Day 5 - Fort Nelson to Liard Hot Springs

Great day for seeing wildlife up along the side of the road. We were driving alongside rivers and lakes for much of the day but also some pieces of the road where we had hills on both sides of us. In the morning, we were driving along and saw two sheep with big curvy horns. I believe they are a relative of the Dall sheep. It appeared to be a male and female just walking up a steep hill.

In the early afternoon, we were driving alongside a big, beautiful lake turquoise lake (Lake Munchy) and we passed a mineral lick. Two sets of mother/child sheep were very close to our vehicle. The first mother was molting and looked quite pitiful. The 2nd mother looked better but she was being very negligent in letting her little sheep wander out into the highway.

We drove most of the day through the most beautiful scenery you can imagine. Mountains, rivers, lakes, forests - overwhelmingly vast and gorgeous landscape. We were in the Canadian Rockies most of the day.

About an hour later, Craig spotted a little black bear on the side of the road. It appeared to be a juvenile although we didn't see a parent anywhere in sight.

We stopped for the night at Liard Hot Springs. What a treat! Out in the middle of nowhere and very nicely kept up and clean. The springs themselves were hot, hot, hot. We managed to find some cooler water by floating down around the corner into a pond area that was away from the source. There was also a board walk through an interpretive wetland leading up to the hot springs that was interesting. The bugs and bees were relentless however so we moved quickly. We were also mindful of the warnings that there are bears in the area.

After the Hot Springs dip, we decided to hop in the car and drive back in the direction from which we had come after hearing that others had spotted bison next to the road. We had seen warning signs all day to beware of bison on the highway but we didn't see any. On this little jaunt however we were rewarded with getting up close and personal (as personal as I want to get anyhow) with two enormous bison.

Look closely. This mama goat and her baby are well camoflauged on the rocks! (The mama is actually hiding the baby but you can see the extra legs behind her.)

This baby got away from her mama and was actually in the road. I took this picture out the side window of the rv as she moved over to the side of the road so that we could pass her safely.

Liard Hotsprings was beautiful and unique. We enjoyed a dip but honestly you can't sit very long in water that hot!

There was a great boardwalk through a swampy wetlands area to get to the Hot Springs. (Sometimes I think that Craig is a bear too although this sign is referring to the real bears who live in the area.)

 Bison laying down in a field by the road. This was about 8 pm. (The sun doesn't set until almost midnight!)

Two bison (looked like male and female although we didn't get close enough to confirm).