After leaving Fort Nelson we had a moderate day of driving with a wonderful stop at Liard Hot Springs. When Lexie and I were at the hot springs 10 years ago we only went in one of the pools. The upper pool had either been closed or we had just not noticed it. Forced to guess I would guess that it was closed because there had been someone killed at the hot springs by a bear the previous year but I don't exactly remember. On our earlier visit we had also failed to notice a wonderful little swimming hole just down stream of the main pool. I am reasonably certain this over site happened because the last time we visited we were in colder weather and we were traveling without children. Children seem much more motivated than adults to find good swimming holes.
We had a lot of fun in Liard Hot Springs.
The upper pool was too deep for our kids but Kylie and I were able to go up to it for a while. The pool is about 9 feet deep. I couldn't remember ever swimming in a hot pool before. It was a very interesting experience. The bottom of the deep pool was pretty gross and gooky but it didn't really matter because for the most part one couldn't touch it or could avoid touching it by staying on the steps. The rest of the features of the hot pool were quite paradisiacal. The forest surrounding the springs is gorgeous and the water color is outstanding. Between the upper and lower pools there are some hanging gardens which I imagine are quite nice when they are in season but they were not in season when we saw them.
In the main pool the water gets cooler as one goes down stream. We learned of a local challenge of putting a rock on top of a pile at the inlet of the hot spring where the spring is the hottest. Not being on to miss a good challenge I added my rock. A couple of times I wondered how hot water had to be and how long it would take for a person to boil alive but I took confidence in the number of rocks in the pile at my target. The trick to getting to the pile is that the steam has two inlets, one inlet is very very hot the other is much cooler such that the water on the top pool is much hotter than the water on the bottom. If one stirs the water it creates and average temperature that is quite reasonable. Not withstanding vigorously turning the water by the time I had my rock added to the pile I was quite ready to be out of the hot spring and into the cool air around it.
There was a little drop between the main pool and the swimming hole. The kids had a lot of fun sitting in the miniature waterfall created by the drop. Another feature that was very popular was a log that went across the pool offering a great spot from which to jump back in the pool. I was more ready to get back on the road and get some more miles under belt than the kids were. I sold the idea that we would be able to stop on the way back. Kylie spent a little time trying to figure out if she would be able to come back with us instead of fly but concluded her mom wouldn't want to lose the money which had already been spent on a plane ticket. I was pleased that this far into the trip Kylie was still considering the trip as something she enjoyed doing and would want to do again.
In the parking lot we had what I described as "nothing like a good dinner". It truly was nothing like a good dinner. I don't think I will ever buy fat free hot dogs again. After some more driving we found a rest area just outside of Watson Lake which allowed us a free place to park over night.
In the morning we made a brief stop at the sign post forest in Watson lake. I really like the place because it is so creative. The sign post forest is a collection of almost every kind of sign imaginable. We had fun to trying to find city limit signs of places that we know. Several of the signs are home made signs of travelers who have passed through.
The sign post forest in Watson Lake
From Watson Lake a full day of driving put us in Skagway at 4:30 in the afternoon with the extra hour we picked up from the time change. While living in Alaska I remember laughing at the tourists quite a bit because they ask such outrageous questions and seem so clueless. Having matured 10 years I expected my cynical view of tourists to have relaxed a lot but I soon found that it hadn't. Driving into town the first thing we did was drive to the ferry terminal. We got stopped in the middle of a "herd" of tourists as a tour train was crossing the road. Almost immediately one of the tourists was knocking on my window excitedly. I rolled down the window of the suburban and he asked, "How did you get here!?" in a tone of utter amazement. I thought the fact I was sitting in a car with a travel trailer behind it was a pretty good clue as to how I had gotten there but took the time to carefully explain the process to the man anyway. Two of my favorite tourist questions are: in reference to the ice bergs in the Mendenhall Lake "Is that ice or frozen water?" and in reference to some rocks at the head of the Mendenhall River "Do those rocks go all the way to the bottom of the river?".
We weren't alone on the highway. This photo was taken in a construction zone so it greatly exaggerates the traffic. However with that said the Alaska Highway is popular with good reason to be so.
We continued to have great wildlife viewing opportunities.
There was plenty of great scenery.
I think we are about 30 miles out of Skagway here.
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