Catch Up Day to Fort Nelson

Our 6th day of adventure started out with me going to Manitoulin Transport in Watson Lake to pick up an alternator that was shipped down from Whitehorse by Lee Stevens, the Yukon Chapter Director.  I grabbed the part then rode over to BJ’s Towing shop.  He again let me use his shop and tools to swap out alternators.  After about an hour of wrenching, the moment of truth.  I fired up the bike and measured 14.2 volts at the battery.  We had proper voltage and the battery was taking a charge.  I thanked BJ and headed back to the motel to pack up and get us on the road.  On the way, I managed to stop on the highway to get a picture of the Sign Post Forest that we had planned on having lunch at the day before.

The plan was to ride all the way to Fort Nelson to catch up to Doug and Cathy who were leaving from Muncho Lake.  Well, we got bad news from the receptionist at the motel.  The road to Fort Nelson had been washed out the night before at Liard Hotsprings  because of a heavy rainfall.  There was no way of knowing when it would reopen.  Giselle called the local RCMP to find out any information she could.  They weren’t very helpful so she called the Fort Nelson RCMP.  They advised her that the road was now open to single lane alternating traffic at Liard Hotsprings.  We packed up and were on our way.

The sun was shining, it was warm, and the roads were in great shape all the way down to Liard.  We stopped at Contact Creek for one last fuel stop before heading back into BC.  We came across lots of wildlife during the day and spectacular views.

When we got to Liard Hotsprings, we stopped in for fuel and a bite to eat.  The hosts at the restaurant were very nice.  We were asked to remove our shoes before entering as they were short staffed and didn’t have any cleaners at the moment.  Lunch was great!  Hamburger and macaroni soup with Klik sandwiches (local name for Spam).

We encountered heavy construction just before Muncho Lake – the site of the washout from the night before.  We didn’t have to wait too long for the traffic to move and we had several hundred yards of loose gravel to cross before we got back on smooth pavement.

From here on, it was smooth sailing, partly cloudy skies and beautiful scenery.  We made good time but still enjoyed the views, and saw more wildlife – bears, a fox, deer and bison.  Muncho Lake was a beautiful emerald green and the water level was literally almost at the road level.

We stopped at Toad River for gas and were supposed to hang a Chapter BC-A hat on the wall in the pub, but alas, the pub was no more!  We grabbed a couple of cinnamon buns in the store and kept up the pace to get to Fort Nelson.  Great roads, and fantastic views around every corner.

We arrived in Fort Nelson tired, hungry, but happy to be back with Doug and Cathy to continue our adventure together.  We checked into our motel – Kacees Northern Suites.  At $89.00/night it was one of the nicest, cleanest motels we have stayed in during the entire trip.  We had adjoining rooms with a full on kitchen between the two rooms.  If you are ever up that way, check it out.