Greensleeves

Green is the color of the day as we drive through lush pine, aspen and spruce forests. There are trees and grasses everywhere as we head north from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson, British Columbia. It is about a five hour drive plus stops on the Alaska Highway. This road was constructed by the US Army in 1942 to have a supply route to Alaska. The Japanese had invaded and occupied land in the Aleutian Islands and this threatened our northern and westernmost territory. With land ceded by the Canadian government, the road was completed in eight months and has since been named one of the man-made wonders of the world. It joins other worthy accomplishments like the Eiffel Tower and the Panama Canal.

The original road has been straightened widened and improved leaving a two lane, paved highway that as a pleasure to travel. It has wide green spaces on either side which provides a perfect place to view wild animals and the Rocky Mountains to the west give beautiful vistas. There are other mountains mesas, rivers, lakes and streams, and many hills and valleys. Jeff and I enjoyed the drive and saw a moose and a coyote along the road. We also saw many deer.

Along the way we stopped at the Honey Place which had the world's largest glass beehive. We also saw the marker for Suicide Hill, a treacherous pass on the original highway. We use a book called The Milepost which has blow by blow descriptions of what is along the road. Unfortunately most of the actual mileposts are not there. They are often taken down during construction and not put back.

Our working day had started at 5am as we woke, dressed and at 6am prepared coffee for our group. Just before 9am we left Dawson Creek and we pulled into the Westend Campground in Fort Nelson around 5pm and we are beat. After a pickup dinner and a group planning meeting we are going to bed.