2005/07 Alaska and Back Again - Sikanni River |
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Monday August 8th 
It was a cold night, and by morning we were just about out of both electricity and water. The day began sunny, but quickly turned dark and stormy as we set off with the trailer, retracing the previous day’s route. We saw caribou and deer, and got some pictures, though, of course, it’s a lot harder to stop and pull off the road with the trailer on.
However, when we stopped for lunch we met up with a herd of Stone Mountain sheep, licking at the salt on the road. They seem to know the difference between tourists, who stop to look, and truckers, who blast through regardless.
As we dropped out of the mountains the weather became drier and warmer, but the air was smoky from the fires further west of us. We stopped in Fort Nelson for some shopping and to access the Internet at their library. This is where I heard last year that Hans, a frend and co-worker, had died, but luckily the news was a bit better this time around. Karen and Stewart had, at last, finished blasting their building site, and were getting close to actually building the house.
The Alaska Highway goes due south from Fort Nelson to Fort St John, and, other than billions of trees, there isn’t much to look at for 200 miles. We saw a moose and some deer, but we weren’t quick enough with the cameras to capture the events. It’s an oil and gas exploration area, and most of the side roads are private and contain warnings about dangerous gases, so off-road camping is discouraged. We pulled into the Sikanni River campground. This is at the bottom of a valley, so it’s a bit noisy with the trucks braking and then climbing, but we could do with some electricity and water and showers. The campground was cheap, but was also very tired and worn out. We had massive puddles between us and the showers, and the power came and went, as did the water pressure.
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