Journey Journal: Driving the Alaska Highway in 2006

There’s nothing fairly like a cross-country (or cross-continent) highway journey. The month of May 2026 marks 20 years since my dad and I drove from Arizona to Alaska and again. I used to be 24 years outdated on the time. In honor of the two-decade trip-versary, I made a decision to share my private account, pulled from a Microsoft Word doc the place it had been logged all these years in the past.

To sum it up: The Alaska Highway was some of the participating and cinematic drives I’ve ever skilled. The roughly 8,000-mile round-trip journey took 11 days from Phoenix. And sure, I obtained an oil change on the midway level in Fairbanks. Planning for the drive, by the way, was within the works for months main as much as it. I related with a useful resource known as The Milepost that publishes an annual hard-printed (and really complete) journey information for the Alaska Highway. I studied it from cowl to cowl.

Here’s your play-by-play, together with just some pictures I carved out from the roughly 300 I took. It’s a prolonged learn, so go get your espresso or a Red Bull first if you wish to observe alongside.

Saturday, May 6, 2006

We picked up dad’s baggage on the lodge in Eden and headed down the canyon. It was a really good day up there. We ate at Maddox – the turkey steak was superior. Then on to I-15. Malad space (ID) was actually wet, however apart from that we’ve stayed fairly dry. We stopped in Idaho Falls after which Dell, Montana, the place we talked to a pleasant older couple from Alberta. They gave us some recommendations on getting round Edmonton and advised us to go see the large mall. We stopped in Butte for a fill-up (gasoline retains getting cheaper as we go north) after which lastly got here as much as Great Falls. We handed by means of some actually lovely canyons with the Missouri River…. Awesome cabins. Dad wished one. His eagle eyes had been busy at work making an attempt to identify animals. We didn’t see many. We handed by means of a tiny city known as Craig and obtained a pic. So far, so good on the voyage! The automobile is holding up 100%, with 219,200 miles as of tonight. We walked over to the buffet on the Flying J subsequent door for some soup. The sundown was actually cool.

Sunday, May 7, 2006

We at the moment are in Whitecourt, Alberta, Canada! What a day on the highway. It was virtually precisely 10 hours on the highway. I obtained actually excited after we pulled into city and I noticed the primary signal saying we had been headed in the fitting route — we’re staying on the Ramada proper throughout from the “Alaska Highway Motel.” Whitecourt is a much bigger city than I believed it might be. Plenty of wildlife. We are fascinated with the accuracy the Milepost ebook has on its highway journey descriptions — each mile is described intimately. Dad was glued to that and my Rand McNally atlas the whole journey, and we had been always making an attempt to determine how a lot additional we’d have till our subsequent locations. Just a few issues are actually throwing us off (or making issues troublesome). The velocity limits are in km/h and so they’re low, too. Most cities, it’s important to decelerate to love 50, which is basically solely about 35 mph. It is bizarre to drive alongside and see the velocity restrict signal, “Maximum 110.” The gasoline is offered in liters, and the Canadian foreign money factor is altogether loopy. We have had scattered clouds and bursts of rain for a big portion of the day, however loads of sunshine. Everything appeared to get greener the farther north we obtained.

The preliminary drive from Great Falls to the Sweet Grass border crossing was simple. The customs agent solely requested a couple of questions after which allow us to go on by means of. Alberta could be very “farmy” — mile after mile after mile of big farms. We observed that everybody takes actually excellent care of their barn. We made a pit cease at a city known as Stirling, Alberta, which, in keeping with the Milepost, is the oldest and best-preserved Mormon settlement in the whole nation of Canada. It’s a tiny little city, and there was an interpretive middle that had all types of data on the historical past and settlement. First cease in Canada for gasoline was Fort Macleod. On the best way there, we handed by means of Lethbridge, which was a extremely complicated mixture of windy roads by means of city. We did work out the place we had been going. Fort Macleod didn’t have a lot to supply, however we used a CIDM ATM machine and obtained some Canadian money.

Next large metropolis was Calgary — it was lots larger than I’d anticipated. We noticed numerous Alberta plates, in fact, in addition to some from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Manitoba. No different Utah. Heard some radio adverts saying the climate at 3 and 17 levels — Celsius that’s! Haha. That will take some getting used to as effectively. At Red Deer, we gassed up at Gasoline Alley and took off throughout Highway 11 westbound. That highway was simply two lanes extensive, however very good and no site visitors. The highway minimize by means of the timber and the surroundings was just about the identical for a LONG time. We went by means of Rocky Mountain Home after which attached with the 22 north, then as much as the 43 in Mayerthorpe. Dad was doing an important job navigating, and I haven’t had him drive but. Canada has all the identical shops because the U.S. — Walmarts, and many others. Pretty wide-open areas. I’m positive dad needs he might have seen a couple of extra mountains.

