Alaska Highway

In the town of Dawson Creek, on the border of Alberta and British Colombia, I turned northwest onto the Alaska Highway...though I was actually still about 1000 miles from Alaska.

There were several gas stops but not much else for the next few days, until I arrived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. The first half of the ride was not terribly interesting, scenery-wise, but then I started to drive though some completely beautiful mountains...

...and Muncho Lake truly stunned.

The small herd of bison roaming the area were also fun to come upon, as they tended to be standing in the road like prehistoric mile markers or lounging alongside it, a welcome break in the miles and miles and miles of not much else.

By far, though, my favorite part of the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek to Whitehorse was Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park. The springs were semi-developed in a completely perfect way, uncrowded, and pure heaven. Other than the fly bites that I was still scratching away at days later, I guess.

When I made it to Whitehorse on Day 3 of the drive, a CouchSurfing host shuttled me straight to a cookout with a bunch of her friends, a shockingly diverse group. No one was actually from the Yukon; there were two Germans, two women originally from Hong Kong, a handful of Quebecois, a guy who spoke five languages fluently and could read/translate three more...and another who truly, actually works at a gold mine. (He's a student in applied mineralogy and analyzes sacks of rock taken from the mines to search for gold content.)

Whitehorse is primarily a commercial hub, but did have some interesting things to check out. The biggest tourist attraction is probably this retired paddle steamer, the Klondike. During the heyday of the Yukon (100+ years ago), hundreds of paddle steamers roamed the river, providing connections clear across Alaska to the Bering Sea. (The paddle steamer is to this area as grain elevators are to southern Saskatchewan.)

For me, though, maybe the most exciting thing about Whitehorse is that my friend SS, my travel buddy in Africa 7 years ago, flew in from Arizona to travel with me for a couple of weeks. After checking out the Whitehorse highlights and stocking up on supplies that would only become more scarce and expensive from there on out, we excitedly piled into the car and steered farther north.