It was May 2019. My friend decided to uproot from Nelson, BC and move to Dawson City in the Yukon for the summer. I didn't have any plans for a few weeks, so decided to join her for the drive - I'd work out how to get home later. We spent 3 days driving up through the Rockies, across the plains of Northern Alberta, back into Northern BC and finally into the wilds of the Yukon. The night we spent sleeping in the car though, was the most memorable.

It was our second day on the road. We'd had some car troubles in the morning which delayed our start, meaning we were planning on driving late into the night to reach our destination: Liard River Hot Springs. But as we were weaving through the high passes in the Northern Rocky Mountains, heavy snow began to fall. After an hour of crawling along in bad visibility, we eventually pulled over next to a gas station in Toad River. We hadn't planned to sleep in the car that night, but there was nowhere to pitch a tent - plus it was f**** freezing. With the trunk rammed full of stuff, we reclined our front seats as much as we could and wriggled into our sleeping bags.

After a few hours of fitful sleep with my face smushed against a freezing window, we awoke at 5am to the smell of coffee wafting from the truck stop cafe just 40m from where we'd parked. Bleary eyed, we stumbled into the building to the sound of chuckles from some old truckers. "Toilet's that way, coffee's over here" one of them said. They could tell it'd been a rough night.

We hit the road again shortly after, and arrived at Liard River Hot Springs around 7am. The sunrise soak was the perfect antidote to an awful sleep in the passenger seat. And although at the time, I felt like a zombie, I'm glad we spent a night sleeping at a truck stop in Toad River. S*** times like that give you great stories like this one.

Written by Bex Dawkes - follow her adventures on Instagram

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