Fort Nelson

This seems to be one of those small towns where they send the problem cops. There are stories going around about one officer in particular using excessive force and even torturing people, claiming he was provoked by things that reasonable people would consider innocent, like spitting out a bloody tooth after he’s punched you. That’s assaulting an officer right there.

Anyone who travels by the Alaska Highway to and from the Yukon or Alaska must go through Fort Nelson. Once I drove from Whitehorse to Montana in a 1981 converted Ford ambulance van (converted into a “dog truck” to transport sled dogs). The old vehicle found it tough going on the long steep mountain grades crossing the Peace and Sikanni Rivers, and by the time I was near Fort Nelson her radiator hoses were near to bursting. New hoses were needed, and it was late Friday afternoon. There were no suitable hoses in Fort Nelson and they couldn’t be obtained before Monday. So I spent the weekend in mid-August with 20 canine passengers, camped among the tall poplar trees along the shore of the Makwa River just before where the Alaska Highway crosses it coming towards Fort Nelson from the south. Nobody even knew we were there, it was such a solitary spot. If ever you get stuck in Fort Nelson, I can’t think of a better place to camp awhile.