The Lowmans Prepare for the Ultimate Camping Expedition
(July 21)
Dear Folks,
This is a continuation of yesterday’s text. We are in Whitehorse today, preparing for our car camping. We leave tomorrow. We will return to Whitehorse on August 2. We will be off the grid until then. We will write more about Whitehorse then.
Yesterday, we knew that we would be driving out of the smoke_unlike those incredibly brave firefighters. We had checked the weather for Watson Lake, which is about halfway–it indicated good air quality.
About an hour into our trip, we hit rain, at times torrential. It continued, off and on, throughout the trip. We don’t know if it helped with the fires–we checked the weather for Ft. Nelson today, and it is still poor.
Although the Alaska Highway can be a tough drive, it is often incredibly beautiful. We took a pull off to capture some scenes. They look like fjords.
If you enlarge the photo with the sign, you’ll see that it gives tips for wildlife viewing. We saw signs for wild horses and Dall sheep. We also saw signs for moose, caribou, and bison. We didn’t see any traces of the first three. As we were driving along, we saw something moving toward us. As we got right up to them, we could see that it was caribou. There were four or five walking in single file along the road. It was so adorable. We lament that we were unable to get a photo.
We made up for it with the bison. Many of us are familiar with bison on the Great Plains. There is also a woodland variety. The government in BC reintroduced them into the area a while back. Now they own the road. They range in size from tiny babies to huge bulls.
We thought that you would enjoy the photo of the 60th parallel. And no photo show would be complete without an image of Tags. Tags is a/the hub of Watson Lake. If you’re on the highway between Ft. Nelson and Whitehorse, it is THE place to stop. It is also the hub for all the surrounding campgrounds and recreation areas. Not only can you get gas, you can get your groceries, get pizza and other food at the restaurant, do your laundry at its laundromat. We like it because it is a good place for the Girls to stretch their legs and they have a bathroom with an accessible stall (although the door swings in, not out, making it a challenge for a wheelchair).
It’s a relief to get to Watson Lake on the way to Whitehorse: you know that you are more than halfway there.
Take care. Be well. We will text again in a few weeks.
The Lowman Family
