Braving the Snow Drifts of Watson Lake Canada
By Jennifer Calvin
The beautiful scenery of Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory of Canada was hidden beneath the quiet blanket of whispery snow. My mother and I had awoken to the snow blinding whiteness. It was early October and very near the point of dangerous travel through Canada. We, however, were determined to push forward; snow or no snow.
Canada was our route of travel. We left the reds and yellows of changing fall leaves in New Hampshire to journey to the vast yet beautiful state of Alaska. The Alcan (Alaska Highway) encompasses a rather large chunk of our travelling days. The total length of days would be ten (not the nine as predicted prior to our episode in Watson Lake).
Even though the snow was coming down, we were tough Northerners and knew how to travel in the conditions of wintery weather. It was rather odd that the snow we encountered did not exist before or even after Watson Lake, at least not in extreme amounts. Pictures of the infamous Watson Lake sign posts were barely visible. Up until this point we had a nice collection of exquisite photos of the trip. I was determined not to miss this historical land mark before heading down the road. So, out into the snow storm I went, with camera in hand to get the pictures necessary to prove our adventures along the Canadian route.
Ten minutes later, we are heading on our way once again, with UHaul in tow and some snowy pictures of Watson Lake. We did not get far when I felt that one of the tires had blown. I slowed the vehicle down and pulled into the nearest gas station for help. The woman working at the gas station stated that AAA would not come out to help as they were some 400-500 miles away.
My mom patiently waited in the vehicle while I spoke with the woman. I looked at my mom and knew that I was the only one who would be able to get us out of this situation. I did not want her to become stressed over what was about to unravel…us broken down with a flat tire, hauling a trailer, with no help in sight, in 20* weather, with no cell phone service, at a gas station that I found out was only open for a few more days as they were closing for the season, and not enough funds for us to really call for help even if there was help to call.
Thankfully a kind man was getting gas and offered to help us with the tire change. I had a spare so it would not be a problem, or so we thought. After removing all of the items packed in the back of the SUV and putting them on the frozen ground, we were able to finally figure out how to remove the spare tire. New vehicles these days do not make it simple for older individuals. Two hours later, with the spare tire on we were again on our way. This angel in disguise had rescued us, braving the very cold temps, kneeling on the ground with his knee that he had recently had surgery on, who made the moral decision to stay and help after many thoughts of fleeing and leaving us stranded.
One would think that one flat tire on a ten day trip would not be so bad, and I would readily agree, if that was the case. Two hours down the road I stopped to gas up the Nissan. We always stopped when we saw a gas station because we never knew when the next one would come along. Many of them were closed for the winter and it was too dangerous to risk driving without cell phone service and the sparseness of the people who travelled during this time of year.
Once the tank was filled, I ventured inside to pay the cashier. A gentleman on his way out of the establishment caught my attention and revealed yet another flat tire. This one was on the UHaul trailer itself. I managed to slowly drive across the street to the only garage in town (UHaul will not allow customers to change their tires it must be done by a garage). The mechanic was out of town and we waited for five hours before his return. Again I put on the face of bravery. Pulled out my word find book and told my mom that everything would be just fine. The roads of Canada had claimed two of my tires in a mere two hours, but in the end, my bravery was inspired by this wonderful country.
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