Into the Yukon!

In the morning we headed to the edge of Jasper National Park to go to Miette Hot Springs for a morning swim. We arrived early enough that the place was virtually empty, especially compared to what it would become. Katie was super psyched about the stop because it would give us a chance to shower. We had not had the pleasure since we left Colin and Pam behind in Calgary. The hot springs turned out to be more of a heated pool, but we enjoyed our time and had a

nice cup of tea with a muffin to start the day off right. We showered and hit the road about noon, thus beginning our long driving expedition into Alaska. From this point on we had no plans for stopping and were basically driving blind since our trusty atlas decided to cut out northern BC and the Yukon entirely. We saw some more sheep on the road and were treated to an excellent view of a couple of bucks just before entering into Beautiful British Columbia. When we got into Dawson Creek, BC we found out that

this was the true Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway, so we decided to spend some time there and take a few pictures. We met a couple at one of our photo opps who had just completed the drive down. They informed us that we needed to purchase a book that most Alaska travelers refer to as "the Bible" - The Milepost. We found a little news stand shop that had it and picked it up along with a few postcards. Across the street was the Alaska Hotel, so

we decided to have a few drinks and explore our new book. It was indeed a priceless purchase and we would have missed out on a lot without having it. It provides a mile by mile highway log for not only the Alaska Highway, but also 30 major routes, 60 side trips, and over 100 maps! After consulting the book, we decided we would drive about an hour more tonight and hit up a town called Ft. St. John for our evening sleep. We had a little trouble finding a parking lot that didn't threaten to tow us, but we eventually bedded down in a place that was a hotel, steakhouse, and casino all in one. We nestled in between two larger trucks and

were undisturbed the rest of the night. In the morning we started off again on another day of nothing but driving. We stopped off at Ft. St. Nelson for lunch at Dan's Pub and then Katie took the wheel and drove up through the Northern Rockies in the rain. We weren't sure how far we would make it with the morning fog and the afternoon rain, but our general plan was to make it to Liard Hotsprings and camp nearby for a morning dip. After we drove for a while we realized we would be there early enough for us to just swim at night and then make our way to the next "big" town along the way, Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory, home to 1,500 people. The Liard Hot Springs were amazing and a lot more in tune with what you think of when you hear the word hot

springs. The water was super hot, 53 degrees Celsius, and we both couldn't make it very far toward the source before wimping out. After we were throughly relaxed and ready to drive a few more

hours, we hit the road. A few miles down the road I spotted a bear and 2 cubs right by the highway! For those of you who are counting, this make 8 bears that we have seen so far on our trip! The sun seemed to set for the entire drive and we were treated to view after view around every turn. We stopped to view a few other spots that our book pointed out and eventually made it to the Yukon and Watson Lake! The hot springs had made us both wreak of sulfur, so we decided that a shower was in order

and sprung the money to get a hotel. Luckily there is currently a fire in BC which forced some people to make cancelations and we were able to get a room and shower for the night! Although the place promised internet, we were only able to access it in the

evening and forced to move on toward Whitehorse before we could upload any of our stuff online. For now, its back to the road and to explore the Yukon!