Road Work After yet another rain last night, we departed Fort Nelson about 7:45 AM on Sunday, July 12, 2009, heading west across the upper Canadian Rockies. We stopped at Tetsa for large cinnamon rolls about mid-morning, and continued slowly as road work allowed. Several times we were delayed for quite a few minutes, the longest being some 20+ minutes, and traveled over gravel for several miles. One’s view of road conditions is relative to at least two factors—what they’re used to, and how fast they drive. We have driven some pretty poor roads in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Montana, and I’m a slow, conservative driver, so for us, the roads are not too bad. Of course, they’re not a piece of cake, either! Some of the big rigs drive like there’s no tomorrow. Maybe they don’t care if they ‘tear’ up their rigs. Also, when they drive like a bat outta you know where, they miss all the animals and sites off the road. Why did they come?

Lots of Animals We had rain much of the drive today, but despite the weather, we saw lots of animals including two moose, several caribou, several stone sheep, lots of bison, and several black bears.

The drive along Muncho Lake was wonderful, with beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife. If traveling alone, we would have spent a couple of days here. Regrettably, we had camera problems today so there are few animal pictures, despite some great opportunities. Strawberry Flats was a very neat provincial park on Muncho Lake where we would have loved to stay. There are sites right on the lake!

Caravan Adventures The verdict is still out on this caravan. It was very well organized, but thus far, has been poorly executed. Several of the big rigs (40 foot +) have had problems delaying their arrival in camp, and they tend to get the larger pull-thru sites with better power supplies (30 amp or 50 amp electricity versus 15 to 20 amp for the rest of us) as they need lots of power to run all the niceties in their motor homes . That means the rest of us get what’s left over, or at least that’s my impression. Actually, they have to have the larger pull-thrus because of their length, but as an added bonus, they tend to get the better power supply as well. And today, we, along with over half the caravan, waited an hour and a half for the “wagon master” to arrive to assign camp sites. Unfortunately, the campground had changed owners, the previous owners had not left our reservation, and everything was topsy turvy. Finally, a couple of the ladies took things in their own hands and assigned the sites themselves. Of course, we ended up with one in which the power supply didn’t work at all. The RV park maintenance man did some work on the breaker box, and we finally ended up with variable 15 amp power. Consequently, I did not attend tonight’s meeting as the meetings seem to serve no purpose—a carryover from days as a bureaucrat attending many purposeless meetings! We did walk over to Liard Hot Springs for a wonderful soak in hot sulphur-laden water, and a brief respite from the mosquitoes. The electricity went out again, right in the middle of baking pizzas. I started the motorhome generator and finished baking while Kay sought repairs at the office. While we were eating, a First Nation woman who apparently owns the campground brought the relative young maintenance man down to fix the breaker—he was so drunk he could not walk by himself, and she had to physically support him—but he did fix the breaker! Amazing! Alcoholism is a huge problem among First Nation people (that’s Canadian for Indians). There was also a ‘local’ buffalo that seemed to adopt this RV camp area and the locals called him ‘John’. (that’s Kay’s son-in-law’s name too). John was a HUGE buffalo and he was very close to our RVs just munching the grasses and minding his business. Kay didn’t stay outside very long!

Our Recommendations for Liard Hot Springs, BC First, Muncho Lake is incredibly beautiful, and has lots of animals. We’d like to have spent more time there, and were advised to do so by our friends and Alaska travel mentors, Jerry and Ann. Also, if in the area, definitely visit Liard Hot Springs and take in a soak. The price is $5 per person for a day pass, and it does make one feel better.

Campground Liard Hot Springs Lodge and RV Park, Liard Hot Springs, BC Electric (variable, supplied by generator) and water. The pull-thru spaces allowed us to stay hooked-up to our Saturn, about the only plus to this campground. We would opt to stay in one of the provincial parks if in the area again, even if it meant dry camping, or drive in to Watson Lake, YT.

Driving Statistics
Beginning Mileage: 12,295.7
Beginning Time: 7:00 AM PDST
Ending Mileage: 12,483.9
Ending Time: 1:30 PM PDST
TOTAL MILEAGE FOR THE DAY: 188.2

CUMULATIVE MILEAGE: 3,092.4