Canada 2

Canada part 2 – NWT to British Columbia

I fueled up at Ft Providence where the Mackenzie River begins its long journey to the Beaufort Sea. The ice was just beginning to free up. The people at the fuel station let me charge my camera batteries while I had a look about town.

Heading west on HWY 1 just be sure that you have enough fuel. Usually fuel can be purchased at Ft Simpson but the river crossing was closed at this time because the ice was in the breaking up stage and there was no way to cross the Liard River .

I carried enough fuel to get down to Ft Nelson on the Alaska Hwy in British Columbia. Ft Nelson is really a good stop to get groceries and fuel and take a rest break. I camped out at Ft Liard but was not able to get gasoline at that time in town so pushed on to FT Nelson BC the next morning using my spare fuel. Saw 6 black bears and one moose on that run.

The Ft Nelson museum is worth a look for sure! Nice people and a cool collection of stuff. Great place to stock up on groceries at the IGA.

Ft Nelson BC Museum – collection of outboard motors

Locked moose antlers at the Ft Nelson museum. These two moose died after their antlers locked together and could not be separated. There is another set of locked racks at a hotel in Whitehorse. What an irony to have to die locked in an embrace with your enemy ’till death.

The Ft Nelson Museum is almost a must see if you have any interest in this sort of thing. Lots of local history.

Old bikes and other junk.

There is a lot of wildlife in the area so always be alert. There were numerous black bears grazing on fresh clover near the roads and groups of bison sometimes stand in the middle of the road blocking traffic.

Ft Nelson BC – Alaska Highway

On the road again !

Best to leave your headlights on all the time – especially in dusty areas.

Note – be sure that your headlights are off if you stop somewhere remote at night to camp.  It might take a long long time for you to find someone to give you a jump start. This is especially true if you camp well off the road .

Aircraft engine.

I proceeded to Summit Lake to camp for the night. It is a beautiful area and 3 caribou went past in the wee hours of the morning.  There are also so many black bears in the stretch from Ft Nelson and Watson Lake which are both on the Alaska Highway. This was the only part of my trip that i took that highway – preferring instead to to take mining roads etc that would be new frontiers to me to me. I saw 2 wolves as well which was a surprise because wolves tend to stay out of sight.

Canada road trip part 2

Canada NWT to Ft Liard and then south to Ft Nelson on the Alaska Highway in British Columbia