Alaska Highway, Part Two

We have been without cell phone service for the last few days, and therefore, we haven’t been able to post, so let’s get caught up!  It has been an exciting few days!

On Wednesday, we left the RV park in Fort Nelson pretty early, and got on down the road.  The drive was stunning!  It took us through the edge of the Rocky Mountains, and there were beautiful views all along the way.  The road was a little more narrow and twisty than the day before, so the going was a little slower.  We also sustained our first camper damage, but not to worry, it wasn’t too bad.  Apparently a rock had flown up and into the edge of the metal door that covers the water heater compartment.  It dented it in a little and knocked off the paint, so Jeff straightened it out and used a paint marker to cover it as well as he could.  It is pretty minor.  Nothing we are too worried about!  Anyway, we arrived at the Strawberry Flats Campground in Muncho Lake Provincial Park in the early afternoon and got a great campsite that backed right up to the lake.  We even had our own little path that led to the shore with a rocky area to set up some chairs and enjoy the view. 

Many years ago, Jeff’s Aunt Berdie and Uncle Leon visited Muncho Lake, and Berdie talked for years about how it was one of her favorite places she had ever visited.  Given how much she talked about it, our expectations were pretty high, and we were not disappointed.  It is everything she described and more.  The color of the water is beyond words.  There were many times during our visit that we commented to one another, “Berdie sure was right about this place!” 

We decided to settle in for a couple of nights and enjoy the scenery.  There was a section of the Old Alaska Highway right across the road from the campground that we hiked, along with an EXTREMELY steep trail up to an overlook of the lake.  That was one tough trail, but the views from (close to) the top were amazing.  No, we didn’t go all the way up.  It was sooooo steep, and when we got up to the viewpoint the above pictures were taken from, we decided that we were satisfied with that!  Besides that one hike, we did a lot of relaxing on the shoreline and enjoying the birds and that amazing green lake!

On Friday, after a couple of serene days at the lake, we decided it was time to move on, but we didn’t get far.  We only traveled about 40 miles up the road to Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park.  Again, we landed a great first come, first served campsite in the park.  The sites here are very large and spaced out well so that you have some privacy from your neighbors.  There is so much wildlife activity in the area that the campground is surrounded by an electric fence!  The draw to this park is, of course, the hot springs, so we spent a good bit of the afternoon and evening soaking.  The springs are not to be missed if you are in the area.  They are in a very natural setting (it actually looks like a natural spring, instead of a swimming pool) and depending on what part of the pool you are in, there is a wide range of temperatures so everyone is sure to find something that is comfortable.

The walk from the campground to the hot springs is about a half-mile long along a boardwalk that goes through a marsh.  On our way back from the hot springs late Friday evening, we were lucky enough to see two moose.  The combination of the moose with the sunset and the steam rising from the marsh was a surreal image.  The mosquitos that absolutely swarmed us while we were taking photos were not, but it was totally worth it!

Today, we crossed into Yukon Territory!  We actually crossed into it multiple times since the road bounces between BC and Yukon several times.  We were so excited to be here that we even stopped at TWO of the “Welcome to Yukon” signs for photos!  And we saw our first grizzly bear of the trip!  All the bears we had seen to this point were black bears, so it was fun to confirm that we are definitely now in grizzly country! 

Tonight, we are stopped in Watson Lake at an RV park that is definitely nothing special, but it is located just across the road from the Sign Post Forest, so we were able to go wander around there for a couple of hours.  The Sign Post Forest is a HUGE area of posts that people from all over the world traveling the Alaska Highway stop in to put up a sign.  Its history goes all the way back to the 1940s, but the oldest sign we saw was from the 1960s.  It was really fun to see all the creative ways people found to leave their mark.  There is everything from very professionally made, laser-cut metal signs, to flip-flops that people wrote their names on and screwed to a post.  We were even able to find the signs from some of our favorite YouTube channels.  Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle to get ready for the trip, we did not have a sign ready, so we didn’t add anything.  This will just be our excuse to have to come back sometime in the future! Jeff is already talking about a way to add a bracket to it so we can hang it in a prime location…

The road and areas we are traveling through are getting more remote.  Cell service is almost non-existent outside of cities, and there is less traffic.    Still, at least so far, the road is busier than we expected, and we have no worries about breaking down and not having anyone around to help. 

We have also seen a fair bit of wildlife.  It is difficult to remember which day we saw which animals, so here is a running tally of wildlife we have seen along the Alaska Highway: 8 bears (7 black and 1 grizzly), 2 foxes, 6 caribou, 2 porcupines, 2 moose, and too many bison to count!

We look forward to what tomorrow brings and all the wonders we know are coming!

Take a look at our video from the first half of the Alaska Highway!

Until next time!