Sunday, May 9, 2010

Fort Nelson, B.C. ---> Allen's Lookout


Another great travel day across a stunning part of the Alaska Highway. We left Fort Nelson under sunny skies and chugged up from the lowest point on the Alaska Highway (1,000 feet MSL) through rolling farm land back into the mountains. We stopped to take in the views from Steamboat Mountain Summit (3,500 feet MSL), and then crossed the highest point on the highway at Summit Pass (4,250 feet MSL). From that point on it was a day of animals around almost every curve. No lions and tigers, but we did see both black and grizzly bears, caribou, buffalo, Stone Sheep, and a moose.

We were judicious about fuel stops, a good thing as several of the road houses along the way were either out of business or hadn't opened yet. We fueled up at Toad River and noted that the Northern Rockies Lodge was also open. Gasoline was $1.359 a liter at Toad River. I’ll let you do the conversion, I’m afraid to!

We stopped at Liard Hot Springs, and while we didn't take a dip we did walk in and check it out. We were sure tempted to run back and grab our bathing suits after we saw the springs - clean, hot, and not crowded.

We boondocked for the evening at Allen's Lookout, a huge gravel pull-out above the Liard River, just shy of the Yukon border. A four star boondocking site to be sure – it was hard to decide if the view up or down the river was the best!

On to the Yukon at Watson Lake, and then the bridge at Teslin.

3 comments:

  1. Great photos! We saw our first grizzly a few days ago.

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  2. Keep 'em comin'. We're just a few weeks behind you. I added Allen's Lookout to my Street Atlas stops.

    Bruce

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  3. Thanks for the blog. We (husband, dog and I) leave for Alaska on Sunday, June 6th.

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