Month: June 2017

June 5, 2017

We left Liard Hot Springs, headed for Watson Lake. The roads thus far have been paved and relatively uneventful, but today we ended up with some construction and gravel and the dust was something else! At times, the visibility can be like you are in a snowstorm! Fortunately we don’t have to drive all the time like this.

Today was also the day for more wildlife. We saw a couple of bison soon after we were on the road today as well as a fox and moose. The weather was nice for driving, a bit on the cooler side, but pleasant to be out in.

We arrived in the Yukon just before noon – we’ll drive in and out a few times before we stay in it bound for Alaska. We made our stop in Watson Lake just after lunch. This campground is what is common up here for campgrounds – a gravel lot beside a gas station. If not a gas station, they will be beside a motel. This one has a large, modern store as well as a nice laundromat so we’ll take advantage of being here early to do a few loads of wash. Won’t be hanging it out to dry though with all the vehicles driving through the gravel…

We walked over to the Sign Post Forest with a sign we had brought along.

At present count, there are over 80,000 signs from all over the world. Some are just city signs, while others have the names and places where people have come from. They are creative – written on whatever people had with them if they hadn’t planned on bringing something. – toilet seat, dishpan, tin plates to name a few we saw.

Next up, more lakes.. and first fishing attempt!

 

June 3, 2017

Today marks our 40th Wedding Anniversary. What a way to spend it this summer – having this chance to do our trip of a lifetime.

We left Tetsa River Campground this morning and had a different geography today. We have more hills (even mountains), and these are much more rugged and stony. Soon after we left the campground, we stopped to view a waterfall and look at the view below. Paul noted we were being watched – there were 2 stone sheep (that’s a variety of sheep found in these mountains, not made of stone 🙂 ) high above us on a rock. While I was photographing them, two more came up onto the roadside a bit away from us so we had fun taking pictures for a while.

We had more rain today. We also saw patches of snow and one lake still had areas of ice on it up near the summit. We passed a beautiful turquoise lake, Muncho Lake this afternoon. We had considered making our stop there for the night, but since it was still rainy, decided to carry on right to the Liard Hot Springs and the provincial park there. It was a good call and soon after we arrived, the rain stopped, and we were able to enjoy a bit of fire while we ate supper. We then put on our swimsuits and walked the .7 km boardwalk back to the hot springs. They are a natural pool and pebble bottom. There is a pool that is quite hot and then it flows into the river where people also bathe. That area is a dirtier pool as the bottom is stirred up more and not as covered with pebbles.

We met some interesting people and had opportunity to get some good hints about things to see as we go on our trip. We just got back to the trailer and it started to rain – talk about timing! Still minimal bugs so we were able to walk back with our towels wrapped around us and our jacket over our swimsuits.

We spent another lazy day in the campground. We went for a walk back to the hot springs to see another section where the hot springs come down a hill leaving lots of deposits and providing a lush environment for lots of plant life. After supper, we took another walk back to go into the hot springs. Along the way, we saw a moose at a watering hole, just off the trail. The weather has cleared and we anticipate a nice day for travelling tomorrow.

Next, dirt, dirt, dirt…