Mile 0

Day 34 - Tuesday, July 16



Mile 0 Post

We made it to Mile 0 - the beginning of the Alaska Highway!  We visited the famous Mile 0 Post in downtown Dawson Creek.  Of course Spot wanted to make sure he was there for the photo-op!
The Alaska Highway is a very interesting story...it took a little over 8 months to build in 1942...gosh, it takes longer than that to pave a road these days!!   It is the major transportation corridor through BC and southern Yukon and was the first road into Alaska from the south.  It was originally built as a military supply road to defend North America against the Japanese.  It opened to the public in 1948.



Kiskatinaw Curved Wooden Bridge

We also visited the Kiskatinaw Curved Wooden Bridge which was part of the original Alaska highway.  It is impressive to see the construction and engineering required to put this bridge in place. It is a 190 ft wooden bridge (the longest wood curved bridge in North America) with a banked nine degree curve to conform with the bend of the highway.  It was the first curved wooden bridge built in Canada and today is the only curved wooden bridge still in use. 

Since then, there have been improvements to the highway which rerouted it and the bridge is no longer a part of the main highway, but is still traveled on by the locals. 

We will take the Alaska Highway for most of our 4,475 mile trip!

We have been looking forward to this adventure for a year now, and it is hard to believe it is finally here!

We had a reception tonight with our group, so we got the opportunity to meet the others that will be on the trip with us.  It seems like it will be a great group,  and everyone is quite excited about the adventure ahead!