Day 3
Mileage: 190
Wildlife: caribou, sheep
Because we put in the extra miles the day before we were able to get a late start on the driving. We arrived in the park around 3 and set up camp. After exploring a bit (there really wasn’t much to explore…Did I mention we are in the middle of no where?) we walked along the boardwalk over the bog to the hot springs. Liard hot springs is a unique hot spring, because it is a bog rather than a river. So, plants and animals that normally wouldn’t survive at this elevation and latitude are able to survive. Our book said that 12 species of orchids grow in the ecosystem, but we weren’t able to hike up to see them. There are normally 2 pools open, but the “beta” pool we closed, because of bear trouble. Apparently a mom and her cubs were staking out the area. We did just fine in the “alpha” pool though. It was plenty hot (between 30 to 40 C). The hot water comes in at around 50 C and mixes with the cold spring water. Neither of us was able to get within 20 feet of the source water. It was hot, but also nice and relaxing. Especially after all of the sitting and driving we’ve been doing. We had dips before and after dinner (Neil had a buffalo burger – it was one of the best burgers he’s had in a while – it tasted like sausage).
One cool thing about the campsite was that you could buy a giant Rubermaid of firewood at the gate for 5 dollars. But instead of hauling it to your site yourself, they drop it off for you, with kindling. And it was super dry. Emily got our fire going with only one match. The S’mores were tasty.
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