RTTMS June 10, 2011 Cha, Cha, Changes

The more I travel, the more the scenery changes.

As noted before, the past few days have been through very flat farm country, both in the upper USA and through middle Canada. Well today things changed in a big way.

The start in Edmonton, Alberta.
I left the oil and grain town of Edmonton, Alberta, about 0800 local time. The traffic was fairly light and I was quickly going west/north west. I changed from TransCanada Highway 16 to Highway 43 north. The temperature as 56 degrees with a little light clouds and both would change during the ride today.
One thing about TC Highway 16 is that it is also known as Yellowhead Highway. Kind of a strange name and here is why.....the highway is named for the Yellowhead Pass, the route chosen to cross the Canadian Rockies. The pass, and the highway are named after a fur trader and explorer named Pierre Bostonais. He had yellow streaks in his hair, and was nicknamed "Tête Jaune" (Yellowhead). Very interesting!!!

When I got on Hwy 43, the terrain quickly changed to low, hilly and tree covered . What a refreshing change. The views were much more enjoyable and the roads not quite as straight as before.
I refueled after about 45 miles since the fuel stops are a little more of a problem to come by in the northern part of Canada. When I refueled, I learned about loonies and toonies........I love these little local expressions. I will tell you later what they are.

The local terrain changed from oil/potash and cropland that was east of Edmonton, to large tracts of evergreen and deciduous trees. It seems that logging is a bigger business as I traveled north and west. Also I noticed that oil was still being drilled, pumped and transported but without the impact on the land as it was further east. The oil smell would sometimes fill the air but mostly the air was filled with the aroma of trees and the occasional dead polecat (skunk).

The altitude went up to about 3100 feet.......about 944 meters....metric as we are in Canada. Gets confusing with the temperatures, distance, fuel volume and altitude. Oh well, I'm glad I have a converter program so I can understand what the real number is.....American that is.

I came upon a very long wooden railroad bridge that crossed the highway. See for yourself.
I made a stop at Whitecourt to get a quick snack and something to drink, so I stopped at Tim Hortons. Some of you may not know that Tim Hortons is much like a USA Starbucks. Good hot coffee, sweet rolls, sandwiches and so on. When I stopped, there must have been 20 vehicles in line at the drive up. I even had a cup of French Vanilla coffee and a Canadian Maple Donut.....my sugar hit for the week.
Whitecourt is a very busy town and the major business is a lumber mill. See below.
While at TH, a couple of local riders spoke to me and mentioned that about a week ago, there was snow on the ground and that this was a big improvement in the weather. Also, there my be rain further north....Good news???

I headed out and there were several roadside signs warning about Moose.....Big Moose.
When you are nearing a small town, they have an area where the local business put up signage in a row along the roadside. These are not like ours that are large and very high but small and low. Different.
Later I saw a lot of signs for an Indian Casino. Based on past experience, they are usually very large and elaborate........not here. See below.
The road continued to cross the very green and hilly terrain for mile after mile. It was really pleasant to travel this highway.
The miles flew past and the next thing I knew there I was in Grande Prairie and heading toward British Columbia and Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway!!

I crossed into BC without fan fair or a Visitor Center....just a sign on the side of the road.
I was quickly in Dawson Creek and took the required picture at the Mile O marker.
The terrain became for varied with several rivers cutting through the rock formations and creating wonderful vistas of the valleys.
Getting closer to my stop for the evening, I ran into my only road construction stop on this trip so far. I was going into the town of Taylor. The stop lasted only about 5 minutes but the trip across the bridge into town was interesting to say the least. You see, the bridge is a steel grate bridge and when on a motorcycle, the steering has a tendency to wander for side to side which is very unnerving and you almost feel as it the steering in slipping. Now about 1/3 of the way across the bridge, the crosswind picked up to add more fun to the ride. Thankfully the bridge crossing only lasted about 40 seconds but it was a long 40 seconds. Not my favorite part of the ride so far. And I am taking a picture while riding this bridge.....more fun and I got the picture.
I was quickly in Fort St. John and found my hotel for the evening. This is a much bigger and busier town that expected and it is all about oil, oil, oil. You either drill, transport it or support it some how. Lots of construction . Building apartments, hotels and businesses for the oil industry. I hope they don't mess up the environment being in such a hurry.

Rode about 610 kilometers today....sounds like a lot doesn't it? Actually it is 379 miles. No rain but it looked like it was going to a couple of times. Actually it rained about an hour after I checked it but it only lasted about 15 minutes. It is now bright and clear with only a few puffy clouds and almost no rain in the forecast for tomorrow.

Thought I forgot about the loonies and toonies did you? A loonie is a One Dollar Canadian Coin and at Toonie is a Two Dollar Coin. The Loonie is on the left and the Toonie is on the right. The loonis has a picture of a loon on it and the toonie was supposed to but the changed it to a polar bear but the name toonie stuck. Canadians.
On to the next part on my journey toward Alaska.

Mike