The cinnamon rolls were awesome. These had melted chocolate frosting! They were a hit with Peggy, the chocolate connoisseur.
We left our campsite around 8:00. It was nice to sleep in a little longer. We headed west and up the grades to The Summit. This is the highest point on the Alaska Highway at 4,250 feet. We stop to snap a few pics of the area and begin the descent down.
We make several stops along the way for photos of the mountains. You’ll need to go to our Picassa photo web site to see them. The highway is in astonishingly good condition. It is right up there with any U.S. mountain, 2 lane highway. Yes, we come upon frost heave areas, but they are clearly marked with the now infamous to us sawtooth sign. And the traffic is very light. There are occasional semi trucks hauling goods back and forth and a few cars and campers. Less traffic allows us to drive like grandma and grandpa and really take in the sights.
We stop at the Toad River Lodge for fuel. My favorite CFO goes in to pay as I fill the tank. When done I go into the lodge and the ceiling is covered, yes covered, with baseball caps- 8242 of them! This is one of things I like about traveling- getting into some of the local color! It was definitely worth a photo.
Today we finally see other wildlife besides caribou. Around Muncho Lake we see many Stone Sheep. They are licking the road. We’re assuming they are after the road salts used to clear ice during the winter. They are not very skittish as you can tell by the closeup photos of them. And, Peggy has made a confirmed sighting of a moose just beyond the Muncho Lake area! It did not wait for any photo ops and kept running across the road in front of us. I was able to get a “clean” shot of it, which when cropped made it look like it was in the ditch next to us. Good thing I have the camera recording RAW images!
We have had several river bridges to cross. However, the Lower Liard River Bridge is the only remaining, original 1942 suspension bridge left on the Alaska Highway. Peggy was able to get a good snapshot of it.
A short distance after crossing the bridge we came to the Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park. We had read much about the hot springs and so we camped here for the night. Of course after setting up camp and eating lunch we had to test the spring water.
Wow! The springs themselves would be impressive, but last year they built new bathhouse facilities with a very nice deck going along the edge of the springs. And the water was perfect! It only had a slight smell of sulfur unlike other hot springs we have been to in Wyoming (Saratoga and Yellowstone). Peggy dipped her big toe into it, but I did the full body emersion. Actually Peggy found the water felt good on her knee, so she used it therapeutically by simmering her leg in it. I used it recreationally. How fun to be swimming in 100º water when the air temperature is in the 50’s. I can only guess how fun it would be here in the midst of winter.
After supper we had a campfire, the first on this trip. We almost had one back in Whitecourt, AB, but it was very windy so ventured on the side of caution. The fire was so relaxing I could have fallen asleep in my outdoor recliner.
We go to bed with the sky still light although the sun had set. We need to get used to this land of the midnight sun. We’ve talked about different ways to block the light coming in through our shower skylight so our bedroom is dark. We will have to use the privacy door to room off the shower if need be.
We covered about 125 miles today. But we are very glad we stopped at the hot springs. The campground is very nice and much like a national park campground in the US, and I’ve already bragged enough on the springs. Just having an afternoon without having to drive was a welcomed break.
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