North of 60 (Yukon get there from here)

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We got on the road at 8:30, with about 650 km ahead of us. We were still playing catch up from the whole tire fiasco in Grande Prairie. We had fallen about 80 km short of our intended destination of Liard River provincial park and their hot springs. So the first order of business was to stop at Liard and have a quick soak in the sulphur spring pool. There are 2 pools there and depending which one you go to, and where you sit in it, the water temperature ranges from 40 to 65 C.

These are completely natural pools around which the province has built a nice boardwalk and locker room facilities. They also have benches in the pool to allow visitors to sit and enjoy the soothing effects of the water. We stayed in the water for a mere 30 mins before having to push on again.

We were now entering an area that only days earlier had been engulfed in an out of control forest fire. Smoke still lingered in the air and fire crews from across western Canada were present at every gas station and roadside restaurant. I was approached by a firefighter from Calgary who told me about his trip down to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, on a KLR 650. Just when I start to think that I am some kind of big time adventurer, someone always comes along to knock me down a peg. Last time it was those Belgians!

We also met Tom from Florida on his Goldwing. Tom has been to every state and province. I haven't checked yet, but you can read his blog at www.touringtom.com.

Early in the day we spotted a Grizzly and I stand corrected, the other bears sighted up until then were not of the Grizzly persuasion, but rather Black bears. Can you still call them that? We also came across 4 Bisons on the highway and stopped for pictures. They mostly ignored us.

Lunch was in Watson Lake, Yukon. Watson Lake is home of the Alaska highway sign forest. Not sure how it started but at some point travelers started bringing signs from their hometowns and nailing them to posts. It looked to me that there were thousands of signs there. It's sort of a neat thing when you consider people have been doing it for 60 years or so. A lot of the Alaska Highway is what I would call "kitsh" (or tacky), but it seems to fit with the feel of the highway.

We did make it to Whitehorse, or more specifically Takhini Hot Springs just north of Whitehorse effectively putting us back on track. Normally I would not be so concerned about schedules, but we had to make reservations for things like the ferry and kayaking that everything else depends on.

We managed to get a soak in the hot springs in when we arrived here. It's half past midnight now and just getting dark. We are effectively north of 6o now. We've left the Alaska highway for a bit and are now on the Klondike Loop which will take us north to Dawson City, not to be confused with Dawson Creek. Both are named after the same surveyor though.

As I drive the highway I have to remind myself that the whole thing was carved out of the wilderness in a matter of 8 months in 1942. Pretty astounding. The current condition of the roadway far exceeds anything I ever hoped for, butmost of it is still in the back and beyond of absolutely nowhere. Quite a feeling to stop and think where you are on the globe and how you got there.

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