Our telephones are on analog roam, so I’m positive any calls we take/make are costing us a fortune. Today was our longest-mileage day of the journey: simply over 600 miles. I believe we have now gone by means of the 1,000 songs on my iPod already. Canadian radio doesn’t have a lot to supply. We handed a city known as Bentley in the course of Alberta, however didn’t get an image in time as we flew previous. 9 p.m. and nonetheless gentle outdoors. We went to Subway for dinner after which cruised into downtown Whitecourt. It was a lovely night — wet, however very inexperienced and funky, and it smells good!

Monday, May 8, 2006

It has been essentially the most adventurous day of the journey but! We are staying on the Northern Rockies Lodge in Muncho Lake, British Columbia. We are within the Frog River room, #201, on the primary stage of the lodge. We simply completed our Hunters Schnitzel pork feast within the eating room and had been served by our Swiss waitress Luzia who’s right here working for the summer time. Dad is in heaven with these environment! The lodge is the most important log constructing on the Alaska Highway, with 45 rooms and providing bush airplane excursions all through the summer time. The season is simply getting began this week. There are cool little particular person cabins out again, however our room is very nice too. There are only a few individuals staying right here tonight.

It was a really lengthy day, mileage-wise and time-wise. We put in effectively over 700 miles and about 12 hours, however that’s deceiving as a result of it’s nonetheless gentle outdoors, and it’s getting late. The view out our again window of the peaks and lake is unbelievable. The lake nonetheless seems to be frozen over. Dad noticed his share of animals in the present day — I virtually hit an enormous caribou head-on, and nearly plowed by means of a herd of about 10 stone sheep in Stone Mountain Provincial Park. We additionally noticed some moose, antelope, every little thing. The morning began out in Whitecourt with combined rain and snow. It systematically obtained worse however fortunately was by no means sticking to the highway. The surroundings was a lot the identical as yesterday. There had been fewer and fewer vehicles on the highway and it ended up being simply us and the large vehicles, all outfitted with enormous guards on their entrance bumpers most likely to annihilate any animal who dared get of their approach. I obtained a check-engine gentle as soon as, however it reset once I turned the automobile off; nonetheless, it was scary. I’m positive it’s simply that recurring EGR drawback once more.

The rain and snow continued as we obtained into Grande Prairie, the place we began seeing indicators selling Alaska as a vacation spot. That was thrilling! We obtained an image at Little Smoky earlier than GP (inhabitants 34) and Beaverlodge after GP (with the large beaver statue). Finally, we rolled into Dawson Creek! The “arrow” signal saying the beginning of the Alaska Highway was simple to seek out. It was snowing onerous on the town, and we didn’t really feel like strolling round in that type of climate, so we obtained a few photos and moseyed onward. Weather obtained a bit bit higher after that as we drove towards Fort Nelson. We stopped for lunch at A&W in Fort St. John and it was a pleasant day there. That city is fairly large. Gassed up at Safeway. We grabbed an image at Pink Mountain and blasted previous the Sasquatch Crossing Lodge (the place they apparently have sightings of Sasquatch day by day). We bumped into a bit building on a really lengthy descent. We needed to wait about quarter-hour to be escorted by means of the development zone. Got full-service gasoline service at Fort Nelson, and we determined to go farther in the present day although that was our preliminary vacation spot. It was nonetheless very gentle outdoors.

The freeway after Fort Nelson shortly turned void of middle or outdoors traces, and it was extra gravelly than clean. Still not too dangerous for mud. Occasionally, I needed to dodge pot holes the scale of manhole covers that had been deep! I managed to get round all of them. There are additionally spots of gravel that solely final a couple of seconds however at all times catch you abruptly. Other elements of the freeway are broken by frost heaves and are marked by indicators with a bumpy highway image. Cell telephones turned nugatory, even on roam. We gained a LOT of elevation on 10-percent grades round Steamboat. When we stopped to get a pic, the automobile smelled scorching, however the gauge by no means moved. We entered Stone Mountain Provincial Park and we noticed a few of the most lovely surroundings I’ve ever witnessed. The highway was winding round rivers, lakes, and enormous stone mountains (thus the title) that had been snow-capped and massive-looking. Dad was on the prowl for animals and we noticed tons. The lodge at Toad River was closed for the season, so we determined to maintain going as soon as extra and ended up at Muncho Lake, historic mile 456. It is an superior setting. It’s so quiet outdoors. Dad made a buddy with an Alaskan Husky canine on the property.

Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Weather was very nice all day in the present day! I used to be glad. We did run into a bit little bit of building (about 5 miles of gravel and potholes), some intense frost heaves (nearly launched the automobile), and an space the place we didn’t see one other automobile for about 50 miles. Most of the freeway will be pushed at 75 mph, fortunately. Tomorrow, we’ll be in Fairbanks. Now we’re in Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, on the Alcan Motor Inn. This city (inhabitants 811) is tiny. We walked over to the final retailer subsequent door and checked it out. Our neighbors within the room subsequent door are from North Dakota.

We began off the day at Muncho Lake, however went just some miles down the highway to Toad River Lodge and obtained some scorching breakfast there. It was a log cabin-style institution and so they had some monster animals in there. Dad noticed a couple of extra animals (reside) to take pics of alongside the highway. We went to Watson Lake and checked out the signpost forest — it’s enormous. We gassed up at an old-fashioned-looking retailer (the one selections had been diesel and unleaded). Quality gasoline, I’m positive.

Next cease was Teslin, the place we took a tour by means of a cool wildlife exhibit and drove throughout the longest bridge on the Alcan. A few hours down the highway, we had been in Whitehorse and located our option to Main Street for some gas. Then we ate at Boston Pizza; the parts had been HUGE and the meals was nice. Finally, we made the final stretch to Haines Junction and right here we’re on the Alcan Motor Inn. Dad talked to mother in Whitehorse, however apart from that, we have now had zero cell service and no entry to the Internet. We went to gasoline up at Fas Gas after which ate sundaes on the Frosty Freeze. Not many different individuals on the town!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

This morning, we had been on the highway as soon as once more at 7:30 a.m. sharp. We paralleled some lovely mountain peaks for a number of miles and went over some bridges at Kluane National Park. Had some sheep sightings on Sheep Mountain (dad tried to zoom in, however they had been too far-off). The highway obtained actually bumpy with frost heaves — it was like driving down a curler coaster. We would blow previous the vehicles and trailers. Just a few sections of highway had been underneath building, however the gravel was decently graded, and we obtained by means of it shortly. The highway upkeep persons are actually good about placing up cones and orange flags on areas of the highway the place drivers wanted to train warning. Most of the time, it’s due to these enormous bumps or lacking/free pavement.

In a few hours, we had been in Beaver Creek and loved a scrumptious do-it-yourself breakfast on the 1201 Motor Lodge. Dad was loving the inside of that place — taxidermy animals galore. I purchased a few bumper stickers. Just 20 miles down the highway, we got here up on the Alaska border! I obtained a couple of pictures on the much-awaited photograph op, and we talked with a pair from Minnesota who had been doing the freeway for his or her first time as effectively. Getting into the Alaska border was a bit of cake. The velocity limits went to 55 mph as an alternative of 100 km/h, and the highway was noticeably in higher situation.

Next cease throughout the state was Tok, however we didn’t stick round too lengthy. Scenery was extra of the identical, however it was lovely. We quickly made it to Delta Junction at mile 1,400-something — the official finish of the Alaska Highway. We stopped by the customer’s middle and obtained some photos on the final milepost marker. It was a lovely blue-sky day outdoors and we had nice climate all day in the present day.

The final leg of our journey was to Fairbanks, one other 90 miles or so from Delta Junction. En route, we just had to make a pit cease on the North Pole to go to Santa’s home! That place is for actual! The handle is St. Nicholas Drive, and so they have Christmas stuff on the market inside. We purchased 5 sq. inches of North Pole land for $7.00 every to ship to mother and the 2 grandmas for Mother’s Day.

