Blog

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…

June 1, 2017

We left Dawson Creek this morning, headed for a provincial park less than 300 km north. Our aim now for the next months is to keep to under 300 km. a day. We’ve planned a route which will cover the areas we know about now including lots of side trips and feel this amount will nicely fit into our timetable. Even though it stays light late, we’d like to be settled by mid-afternoon into our campsites in order to have a good selection of sites when we stop.

Lots of trees along the highway, but they have been cut back significantly from the road. We wonder if it is in an effort to cut down the number of vehicles hitting animals on the roadway.

Our stop tonight was at Buckinghorse River Provincial Park. We were the first to arrive in the campground, giving us the prime site overlooking the river, but several others joined us soon. Took a look at the river for possible fishing, but it’s running quite fast and not good access where we are to find some pools for trout, so all we did was practice some casting.

We enjoyed a nice campfire with some wood we picked up from alders that had been damaged from the snow. So far, not much for black flies or mosquitoes – a pleasant surprise!

Our next morning saw us on the road before 9:30 and headed for yet another regional BC park. Weather has been nice still – lots of periods of sun, but today we’re seeing a bit of rain as we travel. We’ve seen our first black bear at the side of the road along the edge of the bush. We had another nice campsite tonight along the Tetsa River. This time we were high above the river, but able to have another nice campfire after the rain.

Next, we’re off to the hot springs!