Dawson Creek, BC

Robert - Another pretty morning with blue skies and just cool temperatures woke us. We wanted to see the chainsaw carvings that are the claim to fame here in Chetwynd, BC. I walked the trash to the dumpster and asked if we could delay our departure later than the 11:00 a.m. posted time and was told, “No problem.” It is still early in the season and the campground was largely empty. We loaded up and tried to see and photograph as many as possible. At the Visitor’s Center we were told there are 83 (or maybe it was 84) sitting around town. Every year the town sponsors a four-day contest when something like ten carvers come to town for a “carve-off.” The town imports large logs that are used for the carvings. The results are amazing. You’ll have to check Leslie’s post for pictures. After that, we ate lunch and headed for Dawson Creek.

Dawson, Creek, BC is the southern terminus of the Alaska Highway, our route to Alaska. Stan and I worked to find the source of the fault for the trailer brakes. We narrowed the problem down to the wiring in Snowflake between the brake controller and the connector on the back of the truck. With his truck, the trailer brakes worked. With my brake controller in his truck, his trailer brakes worked. We found a place in the wiring where there was a deep groove worn in the wiring bundle and we think that is the source of the problem.

It was still early so we all set out to see the town’s attractions. The Alaska Highway has mileposts similar to the ones you see along the interstate highways in the lower 48. One of Dawson City’s attractions is Milepost 0 (zero). Actually there are two Mileposts 0 in town. The original one was struck by a car some years ago and there is a rebuilt one there. There is also one in the middle of an intersection about a block off the highway in the middles of the business district. We checked them both out. Then we wandered around town looking at the murals that adorn many of the buildings in the business district. After that we hit a grocery store and returned home for dinner.

When we checked into the campground it was early as the drive from Chetwynd was only about 60 miles. The campground was mostly empty. We were told a caravan was checking in a little later with 24 rigs. I hope they leave early tomorrow as suddenly the campground WiFi is overwhelmed and connections have become impossible.

Tomorrow morning I’ll see about getting the wiring fixed on Snowflake.