Monday, August 2, 2010


View Cross Canada in a larger map

July 24-27 We recovered in Whitehorse and so did the car. On the Monday we both had our haircuts, and the car had another oil change (last one in Yellowknife). By now it has travelled about 11,000 km since we left Milton. The whole rig got a well-deserved wash. First the car, where it took several dollars’ worth of coins to wash the grime from in and around the car wheels and wells. This stuff hardens like cement and in some areas had built up to 3-4mm in thickness. When we later washed the trailer, the same sticky mess stayed on after pressure washing. Only the foam brush worked.

July 28 – August 2nd . We have travelled from Whitehorse YT to Prince George BC in 6 days – and tomorrow we arrive in Jasper AB. That will be 2600 km in 7days. Talk about distances up here! One-night stops are not favourites, but we decided to give priority to Jasper National Park - to have time there. Sadly, we must also make sure we have enough time for the drive home.

Although we had driven much of the same part of the Alaska Highway on the way north, we were really glad to see it again, this time with sunshine. Our pictures are never perfect because Anne-Grethe takes most of them out the window as we drive, but you will see what we mean. The only unpleasant ‘event’ came from a truck roaring towards us, building up speed for his uphill run. We were at the bottom of the hill, the road curved left. He hit a gravel patch and sprayed our windshield with rocks. Two more marks plus a whole lot of minor cuts, and it will probably need replacement when we get home.

We were 2 ½ days in the mountains before we came to the plateau a few hours before Fort Nelson BC. On the second day, near Watson Lake, we discovered we could not have driven south on the ‘Cassiar’ Highway (#37) as we had first planned (shorter route to Bella Coola, Vancouver Island and Vancouver). It was closed due to forest fires. Another fire closed the area further south around Williams Lake where we had also planned to stop. Most of the province has been bone dry this summer, and a huge electrical storm passed through the week before. This was the same storm that had left so much rain in the mountains around the Dempster Highway. (See last week’s blog.)

But all’s well that ends well and so far the week has gone quite smoothly. On Saturday we had the challenge of meeting four hills with 10% grades – two up and two down and one of them 6 km long. It was the ‘scenic’ (!) route running parallel to the Peace River., close to Hudson’s Hope, north of Prince George. The Lynx RV park was charming and we rested an extra day and took time to see the Bennett and Peace Canyon Power Dams which supply 1/3 of the power for British Columbia.

Tomorrow to Jasper National park and some serious sightseeing.

19 Whitehorse to Prince George