Heading north
Canada welcomes us as we left - with bright sunshine and scorching heat.
Edmonton
Our first port of call in the new old country is 4WheelAuto in Edmonton, where we have our car checked for complications in Cody and of course personally thank Dan for his help back then. Fortunately everything seems to be fine with Baloo. Dan even thinks he is in a very good condition. In addition to the small service we let the tires rotate, which was long overdue, and finally buy the missing compressor (we had ordered one in Switzerland, which unfortunately didn't make it to Köniz before our departure).
Since we are already in Edmonton, we visit the same evening the West Edmonton Wall, the biggest shopping center of North America. Awesome, it just occurred to me! Beside countless shops you will find an ice-skating drink, a small amusement park with roller coaster and everything, a pirate ship, a casino, and and and...
Although we still agreed at the entrance that we don't need anything, a few little things went into my shopping bag. So now I am the proud owner of a new Swatch and with a biodegradable hair shampoo from LUSH I had flirted anyway for a long time.
To the start of the Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek
Unfortunately, shortly after Edmonton we will witness the many forest fires that are currently raging in British Columbia and their effects. The landscape is covered by a thick cloud of smoke. Sometimes we can only see a few meters due to the thick smoke and therefore decide to skip the planned national parks Jasper and Banff and drive directly north instead. There are fires every year, only this year it is particularly bad because of the continuing drought.
Via Highway 40 we reach Grande Cache and visit the nearby Sulphur Gates and Split Rock. A little bit depressed we return to the car. We can only imagine the view one would have here with a clear view. We therefore decide to drive on quickly and work on our wedding present for our friends Marina and Pascal, who will soon get married in Switzerland - we create a short video with wedding greetings from us and an integrated quiz. Selecting and cutting together the individual sequences lifts our spirits again. Hopefully they will find it as funny as we do...
Dawson Creek – Watson Lake
As already mentioned, the Alaska Highway starts at Dawson Creek. This 2233 km long road leads from Dawson Creek, where the "Mile 0" is located, through British Columbia and the Yukon to Fairbanks (AK). The construction of the Alaska Highway, or "Alcan" for short, was commissioned by President Roosevelt after the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1942. At that time, due to its geographical location, the Japanese feared another attack on Alaska. The entire route was completed in a record time of only 8 months and 23 days by 11,000 soldiers and 16,000 civilians.
Very close to Dawson Creek it is worth visiting the old wooden railway bridge in Pouce Coupe from our point of view. It is no longer used today, so you can walk across the bridge on foot. A bit of thrill is also guaranteed, as the wooden beams under the rails on which you walk are sometimes quite far apart...so: Mind the gap!
Due to the partly still strong smoke smoke in the air we drive quite fast north. Of course we are always on the lookout for wildlife, because we are here in the so-called "Serengeti of the North". Unfortunately we don't seem to be so lucky in this respect. All we get to see are the omnipresent squirrels. But I am still happy every time I see one, because they are simply sooooo sweet. One we observe quite long collecting its winter stock.
A highlight on the way to Watson Lake are the Liard Hot Springs. The second largest natural hot springs in Canada warm us up for a whole morning. Meanwhile the temperatures have dropped drastically and sometimes even reach the 0-point at night. A jetty and a small facility were built around the springs, but we still find them very beautiful and natural. But of course you have to share the experience with some other people.
On the way to Watson Lake we pass a herd of Wood Bisons, but otherwise there is still no other animal to be seen. We also have a bit of a problem with the long driving days lately due to the huge distance to Alaska. We think about whether we should turn back in Watson Lake and take more time in the south of British Columbia, hoping to see more animals and generally have more time to discover individual places. But that would mean that we would discard one of our big destinations of this trip, namely Alaska and the Dempster Highway.