TOAD RIVER TO TESLIN – 8/9/14

And so the journey continues.  When I was out walking the dogs early this morning, I couldn’t help but to admire the engineering feats of the beavers who built the dam and beaver home that formed the pond next to our campsite.  These busy creatures are fascinating to watch.  I also witnessed how the light reflects on the mountain next to our campsite and captures colors that weren’t noticeable the evening before.  Fascinating.

 We passed a lot more trees and several burned out areas where a forest fire had killed over 400,000 acres of forest.  This is supposed to be good for the small creatures that feed on the young shuts of green growth that occur after such a fire.  The roads were long and winding with some very rough patches.  Many of the sharp curves next to the rivers and lakes were absent of guard rails, so driving could be a little dangerous at night.

Laird Springs was on our “to do” list, but the area was poorly marked and drove right by it without knowing we had missed it.  When you are driving as far as we are, the rule is… NO BACKTRACKING.  We were successful in capturing some animal sightings today.  We even saw a black bear eating a dead Bison. The bear was not even phased when our dogs went nuts alongside the road barking out the window. Here are some of the animals seen in our travels today: 

By the way BRRRRR- cool 45 degrees in the morning and got to 58 degrees late today.  We heard our hometown hit a record high of 101 degrees this week.  Traveling north in the summer has its advantages.  We stopped at the Watson Creek Information office for the Yukon.  It is next to what is called the “Sign Post Forest”.  People from all over the world have nailed licensed plates and signs from their hometowns here.  There are several paths that lead throughout this maze of signs.  Very unique.  

We stopped at Coal River Lodge/Way Station to get gas today. (You dare not let your fuel tank drop below ½ full because the gas stations are far and few between).  The owner told us they are “off the grid” and generate their own electricity to run the fuel pumps.  They have to sell 1000 liters of fuel per day just to break even on running the generator.  Stories like that are common in the Yukon.  Here are a few of today’s pictures that were taken along the way.

Rancheria Falls, just off the Alaskan Highway has a very nice trail through a Boreal Forest.  Part was a boardwalk that led out to an overlook at the falls.  This was a very pretty place that made a nice mid-day break.  

We arrived in Teslin and stayed at the Yukon Lodge and RV Park that is located on Teslin Lake.  We were both so tired, we had fish and chips dinner at the restaurant on-site.  

Tomorrow we will be passing through Whitehorse and approaching some of the worst roads reported on the AlCan Highway.  I’m so glad we aren’t pulling our 5th Wheel trailer.  The washboard roads would really give it a beating.