Liard River Provincial Park
We’re dry camping in this pretty provincial park. The park has outhouses and a hand water pump; firewood and ice are for sale. We hauled water from Fort Nelson. Our two Honda generators run for a few hours twice a day to keep our batteries charged and our freezer cold. The generators are so quiet that it is difficult to hear them beyond our campsite.
Laird Hot Springs are naturally occurring hot springs located in a boreal forest. The park has built a wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the boreal forest to the hot springs located 1/2 mile away. Unlike many pseudo-spas I’ve visited, these hot springs give you a feeling of nature. The bottom of this pool is composed of crushed rock (wear river shoes!).
This picture shows “Alpha” pool, which is comprised of two sections. At the far end, there is a children’s wading pool. In the foreground, the pool is 3-4 ft. deep. As you move closer toward the bottom of the picture, the water temperature gets hotter and hotter. I never made it to the end of the pool but I still felt like a lobster being boiled. I read that the pool can reach 125 degrees F, but that seems unlikely.
The steps at the bottom of each picture are the same, I’m just looking from the opposite direction.
A bit further along the boardwalk is Beta pool. Beta pool is much deeper, reportedly 12 ft. deep. When I tried Beta pool, the temperature was not as hot as Alpha pool, however, the bottom is natural muck. Although I happily swim in lakes and oceans, I wouldn’t put my face in the water in either pool. I was the only one of our group to brave Beta pool. (no pictures, I was wet)
Walking along the boardwalk to and from the hotsprings, there is an opportunity to see moose in the boreal forest. This picture shows typical moose munch.
Moose apparently prefer aquatic plants to land plants because the aquatic plants provide more minerals that are necessary to a moose diet. Despite all the water and mucky swamps, there weren’t as many mosquitoes as I expected.
We’re really noticing how much daytime there is this far north in late May. Sunset doesn’t occur until nearly 11:00 pm. In fact, I took all the pictures in this posting deep in the forest between 10:00 – 10:45 pm without any flash. Sunrise is at 4:50 am. If you don’t close your blinds, you will be awakened by sunlight.
Tomorrow we head to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.
