The first part of the day was in boreal forested flatish but rolling hills--nothing terribly scenic but different. Once past Fort Nelson, the Alaska highway takes you back to the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains. Weather is still very mild, and we did see some wildlife. A moose, bear, sheep and coyote.
On our route we passed a number of natural gas processing plants and worker trailer camps to house their staff. Trailer living for the workers certainly looks decent but rather Spartan in terms of amenities.
For some reason, Terry has let me break trail on this trip, but we always see them in our rear view mirror right behind us.
Next pit stop was Toad River. Steve E. Brought it to my attention and it did not disappoint. Great restaurant with Rv and gas stop in the middle of nowhere. Terry and I each contributed a hat to the collection and received a card with our number on it. I was the 10,154th hat to be stapled to the walls or ceiling. She handed me a stapler and I nailed them in a great spot, right near the cashier's till for posterity. What an amazing sight to see 10,000 hats covering any flat surface available in the place!
At 1723 km into our ride we hit our first gravel on the Alaska highway. It was very smooth and well graded, but a half hour earlier we hit a bit of rain. Well once we were on the gravel-clay road, you guessed it, our poor Frankie and little George got covered in mud. What a mess. The gravel only lasted for 4 km but the cleanup will take at least an hour! The Bushes had the same mess as us to drive on but chose wisely to stay well behind us on this stretch. .
Muncho is a gem of a lake. Incredibly clear (and cold). It is overcast now with a few raindrops and a dusting of fresh snow high on the mountains.
The crystal clear water of Muncho make our lakeside campsite seem a northern paradise with the steep glaciated Rocky Mountains in the background. Since darkness does not set in until 10:30 we took a quick ride in George to explore another beautiful campsite on the lake as well as the NORTHERN Rockies lodge. It was a classically designed large log structure that looked almost new with rooms and a restaurant with a vaulted log ceiling that extended over 20 ft. Right beside this structure was the ancient original lodge that was still in use, with a beayriful combination of rock and logs making it look like it came out of a postcard from the 1950's.
In talking with the "locals" here we found that even though the lake had some good fishing, we were early, as the ice just left the lake 2 DAYS AGO! Prime time was late May and June.
One nice thing about our timing for the trip is that beyond Pink Mountain, we have not seen a single mosquito or bug on the car windshield or on us!
...back to the campsite and our first crib challenge of the holiday, that did not go well for Terry and me.
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