July 03rd
Between the lapsing of the water on the lake, and the stream trickling loudly beside the tent, it was so soothing. To add to it, there was a light rain all night. It was so peaceful that I actually slept a lot longer than I usually do.
Today was a rainy kind of day. I just chilled on the bed until I heard a loud smash against the tent. I heard this guy give a groan and he walked completely around my tent. He tripped over two of the end ropes and pulled one out. I said, “What the F#@& are you doing man?! He said it was the dog. I got to thinking later that this may have been a scam to see if anyone was in the tent and then check to see what they could take … not sure though.
I took it easy all day, cleaned the dust out of the back of the truck and organized the containers to make them more accessible. The sunset this evening was gorgeous from here which is what this provincial park is known for.
July 4th
Got up this morning at 6:30am and saw a blanket of fog over the lake … felt like I was back in Nova Scotia. LOL
After a quick breakfast and truck packed, I hit the road. I drove a short distance to Hudson’s Hope, the 3rd oldest settlement in BC. This place was a main water transportation route in the early 1900s on sternwheelers that travelled over 917km into Alberta. I stopped in at the Tourist Information place. A really lovely lady asked me what I was interested in seeing or doing. When I mentioned the dinosaur footprints she explained that they are covered over with tarps right now to protect them until they get enough money to build a plexi-glass protection over them. In 2016, a worker came across some tracks and asked if they were important. It turned out to be an amazing find as there was a great deal of dinosaur traffic that had gone through that area … a large number of prints were found. The first site of dinosaur tracks that were found years earlier have been fading away due to erosion because they are so close to the rivers edge.
The tourist lady shared a story with me about two guys who were in this area a number of years ago had found a fossil and decided to take it home to make a table out of it. After some time they felt guilty and reported it to a palaeontologist. It came to be that this fossil was very rare and there have only been 3 of its kind discovered around the world. The other two are in China. It explains why it is against the law to take fossils from this region.
After having a great conversation with the lady at the information desk, I proceeded to W. A. C. Bennett Dam.
This dam was named after the longest running premier in BC and is the second largest dam in Canada. I arrived at 9:45am and hoped to view some eagles or other wildlife, but saw none. The doors automatically opened at 10am and the tour started at 10:30am. We first went downstairs and watched a short video. We then hopped on a bus that drove us down to the only vehicle entrance in the dam. We went through a tunnel and had an inside tour of the dam … it was very interesting.
I left here around 11:40am and made my way up to Fort St. John. I made a couple of stops along the way to take some panoramic shots of the Peace River Valley … very nice.
Once I arrived at Fort St. John, I just had to drive to Dawson Creek. I was disappointed with myself that I did not stop the first time when I drove through Dawson Creek to take a photo of Mile ‘0’ cairn for the Alaskan Highway.
I am glad I did for two reasons: One, the marker was very well done and certainly worth a photo … afterall, it is one of the most photographed items along the Alaskan Highway. The second reason is that I got an invaluable sheet from the Information place just next door to the marker. It had a list of most of the campgrounds and gas stations on the route … truly well organized.
For those who are not aware of the significance of Dawson Creek, Mile “0”, this was the beginning of the Alaska Highway. USA Military became concerned about the vulnerability of Alaska after Pearl Harbour bombing in 1941. President Roosevelt authorized the construction of the road that went from Dawson Creek, BC to Fairbanks, Alaska and the amazing feat was that the 1, 520 mile road was completed in 9 months!
I got on the road and headed north, back towards Fort St. John. Just outside of Dawson Creek, I saw a sign that talked about a historic bridge up ahead onto a side road. I remember reading about this being quite an engineering ingenuity where it was an angled bridge and is the only remaining bridge that was built along the old Alaskan Highway section that I was traveling on. What a gem! I stopped to take some pics and I only saw one other vehicle go this way.
The road does loop back onto the new Alaskan Highway, which was very busy with traffic. As soon as I passed Fort St. John the road traffic did die down.
As I was driving I spotted a coyote walking along the tree line. I had to keep driving as a big transfer truck was behind me. I found a side road, pulled in and got my camera ready. When I got back to the siting the coyote was gone. Damn.
Only other wildlife saw today was a couple of deer.
I drove passed Pink Mountain and had researched free camp spots on logging roads. There was one at Duhu Lake and was only 5.8km on a dirt road. I got to the site and there were a total of 6 camping pads. There was only one other vehicle here and the couple were from Germany. This was actually very nice … the spot is by a small lake, has a concrete picnic table and firewood at each camping pad … all for free! Only drawback is all the mosquitoes … wow! I love it … talk about back in nature. I do hope to see a moose or two this evening or in the morning.
