We are finding that the roads are remarkably well kept, up in Canada. We entered the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, BC on Tuesday, June 16. This is Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway (aka Alcan Highway). Driving between 400-600 miles a day has brought us through many interesting ecosystems. We have seen the land change plants, become much more wet, and thin and thicken with trees as we have traveled from New Mexico to the Yukon where we are today. This is considered a boreal forest here with different types of pines and birch than are seen at lower elevations. There are also many wildflowers and other understory plants that fill in the edge of the ecosystem between the road and the forest.
We see signs on the side of the road put in by the Canadian government to tell us (pretty accurately) about wildlife in the area.
We’ve seen wolf (black in color), moose, elk, caribou, bison, and bear. Many warning signs have appeared along our way that inform the travelers about the dangers of coming too close to the wildlife. In Jasper, for example, one such sign went so far as to show a graphic stating you should keep 3 bus lengths from elk and 10 bus lengths from bear. As we have driven along, we’ve pulled over, stayed in the jeep and taken some pictures of some of the animals. Our life list of wildlife is certainly growing.
Our driver story begins by saying that there are probably more travel trailers and campers than we have seen on the roads for a long time. People travel in comfort but not always safely. As we are driving along, we notice in the lane a 5th wheel camper, completely stopped, right in the lane. We figure there must be wildlife and, sure enough, there is a mother bear and her cub off to the right on the side of the road. The Florida owner got out of the truck and moved to the back of the vehicle. The mother bear is now less than 20 feet from him and he seems oblivious to the nearness of the mother bear. As we pulled around him, we pause long enough to warn him that the mother bear and cub were right nearby and that he should return to his vehicle for safety. He responded that he had a problem with his truck and had to fix it. We suggested that he pull his vehicle to the side of the road and wait until the bear left, before venturing out for repairs. He said, “no, I have to fix this”, with that, we decided that there were enough traffic hazards on the road and continued on our way. We could then see, through our rear view mirrors, that his wife was getting out of the vehicle on the driver’s side..just as a large tanker truck came barreling down from behind, nearly taking off the driver’s door and wife with it. We will watch the news reports over the next few days to see if their luck was as bad as their judgment.
Today, near Coal River Lodge (Mile 533 on the Alaska Highway) we saw another Blue Hair almost cause an accident. This was with another truck. The RV pulled S.L.O.W.L.Y. out of the stop without looking. This area has an area that is on steep grade that continues over a narrow bridge just after the exit for the Lodge and Gas stop. Coming down the hill was a fuel truck. As he saw the blue hair pulling out, he began honking. She pulled her 5th wheel out anyway. The truck continued to honk but the RV did not pick up speed. The truck was able to brake in time, but did come within a truck length of the RV.
We are giving the RVs, campers and 5th wheels a wide berth these next miles.
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