Earl Brown stands beside his beige Nissan Pathfinder, hands on hips, as he looks out at the Yukon River beside the S.S. Klondike.

This is his office, he acknowledges with a big smile.

Instead of walking into a place of work through doors under a big sign with his company's name, his Pathfinder door bears a red Milepost sticker. Brown is a field editor for The Milepost, the bible of Alaska Highway travellers celebrating its 60th anniversary next year.

He has been at this job for 24 years, calling it his 'destiny.' He used to pump gas on the highways around Fort Nelson, B.C., where he grew up and still lives.

'When truckers and people would ask for advice or directions, I'd tell them,' he said in an interview this week. 'It was my training for Milepost!'

He had helped Lyn Hancock with a piece for Milepost, after which he was asked if he wanted to write for the travel guide. He smiles, recounting this story, saying from that day on, he has been having the time of his life.

Milepost was first published in 1949 by Bill and Helen Wallace to help people traverse the newly-opened Alaska Highway. It's now published and annually, with this year's edition at more than 800 pages.

Each year, the guide is updated, which is why Brown found himself in Whitehorse this week.

'I get to see the people I've come to know each time I pass through,' he said. 'And I get the chance to add or change things in the book.'

Along with getting to know the Alaska Highway like the back of his hand, Brown said he has had the chance to meet some extraordinary people, in the most ordinary of circumstances.

'This one time I was at a shower stop and these showers had the most complicated instructions,' he said.

'The guy in the stall beside me didn't have his glasses on, and so he couldn't read these instructions. Pull here, yank this, push in; it was complicated! So I read the instructions over the wall to this guy and afterwards he invited me to eat with his family and chat a bit.

'This guy ended up being a writing director at Harvard University.'

Brown said he also encounters many bikers in his travels, and recalled one such meeting that was a little more 'Wild Hogs' than 'Hells Angels'.

'I met them on the highway and we hit it off like that. So I gave them all Milepost stickers and they put them on their bikes like this,' he said, holding up a picture of three older men on motorcycles, with Milepost stickers clearly emblazoned on the front of each bike.

'It turned out this guy here was the president of Doctors Who Care, and this guy on the left was the president of Hallmark.'

Brown says no matter whether you're the CEO of a major company or a father on a family trip, anyone travelling the highway needs a copy of Milepost to successfully make the journey. Just make sure you read the introduction, Brown advises.

'I once met this army colonel type man and he was all grunting and cursing saying The Milepost was no good,' recounted Brown.

'So I pointed to the very first item on the table of contents that says, How to Use Milepost.' And I asked him, did you read this section?'

'Well, this army colonel type guy read it over and said, Ha! Well, that makes sense!' and he was off.'

The Milepost marks towns and sites based upon what mile of the highway they are at. Whitehorse, for instance, is Mile 918 from the start of the highway in Dawson Creek, B.C. (The famed traffic circle opening onto the highway in that community has been closed for reconstruction this summer.)

After 60 years of updates and additions, the book's entry on Whitehorse is pretty comprehensive. It describes the city's history, climate, elevation, population, museums, roadway and select restaurants, to name a few.

One of the challenges in Brown's job, he said, is making sure every last detail is correct.

'I need to make no mistakes, or if I make one, I've made it 85,000 times,' he said, referring to the magazine's annual circulation of about 85,000. The Milepost comes out every year 'on or around March 1,' said Brown.

Though it only publishes once a year, Brown says he puts 1,500 to 2,200 hours of work into each edition.

'It's more work than people realize but someone's gotta do it and I'm glad it's me!

'I always say when it stops being fun, that's when I'll quit.'

Asked about his favourite places to travel other than the Alaska Highway, his otherwise jovial face deflated just a bit and he said, 'The Alaska Highway is in my blood. Whether I'm on the Demspter, in Kluane or Atlin, I'm happy and I have my favourite places there.'

He did, however, admit that one day he would like to visit Canada's east coast to 'take in the glorious fall colours.'

Brown was in Whitehorse until Thursday before taking off in his Milepost-mobile to rediscover the Alaska Highway on a month-long trip across its estimated 1,520 miles. The highway is measured from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks, Alaska.

If ever anyone has any news or updates for Milepost, or would like to show Brown a little more of where they live, he can be reached at 1-877-Mile-Post.

The Milepost can be purchased at most Whitehorse bookstores for about $40.