Road Trip – Whitehorse to Calgary
It’s time for a major road trip to see some of my family in Calgary and Kelowna. It was timed so that I could help my daughter and grand-daughters move when I reached Calgary.
I left the house at 6:15 am on April 13th with the temperature at 0°C. When I turned onto the Alaska Highway I found it quite amusing to have the GPS voice tell me that the first turn I needed to make was 1,389 km away! That’s the roundabout at Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the highway.
Gas at Whitehorse yesterday had risen to $1.259 per liter at most stations, but SuperSave still had it on for $1.199.
Once I lost Whitehorse radio at Jake’s Corner I fired up some classic John Lee Hooker on my iPod, putting me in a better marathon-road-trip mood 🙂 Topped up my gas at the Yukon Motel in Teslin for $1.269 per liter.
The photo below is southbound at Logjam Creek, Km 1165. I was shooting with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.
Rancheria Lodge was open and had a survey crew staying there – gas was $1.299. Reached Watson Lake at 10:55, with the temperature up to +4° C.
I had good weather pretty much all the way – a couple of hours of wet road and a few minutes of slush, but lots of sunshine. The snow squall seen below at about Km 720 was the only snow and it was brief.
It was a herd of Dall sheep on the dry mountain slope that stopped me here along the Racing River. Spring breakup is a beautiful time along the Alaska Highway.
Fueled at Contact Creek for $1.319 – they usually have lower prices than Watson Lake, but nobody had road-sign prices posted at Watson Lake this trip so I can’t confirm that this year. Liard Hot Springs Lodge has new owners, but the historic gas gouge there continues – $1.409. Lunch was good and reasonable, though. It was +11° when I pulled away at 1:40 pm. I usually stop for a soak in the hot springs (and recommend that everybody does), but now that I have a hot tub in my forested back yard it’s lost its appeal.
A new bridge at Km 587 is the only obvious construction that will be starting up soon.
The road ahead at Km 391, about an hour south of Fort Nelson.
A detour to the impressive curved wooden bridge over the Kiskatinaw River on the old Alaska Highway, and then back for a stop at the new (1978) Kiskatinaw Bridge makes for an interesting contrast.
At 8:40 pm, I arrived at the Shepherd’s Inn just north of Fort St. John, some 1,350 k from home. A huge clean room with a comfortable bed was $81 including taxes and a cinnamon bun (a bun because the cafe was closed, so that was dinner).
I was back on the road at 04:45, but stopped at Humpty’s in Fort St. John for a good breakfast. Gas at Fort St. John was $1.259.
Below, Spring cleaning on the streets of downtown Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Gas at Dawson Creek was from $1.229 to $1.259.
Gas prices dropped to from $1.170 to $1.179 as soon as I crossed into Albera, and stayed at that level right to Edmonton. I spent Monday afternoon and night with my youngest brother and his family at wetaskawin.
Below, the highway south of Fox Creek, Alberta.
An early start from Wetaskawin had me in suburban Calgary just after 9:00 am. Below, I’m nearing the Hidden Valley area of Calgary, where Andrea was moving from. The growth here in the north-west of Calgary, and at the community of Airdrie just to the north, is quite astounding.
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