Day 15 - Liard River, B.C. to Watson Lake, Yukon

Marlene and Nelson Cahill Rig#15

Our Assignment was to describe our journey from Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake – an approximately 128 mile drive – taken on June 23, 2010. Our day began to the now-familiar tune of the tail gunner thumping our tires. Because last night was the first of two “dry camping” nights, we fired up the generator to brew our coffee and heat the water for our showers.

We made a discovery this morning: Tiny, pesky flies LOVE the smell of our window cleaner. We attracted quite a swarm while cleaning the windshield.

As we exited the campground, a posted sign warned us of “Buffalo on the Road.” Boy, were they right! Just outside of the park entrance, a wood bison crossed the road right in front of our rig. Further down the road, we encountered an entire herd of wood bison crossing the road. The largest male had a yellow tag around his neck.

As we drove, we passed a huge section of forest that showed signs of fire damage. On the one hand, it was sad to see the burned trees. On the other hand, we realize that fire helps clear the way for new trees to grow.

About 45 miles down the road, we saw a black bear sitting on its haunches, enjoying the view of the RVs traveling down the highway.

The daily trip log showed that we would cross from British Columbia into the Yukon for the first of seven border crossings. The Yukon Territory takes its name from the First Nations word “Youcon” meaning “Big River.” And, of course, the Yukon River is huge – beginning 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean and flowing for 2000 miles before reaching the Bering Sea. After about 84 miles of driving, we encountered our first “Welcome to the Yukon” sign. We then crossed back into British Columbia about 10 miles down the road. We encountered our second “Yukon” sign just before arriving at our campgrounds and just after about four miles of gravel road.

At about 3:30 p.m., we joined the rest of our caravan to car pool to town for a visit to the Sign Post Forest where over 67,983 signs have been left by travelers from around the world on their way through Watson Lake. It is the largest forest of its kind in the world. Our group proudly erected a commemorative sign to show that we have been here. Several of our group placed individual signs as well.

In the early evening, many of us attended a movie at the Northern Lights Center about the Aurora Borealis – not visible at this time of the year.