for the evening (The BlueBell Motel) I was in a foul mood and I was quite horrible toward Hans. All I wanted was to take a shower and go to bed.
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Keith and I were in a snow storm overnighting in the back of the truck somewhere along this point of our Alaska Hwy trip but that was September!
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