Wednesday, July 6th - Jasper, Canada to Dawson Creek Canada

At last, WiFi at our campground!    Posted a few pictures to the Icefields Parkway posting from yesterday.    Woke up this morning freezing!   You move a little slow when your breath frosts but after a bit we forced ourselves from the tent so we can continue with our journey.     At 9am our group left Jasper, Canada for Dawson Creek, the beginning of the famed Alaska Highway.    One of the 1st things we saw were Mule Deer and Elk grazing next to the highway.    I was no less than 10 feet from the one buck when I took his picture. The landscape along the way was different from what we had seen so far.   The hills were lined with very thin and tall pines that were so thick they reminded me of the Black Forest.   Light in many places did not penetrate the dense canopy and the floor of the forest was dark.   We saw a number of areas that were clear cut for lumber and as we got close to Grand Prarie we saw numerous lumber processing companies with brand names we have all heard of.   Finally this afternoon and 526km later, we arrived in Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway.   We set up camp in Mile Marker 0 Campground and went to town for dinner and some pictures.   Tomorrow we have an easy day with under 300 miles to Fort Nelson.

Mule Deer and Elk along Canada Highway 40

 Thick Pine forests for as far as the eye can see