Born of rushed military ingenuity to provide a route for combat equipment necessary to battle the Japanese during World War II, The Alaskan Highway was turned over for civilian use after the war and has now given birth to countless adventures in search of North American majesty.
Embarking on the highway in Dawson Creek, BC, the sense of adventure remains though the danger implied in the term “adventure” has diminished as roads have been better paved, guide books have been written, gasoline mile markers provided and visitor centers built. The newfound convenience immediately pays off at the first visitor center when a cheerful employee calls ahead to reserve a campsite while you are free to surf the Internet and connect with the modern world you are attempting to leave behind on this trip. What thrill is lost is more than compensated by the piece of mind received when traveling with a wife, two small dogs and a car chalked full for a three month stay in Alaska.
What is to be found along the highway was largely inaccessible and new to most of the Western world’s eye not even one hundred years ago. A landscape appearing to be ancient, but young in geologic time, houses wildlife virtually nonexistent to a highly developed North America.
It is a landscape of apparent, abundant beauty that was hiding in the open waiting for technological innovations to make it available for the rest of us. Soul crushing war with an ancient country opened some of the West’s youngest lands to the possibility of tourism. Along the Alaskan Highway you’ll find your soul, fractured by modern life, soothingly reminded of its connection to the natural world.
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