SaltyAdventurer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2009
- Posts
- 142
Saturday June 15, 2013
Ahhhhh, a short drive today. Well rested are we! Took off by 7 am?got lots of good sleep.
We fell asleep shortly after 9 last night to the sound of hard rain once again pelting the roof of the Rollin Home, a lovely white noise. A dozen rainstorms in a single day. Amazing. Volatile weather, indeed. One minute the breezes are gentle and the sky is bright blue; the next, winds begin blasting, heavy clouds boil above, thunder threatens, and rain pelts -- sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes an hour or more.
I almost always start the day driving, then we switch off when we stop for a pit break or fuel or both. Yesterday, we spoke with folks who had driven south to Fort Nelson and had seen dozens of bison in the road and alongside it, some elk, quite a few large bull and cow moose, bighorn sheep (Stone sheep, as they?re known in this part of BC) as well as black bears and brown bears (grizzlies) on the sides of the road. They had dozens of pictures to show for it. Hopefully, we set out, carefully scanning the roadsides where trees ended and grass began.
As always, splendid scenery. Big vistas. Bigger mountains up ahead, dark and tree-covered at first, and quite rounded, but steeper, more jagged and raw granite as we proceeded north toward Muncho Lake. Suddenly we began seeing small white signs, neatly printed, alerting us to warm, fresh-baked, buttery cinnamon buns a couple of kilometers ahead. Got me hooked instantly! Took 2 signs to hook Don! Third sign said ?Irresistible Gift Shop!? Aw, nuts, I can resist that, just not the notion of hot fresh coffee and fresh-baked cinnamon buns at this early hour of the morning!
The stop at Tetsa River Services & Campground for warm buns and java was well worth it! Coffee was freshly dripped and buns were definiteldy homemade, large and gooey, with tons of cinnamon and not much frosting, just the way I like em! Knife-and-fork buns, to be sure! With our cups and plates, we asked to join a fellow sitting at one of the 3 or 4 small tables in the place ? looked like a local, dressed in hunters camo garb. Turned out that his brother-in-law owns the campground/fuel station/restaurant we were at ? he and his wife were ?watching over the place? and doing the cooking/baking for a few days as a favor.
His wife delivered the warm gooey buns to us with the announcement, ?Here?s your Ultimate Experience!? Mmmmm, yeah! The place typically bakes 4 or 5 large batches of rolls per day in the summer months when tourists are driving to/from Alaska on the Alaska Highway?serving 200 to 300 Ultimate Experiences a day! Worth a stop!
The nice fella we sat with told us there was a local fishing derby going on for 2 days at Muncho Lake, which would make it tough for us to get an RV site at the lake in the Provincial Park campground (dry-camping) we wanted. Oh well, there are 2 other campgrounds available, both commercial parks, that we?ll try.
Muncho Lake is known worldwide for its enormous lake trout, up to 35 pounds and larger. Natural. No stocked fish in this lake, which is 7 miles long, flanked by huge mountains, and is a gorgeous turquoise color as the result of copper oxide leaching into the water and being suspended as fine powder in the water. When the suns rays hit the suspended flecks of powder, the reflected color is blue-green on the spectrum, and produces this gorgeous lake, almost as if it?s make-believe. Muncho Lake is jewel-like, surrounded 360 degrees by high mountains, those at the south end jagged and pointed and with rivers of snow running down their sides.
Our cinnamon-bun Tetsa Lake table-mate and his wife live in Fort St. John, just south of Fort Nelson, and have lived there since the early 1960s, moving north from Calgary. He changed careers in the 70s and began learning the oil and gas exploration business, from the bottom up. While moving working many different jobs and earning promotions in the gas pipeline biz, he found a niche where there was a need for contract vendors, so he launched his own business 10 years ago and now has 5-6 employees. He talked at length about the difficulty of hiring employees (particularly young ones) willing to learn the critical steps in his part of the pipeline business in a way that would ensure safe operations and no life-threatening explosions. The business he?s in poses major risks if someone inadvertently creates a spark -- and he was in at least one huge explosion years ago that could?ve killed him -- so he?s careful to teach each employee the safe way of doing each task.
Minutes before reaching Muncho Lake, stopped in the road ahead of us was a truck camper we assumed was watching some wildlife. Hooray! Two moose, both big shiny-brown cows, on the wide of the road eyeing our vehicles suspiciously. The vehicle ahead of us crept one tiny inch forward, spooking the moose, which stepped immediately into the forest and disappeared instantly, blending in with the foliage and the trees in a split second. No time for a picture. But we saw them, at least!
