June 4, 2014 ? Day 15
Woke up to a cold wet morning. The snow only accumulated on the grassy areas. Got ourselves together for our short drive today. On to Muncho Lake. Still BC Hwy 97 and heading west. Yesterday coming into Fort Nelson we went over the lowest elevation on the Alaska Highway and today we will go over the highest elevation. Spotted 2 black bears along the side of the road heading up to Steamboat Summit. Shortly after this we hit snow again. Elevation here peaked out at 3,500 feet. We were looking forward to stopping in Testa River for what the Milepost calls some of the best cinnamon rolls. We got there just before the 15 rigs of the Unity (Leisure Van) Caravan, plus a few other travelers. The small spot was buzzing. We took our warm rolls and ate them in WeBe with a glass of milk, yummy. Back on the road in the sloppy snow we go, but our tummies were full. Lots of warnings in the Milepost about ?stone sheep? and caribou on the road but we didn?t see one. Gradually we made it to Summit Pass, elevation 4,250 feet, the highest point on the Alaska Highway. Plenty of curves and hills today with a few areas having little shoulder to them. Lots of creeks and rivers to go over with a couple having metal grate bridge, they reminded me of the ?airplane bridge? we knew and loved growing up. We loved it because it made the sound of what we thought was an airplane. What imagination we had then. We finally came around a bend and there was Muncho Lake, just as some friends (Karen & Bill), who drive up to their Alaskan cabin yearly, had told us. Emerald green and blue water with forested mountains on one side and sedimentary rock on the other with white caps of snow all around. It sits at an elevation of 2,680 feet, 7 miles long, a 1 mile wide and about 700 feet deep. The color is reported to be from the cooper oxide leaching into the lake. Breathtaking. There is information in the Milepost about what is called an alluvial fan. This forms when the mountains get heavy rains and the hillsides, which are mostly rock. The rains wash down the sides of the mountains taking that rock and gravel through the gulley?s to the bottom of the hill and then spreads out in a fan shape. We have now seen many of these in our drive today.
Our stop for the night was to be at McDonald campground for $16. That was the best deal almost so far, since we paid $7.90 per gal of gas, yikes, that one through the budget off. Took a nice power nap and drove over to the wildlife lookout to see if we could spot anything, nope. Back to WeBe for a little reading, then dinner and a nice walk. It is 8 PM and the sun won?t set for a few more hours. Thank goodness for blackout shades in the bedroom.
TTFN