Travels With Sir Charles: Liard Hot Springs, BC

After a great night of sleep, we were on the road about 9:00 AM. Three weeks ago this would have seemed very late. Now that we are headed home, we seem to be in less of a hurry to get going. There must be a hidden meaning in that.

Yesterday, we drove longer and stayed closer to Watson Lake than planned. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our intention was to stay at Watson Lake but it was dusty and windy. The campgrounds are open gravel parking lots. These are very low on our list of ideal places to spend the night. We are picky in our old age. We decided to find something better down the road. Watson Lake does have an interesting attraction. The Sign Post Forest is a tourist must see. In 1942 a homesick soldier working on the Alcan Highway, placed a sign with his hometown and mileage on a post here. It became a place for travelers to leave signs on their way up or down the Alcan Highway. Today there are over 45,000 signs from all corners of the globe. It was a fascinating place to wonder through.

We gassed up again (cha-ching) and headed down the road toward Milepost 0 in Dawson Creek, which is still 610 miles away. We joined the Alcan west of Watson Lake on our way up so this is all new road to us. The road was mostly good with only short graveled stretches. The wildlife viewing was fabulous. Along the highway we spotted three black bears and a dozen or more bison, which were re-introduced to this area from Montana a few decades ago. We tried to get pictures but the road shoulders were narrow so stopping for photos is discouraged.

We had decided to camp tonight in the Liard River Hotsprings Provincial Park. That was a great decision on our part. The park had a few sites left so we were able to find a quiet spot in the heavily wooded campground. This place is visited by bears so Charlie is on high alert. As we drove near the entrance, Karen spotted a small group of bison in the tall grass alongside the road. Five or six adults and five newborn calves satisfied our need for a picture. They were laying in the grass sleeping off a full day of grazing on the abundant supply of food along the highway.

After dinner we laid out a plan for the next few days and now we are ready for a few hours of reading and relaxing.