We left Prophet River and it was such a beautiful day - high fluffy clouds and bright sunshine. We saw a Black Bear sunning himself, his back to the road.
On the other side of Buckinghorse River, John saw a pair of birds that we later figured were Sandhill Cranes. Unusual but plausible, according to the lady at the Fort Nelson Visitors Centre.
The road begins to look like a Virginia or West Virginia Parkway, wide clear cuts, and a shoulder. Not wide enough to stop on, but a shoulder where we have been used to seeing steep drops. There are lots of big trucks along here, "hauling butt."
We pass Historical Marker 101 at a town called Wonowon. Clever!
The farmland begins to open up, with hay fields and rapeseed in full bloom. They have to have a really short growing season. In Fort Nelson, there were only 100 days without frost, and it has to be close to the same.
We stopped in Fort St. John and got our groceries and gas. This is a booming community , population 18,000 with new growth based on newly discovered oil and gas fields. The community itself was established in 1794, making it the oldest white settlement in British Columbia. The area was homesteaded in the 1900's, and there are third generation farmers here. It also received a boost when the Alaska Highway was built, the largest camp in the eastern sector.
We decided to stay in this area tonight, and head back up the road a little ways to Charlie Lake and the Beatton Provincial Park. The area has some hiking trails (snow trails in winter) and has an unusual variety of plants that are unique to the area. Just up my alley!
We took a walk down to the lake, and Nacho came out to have his picture taken. He really didn't like the cold overcast weather in Alaska, and the big animals and steep mountains and valleys were a little scary for him. But he is liking the fact that it is warmer here, and doesn't seem so threatening. In fact, he even posed by a cluster of clover, which is very prolific around here. And I wonder, do bears like clover? Or just the honey?
Our walk through the woods was wonderful. It was so quiet, and the trees were beautiful. Sure enough, I saw some plants I hadn't seen before.
And butterflies!
The whole path was covered with clover.
We saw some tracks, probably deer tracks.
We had a sunset here, and a moon on the horizon, and it is dark now for a few hours at night.
No comments:
Post a Comment