Steep ridges came one after another, one so steep they had to put three dog teams on each sled and haul the three sleds up one at a time. Two survey teams had set out together from the Hudson’s Bay post at Sikanni on the winter trail between Fort St. John and Fort Nelson. Looking for high ground, they found it.
Link to another story “Willis Grafe, Civilian Roadbuilder”
Choosing a path through 1200 miles of wilderness confronted the Alaska Highway builders with one of their toughest problems. Maps existed, inaccurate ones. Local hunters and guides knew how to get from one place to another, but many of their routes only worked when winter froze mud and muskeg solid.
The United States Public Roads Administration (PRA) had civilian reconnaissance crews in the north woods by late March and two of these crews found themselves struggling up to the high ground about halfway between the two settlements. From W. H. Willison’s report on the trip the “rugged, snow covered chain of the Rocky Mountains” lay due west of where they stopped.
The next day, the two crews split—one headed for Fort St. John, the other for Fort Nelson. Willison’s report describes how they travelled. Up at three am they headed out on foot, the mushers would clean up, pack up and head out after them. Since the dog teams travelled much faster than men on foot they would pass them and set up down the trail for lunch. After lunch, the routine repeated, men walking, mushers staying behind to clean up and pack up. The mushers would pass them again and have camp set up for the evening on down the trail.
Willison’s crew made Fort Nelson on April 8. Melting snow had stuck to snowshoes and balled up on the dogs’ feet. Two of the mushers had gone through the ice into a frigid river. On the last day, the nearly empty sleds offered room for the walking surveyors so they covered the last thirty miles bouncing over the rough ground.
