Day 25: Continuing up the Alaska Highway

We packed up everything wet again before leaving Liard River Hot Springs and heading north. We stopped briefly in Watson Lake, trying to get a cell  phone signal in order to check email.  Dan and Ranger took a walk along Wye Lake while I fooled with it until I determined that the signal was too weak. 

The road continued through miles and miles of pines, with many small rivers and streams. In a few areas, we went through large, snow-capped mountains, the Cassiars. 

What was notable about the day’s trip was finally seeing some wildlife.  Shortly after leaving Liard River, there was a black bear along the highway, just munching on his breakfast, and shortly after that another…and another.  I think we saw a total of about ten bears on this one day.  In addition, there were road signs warning motorists to watch for bison on the road.  Bison?  Yes, there was a fairly wide swatch of grass along the road bed, but beyond that it was solid trees.  It certainly did not look like the wide plains in which one pictures bison!  But yes, we did come upon one group of about ten, including some calves, and a single bull later on.

We passed through Teslin, a small town that has a museum and a number of other businesses related to Native arts and history.  There was a small RV park there, and we considered staying for the night, but decided to go on a bit farther.  We pulled in at Johnson’s Crossing RV Park, right next to the bridge over the Teslin River, and that turned out to be a good choice.  The RV Park was nothing special, but unlike many we have passed, it went well beyond a gravel parking lot with rows of electrical hookups.  This one actually had some trees and shrubs between sites!  It also advertised hot showers and a Laundromat.  The hot showers turned out not to be the case, in that the complex’s hot water heater had broken, but being somewhat desperate for a shower, we both took bracing cold ones.  (The owner tried his best to get some hot water going for us, but without success.)  The Laundromat was also without hot water, but I was able to do a couple of loads in cold water, getting our laundry bag back to manageable size.  It had really gotten stuffed!

In talking with the owners, we found out that they had just bought the place and opened for business in mid-June.  So far their efforts had gone into renovating the five motel rooms and the café, but they had plans for fixing up the campground area as well.  Very nice people.   We decided to splurge and have a big breakfast of eggs, hash browns, toast, and bacon in the café this morning before leaving to continue the trip.