Pics From Edmonton to Whitehorse (Part 2)
Published Wednesday, April 12, 2006 by Dan Gainsford | E-mail this post
So, after 2 days of driving on the Alaska Highway, we arrived at the Yukon/BC border town of Watson Lake.
We hit up the Watson Lake recreation centre for a workout and shower (only three bucks drop-in fee, how sweet is that!). There we met a new friend in the centre's manager, Katie Sutherland, whom you've probably already heard Dan and I talk about. Katie took us to a scenic place she knew where we could park. It was right near the old Watson Lake airport, which actually was where the town was originally located - now the town basically lines the Alaska Highway. In the morning we drove up to the derelict old main hanger. I just thought it looked so interesting, I wanted a closer look. It was built probably around the same time as the highway (during WWII), as a supply relay station.
Here is closer look at one of the hanger doors. I really like the texture of the time and weather beaten plywood, which is slowly losing its last coat of paint, and how that contrasts with the relatively modern jet fuel barrels.
Watson Lake is also famous for it's signpost forest. A post card I bought says that it was originally started in 1942 by a homesick American 
G.I. who was working on the construction of the Alaska Highway. Now, there are now over 10,000 signs. These signs are from all over the world...though mostly North America - and strangely many from Germany and Switzerland. Go figure.
We hit up the Watson Lake recreation centre for a workout and shower (only three bucks drop-in fee, how sweet is that!). There we met a new friend in the centre's manager, Katie Sutherland, whom you've probably already heard Dan and I talk about. Katie took us to a scenic place she knew where we could park. It was right near the old Watson Lake airport, which actually was where the town was originally located - now the town basically lines the Alaska Highway. In the morning we drove up to the derelict old main hanger. I just thought it looked so interesting, I wanted a closer look. It was built probably around the same time as the highway (during WWII), as a supply relay station.
Here is closer look at one of the hanger doors. I really like the texture of the time and weather beaten plywood, which is slowly losing its last coat of paint, and how that contrasts with the relatively modern jet fuel barrels.
Watson Lake is also famous for it's signpost forest. A post card I bought says that it was originally started in 1942 by a homesick American 
G.I. who was working on the construction of the Alaska Highway. Now, there are now over 10,000 signs. These signs are from all over the world...though mostly North America - and strangely many from Germany and Switzerland. Go figure.