Day 10: Start of the Alaska Highway

Day 10 started with another cool morning, 43 degrees F, but quickly warmed up into the upper 60s. Prior to leaving Grand Prairie we got the truck serviced and then headed West in search of the Alaska Highway. Approximately two hours later we found the little town of Dawson Creek and the beginning of the Alaska Highway. After a few hours of doing the tourist thing; taking pictures, museums, site seeing, etc. we started up the Alaska Highway. Most of the road was in excellent condition, mostly two lane with an occasional passing lane. We traveled over a couple hills with elevations of around 4000 feet with climbs and decents up to 10 degrees. We drove across the historic curved wooden Kiskatinaw River Bridge which was built in the early 40s during construction of the Alaska Highway. A sign at the bridge notes that this 531 foot bridge is the only original timber bridge built along the Alaska highway that is still in use today. It seems the scenery gets better with every mile we drive. Today we saw one moose in a field and several bison (I think they were domesticated) and two wolves and two giant moose dead on the highway. Campgrounds are everywhere and range from nothing to around 35 dollars Canadian. Some are really nice with everything and others just provide a place to stay. We have seen several people staying along the highway at the pullouts. We decided to stay at the Pink Mountain Campground which is at milepost 143 (143 miles North of Dawson Creek, the starting point of the Alaska Highway). There is a lot of work going on in the oil fields (gas) and a lot of the private campgrounds are filled with the oil field workers. We fueled up today in Dawson Creek for 1.27/L (4.80/G). Gas was 1.34/L. Both diesel and gas are going up the further North we get.