Photos courtesy of Steve Simmons
Christiansburg residents Norman Epperly (left) and Steve Simmons stand in front of a local directional sign they placed this summer at Watson Lake, Alaska. The town is home to thousands of directional signs from places near and far.Marty Gordon
Contributing writer
Christiansburg’s Steve Simmons retired earlier this year, and the first thing he wanted to do was make a trip north of the border.
He, along with friend Norman Epperly, jumped on their motorcycles this summer and started the trek to the Canadian frontier and Alaska.
The trip included a stop in Seward, Canada, where Simmons’ mother grew up.
“I had never been there and thought it would be great to learn more about where she was from. I wanted to go to see where she was born,” he said.
The trip had been on his bucket list for a long time, and admittedly retirement just sped it up.
They were on the bikes for nearly three weeks—seven days up and 11 back. The end result was a 10,242 miles round trip.
When they reached Alaska, the two had a special mission. At a small community of 790, they placed a Christiansburg sign stating “3,242 miles,” where it joined hundreds of other signs placed there by visitors.
The location has become known as Watson Lake and has received recognition as a Yukon historic site. A forest at that location consists of signs and not trees.
The idea dates back to 1942 when a soldier from Illinois added his hometown’s sign to a post. It was common for members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to post directional signs at their camps. Typically, the signs would give mileage to and from various locations around the globe.
While working on the Yukon Highway, the soldier was injured and taken to Watson Lake to recuperate. During his time there, he was given the task of painting the directional post. He then added his hometown of Danville, Illinois. Since then, others have added theirs as well.
Now more than 75,000 signs have been placed there. During Simmons’ and Epperly’s trip, they added “Christiansburg’s signage.”
Other visitors can place their signs there or even make one at the local visitor’s information center.
Simmons and Epperly posed with the local sign before turning around and heading back to the New River Valley.
Their next big adventure is a road trip to Newfoundland planned for next year.
