August 1st, 2011

After a rest day I headed north from Prince George in the general direction of Dawson’s Creek. Dawson’s Creek is the usual starting point for people heading up the Alaskan Highway, and has a big sign you can pose and take pictures with. But I had local information that the ride to Dawson Creek, and then north from there, was basically tundra and very boring. Instead I was told to head through a town called Hudson’s Hope, in the Peace River Valley.

While it would be cool to ride ‘all’ of the Alaskan Highway, it wasn’t really a goal, so I headed for the valley. I turned off from the Dawson Creek route in a town called Chetwynd, which had one gas station. That gas station was generally 3 deep with cars, trucks and RV’s. I played the motorcycle card to sneak in to a open but blocked pump. Apart from the gas station Chetwynd has dozens of wooden sculptures.

They are on every corner, along the road and in parking lots.

From here I turned north and entered the Peace River Valley. To be honest it was some of the prettiest landscape I had seen since leaving Icefields Parkway, with the added bonus that it wasn’t freezing.

The ride was simply beautiful, and I hit the Alaskan Highway right at Charlie Lake Provincial Park, where I camped for the night.