Day miles: 597
Trip miles: 1230
Alexandria, BC to Tetsa River, BC

Shortly before I left Seattle, I found out that there were delays on the Stewart-Cassiar due to wildfire, so I decided that I would head to Dawson Creek so that I could ride the entirety of the Alaskan Highway. Dawson Creek is also sometimes called “Mile 0,” due to being the start of this highway. When I got to town, I started following signs for an information center. Along the way I stopped to take a photo of a Boston Pizza that had a banner up supporting the Vancouver Canucks over the Boston Bruins.

The information center was incredibly useful. I got a convenient list of services along the Alaskan Highway to stuff in the map pouch of my tank bag for easy reference. Services are far apart on the highway and you drive by nearly as many remains of stops that have gone out of business as you do open services. I also picked up a copy of the Milepost, an inch thick annual publication that details all of the highways in the northwest. Mile by mile information contained within tells you just about everything you could possibly want to know. I chatted with a couple of motorcyclists about our plans here in the parking lot, and got a picture of myself to commemorate the stop.

I stopped by an outdoor clothing store here and a bit further down in the road in search of an additional base layer. Unfortunately both of these places were focused on hunting and fishing. Not only could I not find a base layer in my size, almost everything was camouflage.

When I finally headed out down the highway, I was hit with pretty gusty wind. It is somewhat strange having to lean the bike to counter the wind and continue riding straight ahead. I was reminded of crabbing an airplane. Quite tired from the night before, I eventually I stopped at a rest area for a brief nap to get my wits back about me.

Late that night, I found a provincial park along the Tetsa River. Camping parks like this are much better when they are remote and you are far from the cities. Once the tent was up, bike unloaded and everything packed away from the bears, I got some much needed rest.