Watson Lake to Teslin

Started the day cloudy and cool with temps in the 50s. As we entered the mountains the rain started again and temps dropped into the mid 40s. Could not see much because of the rain but at least it washed some of the mud off the camper.

The highway was better today with just a few bumps. Even though we were driving through the mountains the road followed the Rancheria River so it was pretty straight and not too steep.

We reached Teslin about 11:30AM and the rain finally stopped. It is a pretty little village by the Nisutlin River where it runs into Teslin Lake.

 Our campground is by the lake with a pretty view of the mountains. 

After lunch we went to the Tlingit Heritage Center which is a small museum just north of town.

We stopped at a few gift shops then came back to camp. Yoda wanted to play hide-and-seek and I still haven't found the little rascal. Last time I saw him was at the wildlife museum next door.

I took a nap then we had a meeting with the group to discuss plans for tomorrow and ALASKA!!! We head for Skagway tomorrow.

Gas in Watson Lake was $1.09/liter but we got discount so we paid $1.06.

Did not see any (live) wildlife to speak of today.

Watson Lake to Teslin

Started the day cloudy and cool with temps in the 50s. As we entered the mountains the rain started again and temps dropped into the mid 40s. Could not see much because of the rain but at least it washed some of the mud off the camper.

The highway was better today with just a few bumps. Even though we were driving through the mountains the road followed the Rancheria River so it was pretty straight and not too steep.

We reached Teslin about 11:30AM and the rain finally stopped. It is a pretty little village by the Nisutlin River where it runs into Teslin Lake.

 Our campground is by the lake with a pretty view of the mountains. 

After lunch we went to the Tlingit Heritage Center which is a small museum just north of town.

We stopped at a few gift shops then came back to camp. Yoda wanted to play hide-and-seek and I still haven't found the little rascal. Last time I saw him was at the wildlife museum next door.

I took a nap then we had a meeting with the group to discuss plans for tomorrow and ALASKA!!! We head for Skagway tomorrow.

Gas in Watson Lake was $1.09/liter but we got discount so we paid $1.06.

Did not see any (live) wildlife to speak of today.

Liard Springs to Watson Lake

 

It was still raining off and on this morning with temps in mid 50s.  Nancy and I walked back to the hot springs to take some more photos of the area.

I think the swampy area made Yoda think he was back on his home planet.

 

Then we packed up and headed for Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory.  The road was much better except for a few bumps until we got within about 5 miles of Watson Lake where there was a long gravel construction zone that was quite muddy so now our truck and camper are covered in mud. We saw lots of bison and several bears along the way.   The terrain is in the foothills of the Rockies and looks much like

the Appalachians.

 

We reached Watson Lake about noon, ate lunch, checked our email and went exploring. Not much to see here as the population is less than 2,000.  Watson Lake's claim to fame is the signpost forest supposedly begun when a homesick GI put up a sign to his home town when the road was built in WWII.

 There are over 67,000 signs now from all over the world. There are road signs, t shirts, shoes, pie pans, bed pans and anything else people could find to make a sign out of.

Later in the afternoon a group from our caravan went over to put up our group sign.

 Then as the old song says, " I put up my own little sign."

It is now 10:19PM and the sun is still shining.  I have no idea when sunrise and sunset are since I have not seen darkness in about two weeks.  I guess we are finally adjusting as it was nearly 6AM when we got up today.

Ft Nelson to Liard Springs

A cool rainy day with temps in 50s and 60s as we swung west through the northern end of the Rocky Mtns. Low hanging clouds and a steady drizzle kept us from seeing many of the promised vistas but lent a certain dramatic effect.

The road got a little rougher with many gravel patches and a few frost heaves. At least the rain prevented the dust problems in the gravel areas that numerous signs warned us about.

The worst thing about today was paying $1.359 /liter ($5.22/gal) for gas at Toad River store. So our first experience with $4/gal gas was quickly eclipsed by $5+/gal gas. Our tour leader says gas at next stop will be back down to $1.06/liter. Hopefully it will be back to the $3 range when we get to Alaska.

We saw several animals today, caribou, a bear, moose, bison and deer.

We reached Liard Hotsprings about noon, ate lunch, took a nap and then went to the springs. 

 The spring water comes out of the ground boiling hot so you enter the water downstream then ease upstream until you can't stand it any hotter. We got within about 10 yards of the spring and had to stop. The hot water felt good after so many days of traveling. A local tradition is to pick up a rock from the bottom of the creek and drop it as close as you can to the source of the spring. There is a sizable pile of rocks at the opening but we did not add any to it.

For supper, the group leader made a big pot of chili which we all enjoyed.  When we returned to the trailer after dinner I was met by a fellow blogger, Diana from Ill.  Her blog, Celebrating 20, is one of the blogs I am following (see right side of page). She and her family are also on the way to Alaska.  They were having trouble with the bumper coming off the Jeep they are towing so one of the guys in our group gave her some washers to help reattach it.  Below are some more photos from the day.

Dawson Creek to Ft Nelson

Today we started up the Alaskan Hwy from Dawson Creek, BC to Ft. Nelson, BC, about 290 miles.

 For the most part the drive was uneventful trek through rolling hills lined with pine trees.

 Our first stop was the curved wooden bridge over the Kiskatinaw river. 

 This is the only original Alaskan Hwy wooden bridge still being used but this section of the road has actually been bypassed by the new highway. It is across a very deep gulch.

Our next stop was the Peace River valley. The pictures do not really show how deep the valley is. It is quite a dramatic site after all the relatively flat land preceding it.

We saw 3 dead moose by the highway and one dead truck (it hit the Moose and they both lost). We also saw a few deer, a coyote and a black bear.

After reaching Ft. Nelson we both took a nap since we have not adjusted our sleep patterns to the time zone. We are now in the Pacific time zone and both of us keep waking up before 5AM. After our nap

we walked to a nice little museum next door.

Temps were nice today, starting in the 50s and ending in the 70s with just a few showers although it is starting to rain as I write this.

Gas was $1.19 /liter ($4.60/gal) in Pink Mtn and $1.20/liter ($4.64) in Ft. Nelson. We are staying at Triple G Campground in Ft. Nelson which has cable TV and WiFi. The first worthwhile TV reception we have had in several days.