A sign for Brian Duquette at the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake

Lee and Karen Duquette,
The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
drove to The Yukon Territory and stopped at WATSON LAKE
and the World Famous Sign Post Forest where they left a sign for Brian Duquette
May 31, 2009

Watson Lake was the first Yukon community encountered by the two RV Gypsies. Watson Lake was the accommodation and supply center for the building of this section of the Alaska Highway. It is still the communication and distribution center for the Southern Yukon.

The first white visitors to Canada's Yukon Territory were fur traders from England, who brought the Hudson's Bay Company into the country in the mid-1800's. Close behind the fur traders were the gold seekers, who began trickling into the Territory as early as 1863. By 1972, traces of gold were being found all over the Yukon. The Yukon is more than twice the size of Great Britain and larger than all the New England states put together. Its 186,300 square miles are bordered by British Columbia on the south, Alaska on the west, the northwest Territories on the east, and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Yet, only 32,700 people live on this frontier, three-quarters of them in Whitehorse.


Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in the area at the end of the 19th century. Watson Lake is near the Liard River, at the junction of the Robert Campbell Highway and the Alaska Highway. The Stewart–Cassiar Highway's northern end is 22 km (14 miles) west of Watson Lake. The town is also served by the Watson Lake Airport; the airport was formerly served by Canadian Pacific Air Lines and other local and regional airlines, but now by Air North and corporate and charter services. Watson Lake is the main centre of the small forestry industry in Yukon and has been a service centre for the mining industry, especially for the Cassiar, a now abandoned asbestos mine in northern British Columbia and the Cantung Mine, a tungsten mine on the Yukon-Northwest Territories border in the Mackenzie Mountains. Tourist attractions in Watson Lake include the Northern Lights Centre and the much-imitated original Sign Post Forest.

SIGN POST FOREST 1048 Frank Trail, Watson Lake Yukon Territory UDA 1CO
The World Famous Sign Post Forest is Watson's Lake best known attraction. So famous, it is known and mimicked around the world. This forest was started in 1941 by a homesick U.S. Army G.I., Carl K. Lindley of Danville, Illinois, Company D, 341st Engineers. While working on the Alaska Highway, he erected a sign here pointing the way and stating the mileage to his hometown. Others followed his lead and are still doing so today. On July 20, 1990, Olsen and Anita Walker of Bryan Ohio placed the 10,000th sign. Carl K. Lindley and his wife visited the site in 1992 - 50 years after his first post was erected. Today, the Town of Watson Lake maintains the site, erecting more posts as they are needed.

Below: After walking through Sign Post Forest, Lee and Karen Duquette went back to their RV and made a quick sign of their own to post. Theme: Florida to Alaska and honoring Brian Lee Duquette because Brian cannot be on this earth in person, but he is always in the hearts of the two RV Gypsies, wherever they may be. Plus a big HELLO to Kristen, Alex and Renee.

Below: A neighbor in the park came to tell Lee and Karen Duquette that they saw their sign at the Sign Post Forest, and knew who it was because of the photo of the RV with the wolf eyes. It was amazing that the two RV Gypsies' sign was found among all those thousands of signs and that the wolf eyes let the neighbors (that the two RV Gypsies had not met) realize it was them. Cool!

Below: The next few photos show where the sign of the two RV Gypsies is among other signs. Hopefully visitors will not remove signs to put their own signs up. New posts for signs are often added.



Below: THESE PHOTOS TRY TO SHOW HOW MANY SIGNS THERE ARE, BUT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PHOTOGRAPH THEM ALL. THEN SCROLL DOWN FOR CLOSE-UPS OF A FEW CUTE ONES.








