Alaska - Day Five: 1684.6 miles to Muncho Lake & Liard Hot Springs

Left first thing in the morning to set off to Liard Hot Springs. Dease Lake might have been the boys' favorite, but all my dad talked about when they got back from Alaska was Liard Hot Springs.

While the road had tons of warning signs for bison, we didn't see one. We did, however, see four black bears! But we only were able to get pics of three of them. It seems like there should have been bear signs on the road... ;)

Our first stop was Whirlpool Canyon. There was a huge log jam on the river and shale-like rock everywhere.

Coal River Lodge seemed like a terrific place to stop for gas. After all, they'd been there since 1949 and gave you free ice with fill-up. It turned out to be the most expensive bag of cubed ice on the planet! It cost $85 Canadian to fill up half a tank! (and no, the exchange rate didn't make it any less painful)

Since we weren't in a large RV or trailer, we drove down the 1.6 mile gravel road to Smith River Falls and trail. It was a pretty challenging road (lots of tree branches and potholes) but a nice view upon arrival. The trail to the falls was washed out at the end and it seemed a long way to hike to be robbed of the view at the end. So we peed in the woods, took some pics and headed back to the highway.

Just before we got back to the road I was sure I saw a SUV with a trailer coming towards us. Obviously, they hadn't read the recommendation in The Milepost or figured they weren't large enough to be a problem. It was probably going to be a problem... We let them know about the conditions, but they weren't too concerned and had come too far to back out so they continued on. I always wondered how they did???

We arrived at Liard, hurriedly picked out our campsite, got changed into swimsuits and hiked straight out to the hot springs...

 They tell you that the water is hot but you really don't appreciate how hot 108-126 is until you are in it! The hottest section has a pile of rocks behind it where the daring (and stupid) go. All you have to do is walk over to the bank and deposit a rock there. We didn't do it and everyone we met that did, wished they hadn't. One guy (probably in his early 30s) said he honestly thought his heart was going to explode. Yup. No thanks!

Thankfully, the water in the lower pool is much cooler and gets cooler as it narrows back into the brush...

We went back to camp, changed out of our swimsuits, ate a hurried lunch and left to go kayaking on Muncho Lake.

Like most of North America, summer is road construction season and we got stuck in it. The entire highway was being re-routed. There were trucks everywhere. Including giant dump trucks. I'd never seen trucks that big in real life before and I must say that they are impressive! We played card games on the cooler between our seats while we waited for our pilot car...

Oh, and apparently the bison aren't bothered by road construction...

Mineral Licks seemed like a good place for our next hike with a sort-of promise of seeing stone sheep, goats, caribou and elk. Although we didn't see any of them, it was a very pretty spot.

 Muncho Lake means "big lake" in the local Kaska language. It is 7.5 miles long and about 1 mile wide. Some say the deepest point is 730 feet. It is one of the largest natural lakes in Canada. The water is a gorgeous deep blue-green color from the copper oxide leaching into the lake.

Kayaking out to Honeymoon Island seemed like fun until the black clouds rolled over the hills and we heard thunder...

We had a snack instead while we soaked our feet in the water on the dock and watched a float plane land until it started to rain...

 

Road construction hadn't ended yet and we weren't feeling rushed to sit and wait. Instead, we pulled over to the side of the road and took some shots of the Trout River...

And then we got stuck in construction traffic anyway... But candy and giant dump trucks make the wait more bearable. :)

The closer we got to Liard, the higher the thermometer climbed. By the time we got back to camp, it was up to 80! We set up a tarp off the side of the van for shade and relaxed for a bit.

Because the sun doesn't go down until about 1am (and never really gets totally dark), it got late before we got hungry. To work up an appetite for supper, we took a hike up to the hanging gardens above the hot springs. Because of the heat from the springs, 250 different plants grow there, including 14 species of orchids.

After we'd eaten and most of the families had returned for bed, we wandered back to the hot springs. What we didn't know was that is also when all of the rule-breakers (dogs, beer...) hitch hikers and backpackers wander in to avoid the entrance fee. It definitely made our second swim much less enjoyable.

For the first time, we went to bed without any blankets... Whew!