Ten extra miles away: Fairbanks! We made it. We discovered the Honda vendor, “Auto Service Company,” and scheduled an appointment for my oil change, then checked into the Captain Bartlett Inn for the $55 Alaska Special. It’s a reasonably run-down facility, however not less than it has Internet. Went and obtained our Mother’s Day presents Fed-Exed, after which went again to Honda. Finally, we stopped on the Roundup Steakhouse for a pleasant Fairbanks meal. Every automobile right here has a plug protruding of the engine compartment for block heaters.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

I’m typing this entry from contained in the automobile. We’re having a marathon of a day with our driving — dad has been on the wheel the entire time. We are nearly to Teslin (we handed Whitehorse about 94 miles in the past) and our vacation spot this night is Beaver Post, close to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. Weather has been variable; we’ve seen snow early within the morning close to Tok, then clear skies, then some actually darkish clouds and cloud bursts simply previous the border. We stopped in Tok for a really filling (heavy) breakfast at Fast Eddy’s and we bumped into a pair from Salt Lake City who had been on their option to Anchorage.

After breakfast, we gassed up on the Chevron (most likely the final good-quality gasoline we’d see for a couple of days) and headed towards the Canadian border. Again, crossing by means of was a breeze. In no time, we had been blasting by means of the whoop-de-doos on the freeway once more en path to Haines Junction, however they didn’t appear to final almost so long as after we drove these bumpy roads the primary time. Dad noticed a grizzly bear simply earlier than we hit a building zone and he stated that it “made his day.” We obtained some gasoline at Fas Gas in Haines Junction, and I obtained out of the automobile to run round a short while — I used to be getting antsy after so many hours within the automobile. Another 1.5 hours down the highway, we cruised by means of Whitehorse. My automobile turned 222,222.2 miles and we pulled in for gasoline at Shell. A girl there requested us to jump-start her automobile, so she borrowed some jumper cables and we helped her out.

Going again down the freeway (once more no cell service), we got here throughout a white Chevy Cavalier that was throughout the guardrail on the right-hand facet of the highway, with two individuals standing on the facet of the highway. We stopped to see what was occurring, and the man stated they had been okay, simply ready for a tow truck. I do not know how they had been capable of get their automobile on the opposite facet of that guard rail with out rolling it into the large ravine simply inches away. Now 10:49 p.m. and nonetheless gentle outdoors (we’re nonetheless north of the sixtieth parallel). We are in a cabin on the Beaver Post in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. They are cool little cabins, with an enormous jetted tub in them. Haha. Really roughing it, aren’t we?

It was an 800-plus-mile day for dad in the present day, and we’re uninterested in being on the highway. We hit a hen, and pa watched it fly over the automobile after which onto the highway within the rearview mirror. Ha!

Friday, May 12, 2006

We obtained a little bit of a late begin this morning from the Beaver Post cabin; it was about 9:30 after we had lastly gotten prepared to move out for the day. Dad had parked the automobile with the wheels turned all the best way, and as I used to be loading up my bag, I observed that the driving force’s facet entrance tire was fully worn by means of the tread on the within. The tire was near-new once I put in it in St. George! Something is basically tousled with the alignment. It would have been a lot too dangerous to journey far on that tire with it as worn because it was, so we went to the Junction 37 gasoline station and altered the tires round within the mud and rain. We had been on an unfamiliar highway 150 miles away from our vacation spot and wished to ensure we obtained there.

After filling up, we hit Highway 37 and headed immediately south, lastly leaving the Yukon Territory for the final time. Highway 37 was some of the scenic drives of the entire journey. It was a two-lane, curvy, mountainous highway that wound us by means of the Cassiar Range. About 25 miles of the 450-mile highway ended up being gravel, however not less than it was clean and we didn’t take care of an excessive amount of site visitors — hardly any, truly. There weren’t any center-line markings on the highway and there have been numerous areas in want of restore very similar to the Alaska Highway. I used to be on the wheel and pa was on the hunt for animals once more. Today was a bear day and nothing else. In all, we (he, truly) noticed EIGHT bears! He would impulsively scream “Stop!” and I’d slam on the brakes and throw the automobile into reverse so we might return for an image. We even noticed a child bear cub with its mom that allow us get a couple of photos at Meziadin Junction!

We spent a lot of the drive excessive within the mountaintops, surrounded by numerous snow. Most rivers and lakes had been nonetheless frozen strong on the larger elevations, however as soon as we began descending, we got here throughout some spectacular waterfalls that had been proper alongside the freeway! The mountains had been unbelievable, and you possibly can see the place avalanches had occurred over the winter. We managed to kill a few birds who flew immediately towards the automobile, however we didn’t have every other run-ins with wildlife on the roadway. We did certainly attain our first vacation spot of Dease Lake, a tiny city of (from what we noticed) Indian individuals who lead a quite simple life. I had a clubhouse sandwich and a bowl of soup, and we met Momma Z, the proprietor of Momma Z’s Café. She was very nice! There had been three hitchhikers throughout the road making an attempt to get to Whitehorse. We had a sense they’d be standing there awhile.

