July 10, 2024 - Alaska Flight
Day 3C - Dawson Creek to Muncho Lake, Yukon
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| A good look at the town of Dawson Creek after takeoff. |
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The Alcan Highway starts at Dawson Creek and heads northwest. There it is, dead ahead.
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| An unusual bridge takes the Alcan Highway over a ravine. |
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Approaching Fort St. John at far left. That's also the Peace River running left to right with the Pine River in the foreground.
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| Passing Fort St. John at right with the Peace River in the foreground. |
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| Briefly following the Peace River. |
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Uh oh. More rain.
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| Got through the narrow band of rain without too much trouble. |
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Probably the best rainbow photo I have ever taken!
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| Getting closer to the mountains. |
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| Must be one of the emergency landing airfields built along the Alcan Highway. |
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| No airplanes down there today. |
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| Rain showers off to the west. |
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Following the Alcan Highway. You can legally land on it if you have to make a forced landing. Off to each side: wilderness.
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At this point, the Alcan Highway continues north to Fort Nelson, then makes a sharp turn to the west. I have plenty of fuel and don't need to get more in Fort Nelson, so decide to turn northwest and cut the corner.
Looking back, I wish I had stayed on the highway and seen Fort Nelson from the air, since was a significant point in building the Highway and also had one of the major airports.
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Passing Prophet River which goes north to Fort Nelson.
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| Intersecting the Muskwa River which also goes to Fort Nelson. |
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Having cut the corner, I merge back with the Alcan Highway.
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| Now heading due west, I'm entering the Rocky Mountains. |
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Looking north.
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| It's comforting to have the Highway down below. |
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| Looking southwest. |
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That's the Tetsa River running next to the highway.
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| A closer look at the Tetsa River. |
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The mountains are getting rugged looking.
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| An offshoot of the river heads south. |
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| The mountains go treeless. |
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| Pretty. |
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| This is called Stone Range. |
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| I remain glued to the highway. I have left Tetsa River and am now on McDonald Creek. |
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| The clouds are dissipating and so is the Stone Range. |
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The Stone Range peters out dead ahead but the highway curves to the west before it and joins the Racing River briefly.
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Then the Toad River comes into view.
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The little community of Toad River comes into view. Just to the right of the highway is a turf runway. On the other side is the Toad River Lodge.
Toad River, originally Toad's River Post, is a highway service community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located at historic Mile 422 on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway, near the confluence of the Toad and Racing Rivers. The community primarily serves travelers and tourists with a highway maintenance station; a lodge with a restaurant, campground and gas station; a public telephone and a private 3000 foot airstrip. The Toad River Lodge boasts a "world famous" collection of over 10,000 hats (2016) thumbtacked to the ceiling, many of them donated by passersby on the Alaska Highway.
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| A good look at the airstrip and lodge. The lodge with a bed and restaurant might have been a better place to spend the night than Watson Lake in a tent and cold dinner. |
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Continuing on through the Rockies. Looking north.
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| And looking south. |
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More bare mountains.
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| Wow, the scenery is getting good! |
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| The Toad River really winding through the mountains. |
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| The Toad River heads off to the south. |
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But the Alcan Highway turns north and I get my first glimpse of big Muncho Lake in the distance.
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| I still have the picturesque mountains to the east. |
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Muncho Lake comes into view.
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Looking east, the afternoon sun lights it up.
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Muncho Lake is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in Canada.
The jade-green color of the lake is attributed to the presence of copper oxide leached from the bedrock underneath. Its name is derived from the Kaska language in which "muncho" translates as "big water".
Army Engineers blew up the cliffs on the east side to make a place for the highway.
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The Alcan Highway runs up the east side of Lake Muncho.
Below: a traffic jame behind a school bus at the Strawberry Flats campground.
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The Northern Rockies Lodge below is a 3-star hotel. There is no nearby runway, so you're going to need a seaplane to land here.
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Spot track between Dawson Creek and Watson Lake.
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