Alaska and Yukon on 4,000 calories a day

Thursday September 17^th

Watson Lake to Fort Nelson, B.C. 518  km

Cumulative distance: 4109 km

Maximum speed: 115 km/h

Moving average: 75 km/h

We go back to Bee Jay’s for breakfast. Most of us overlook the breakfast special, which is a club house and order oatmeal, which is ironic because this is probably the first time that 80% of the group ate sensibly at one sitting (I had ONE pancake and two poached eggs.) Not Constable Bulford of Watson Lake’s finest.  He made the mistake of ordering the special and quickly realized that he had “bit off more than he could chew”, if you get my drift, because in short order, his partner was having some fun at his expense. We were all a little aghast at the magnitude of the sandwich but of course, we had long since come to realize that in the Yukon and Alaska, every meal might be your last, so you better pack away all that you can, and then some. Amazingly, Constable Bulford looked amazingly fit, for a guy that had joined the 4000 calorie-a-day club. Welcome to the club!

Here, I make my apologies to the stretch of highway between Watson Lake and Fort Nelson.  I had mistakenly assumed that from Watson Lake, the scenery was again going to take a back seat but it this stretch of highway was as beautiful AND fun to ride as pretty much any that we had done on this trip. How awesome to expect nothing and get everything!

Here are some highlights, which did not make up part of the ride.

We stopped at Liard Hot Springs, about half way. They are natural hot springs that have had only a very modest amount of development. There is a camp ground adjacent to the springs, there is a walk-way and there are change rooms built of cedar. There are some guard rails around the pools, which have had a gravel bed added. There is really very little but it is perfect for a relaxing stop along the way and it is not accompanied by the usual tourist-type things. 

We opt to forego lunch at the diner across the highway and instead, hold off for a finer meal in the beautiful surroundings at Muncho Lake. This is tough because we are all quite hungry as it has been about five or six hours since breakfast and, as I mentioned earlier, people ate somewhat sensibly this morning and Muncho Lake is a good hour+ further. 

And closed, as it turned out, so we went on still further to Toad River. It was only closed till dinner hour but we couldn’t wait.

At Toad River, it is the typical road-side establishment that we have come to know and love on this trip.  The food wasn’t quite as unique (i.e. home made) but it was till good and plentiful. We get chatted up by an old timer sitting at the next table, Bill and his wife Carolyn. Bill is 82 and lives in Alaska. At his age though, he was sensible enough to split lunch with his wife, which was evidently very smart because his half of their sandwich was probably 4,000 calories on its own.  They were on their way home, driving their big tractor-unit, having unsuccessfully tried to buy three trailer units at an auction down in the Lower 48.

Our original destination for this day had been the Cinnamon Bun Centre of the Galactic Quadrant, which just happened to be located at Tesla River.  As it turns out, they have only five cabins at the Centre of the Galactic Quadrant (which seems to me like a small number, given the geographic importance of the locale. I had learned a road crew was there before we left Watson Lake). However, we could not pass a place like this and not drop in to have a look… and a cinnamon bun. 

Well, they were good cinnamon buns and you can see that they are not insubstantial. However, I feel like I must be in the wrong Quadrant because there are no raisins OR pecans. Also, there is a hint of clove in them, which was interesting and different but not what I would want if I was eating a cinnamon bun every day for the rest of my life. Mind you, this was 5 in the afternoon and they were warm out of the oven. That tells you something about their cinnamon bun business.  What it doesn’t tell about is their knife business, as they appear to have quite a few very large ones for sale, along with the cinnamon buns.

When I told her we wanted five to go, she asked if we wanted a bag. When the gang realized that they were warm, there was an immediate decision to NOT wait to have them after we arrive in Fort Nelson but to have TWO now and three later.  Once we were into them, there was very little left to transport. I think Nan and Stan saved their hearts for later. We did not need a bag. 

Fort Nelson is my old stomping ground. I worked there two summers in my youth, once during junior high and once during university. Not surprisingly, I didn’t recognize the place though I did manage to identify my old hotel where I worked. It was now called the “Historic” Fort Nelson Lodge. I somehow feel as though I have contributed to that history.

 

Constable Bulford, that's quite a sandwich!

No, we don't need a bag.

Do you need something to cut your cinnamon bun?

Dovana and Dima, from Vancouver, getting the full experience.

That's Niels, show us how it's done!

NOT abandoned, but still operating.