Left Hinton about 7:00 this morning in a steady rain and rode about 90 miles to Grande Cache, AB, which is at the top of a mountain on Hwy 40. The rain was steady and so was the downward trend in temperatures. (A little hard to get used to temperatures in degrees Celsius. 10 degrees Celsius is 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Stopped for gas (next gas stop was in Grande Prairie, about 120 miles up the road.) Thawed out for a while and then took off. About 40 miles up the road the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and the temperature started climbing. The rest of the day was pretty balmy.
Hwy 40 is billed as "The Scenic Route to Alaska" and I'd say so. It sort of meanders through the mountains, where there are a lot of logging operations and even at least one coal mine. (Strip mine...no prettier a sight in Canada than in West Virginia, I'm afraid.) Grande Prairie was quite a thriving community of about 50,000 and looked to be quite prosperous. The surrounding countryside between Grande Prairie and Dawson Creek is typical mid-west...flat to rolling with lots of farms.
I arrived in Dawson Creek about 1:30 local time (Pacific Daylight Time) and by then the temp was approximately 30 degrees...Celsius, that is. Here are a couple pictures of the area:
This is the sign at the south entrance to Dawson Creek, Hwy 2 from Grande Prairie.
You can see the terrain here...pretty flat. BTW, the crop in the field across the road is Canola. I've seen that all over the place from North Dakota on.
And this is the famous sign in the middle of downtown Dawson Creek marking the starting point of the Alaska Highway...mile marker zero. Only 1,523 miles to Fairbanks.
I've seen a lot of people headed either north or south from here. Campers, RVs, hitchhikers, hikers, bicyclists, motorcycles. There was a group of 500-600 bikes that left Key West in June headed for Homer Alaska, and they are starting to pass through here on their way back. Also, this is right in the middle of the "Oil Patch" are there are all kinds of oil field folks here. Feels like a boom town.
I'm staying here tomorrow and then will be leaving for Fort Nelson, BC on Monday morning, first leg on the Alaska Highway. Miles today: 304. Total: 3,405.
