Subject: So. Studies/Sciences: Geography/Cultures

The Alaska Series

ALCAN Highway: Adventure Road to Alaska

The ALCAN Highway, an acronym for the Alaska-Canadian Highway, is also called the Alaska Highway, and is one of North America's most important roadways. To simply state, this highway was constructed during World War II, is way too much of an understatement, because this incredible 1400-mile highway had to be built in 1942 throughout some of Canada's and Alaska's wildest forests in a mere eight months due to a possible attack by the Japanese. Using rare, archival footage, we witness the struggles those highway builders encountered to accomplish that incredible feat. Next, we reminisce of early civilian adventurers in the 1950's that prompted unique and sometimes humorous methods to tame its shifting roadbed. Then, at Mile Zero in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, we begin our modern-day journey. Stops include: Muncho Lake, Liard River and Liard Hot Springs, with it 125-degree water. In Watson Lake, we view the Sign Post Forest; then the world's smallest desert; at White Horse, we join in the Sour Dough Reunion; at the Yukon Quest Dog Sled Race, we learn drivers will mush over 1200 miles; at Chilcoot Pass and in Dawson City, we learn about Yukon gold fields; also we meet independent Yukon men and women, including a local grocer, a modern-day trapper, a Tuchone Indian family in Kluckshu Village, an enterprising rancher, and the building of a gigantic log house. Next, we see the ice fields and glaciers of Kluani National Park; Mt. Logan, Canada's highest mountain, the Lowell Glacier, and view wildlife such as birds, otters, and Dall sheep rams. The poetry of Robert Service, the best-known poet of the Yukon, comes alive as we meet an actor, who re-enacts the writer's life. And before reaching Fairbanks, we see grizzly bears, romping lambs and the mating antics of rival male ducks. Produced by Trailwood Productions. Inc. 2010DR/CL IJSCA 60 min.
Also See: Alaska Highway: The Gravel Magnet; Alaska 1, 2, 3; Alaska