AK1 Day 8

MS Day 8 – 11 Jun 12, Monday

Fort Nelson, British Columbia to Jasper, Alberta

Mileage – 606

WX – rain showers and cold until afternoon

States – British Columbia, Alberta

CA 97 ALCAN, CA 43, CA 40, CA 16

Note 1: By the 2^nd day in Ft Nelson we had decided we did not have the flexibility to wait an extended amount of time for the ALCAN to open to Alaska. In addition, there were a large number of trucks and SUVs in all the hotels/camping grounds from the closure to Ft Nelson that would be in front of us when the road did open. We were also informed that the road repairs were very crude meaning a single lane of gravel/mud and a pilot car would be used to lead a small number of vehicles both ways meaning it could be hours if not days of waiting in a queue line in the rain waiting for our turn to go. We decided it was time to backtrack and take a southern route back to the USA.

Note 2: We talked to a biker in our hotel who stated he had come up from the Washington area through the beautiful Canadian Jasper National Park and it was worth seeing if we were going south.

Note 3: Our plan B was to head south through Prince George and pick up our return trip somewhere in the Washington/Idaho area. We were then advised that the roads through Prince George were flooded and being diverted. That caused us to make plan C which was to go back to Grande Prairie then turn south to the Jasper National Park then into the USA just west of Glacier National Park.

Note 4: We made the trip to the entrance of the Jasper National Park and stopped for the night. The town Jasper is your typical tourist town with lots of hotels and bars. We ended up at the De’d Dog Saloon and spent a great evening with the local town folks including the manager of the hotel where we were staying. Had way too much to drink and regretted it the next morning.