Dawson Creek, BC

This is the actual Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. The marker pictured in my last blog, a block away, has quite a history. Over the years it had been destroyed by a car, stolen by college kids, replaced by them with an outhouse, and had pink and blue handprints placed all over it by high school girls and boys.

I was not aware that the building of the Alaska Highway was a military undertaking. The threats of a Japanese invasion of Alaska during the Second World War initiated one of the greatest engineering feats of the century - the building of a 1,520 mile highway which would connect Alaska to Canada and the United States. Over 11,000 troops endured mosquitoes, black flies and extreme weather conditions to construct a route over muskeg, mud and river.

Day one of the 49 day caravan consisted of a group picture at the actual Mile 0 (pictured on this blog), a Welcome Presentation by the Dawson Creek Tourist Bureau (with more history of the highway), a Caravan Orientation and a dinner, followed by a Travel Meeting to get us ready for the next day's travel to Ft. Nelson, BC.