Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Day 27- To Liard River, BC

I thought we were going to have company last night. Two tractor trailers pulled in beside us. One stayed for about 10 minutes and the other left after about ½ hour. I figure the first needed to “check his tires” or catch up with his log book. The other probably stopped for a bite to eat. We had a quick breakfast and headed down the road and into Pink Mountain for gas. We’ve noticed the price has jumped about 40 cents as we’ve traveled away from Dawson Creek. They figure they’ve got you and they’re right. If you don’t buy it from them, you won’t make it to Delta Junction, the official end of the Alaska Highway. We spotted another moose first thing this morning, another cow. This morning, we’ve seen lots of evidence of mud slides and road work being done because of flash flooding. We did establish we have moved into Pacific Time Zone, now three hours earlier than home. And Carl said it was still light well after 11:00PM last night. I’m having trouble getting used to that. This was a busy wildlife day in other ways. Early in the day we saw signs warning us to be careful of moose, Stone sheep, elk, deer, wild horses and buffalo. By the end of the day we had seen one male Stone Sheep, one white tailed doe, a fox, the moose earlier that day and then the surprise. We saw a young female porcupine caribou all by herself. A little further down the road, we saw another female caribou and then a third. Another quarter of a mile later, we say a male caribou. This was a great surprise as we hadn’t been warned to watch for them but not nearly as big a surprise as the black bear sow with a single very small cub in tow. Carl certainly got the camper and truck stopped quickly for this photo op. Unfortunately, the gravel skidding of the trailer brakes alerted Mom and before I could get focused on her, she crossed the road with the cub and went down into a swale. I thought that was the end of it but Carl took the camera, crossed the street and started shooting away. Then he remembered he could use the lens to get closer. His was the only decent shot of the bear today. Later in the afternoon, we came upon a large mixed herd of Bison grazing on the side of the road. I got out, used the camper as a shield and took several photos, some with calves. I was so close, I could hear them ripping the grass off as they moved along. It made quite a sound. Then without warning, one of the bulls decided to cross the road, about 50 feet from me. I froze. He was followed by a few of the cows and calves and gradually, the rest of the herd found it’s way across the pavement. One car coming up behind us, stopped in the middle of the road and took pictures while another vehicle headed southbound did pretty much the same thing. That was when I decided it was time for us to leave. I created the buffalo jam and then left. When the sun finally came out today, we were treated to some beautiful scenery of emerald green rivers like the MacDonald and the Trout as well as some breathtaking panoramas of the Canadian Rockies. Of course, the dark clouds didn’t leave altogether and we drove into showers off and on all day. Carl has made a reservation at the Liard River Lodge campground for this evening. They have a television in their lounge and we will watch the All Star game and have a bite to eat. Sadly, I’ll have to say goodbye to my XM radio. We lost the satellite signal at about the same time we found the campground. We’re too far over the horizon and can’t lock on. The campground is just another RV Park but we have electricity and water for the night. We’ll fill up with water and gas in the morning, empty the other tanks and head of for Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory. We had supper at the Lodge, watched seven innings of the All Star game, seeing the American League losing, and retired to the camper which I have come to think of as home.

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