	This sign may be funny to some (but not to the owners) because the cat bailed out on the Alaska Highway
Below: Ed Kerry and Gertrude, his 1938TD 35 International tractor, came to the Yukon as a team in the 1940's during the building of the Alaska Highway. For 40 years, Gertrude could be seen at construction sites all over the Yukon, building everything from airstrips and Whitehorse city streets to portions of the Alaska Highway. "Gertie" was donated to the Yukon Government by the kerry Family in memory of Ed Kerry, a loyal and true Yukoner.
	INTERNATIONAL HARVESTER TRACTOR TD-35, Production: 1937-1939, Length: 132', Width: 59.5", Weight: 11,245 pounds Fuel Efficiency 15.04 Engine: IHC 4 Cylinder, Displacement: 414, Bore 4,500, Stroke: 6,500, RPM: 1100, Magneto: F-4, Air Cleaner: Donaldson, Carburetor: Zenith K-5 1.25", Pulley size: 16.75x9, Pulley RPM: 591, PTO Diameter: 1.625, PTO RPM: 560, Forward Speeds: 1.75, 2.25, 2.75, 3.25, 4. Reverse Speeds: 3, Tracks: 13"-20"

Downtown R.V. Park

This park is within an extremely short walking distance of everything: the Sign Post Forest, grocery store (everything in the grocery store costs an arm and a leg), library, post office, Northern Lights Center with an indoor show, car wash, bank, and liquor store. There is a free do-it-yourself area to wash your RV or car, free Wi-Fi, 20-30 amp service. It appears to be a place where RVers stay mostly just for the one night while passing through Watson Lake. The sites are packed close together - if sites are full, there is no space to put out your awning, or sit outside in a lawn chair. The two RV Gypsies have AT&T but did NOT have any cell phone service through Rogers. Rogers does NOT work in the Yukon Territory. IMPORTANT: The two RV Gypsies had AT&T but did NOT have any cell phone service through Rogers. Rogers does NOT work in the Yukon Territory.

Below: A nice lake right beside the park. Lee Duquette photographed a bird flying over the lake and landing in the tree.



Here, Lee and Karen Duquette met their first RV snobs (and the only ones ever). The snobs were heading for the "backroads" of Alaska looking for Grizzly Bears. But they told the two RV Gypsies that since they are from Florida, of course Lee and Karen they would not be doing that. What the h--- does that mean? And of course they saw a lot more wildlife than the two RV Gypsies did, and they have been in ALL the USA states. When the two RV Gypsies said they saw lots of buffalo, the RV snobs said, "oh buffalo." Everything they said seemed very snobbish, and that is rare in RVers. Plus the two RV Gypsies are just begriming their many years of RV travel. No matter what, Lee and Karen Duquette will never be RV snobs.

There are multiple travel choices below. So choose the area that most interests you. Always scroll to the bottom of every page for more travel options.

Jump ahead to when Lee and Karen Duquette returned to the Sign Post Forest and placed a new sign honoring Brian Duquette. (someone moved the original sign - shame on them). The photos and experience is very different from this page.

OR

Lee and Karen Duquette, The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers drove to The Yukon Territory and stopped at WATSON LAKE and the World Famous Sign Post Forest where they left a sign for Brian Duquette May 31, 2009

Watson Lake is a town in Yukon, Canada, located at mile 635 on the Alaska Highway close to the British Columbia border. The town is named for Frank Watson, an American-born trapper and prospector, who settled in the area at the end of the 19th century.

Tourist attractions in Watson Lake include the Northern Lights Centre and the much-imitated original Sign Post Forest.

IMPORTANT: The two RV Gypsies had AT&T but did NOT have any cell phone service through Rogers. Rogers does NOT work in the Yukon Territory.

There are multiple travel choices below. So choose the area that most interests you. Always scroll to the bottom of every page for more travel options.

Jump ahead to when Lee and Karen Duquette returned to the Sign Post Forest and placed a new sign honoring Brian Duquette. (someone moved the original sign - shame on them). The photos and experience is very different from this page. OR

Stay in 2009 at Teslin Johnson's Crossing, the Continental Divide, beautiful scenery and a fox in the campground

Lee and Karen Duquette,
The Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
drove to The Yukon Territory and stopped at WATSON LAKE
and the World Famous Sign Post Forest where they left a sign for Brian Duquette
May 31, 2009

Jump ahead to when Lee and Karen Duquette returned to the Sign Post Forest and placed a new sign honoring Brian Duquette. (someone moved the original sign - shame on them). The photos and experience is very different from this page.

OR