After a somewhat hairy drive on the twisty, steep up's and steep down's of the "scenic" Rt. 40 from Hinton through Grand Cache to Grand Prairie we spent a night at a Rotary Campground. The park was located next to Grand Prairie Regional College and Muskoseepi Park where we were able to get in a run around a beautiful lake.
The next day we were on to Dawson Creek and "Mile 0" of the Alaska Highway.
The Alaska Highway was built in 1942 in order to make it easier to get troops and supplies to Alaska in the event of an invasion. It took 11,000 soldiers and 16,000 civilians 9 months (yes, 9 months!) to complete the 1400 mile Alcan Highway from Dawson Creek, BC to just short of Fairbanks, AK.
Mile 0 is the beginning of the now named Alaska Highway route number 97.
There are two signs in Dawson Creek marking the beginning of the highway.
This one at the rotary where Rt. 2 from Grand Prairie and Rt. 97 meet.
And this, the original one, in the center of town.
As we walked to the visitor center we found this old sign describing work on the Alaska Highway.
Over the years a lot of the highway has been rerouted, straightened and widened. Some of it is the original narrow route through forests, canyons and over mountains.
...or hemmed in by thick pine forests... 
Older sections were narrow with no shoulder and dropoff's into a ditch...
...and gulp!
(This is the downside of the pass at Summit Lake. I just heard from a neighbor that two days after we went thru he followed a snowplow because it was snowing so hard!)
... but the view everywhere was spectacular!
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