Dawson Creek Mile 0

The Alaska Highway began in 1942. There had been preliminary plans decades earlier to develop a road that the State of Alaska initiated but no one else in the US took that seriously until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt called for plans to be put in place almost immediately after Pearl Harbor, fearing Japan would attempt an invasion through Alaska. (They actually did attack in the Aleutian Islands in June, 1942). The project was approved in February, 1942. Canada agreed to allow the construction of the road, providing the US bore all of the costs associated with it. Construction began in haste on March 9, 1942 with the entire route completed by October, 1942. Logistics for the construction of this road were incredible. Over 25,000 individuals, both from the US military and Canadian civilians, were needed for the construction of this road. Without Canada agreeing to allow the US on her soil for the construction, plus assisting in the logistics, this road would have been impossible to construct. The Canadian railroad was already in place to move all of the necessary equipment to the region. As well, Canada did agree to provide timber and gravel and waive many regulations. Ref: http://www.historynet.com/alaska-highway-the-biggest-and-hardest-job-since-the-panama-canal.htm

‘Men hired for this job will be required to work and live under the most extreme conditions imaginable,’ read one recruitment notice. ‘Temperatures will range from 90 degrees above zero to 70 degrees below zero. Men will have to fight swamps, rivers, ice and cold. Mosquitoes, flies and gnats will not only be annoying but will cause bodily harm. If you are not prepared to work under these and similar conditions, do not apply.’

Today, we had a day of rest in Dawson Creek. We drove a very small portion of the Alaska Highway. This is the final iconic highway upon which we shall travel on this ten week long journey. The Alaska Highway is about 1400 miles long, most of it in Canada. From our jumping off point in Tsawwassen, BC, to Alaska, we will be traveling over 2000 miles just to get to Alaska. If you look at a map, it looks like Alaska is just a little bit away from Seattle. Juneau, AK, is actually about 470 miles from Seattle, but this is one of those, you can't get there from here moments. Juneau is only accessible by plane or boat, it is said to keep Alaskans away from their politicians, or vice versa; very hard to get to.

Today we met new friends, Tan and Vien, who were kind enough to take our picture at the historic Mile 0. They were admiring our ride so I asked them to have a seat and let me take their photo. We also took one with their camera so they can show their grandchildren. Thanks Tan and Vien!

Dawson Creek obviously embraces their part in being Zero Mile of the Alaska Highway, though I can't imaging it was celebrated at the start of the project as there were only 600 people quietly residing in this small town that swelled to over 20,000 in a short time.

We toured an Alaska Highway Museum today and I snapped these next two photos I found interesting.

And outside the museum, we saw this sign. We did not realize we were going to be riding on the Highway on its 75th year.

Outside The Alaska Highway House was this great mural. We toured through the building for some additional displays regarding this fabulous Highway.

We saw this interesting train trestle bridge while crossing Dawson Creek, the City was named after the creek.

We saw these interesting clouds driving around Dawson Creek. They appear as steam billowing but caught our attention.

Our trip in Canada to get us to the Alaska Highway has covered about 750 miles over 4 days. It's interesting to note that we have passed incredibly few houses in our time on the road in Canada, and we will pass even fewer in the next 5 travel days before we reach Alaska. Most from the US don't realize that the entire Country of Canada has fewer residents than does the State of California; approximately 36 million Canadians to 39 million Californians. As a result, Canada has incredible amounts of undeveloped land which makes for some incredibly peaceful drives. Given Canada's land mass is a bit larger than the US with approximately one tenth the population, there is ample room to roam in this great Canada wilderness. Thank you Canada!

And I don't know if you will find this interesting or not, but I find it interesting. It is a breakdown on where people reside and how many have looked in on this blog

Page Views           Total

United States         1269

United Kingdom        60

Ireland                     55

Canada                     49

Germany                  46

Mexico                      7

France                       5

Isle of Man                 5

Brazil                          2

India                           2
Sweden                       1

Thanks for looking in!
Till Tomorrow!