We pulled into Northern Rockies Lodge at about 12:30. This is a very nice with a big log-cabin lodge building up front. Built in the 1950s, it sits on the eastern shore of Muncho Lake and has RV sites right on the shore as well. Got a 10% discount on the price of diesel with our registration, so we filled up at an effective rate of $1.799 per liter, which was pretty good for these parts (equal to $6.57/gal). Bad, but not as bad as some places, which were $1.999/liter. There aren?t many places to get fuel along this road, so we don?t quibble about prices. Monday when we leave, we?ll top off again at Contract Creek, which apparently has the best fuel prices any place around here.
We?re staying here for 2 nights, just to enjoy the lakeshore and walk a bit, as weather allows. The last thing we wanted was another day or two of driving 6-8 hours in a day. Too tiring. It isn?t cheap ? we?re paying $50/night for 30 amp electric and water hookups. But the views are wonderful, and the place is very uncrowded. Lots of places to walk and hike right from here. Basically, 2 days off.
When we leave Monday morning, we?ll stop at Liard Hot Springs (pronounced leerd) about 60 miles north of here, where there are 2 big warm pools for public use right in the river. Using this noteworthy hot springs doesn?t appeal to Don one bit?his skin is so sensitive it would probably cause a horrible rash or something that would torment him for the rest of this trip. But I think it sounds terrific?and I?m absolutely determined that I will put on my suit and go sit in the Liard?s hot pools (104 degrees) for a while, turning myself into a limp noodle. I?ve always wanted to do this? I?ll be the first driver of the day, as far as the hot springs, then Don will have to take over because I?ll turn into a puddle of jello.
While I?ve been writing this, we?ve gone from sunny skies to dark and gloomy and a brief squall, causing whitecaps to sweep down the length of the lake, accompanied by driving rain and winds. Now, 20 minutes later, we?re back to sunny skies and calm waters on the lake. You would have laughed aloud to see Don when we pulled into our site for the night?he pulled out my blue nylon easy chair so I could read, then the skies blackened and he put it away again. Then the skies cleared and he took it out again, then the skies darkened again and he quickly stowed it again. And this was all in the 20 minutes before lunch!
Don also did a bit of maintenance on the Rollin Home today?a few squirts of liquid wrench on the automatic steps to keep them lubed up in all this dust and dirt, refilled the windshield washer reservoir, and checked the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) to make sure that reservoir didn?t need refilling yet.
We?ve snacked, talked, and rested up. We?re thinking about going up to the Northern Rockies Lodge restaurant tonight for dinner to have fresh trout for dinner?pretty pricey at $26 a dinner, but you only live once?if not, I?ll fix chili and beans for us, and another fruit & greens salad.
Time for a walk. Mosquito repellent is definitely in order?we?ve entered man-eating mosquito country!
Okay, Don just earned the Boy Scout star-of-the-day for his rapid problem-solving skills! It?s 6 pm, we?ve been sitting inside the Rollin Home writing and reading for several hours (also, we had to quickly close all the windows and the door an hour ago because of another rapid squall with thunder, lightning, and lots of hard rain!) A large muddy puddle several inches deep greeted us was we opened the door of ol RH. Yikes, I?ll never make it across that from the bottom step, without getting good and wet (and probably falling on my face in the process)!
Chivalrous Don sprang into action. He leapt from the door, black-and-yellow CAT(erpillar) gloves in hand. Sprang across the puddle, feet still dry. And scooped up about 8 large handfuls of well-rounded river rocks, large gravel-sized, and constructed a nice little footbridge across the big puddle for us to use. Don, parting the waters! Here I was, rubbing my chin, thinking ?Hmmmm. Maybe a wide plank would work. Where can I find a wide plank?? And he had the problem solved in a flash. My knight in shining armor. My Boy Scout par excellence. What a guy?he?s more of an engineer than he ever thought.
?Infrastructure,? he pronounced happily as I stepped daintily onto the footbridge and proceeded to dry land. ?I just built infrastructure!?
Now we?re headed up to the Lodge to see if we can get someone to turn on the NBA finals game tonight. And inquire why the WiFi here isn?t working. I tell ya, WiFi at RVParks is a joke! Any park that advertises it has WiFi is whistling Dixie. When you tell them you can?t get on it no matter what you do, they all say the same thing: ?Yeah we?ve had a lot of problems with it. We?re trying to get it fixed.? Might happen when hell freezes over.
Oops, Don just found out that the sports channel here at the Lodge is on rugby, not b-ball. Oh rats. BUT the Lodge?s owner just came over and said the NBA game is tomorrow night, not tonight! So we can watch it tomorrow during dinner?oh, goody!
