Dawson Creek, Friday, 28 February, 2014
Mar 7th, 2014 by rallyadmin
We’re ready to go at 7AM and the convoy starts out of Fort Laird just as it starts to become light. Turn right on to the Liard Highway. It’s just over 200 kms to Fort Nelson where we’ll stop and try to solve Bryan’s tire problem.
The Liard is empty but for a few trucks and the road is smooth and clear. And it’s still damned cold out, around -30°F. The general feeling is get on with it. The sooner we get to Fort Nelson, the sooner Bryan can get a new tire and the sooner we can all relax.
The Liard Highway ends at the Alcan Highway and from there it’s less than 40 kms to Fort Nelson. Left onto the Alcan and in less than 30 minutes we’re in Fort Nelson. Another 10 minutes and we’re in a Caltire parking lot.
Yes, they have a tire. Mount it, put it on the car and down to Tim Horton’s for breakfast where we all regroup for the final push down the Alcan to Dawson Creek, the official southern end of the Alcan and the official end of our planned trip.
It’s still more than 450 kms to Dawson Creek but the Alcan between Fort Nelson and Fort St. John is very pretty. The area surrounding the road is starting to flatten out but the snow covered farm land is beautiful in its own way.
We pull into the parking lot at the end of the Alcan in Dawson Creek while the sun is still up though not for much longer. We take the customary pictures in front of the Alcan Mile 0 sign and then leave for the hotel. It’s still very cold out and we don’t linger.
By the time we get to the hotel, the sun is dfown and the temperatures are plummeting. I do the plugin routine while Colin does the run to the liquor store which is conveniently attached to the hotel.
Everyone meets up in our room. Beer, rum, Canadian Club and 5 lap tops open showing pictures from the trip. And the big sense of relief that comes over one of these trips, when the trip ends. There’s always the nagging worry about what to do if there is a problem when we’re way out, like putting the hitch in the cab through the back window while leaving Fort Good Hope. Now, back in civilization, the worries recede and the background tension seeps away. Probably the beer at work.
We have dinner in the hotel restaurant and plan the next day. John and Paul are headed down the Yellowhead Highway to visit some of Joe’s relatives that live on a farm near Hinton. Bryan and Bill and Colin and I are headed down the Icefields Parkway between Jasper and Banff. We’ll head over to Calgary and Bryan and Bill will leave us and start heading west towards Kamloops.
We break up our merry band tomorrow. Just another few beers tonight, for old times sake.
Obi-wan