Down the ALCAN to Grande Prairie

We left Toad River on a misty, rainy morning. The clouds were low and obscuring some of the mountain tops. We had planned to drive as far as Pink Mountain on the Alaskan Highway but were advised by a local in Toad River that the camp site there was not much. We didn't worry too much as there were another couple of "resorts" in the area.  The drive was a hard one. Lots of hills ranging from 6 to 10 % grades, narrow road with no guard rails, gravel stretches and some wildlife. We saw caribou, bison, and a roadkill moose (fresh). Not a lot of traffic on the road but still a long drive which was soon to get longer.
When we arrived in the area of RV parks at Pink Mountain after some 300+ km of driving, we found that none of the "resorts' were places that we wanted to stay at. A quick look at the maps showed that the next possible one was a BC Provincial park located at Charlie Lake, just west of Fort St. John, and another 180+ km of driving.
Not much choice but to carry on. As we got closer to civilization, Fort St. John, the roads got wider, traffic got heavier and road construction delays got a lot longer. Nor only were we muddy from the gravel sections but now we were picking up a layer of fresh tar over the mud from the new paving sections being done. On top of that, the rain had stopped, the sun was coming out and everything was drying to a hard coating on the truck and trailer.

We arrived at Charles Lake late in the afternoon and got settled into a nice site. Beautiful park as seems to be the norm for northern BC parks.
Had a good dinner and walk after dinner and got to bed earlier. It's easier to get to sleep now because the days are shorter down here and it actually gets dark by 10pm.
On the road again the next day, (Tuesday) drove through Fort St. John and headed towards Dawson Creek and mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway. The were some really tough long climbs in this stretch. It didn't help things that usually at the bottom of each long hill, there was a bridge being repaired, or one that needed repair with a 50kph speed limit. Needless to say that with our weight the diesel truck was working really hard to try and accelerate up the hills from a dead start.
I was reminded of a story from an old diesel mechanic we met somewhere who said "these things got to be worked hard to work good". Our truck seems to be working awful good!
We passed through Dawson Creek and carried on another 140km to Grande Prairie. The road was really good until the last 20 km into Grand Prairie. The "wows" were frequent and big. Twice we had to look back and see if the trailer was still attached!
We arrived at Camp Tamarack RV park on a hot, sunny afternoon. After we checked in we stopped at the RV wash and spent over an hour trying to get the mud and tar off. Got most of the mud off but the tar will probably still be on when we get back to N.S. Later we took the truck there to wash it as well. From a distance, both units look good. Up close is another story!
Compared to the last few days we are living in the lap of luxury. Level site, clean washrooms & laundry room, cable tv, high speed internet and diesel fuel at 89.9 cents per L as opposed to $1.33 per L at Toad River.
Got our shopping done today (Wednesday). Tomorrow morning we stop at the Montana Dealer to get our wheel bearings checked and repacked, then North towards Yellowknife.
Will post again as soon as possible.
Quote for the day:


Saying what we think gives us a wider conversational range than saying what we know.
  - Cullen Hightower

Cheers

P & N