DAWSON CREEK -THE ALCAN -- Milepost 0

OMG we finally made it to the official start of the ALCAN.  We were stuck in Grand Prairie, Alberta for almost a week trying to get our electric front landing gear legs fixed.  We tried new motors -- that wasn't the problem-  then we tried new legs HOORAY that was the answer.  We had to raise the 5th wheel using a manual crank to get the 5th wheel up on the hitch in the bed of truck so that the legs could be replaced.  The leg gears were so bad that it took both of us to get them to crank up.   After the horribly rough roads in  Alberta and the large repair bill without even getting to the Alcan we were having second thoughts about even going any farther.

We decided that the worst must be behind us but if not we are committed now.    So we will start our journey on the Alcan going slow and parking for the day after about 150 miles.   It will take us awhile at that rate but that's ok -- slow and steady wins the race. 

Banff National Park

 

We traveled into Alberta, Canada with the intention of going out of our way to go to Banff and see Lake Louise.  We were shocked to see ice still covering most of the lake.  Normally the lake is a beautiful bluish teal color.  If you look at the edge of the ice you can see some of the blue color.  The water is so clear that the glacier reflects in the water.   We then traveled on the Icefield Parkway in Banff.  This road goes through the mountains along Alberta's border with British Columbia.   We didn't have time to travel the whole parkway but the mountains -- many with glaciers and frozen lakes at the bottom were absolutely beautiful.  It would have been neat to see the actual icefield but it will have to be some other time.

 

Next we traveled to Stony Plain, Alberta which is west of Edmonton.  The roads in Alberta are rough, grooved from all the heavy truck traffic and every bridge and railroad crossing has sent us bouncing.  As we traveled up to Grande Prairie we also encountered frost heaves and road that was just plain crumbling.  It is hard to believe that the Canadians put up with such bad roads.  We've decided that the Alaska highway can't be any worse but I guess we will soon find out.   The other thing we are having a hard time with are the fuel stops.  Its hard to find stations that are big enough for RV's.  We are lucky that we can unhitch the truck at the rv park and go get fuel.   We've only seen two actual truck stops/travel centers. 



Great Basin National Park

When we were in Ely, Nevada we took a day trip to Great Basin National Park.  We couldn't go all the way to the top -- the road was closed above 9000 feet because of snow.  We did get to see snow and a Bristlecone Pine tree which can get to be thousands of years old.  The drive in the park wasn't much -- I wouldn't go too far out of my way to see it.  There are the Lehman Caves in the park that you can tour but we've seen so many caves that we decided to pass on this one.   

We have been in Great Falls, Montana almost a week waiting out more bad weather.  It rained for three straight days.  We decided to wait it out on this side of the border where things are cheaper.  The other problem is that this weekend was a holiday weekend in Canada so campgrounds were full.  We want to see Banff and don't want to battle crowds so we thought we would go after the holiday.   Anyway next weekend we will be in Canada for sure. 

Southwest Montana

 

We left Idaho Falls after several days of waiting for the weather to get a little less rainy and cold.  East and north of us it snowed and knowing we had to go over Moneida Pass going into Montana we chose to sit out the weather and wait for the roads to be ice and snow free.  We finally got to Dillon, Montana which is right on I-15 about 60 some miles into Montana.  It is a cute little town with a couple of nice campgrounds. 

 

I took some pictures of the snow on the mountains at one of the rest stops along the highway.  We had forgotten how beautiful the western side of Montana is.

 

We are planning to go to Great Falls next and then on into Canada.  I'm hoping to find good wifi in Canada to keep the blog going.  We figure it will take us about three weeks to get through Canada before we hit Alaska. 

 

Nevada

We left Needles, CA and headed up to Vegas.  We stayed at a campground right on Lake Mead.  As you can see from the picture -- there is not a lot of water in the lake.  I would say Vegas is in big trouble for water.  We got out of there quickly because the big boxing match was taking place and Vegas was filling up with folks there to be in on the excitement. 

We have been in Ely, NV for a few days seeing all the sights.  We went to Great Basin National Park.  There isn't much to see -- the road to the summit of the mountain was still closed but we made it up to almost 9000 ft and got to see snow.   We probably should have seen the Lehman caves there in the park but we've seen so many caves that we didn't bother. 

We went to the Nevada Northern Railway train museum.  The old steam train still runs and takes passengers on an hour and a half ride.   We got to see it running and got this picture with the black smoke coming out.   very cool

We also went to Garnet Hill -- a Forest Service Recreation Area -- where you can dig your own garnets.  The garnets you find are gem quality -- very dark color and looking like a jeweler already cut them.  We did find some small ones and it was fun.  We are headed to Idaho next and then on into Montana.