Testa River to Liard Hot Springs BC

Off at 6:30 PDT, a balmy 8C. We saw a mama moose with her calf soon after starting off:

No cell service here. 1209 meter elevation around Stone Mountain and Lake. Really steep in this area, good terrain for Stone Mtn sheep:

We stopped for a cereal breakfast along the Toad River, a very scenic area, several waterfalls around:

Later we had a 20 minute wait for construction, and for 4 caribou back and forth on the road. We’ve never seen caribou like this before:

Along the way there were several warning signs for other possible animals on the road. Most signs were the usual: deer, moose, caribou, elk (we saw no elk this trip), bison, also a more unusual one for horses. About 15 km before we got to Liard Hot Springs there was a herd of wood bison along the road:

We arrived at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park about 11:30, way earlier than we usually camp. We did want to try out the springs though, and a $26 campsite included the $16 admission to the springs. The cg had the usual services for the area – that is, no hookups, vault toilets, central water tap. Our site #4 was right across from the trail to the springs, and was a nice big site.

After setting up (about 1 minute) we walked the boardwalk to the springs. The pools are arranged into 3 basic temperature zones, hottest near the head of the springs and cooler as you go downstream. We found the middle of the  middle one just about right.

Back at the site we had lunch outside, despite an annoyingly persistent red squirrel. After naps and tea we went back to the springs for another soak.

We were just nicely back from there when it started to rain, good timing. After a soup supper inside, we considered going back to the springs. However, with the clouds and time (it was getting towards dusk) and all the warning signs around about bears in the area, we decided to stay put at the site. What a great day!

Today's route: