Alaska Trip 2011: May 20 - Off to Watson Lake

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Today we traveled from Laird Hot Springs to Waston Lake, We saw more bear and bison, but still have not seen any of the elusive moose. Seems we have managed to miss them the last couple times we havve veen in moose country. But we'll keep trying. Total miles so far: 3233.

Liard Hot Springs

Friday morning we took another dip in the spring before taking off. This time we remembered the camera, so there are a couple pictures. You can really see the steam rising off the pool in the crisp morning air.

We also got some pictures of the swampy area around the spring. They had a boardwalk to get across this area.

Bear!

We have spotted several bears already on the trip, but so far not much luck getting any pictures. This time was no exception. We saw a singleton, and then a few miles down the road, a mama and cub. We also saw several bison on this stretch of road, but thought we already had some good pictures of them, so did not take any more.

Whirlpool Canyon

This pretty little canyon is at a sharp bend in the river. Apparently when the water is higher, it spins around and makes quite a whirlpool. The last picture shows where the whirlpool dropped logs along the shore like a pile of toothpicks.

We had a bit of a misadventure here. The turnout was too narrow to drive around to get back out. You can't back up when you are towing a car four-down, so we had to unhook the car, turn both vehicles around, and then put everything back together. This is not a huge issue - it only takes about 10-15 minutes, but we try to avoid it whenever we can.

Yet another pretty pullout

What a beautiful day we are having! Sunny and warmish, trees are in early stages of leafing out. Here is another picturesque overlook. I think that is the Liard River below. From time to time around here, we see patches of old road. We think at least some of them are the old Alaska Highway, before they reengineered and took some of the kinks out of it. Hard to say - they might also be old roads to some place that does not exist any more.

Despite rumors to the contrary, we have found the Alaska highway to be in good shape. The few rough spots are clearly marked, so you don't hit them by surprise. Half the Interstates in the U.S. are in worse shape than this road. It's been very pleasant driving.

Welcome to Yukon

The sign says, "Welcome to Yukon". This is the first of several times we will cross the border between Yukon and British Columbia on this stretch of road. The border between the two follows the 60th parallel, but the road wanders about a bit in this area.

More Bears

We finally spotted a bear in a location where we were able to pull over and get some pictures. These were taken through the side window. We thought this one might have been a grizzly, though we aren't certain. It was definitely browner than the others, but I know color is not the only indication. It was also larger, but I'm not sure the silhouette is right.

Historic Mile 627

I don't think there is anything particularly significant about this mile marker, other than it happened to be across the road from the pullout where we stopped just outside of Watson Lake.

We have not had any cell service since we left Fort Nelson on Wednesday Morning. We were hoping getting back to civilization at Watson Lake would do the trick. We did get a 5-bar signal in town, but we still could not make or receive any calls. The campground did have wi-fi, but only if you carried the computer up near the laundry room, and even then it was poor. Most private campgrounds claim to have wi-fi these days, but sometimes what you get is laughable.

Signpost Forest

When the Alaska Highway was under construction, a guy from Danville, Illinois, was feeling homesick, and put up a sign pointing to Danville. Other soldiers liked the idea and started putting up their own signs, and the signpost forest was born. The tradition continues today, with people leaving everything from fancy engraved signs or license plates, to scrawling something on a paper plate.

At last count, there were over 10,000 signs in the forest. When they run out of places to add signs, I guess they add some more posts. The original signs did not survive the years, but they have a replica of the original in the interpretive center nearby. We haven't decided if we will leave a sign or not, but we do have to go through Watson Lake on the way back, so we are thinking about it.

Here's Dale pointing out to the people at the interpretive center that the picture in this exhibit is backwards. Probably got the slide upside-down. Apparently no one had noticed it before this. Look at the numbering on the next picture to see. You might have to click to make it bigger, but it's definitely backwards.

More Watson Lake

After supper, we went to a showing at the Northern Lights Space and Science theater, which is kind of like a planetarium. This was the first day they were open for the season, so they had a special showing of two films for the price of one. The most interesting was the one about the Northern Lights, since we are not likely to see Northern Lights on this trip. Because of the long days and short nights, it just doesn't get dark enough.

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