The Big Bang Theory

On Thursday, June 4th we arrived at Dawson Creek, the official start of the Alcan highway.

Aside from the mile zero marker, there's not much to see in Dawson Creek so we left the next morning. Our next stop was Fort Nelson and after we got settled we went for a walk. We're now in a part of Canada where towns are the size of a few football fields so walking to local attractions is always the best choice. The highlight of Fort Nelson was their Museum.

Part museum, part junkyard, it was poorly lit and missing labels and a narrative, and absolutely wonderful. We wandered slowly through the rooms squinting and remarking when we discovered treasures hiding in the dusty shadows. Lot's of gold rush and Alcan highway related artifacts. In a tiny room with four theater seats we watched a 1950s documentary about the building of the Alcan Highway.

 

Saturday, June 6th, we headed for Liard River Hot Springs. It must have been National 'Wildlife by the Road Day' because we saw a lot of critters: a baby black bear, a goat family, two moose, and a herd of bison. We arrived in the provincial park and found a great wooded spot with easy access to the hot springs. This is the only hot spring we have seen that has been left in its natural state and not converted to swimming pool. The decking and steps blend in well with the natural environment making it a peaceful retreat (until the kids show up with swim noodles and inner tubes).

We left Laird Hot Springs after 2 nights and headed for Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory. This is a 'must stop' on the trip north because they have a sign forest where you can post your own sign that you were there. The sign forest has been around since the 1950s and currently has over 80,000 signs posted by travelers. It was a challenge to find free space on the posts for our signs (Tucker the cat had a sign as well). We wandered around the forest for a long time reading the signs and wondering about all the travelers who had come before us.

 

Our next stop was Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory. A large town by Yukon standards, we found a Walmart and decided to park there for the night. While parked we took a drive over to the MacBride Museum of Yukon history and learned about the town history, the gold rush, and Yukon's famous poem "The cremation of Sam McGee". While Sam McGee was a real person and resident of Whitehorse, he was NOT actually cremated as the poem suggests. Poet Robert Service just liked the sound of his name so asked if he could use it in the poem. Little did Sam McGee know the poem would become famous in his lifetime. While traveling north in The Yukon, Sam once met a man claiming to have the ashes of Sam McGee. He was so amused, he kept his identify to himself and bought the ashes from the man.

At Whitehorse we had a choice, keep going on the main highway or take a detour north on the Klondike Highway to Dawson City, the famous gold rush town. We chose the Klondike highway.

 

Our first stop was just 30 miles north of WhiteHorse at Lake Laberge campground. The lake was made famous by the poem mentioned above. If you've not read the poem go read it now, you'll love it. Be sure to come back here though, our story gets exciting...

Follow this link to read the poem

The next day we drove North, stopping at Braeburn Lodge for the world's largest Cinnamon Bun. Freshly baked cinnamon buns have been a common ploy to attract visitors along the highway and this one we could not pass. Rumor has it that one bun feeds four people - we had to see for ourselves. The lodge is also an official stop for the 1000 mile "Yukon Quest" sled dog race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks that's held each February.

 

Full of coffee and cinnamon buns we forged on down the highway, stopping only once to see the Five Fingers Rapids on the Yukon River. Boats used to transport lumber along the river before the railway or highway was completed and this was a treacherous spot.

Our plans were to stop a little further up the road at Stewart Crossing (population 11) and drive the Subaru on the silver trail to Mayo and Keno the next day. We never made it to Stewart Crossing, not by coach anyway...

 

Driving downhill on a curve our right front tire exploded and we skid to the side of the road. We placed safety cones on the road and assessed the damage. Aside from the tire, our propane connection had been knocked apart and the wheel well had been damaged but otherwise all was well.

We had no cell service so took the Subaru to the closest town, Stewart Crossing (16 miles) to get help. No cell service there either so we spent an hour on the pay phone searching for help. It was 2:30 in the afternoon and we were 200+ miles from Whitehorse and 130 miles from Dawson City.

Fuss with a road side insurance company and a failed promise by a service company in Whitehouse left us on the side of the road all night but at 2 pm the next day a Fountain Tire Company truck was there with a new tire and a few hours later we had it mounted on our right front rim. Charles sorted out the leveling jack, we gathered our composure and at 6pm made the long drive back to Whitehorse to an RV service center.

 

We had one puzzle left to solve: Why did the tire blow? The tires were 5 years old, the tire pressure had always been good, we had lots of thread left, there were no potholes or rocks preceding the blowout, and there was no evidence of a puncture. The blowout had occurred on the inner sidewall, not a common place of failure. Having no real answer to the puzzle we decided to do what any sensible person would do - make a date with the tire company to replace the front left tire as well.

We'll be in Whitehorse for a few more days getting service then we'll continue on our trip to Alaska. The next big question is: Do we head back North to Dawson City again or go West to Haines Junction and Destruction Bay. Stay tuned...

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