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You need to adapt to a different notion of distance on a 2500-kilometre drive: on the Alaska Hwy points of interest are a long way apart, and pleasure comes in broad changes in scenery, in the sighting of a solitary moose, or in the passing excitement of a lonely bar. Thus it's forty minutes before the benign ridged prairies around Dawson Creek prompt attention by dropping suddenly into the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the Peace River, a canyon whose walls are scalloped with creeks, gulches and deep muddy scars. Just across the river FORT ST JOHN , which, until the coming of the highway (when it was the field headquarters of the road's eastern construction gangs), was a trading post for local Sikanni and Beaver peoples, which had remained little changed since its predecessor sank into the mud of the Peace River (there have been a total of six "Fort St Johns" in various incarnations in the area). The shantytown received a boost when the province's largest oil field was discovered nearby in 1955, and it's now a functional settlement with all the services you need - though at just 75km into the highway it's unlikely you'll be ready to stop. If you are, there's a small museum at 93rd and 100th Street and a handful of motels : solid choices are the big Ramada , 10103 98 Ave (tel 787-0779 or 1-888/346-7711; $80-100), and the cheaper Cedar Lodge Motor Inn , 9824 99 Ave (tel 785-8107 or 1-800/661-2210; $40-60). The infocentre is at 9323 100th St (tel 785-6037 or 785-3033). The next stop is the tiny hamlet of WONOWON (pop. 84), a military checkpoint in World War II, and at 161km from Dawson typical of the bleak settlements all the way up the road. PINK MOUNTAIN (pop. 19), 226km on from Dawson, is much the same, with Mae's Kitchen (tel 772-3215; $40-60) the only listed accommodation (other places open and close here regularly). There's also a single restaurant favoured by truckers with a reasonable campsite across the road (tel 772-3226; $8-20; May-Oct). Thereafter the road offers immense views of utter wilderness in all directions, the trees as dense as ever, but noticeably more stunted than further south and nearing the limit of commercial viability. Look out for the bright "New Forest Planted" signs, a token riposte from the loggers to the ecology lobby, as they are invariably backed by a graveyard of sickly looking trees. If you're camping , look out for two provincial sanctuaries over the remaining 236km to Fort Nelson. Around 60km north of Pink Mountain is the Buckinghorse River Provincial Park campsite ($9); another 69km further is the Prophet River Provincial Recreation Area, with a campsite ($9) overlooking the river: this is good bird-watching country, but it's also good bear country, so be careful .
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