Dawson Creek - Mile 0

 Dawson Creek and Mile 0 (Zero) of the Alaskan Hwy.  Only 780 miles into Canada and 1398 miles to reach Alaska.  We learned the history of the highway and how it got built in 1942. The Alaskan dog sled team that took 6 months to travel from Alaska to the World's Fair in Chicago 1933 and another 3 months to make it to Washington DC to get his Congressman to get the highway built.  But it took a War (WWII) and the threat of Japanese in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska's coast, to get it build.  Dawson Creek went from population 600 to 10,000 in a few days.  The U.S. Army 11,000 troops, started and needed civilians to help - the job posting stated, "Men hired for this job will be required to work and live under the most extreme conditions imaginable.  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."  Amazingly many applied, 16,000 hired.  The initial road was completed in a little over 8 months.

We walked and drove over the Kiskatinaw Bridge.  A historic curved wooden bridge built in 1942 on the original Alaskan Highway and the only original timber bridge still in use.  Great marvel of engineering and almost 75 years old.

Of course, everyone stops to get their picture in front of the Mile marker, but we had to get our picture taken in front of the tourist marker and then the Real Marker - requires running into the middle of the intersection between green/red lights. There are museums and a great pioneer village in town to visit.

We drove 60 miles to the city of Chetwynd for their chainsaw carvings.  Unfortunately, they just had their International Championship Chainsaw Carving contest 2 days earlier.  They keep all the top 12 carvings on display throughout the town all year round, approx 130 carvings.  Beautiful talented people from all over Canada, US, and Japan competed this year and many annually. 

Many RVers in town, many heading north to Alaska - hoping we get to know a few and can meet up the road and swap ideas and traveling.  While there is only 4 hours of "night" which actually looks like dusk.  I purchased numerous sheets of black poster board to cover all the bedroom windows.  Gator waking up at 4am and ready to roll has got to stop.  So this worked!!!