We headed southbound as soon as once more and our solely stops on the 37 had been for periodic bear sightings. We solely needed to decelerate a bit bit for the dust sections of highway (which had been a lot improved because the Milepost part on that freeway was written). We gassed up at Kitwanga on the junction with Highway 16 east after which took that route all the best way to Prince George, which is the place we’re staying tonight. The 16 was one other very scenic drive; it took us by means of some very small however very clear cities. The velocity limits in Canada drive me nuts. Most of the highway was 100 km/h (about 60 mph), however in all of the cities, it’s important to sluggish clear right down to 30 for a number of miles. The highways round right here at all times take you straight by means of the middle of city. As we rolled into Prince George tonight, we might see the complete moon; it’s the primary night time we’ve traveled after sundown. But sundown was at about 11 p.m.!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

We are in Sunnyside, Washington, after having gone to about 3-4 different motels in Yakima with out having any luck discovering a room. There is a few type of convention on the town and all people is offered out. We virtually thought we’d should proceed on to Oregon or Idaho to discover a place with emptiness! Today was one other lengthy day on the highway. We began on the Ramada in Prince George, British Columbia, and headed south on Highway 97, which wound across the B.C. countryside and inexperienced hills and farmlands. The space is so moist that there are lakes and rivers all over the place; almost each neighborhood was shaped round some kind of lake.

Again, the drive was sluggish going due to velocity limitations (site visitors was by no means a difficulty), however we had good, blue-sky climate all day lengthy. We stopped briefly at a spot known as Caribou Castle, the place that they had an “actual-size” skeleton of Sasquatch. I needed to have an image of that. Several hours into the drive, we reached our first vacation spot of Cache Creek, the place we obtained onto Highway 1 heading south. That highway took us by means of some spectacular mountain ravines, the place we snaked alongside the cliffsides with the Thompson and Fraser rivers down under. The grades had been steep, however the surroundings was superb — some unbelievable all-around views of the steep, rocky mountains, with inexperienced all over the place. We drove by means of a sequence of six tunnels en route down the canyon.

Eventually, the highway opened as much as two lanes extensive and very quickly in any respect, we had been on the Canadian border at Sumas. The checkpoint went shortly, and the customs officer stated we had been loopy for having pushed to Alaska and again in eight days. It’s loopy to assume that we had been in Fairbanks simply two days in the past. We’ve coated some severe floor. Finally within the United States as soon as extra, our telephones started to work and we obtained bombarded with voicemails and textual content messages.

We discovered our option to Interstate 5, which took us by means of site visitors jams (the worst we’d seen all week) and finally onto the 90 Eastbound towards Snoqualmie Pass and over to Ellensburg and the jap a part of Washington. Finally, we tracked down a lodge room, and now we’re going to loosen up for a couple of hours earlier than making the final leg of our journey into Salt Lake City tomorrow.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

We’re in Salt Lake! Had a straightforward drive the remainder of the best way house. We had been truly passed by about 7:15 a.m. from Sunnyside, and headed out on the 82. We gassed up in Baker City, Oregon, after which once more in Twin Falls, Idaho, the place we additionally stopped at Chili’s for lunch. From there, it was only a quick 230 miles to the home right here in SLC. Dad and I switched up driving with every gasoline cease and we had been right here by about 5:30 p.m. What a drive that entire journey was! Dad and I had been speaking about the truth that we might have pushed from San Francisco to Boston and again (after which some) for as many miles as we drove! Wow.

Here’s a one-minute video with a couple of scenes from the drive (gotta love the classic high quality from my outdated Canon PowerShot four-megapixel digital digital camera).

I’d say that this was the journey of a lifetime, however I went again once more 10 years ago in 2016. And that point, I went 4 hours past Fairbanks to the doorway of the Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway.

I must be making the journey once more this yr (to maintain up my 10-year cadence and all), however there’s simply an excessive amount of occurring. Maybe 2027 shall be my yr. Who’s recreation to affix?

And by the best way, I do nonetheless personal my one sq. inch of North Pole property.