Ahhhhh, a short drive today. Well rested are we! Took off by 7 am?got lots of good sleep.
We fell asleep shortly after 9 last night to the sound of hard rain once again pelting the roof of the Rollin Home, a lovely white noise. A dozen rainstorms in a single day. Amazing. Volatile weather, indeed. One minute the breezes are gentle and the sky is bright blue; the next, winds begin blasting, heavy clouds boil above, thunder threatens, and rain pelts -- sometimes 30 seconds, sometimes an hour or more.
I almost always start the day driving, then we switch off when we stop for a pit break or fuel or both. Yesterday, we spoke with folks who had driven south to Fort Nelson and had seen dozens of bison in the road and alongside it, some elk, quite a few large bull and cow moose, bighorn sheep (Stone sheep, as they?re known in this part of BC) as well as black bears and brown bears (grizzlies) on the sides of the road. They had dozens of pictures to show for it. Hopefully, we set out, carefully scanning the roadsides where trees ended and grass began.
As always, splendid scenery. Big vistas. Bigger mountains up ahead, dark and tree-covered at first, and quite rounded, but steeper, more jagged and raw granite as we proceeded north toward Muncho Lake. Suddenly we began seeing small white signs, neatly printed, alerting us to warm, fresh-baked, buttery cinnamon buns a couple of kilometers ahead. Got me hooked instantly! Took 2 signs to hook Don! Third sign said ?Irresistible Gift Shop!? Aw, nuts, I can resist that, just not the notion of hot fresh coffee and fresh-baked cinnamon buns at this early hour of the morning!
The stop at Tetsa River Services & Campground for warm buns and java was well worth it! Coffee was freshly dripped and buns were definiteldy homemade, large and gooey, with tons of cinnamon and not much frosting, just the way I like em! Knife-and-fork buns, to be sure! With our cups and plates, we asked to join a fellow sitting at one of the 3 or 4 small tables in the place ? looked like a local, dressed in hunters camo garb. Turned out that his brother-in-law owns the campground/fuel station/restaurant we were at ? he and his wife were ?watching over the place? and doing the cooking/baking for a few days as a favor.
His wife delivered the warm gooey buns to us with the announcement, ?Here?s your Ultimate Experience!? Mmmmm, yeah! The place typically bakes 4 or 5 large batches of rolls per day in the summer months when tourists are driving to/from Alaska on the Alaska Highway?serving 200 to 300 Ultimate Experiences a day! Worth a stop!
The nice fella we sat with told us there was a local fishing derby going on for 2 days at Muncho Lake, which would make it tough for us to get an RV site at the lake in the Provincial Park campground (dry-camping) we wanted. Oh well, there are 2 other campgrounds available, both commercial parks, that we?ll try.
Muncho Lake is known worldwide for its enormous lake trout, up to 35 pounds and larger. Natural. No stocked fish in this lake, which is 7 miles long, flanked by huge mountains, and is a gorgeous turquoise color as the result of copper oxide leaching into the water and being suspended as fine powder in the water. When the suns rays hit the suspended flecks of powder, the reflected color is blue-green on the spectrum, and produces this gorgeous lake, almost as if it?s make-believe. Muncho Lake is jewel-like, surrounded 360 degrees by high mountains, those at the south end jagged and pointed and with rivers of snow running down their sides.
Our cinnamon-bun Tetsa Lake table-mate and his wife live in Fort St. John, just south of Fort Nelson, and have lived there since the early 1960s, moving north from Calgary. He changed careers in the 70s and began learning the oil and gas exploration business, from the bottom up. While moving working many different jobs and earning promotions in the gas pipeline biz, he found a niche where there was a need for contract vendors, so he launched his own business 10 years ago and now has 5-6 employees. He talked at length about the difficulty of hiring employees (particularly young ones) willing to learn the critical steps in his part of the pipeline business in a way that would ensure safe operations and no life-threatening explosions. The business he?s in poses major risks if someone inadvertently creates a spark -- and he was in at least one huge explosion years ago that could?ve killed him -- so he?s careful to teach each employee the safe way of doing each task.
Minutes before reaching Muncho Lake, stopped in the road ahead of us was a truck camper we assumed was watching some wildlife. Hooray! Two moose, both big shiny-brown cows, on the wide of the road eyeing our vehicles suspiciously. The vehicle ahead of us crept one tiny inch forward, spooking the moose, which stepped immediately into the forest and disappeared instantly, blending in with the foliage and the trees in a split second. No time for a picture. But we saw them, at least!
