Muncho Lake to Teslin Lake Yukon Gov. Campground, YKMay 20, 2012
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Muncho Lake, just a little ways down the road from where we...
Liard Hot Springs - Penny was thankful for me to finally get...
Wood bison and her calf gallop beside the highway to rejoin the...
| Sunday, May 20, 2012 Muncho Lake Provincial Park, BC to Teslin Lake Yukon Government Campground, YK 336 miles TRAVEL QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes “sight-seeing.” – Daniel J. Boorstin Today we were pretty active and definitely were strenuously searching for adventures (and wildlife)….we found both. Slept great and got up with the alarm at 7AM. It was cloudy but not quite as cold as previously. However, some of Muncho Lake had frozen back during the night, so you know it’s a little chilly here. Cleaned up, had blueberry scone for breakfast with my hot tea; Art had the usual cereal. Took some pictures of the campground and then hit the road at 9. We had several pictures stops along the way this morning, one for some stone sheep and one for BISON! They are so cool; can’t believe how huge they are. We made a terrific stop at Liard Hot Springs at 10; parked and walked down a long boardwalk to the Alpha Pool. There used to be a Beta pool further on, but it is permanently closed (they had a black bear attack in 1997 that killed a couple people and injured a few more). Guess people didn’t want to go back down to Beta pool after that…..but we didn’t see any bears there today and there were maybe 20-25 people there, certainly not as crowded as I had expected since it is a holiday weekend here. Not a very strong sulphur smell like the hot springs in New Zealand (Jenny, my bathing suit definitely does not have the sulphur stink like yours did after Rotorua). The upper section of the spring was very hot, and Art got in there. I went a bit further downstream where a cooler spring joins it and that was very warm and nice. Met a very nice couple from Austria who chatted for a while; they are in an RV they own and came up from West Palm Beach. Changed and went back to the rv at 12:30 and went on down the road to a pull out along a riverbank and had lunch (leftover pizza and Indian-what a combination). There was a zipline across the river but luckily it was chained down; otherwise I would have had to wrestle Art to keep him from trying it! LOL! After lunch we needed to put some miles behind us but we kept having to stop for wildlife sightings galore! We saw 18 bison total including one baby one and 5 separate bears on the way to Watson Lake. One of those bears was eating right next to the road; I was driving and Art made me roll the window down for pictures. That bear was big, close and chomping on something so loudly we could hear it clearly. Fortunately, he decided not to chomp on us – wait till you see those pictures! Got to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory at 4:15. We walked around the famous Signpost Forest (this is the original signpost forest and now has approx. 71,000 signs from around the world). It also now has a nifty one from North Carolina courtesy of the Cunninghams. It’s a license plate that says “If God is not a Tarheel, why is the sky Carolina Blue?” Plus we signed our names and the dates and the mileage to Chapel Hill. Maybe someday if we pass this way again or children or grandchildren do, they’ll be able to look it up. Wouldn’t that be something great?! For the record, it’s located on the 3rd row of posts between the building and the highway, about middle of the row, facing the building. You just can’t miss that Carolina Blue. Got good info from the visitors center and saw lots of pictures about the building of the Alaska Highway. Gassed up in Watson Lake before leaving for $1.34 a liter about 5:30. Pulled out at 6 and moved along, hoping to catch some dinner at a typical Yukon roadhouse. Well, let me tell you, that didn’t work out too well…..we stopped at Nugget City/Wolf It Down restaurant and it was C-R-A-Z-Y expensive. I’m talking $16 for a burger, $18 for spaghetti, $30 for a steak and lousy $2 for water. I thought Art was going to put his hands in the air and ask him where he had the gun!! LOL! We were going to split something like the two piece fish and chips but they wouldn’t allow it, so we just bought the water I had ordered before reading the price and a cinnamon bun for $3.50 and carried our happy selves on down the road. Pulled over at a rest area and I fired up the microwave to heat up our curry chicken rotis and shared that memorable cinnamon bun. Pulled back onto the road at 7:50 headed for Teslin. We saw a WOLF (very cool), a caribou, an owl and another bear along the way. Made it to Teslin at 10 and it was a beautiful sunset over the Nisutlin Bay Bridge into town (longest bridge on the Alaska Highway). Went to the Teslin Lake Yukon Government campground and got settled in. A few folks there, not many. Still really light. Watched a bit of our two dvds about upcoming things and headed to bed at 11. Tomorrow is an early day to hit the road, headed to Whitehorse. We’re getting close to Alaska!!! |
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