The morning was cold and drizzly, and breakfast at the Blueberry Esso in Wonowon (at mile 101 of the Alaska Highway) didn't exactly brighten the day. We met up with an adv tourer from North Carolina, and rode with him on and off throughout the morning.
We all stopped for gas at Buckinghorse River Lodge, but found a note on the pump apologizing for there being no gas left. The note said the next gas was 125 miles north (too far) or 30 miles back south (too bad). Then I noticed a sign at the building across the highway. It looked like it said "unleaded gasoline" on it. Why would the gas station I was at send me back 30 miles when there was gas right across the highway? We went to check it out, and sure enough they had plenty of gas. I asked the guy who unlocked the pumps for us if he knew the competition across the road was sending people 30 miles back. "Yeah, that guy is crazy. We put signs up along the road saying we had gas, and he drove over them with a truck. His wife has a black eye, y'know? Some guy ran out of gas, then found out we have gas from someone who stopped to help him. He came back and punched the crazy guy out." So…if you ever need gas at Buckinghorse River, go to the building on the EAST side of the highway not on the WEST.
The scenery north of Fort Nelson is amazing. If we'd stopped to take pictures, I'd show you, but we didn't. They wouldn't have done the scenery justice anyway. There was quite a bit of gravel due to roadwork, which made for some very dusty and a few tricky sections as gravel mixed with pavement. The highway snakes along immediately beside Muncho Lake, just a few feet above the water. The lake is breathtaking, even with bug guts splattered in your right eye and nowhere to stop to wash them out.
We stopped at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park for the night, caught dinner at the lodge across the highway just as it closed, and walked up to enjoy the hot springs with all the other tourists. The beta pool was probably the nicest, although perhaps only because it wasn't nearly as busy as the alpha pool. There were languages and accents from all over, which I always enjoy. Most people at the pools were friendly, and happy to chat and give tips on how to fan cool water from the pool floor up onto yourself as you make your way to the searing hot source to place a trophy stone on the pile.
We met Anne, who is heading from Vancouver to Dawson City by truck to pick up a friend then up the Dempster to Inuvik. She gave us some tips on the pools before we headed up, including the fact that the sulphur smell does not go well with an empty stomach. She was gone by the time we got back, but left a note wishing us well. Maybe we'll see you up the road, although you've got a good head start on us now.
We also met a couple of adv riders out of Anchorage, who were heading back after three weeks down to California. I hope you guys get some sleep before work on Monday! We'll do our best not to make any "trophy rocks" on the Dempster.
Finally, thanks to the staff who runs Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park for allowing us to stay in the Day Use area because the normal tent sites were all full. There were several other tenters staying there as well, and we were all grateful for this exception from the normal provincial park rules. The park is particularly far from any other accommodations, and allowing tired campers to pitch a tent where there is room surely keeps many tired campers off the roads at night. Good policy, and I hope it doesn't get abused.
"Day Use Area". Do I even need to go into the obvious puns?
ReplyDeleteAAHahaha!
ReplyDeleteit was nice of you guys to let the others stay.