We pulled into Northern Rockies Lodge at about 12:30. This is a very nice with a big log-cabin lodge building up front. Built in the 1950s, it sits on the eastern shore of Muncho Lake and has RV sites right on the shore as well. Got a 10% discount on the price of diesel with our registration, so we filled up at an effective rate of $1.799 per liter, which was pretty good for these parts (equal to $6.57/gal). Bad, but not as bad as some places, which were $1.999/liter. There aren?t many places to get fuel along this road, so we don?t quibble about prices. Monday when we leave, we?ll top off again at Contract Creek, which apparently has the best fuel prices any place around here.
We?re staying here for 2 nights, just to enjoy the lakeshore and walk a bit, as weather allows. The last thing we wanted was another day or two of driving 6-8 hours in a day. Too tiring. It isn?t cheap ? we?re paying $50/night for 30 amp electric and water hookups. But the views are wonderful, and the place is very uncrowded. Lots of places to walk and hike right from here. Basically, 2 days off.
When we leave Monday morning, we?ll stop at Liard Hot Springs (pronounced leerd) about 60 miles north of here, where there are 2 big warm pools for public use right in the river. Using this noteworthy hot springs doesn?t appeal to Don one bit?his skin is so sensitive it would probably cause a horrible rash or something that would torment him for the rest of this trip. But I think it sounds terrific?and I?m absolutely determined that I will put on my suit and go sit in the Liard?s hot pools (104 degrees) for a while, turning myself into a limp noodle. I?ve always wanted to do this? I?ll be the first driver of the day, as far as the hot springs, then Don will have to take over because I?ll turn into a puddle of jello.
While I?ve been writing this, we?ve gone from sunny skies to dark and gloomy and a brief squall, causing whitecaps to sweep down the length of the lake, accompanied by driving rain and winds. Now, 20 minutes later, we?re back to sunny skies and calm waters on the lake. You would have laughed aloud to see Don when we pulled into our site for the night?he pulled out my blue nylon easy chair so I could read, then the skies blackened and he put it away again. Then the skies cleared and he took it out again, then the skies darkened again and he quickly stowed it again. And this was all in the 20 minutes before lunch!
Don also did a bit of maintenance on the Rollin Home today?a few squirts of liquid wrench on the automatic steps to keep them lubed up in all this dust and dirt, refilled the windshield washer reservoir, and checked the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) to make sure that reservoir didn?t need refilling yet.
We?ve snacked, talked, and rested up. We?re thinking about going up to the Northern Rockies Lodge restaurant tonight for dinner to have fresh trout for dinner?pretty pricey at $26 a dinner, but you only live once?if not, I?ll fix chili and beans for us, and another fruit & greens salad.
Time for a walk. Mosquito repellent is definitely in order?we?ve entered man-eating mosquito country!
Okay, Don just earned the Boy Scout star-of-the-day for his rapid problem-solving skills! It?s 6 pm, we?ve been sitting inside the Rollin Home writing and reading for several hours (also, we had to quickly close all the windows and the door an hour ago because of another rapid squall with thunder, lightning, and lots of hard rain!) A large muddy puddle several inches deep greeted us was we opened the door of ol RH. Yikes, I?ll never make it across that from the bottom step, without getting good and wet (and probably falling on my face in the process)!
Chivalrous Don sprang into action. He leapt from the door, black-and-yellow CAT(erpillar) gloves in hand. Sprang across the puddle, feet still dry. And scooped up about 8 large handfuls of well-rounded river rocks, large gravel-sized, and constructed a nice little footbridge across the big puddle for us to use. Don, parting the waters! Here I was, rubbing my chin, thinking ?Hmmmm. Maybe a wide plank would work. Where can I find a wide plank?? And he had the problem solved in a flash. My knight in shining armor. My Boy Scout par excellence. What a guy?he?s more of an engineer than he ever thought.
?Infrastructure,? he pronounced happily as I stepped daintily onto the footbridge and proceeded to dry land. ?I just built infrastructure!?
Now we?re headed up to the Lodge to see if we can get someone to turn on the NBA finals game tonight. And inquire why the WiFi here isn?t working. I tell ya, WiFi at RVParks is a joke! Any park that advertises it has WiFi is whistling Dixie. When you tell them you can?t get on it no matter what you do, they all say the same thing: ?Yeah we?ve had a lot of problems with it. We?re trying to get it fixed.? Might happen when hell freezes over.
Oops, Don just found out that the sports channel here at the Lodge is on rugby, not b-ball. Oh rats. BUT the Lodge?s owner just came over and said the NBA game is tomorrow night, not tonight! So we can watch it tomorrow during dinner?oh, goody!
