September 8th

B - reporting

Up early to a lovely sunrise over the bare mountains, turning the grey rocks all shades of pink. It was not too chilly, and we bumbled around having coffee and porridge, enjoying the view of the lake. We were on the highway by 8am, aiming for the Liard hot springs, which had been recommended to us by a random dude, and several guidebooks.

However! when we arrived we were informed the Springs are closed till 11am! This was due to tree felling, so fair enough, but we were still rather disappointed. We had a long ways to go so we carried on towards Watson Lake. We had been driving for about 10 mins when G said, excitedly 'look!' and pointed at a black bear in the middle of a large puddle, or small pond, near the side of the road. We stopped and looked at it through binoculars and the camera lens as it splashed around, scratching its ear and looking remarkably like a human (in a bear suit) having a bath.

When he got out of the pond we retreated to the car and drove slowly away. The scenery continued magnificent, autumnal trees exploding in gold and russet, and we enjoyed just being there until we rounded a corner to discover a herd of Wood Bison grazing beside the road. They are magnificent beasts. We watched them for ages, uninterrupted by any other traffic. They do seem a bit dim, though, wondering across the highway, and unfortunately they are often the victims of traffic accidents.

We reached Watson Lake by lunchtime, and really enjoyed the Visitor Information Centre with it's great film about the Alaska Highway and it's free coffee and plethora of brochures, maps, and other v helpful info.

The weather closed in a bit during the afternoon, and though it had stopped raining by the time we reached our campsite at Tesling Lake it was really quite chilly. G started a fire in the fire pit while I cooked another spamtastic meal, but we had to retreat into the car quite early. I was quite chilly at night, despite wearing
socks...maybe I removed the thermals too early.