Downtown RV Park Watson Lake Yukon, Canada

Mileage:  42,328

There was a stone sheep with a broken horn on the shoulder of the road as we pulled away from Summit Lake.  It was hard to leave such a pretty place. We passed a mule deer and then we were among magnificent mountain views.

We wound our way along the rivers…McDonald River, Racing River, Toad River, Trout River, Liard River, Smith River, Kechika River, Coal River, Hyland River, and the Dease River on our way to Watson Lake.  The rivers are transparent, aqua blue and fast moving.

We saw a bull moose in the boggy area far below, a black bear on the shoulder as we rounded the bend and one bicyclist chugging uphill his bike loaded with panniers.

There are large wash areas that we assumed were due to snow melt.  In the summertime though, there are downpours.  There is a lack of vegetation on the rugged peaks and the rain travels along the crevices in the bare mountaintops.  The crevices act as chutes.  Sand, gravel and even large boulders are carried into the gullies before washing onto the valley floor.  For awhile the highway was more manicured – less rugged and wild.  Engineers have created culverts and shaped the land to try to control the washes and in order to protect the highway. The shoulders are wider, the road is smoother and there is less wildlife.

Past Liard Hot Springs, we saw a herd of wood bison along the river far below.  Not long afterward we saw a single bison on the shoulder and then the rest of the herd on the slope above – moms and calves.

We saw a big black bear walking in the grassy area near the road.

When we saw our first grizzly bear, we were actually in an area where we could pull over and watch him until he wandered back into the trees.

We saw two smaller grizzly bears several miles later.

We saw two bison bulls grazing roadside and then a solitary male further down the road.

A bald eagle soared in the cloudless blue sky.

We had bugs the “size of sparrows” splattering the windshield today.

We are now in the Yukon Province in Watson Lake.  We needed to fill with diesel, do laundry, and buy some groceries.  The next sizable town is 500 km away.

We went to a small local place for dinner.

After dinner we walked through the Sign Post Forest…we didn’t bring our own sign but we did find one from Taneytown, Maryland…not too far from home!  There are more than 85,000 signs!