Alaska: Day 6 (10 June 09)

What an exciting day! I'm mostly going to let the photos do the talking (with my captions, of course). The plan was to do a short 190 mile day, settling in at the Hot Springs at Liard River, but that didn't quite work out. First of all, there were dangerous wildfires raging in the area. We'd heard that Liard River Hot Springs had been evacuated, but that turned out not to be true. When we got there, we found the place smoky but open for business. Business was so good, in fact, that we couldn't get a room. I should have called and made reservations. Without a room, we decided to press on to Watson Lake, which is where we are now, tucked into the historic Air Force Inn. The hot springs will have to wait for another trip.

Getting to Watson Lake was dramatic, though. North of Liard River, the fires were burning just off the Alaskan Highway. The Forestry Service guys actually closed the highway down right behind Danny and me. In fact, we were eating burgers at a little joint and for a few minutes it looked as if we were going to have to flee to the north, leaving our burgers behind. It was like something out of a war movie: smoke everywhere, helicopters constantly passing overhead, people asking us very seriously about our direction of travel.

We managed to get out unscathed -- you might have guessed that since I'm sitting here typing this. LOL.

Tomorrow we'll ferry across the Yukon River.

Photos...

It was a day featuring so much wildlife, we starting passing critters by. This fella really wanted his picture taken, though.

He even brought his friends.

They were insulted when Danny wouldn't share his beer.


Black bear number ... hell, we saw so many black bears, I quit counting. What's that? Oh, just another black bear. And we wouldn't even bother stopping. I did see a mother and two cubs, but she hustled them off into the forest so fast that I couldn't get my camera out. The little boogers were too cute for words, though. I wanted to catch one and bring it home for my daughter.

Yes, this is a grizzly bear. I believe this pose means "Come any closer, Tourist Boy, and I will definitely fuck you up!"

He was just that close. Also saw two grizzly cubs -- no sign of mama, but I'm sure she was probably close. The cubs ran off into the woods before I could the camera out.

I think Danny's a little homesick. Here he is reading all the cards his wife and sons sent with him. Poor guy.

Helicopter just overhead, dumping water on the forest fires.

"Hurry up, Danny!"

My planning for this trip might be described as a bit "anal retentive." Here I am with my green notebook in which our every move is detailed to the Nth degree. "It's in the book, Danny, and that means we're doing it, dammit!"