Great Chainsaw Carvings -

Sunday, 7/23 Dawson Creek to Chetwynd to Ft. Nelson

We were tired from the day’s activities, so we went to bed early. I slept 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. I must still be on Eastern time.

It was 47 degrees when we woke up, so we turned on the heater and made breakfast inside the tent. We were packed and ready to go before 8 a.m.!

We gassed up and rode 60 miles west to Chetwynd, BC, to see chainsaw carvings. The town has a competition each year. The competitors carve sculptures using chainsaws. There are many sculptures from past contests displayed around town as well this year’s entries.

Before viewing the sculptures, we had coffee at Tim Hortons.

As we parked at the nearby rec center, a staff member gave us directions to “Carver’s Row” where this year’s entries are on display.

From Chetwynd we took Rte. 29 to Ft. St. John. Along the way, Beth and Lynne spotted a road down to the river. The gravel road led to Alwyn Holland campground. We did a little exploring and took a lot of pictures.

The road looked steeper coming down than it did going up.

Sections of Rte. 29 are being completely reconstructed and aligned high above the river instead of next to the river. The route meets the Alaska Highway at Ft. St. John. We turned left at the intersection and were officially on The Alcan.

Along the way Beth pointed out an unusually shaped cloud. The cloud formed over a wildfire.

Beth and Lynne needed a gas stop to make it to our destination, Ft. Nelson. (My trike has a 4 gal. auxiliary tank, so I didn’t need any fuel.) We passed a station thinking that the next one would be better. As we pulled in, we could see a big sign, “No Fuel.” Oops. The owner told us he had to replace his tank. The tank had been delivered two months ago, but he’s been waiting for an electrician to show up and connect the power to the pumps.

Fortunately, I had filled our 1.75 gal. Roto Pax that we carry on the camper. We split the gas between the two bikes and made it to Ft. Nelson with gas to spare. We did ride through a few sprinkles but missed the heavy rain.

We have a nice campsite, but it’s starting to rain, so I need to close down the computer and pack up everything before going to bed.