ALCAN, Coal River BC to Watson Lake YT

The topography & the trees changed today as I drove westward. Shortly past Coal River, the snow-capped rocky mountains gave way to big rolling hills; the poplars & spruce gave way to aspen & pines. 

According to the guidebook, the road crossed the border 6 times, but since I started in British Columbia (BC) & ended in the Yukon Territory (YT), my fancy math tells me that if must have been 5 times. The border is a straight line along the 60th Parallel, but the road winds over hill & dale. The map showing that the 60th Parallel passes by Helsinki & through the Shetland Islands gave a clue as to why it was cooler today - high around 50*. 

 

Thought there weren't as many animals along the roadsides today as the past 2 days, a big ole bison was right beside the road, & a moose hung out for a while as several of us watched. 

In Watson Lake, there is an okay movie about the aurora borealis at the Northern Lights Centre. More interesting to me were the historical photographs & blurbs at the (very small) airport. I especially liked the high tech way that the weather is displayed.

The big draw here at Watson Lake is the Sign Forest. The board in the first pic explains what it is. It's now estimated that there are 90,000 signs here. Since one more was clearly needed, I brought one from home; unfortunately, the new empty posts haven't been installed yet this year, so this was the only place I could find to put it. 

 

The site is so big that it has both a front & rear entrance. 

 

There are rows upon rows of posts filled with every kind of sign. 

 

 

The wooden shoes & the heavy machinery section were interesting. 

A few folks didn't prepare ahead & just made up a sign on the spot using whatever they had like a frying pan or a red lid for a food storage container. None are pictured, but there were quite a few frisbees.   

 

Wildlife sightings

today: bison - 1            moose - 1    

trip total so far: 

    black bears - 4          deer - 2                grizzlies - 0            moose - 2

    stone sheep - 8        elk - 1                   caribou - 1             bison - 42    

    Dall sheep - 0