Canada – British Columbia – Liard Hot Springs-Northern Rockies B BC CA – 1 of 10 provinces on our RV

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Lora’s eye swelling is nearly all gone. Her cheek a still a little puffy. She spoke with an employee at Triple G Hideaway Campground & Restaurant, his diagnosis is deer flies because of the brown oozy patch where she got bit. Lora also recalls seeing the deer flies.

A. Deer fly bites: A few people have allergic reactions to deer fly saliva, which could lead to symptoms like hives or wheezing. Deer flies also occasionally transmit tularemia or “rabbit fever,” a bacterial infection that is usually treated with antibiotics.

B. Black fly bites: Some people react with a collection of symptoms known as “black fly fever,” which can involve headache, nausea, fever, and swollen lymph nodes.

C. Biting midges or gnat bites: Midge or gnat bites look a lot like mosquito bites: small, red, itchy lumps or sometimes a red welt or blister. The bugs don’t spread diseases to humans, though they can infect livestock.

D. Mosquitoes: Diagnosed by determining whether the large, red areas of swelling and itching occurred after you were bitten by mosquitoes. In some cases, the swelling is so extreme that the affected limb doubles in size, eyes swell shut, and the area feels hot and hard to the touch. Sometimes the bite will blister and ooze. The swelling can be painful and can present with a low-grade fever and general malaise.

Comparing the symptoms and reactions to any fly bites and that of the mosquitoes, in my opinion it was a reaction to mosquitoes.

We ready ourselves and pack up before the Fantasy RV Tour Caravan starts their move to their next destination. They stop at Muncho Lake next, we are going to Liard River Hot Springs.

Our goal is Northern Rockies B, British Columbia, Canada. We have no reservation, but plan to stop at the famous Liard Hot Springs. We will most likely Dry Camp for the first time tonight because there are only a couple campgrounds in walking distance of the hot springs and all have not power, water, or sewer. The travel time from Triple G Hideaway Campground & Restaurant in Fort Nelson, BC, CA to Northern Rockies B, BC, CA is 3 h 56 min 304 Kilometers (189 miles) via BC-97 Alaska Highway.

We leave around 9:00 am. We are hoping to finally see wildlife, especially a moose. The drive caries us deep into the Northern Rockies. The drive is amazing. The snow patched mountain and clouds are beautiful. What is amazing to see here when driving is the ability to see rain showers far head of you mixed into the blue sky. The showers are brief, sometimes light or strong. We can see an occasional lighting strike in the show walls. But, we never see a rainbow with all this sun and rain.

We pass through landscape we have never seen so far. We drive into an area called Stone Mountain. The massive mountains look to be solid rock. Like what we seen in Yosemite National Parks Half-Dome Mountain. There is also a mountain which appears to have been blown apart by a volcano.

We move into spruce and birth tree forests covering the mountains. The distinct dark and light green patches covering the landscape. We pass beautiful rivers flowing blue green common with glacier ice melt. The white stones defining the banks of the bending river goes on for miles.

To our left are 2 small caribou calves. One appears to be a female and the other a male with his horns beginning to sprout. Caribou and Reindeer are the same species. Caribou are non-domesticated and are much larger in size. Reindeer are smaller and seen most frequently domesticated in farms.

We come up to a car and small RV parked on the side of the road. Normally this will indicate some sort of wildlife. With no one close behind us we pull up behind the car some what off the side of the road. We do not want to get far off the road and slide into the soft rock like what we seen earlier with a pickup truck camper.

We pullover at the occasion wayside for Lora’s bathroom break or to capture pictures. The move on with Lora snapping pictures as I drive.

We pass through Muncho Lake. A small community with a few stores, campgrounds, and fuel. We stop at on the gas station store and purchase 3 bundles of fire wood for $21.00 Canadian. We have 43 miles left before on our route before we reach our destination. We have been seeing caution signs for bison. We should be able to spot them easily on the wide patches of green on either side of the road.

We see once again cars stopped on the side of the road. We spot 2 bison grazing on the grass. They are not bothered by the vehicles, but you can notice they are constantly gazing toward the cars as they eat. The coats on the bison are pristine, nothing like the molting, dirty coats the bison had in Texas. We snap the pictures we desire and move on.

A short drive later we spot a group of bison grazing on the side of the road. They are all bulls. More cars are pull off the side about a ½ mile down viewing more bison. This is cool. Finally, we see wildlife, except for a moose.

We reach Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. We enter the park first to see if there are any campsites that can fit our rig. The cost is $26.00 Canadian Cash. Luckily, we have enough Canadian currency and loonies if we find a site. The alternative is to use US currency at a 1:1 exchange.

We find site 45 after trying to fit into 2 others with no success. It took us a few tries to get in, but managed to back in. We level the camper and open the slides. I place one generator in the back and prepare all the wiring to start the generator later if necessary. The park has a generator policy of 6 pm – 8 pm and 8 am – 11 am only. It is cool enough to keep the window open. The bugs are bad but Lora uses her mosquitoes netting over her head.

We go on a scouting mission to Liar River Hot Springs. Staying in park you can have access to Hot Springs 24 hours. We walk from the campground, through a path to the parking lot. From the parking lot there is a less than ½ mile walk along a wooden boardwalk. We cross over swamp meadows with clear water and lush vegetation.

We spot a bird on what looks like moose antlers, but most likely not. There is a constant flow of people coming and going on the boardwalk. There is a stop mid-way to give visitors a rest. It is nice they have placards on the path and rest area providing details of the environment and hot springs.

The approach to the hot springs there are three distinct buildings and three paths. The staff only board walk to a building is on the right. Straight ahead is changing rooms for the men and woman. Reviews suggest bringing your bathing suits under your clothing before using the semi-private changing rooms. The hot springs is comprised of an upper and lower pool. The upper pool is created by a man-made dam and falls. The lower pool is made by a rock and wire dam. The upper pool is much hotter than the lower pool. People are in both relaxing. Lora and I touch or step in, that’s about it. In the upper pool there appears to be two distinct floaters in the water like pieces of crap. Nope no swimming in the pool. The third building is the bathrooms on the path to The Hanging Garden.

We walk up the path to The Hanging Garden. It is the origin of the Hot Springs.

We walk back the campground. Once we get back we commence our fire for the evening. I find some extra pieces of wood forging through the forest behind us. We run the generator for about 15 minutes but realize there is no need, so we shut it off.

Lora hears a passerby tell the neighbor tenting across from us there is a bear next door. I walk over to the area she pointed to and see a large body. My first instinct is a moose. I go over to Lora ask her to hurry up, come over. It is a massive bison forging through the brush into the campsite with a small Class A motorcoach. The bison to motorcoach comparison is amazing. He can easily do damage to anything he encounters. He just meanders around eating the vegetation around the camper. We are in amazement.

The neighbor Adam is touring Alaska by motorcycle. He has a small tent set up for the evening. Someone with a dog comes to see the bison and mentions the staff says he is a resident bison names Fred. The bison sees the dog and moves toward Adams campsite and tent. Fred the Bison towers over the tent. Once again, he just hangs out enough to get his fill of grass and moves on to the next camper next to us.

As quickly as he comes he disappears into the woods. The path closes behind him like he was never there. People higher up in the campground in the direction he was headed comedown to see, but we direct them back toward their direction they came from. So cool to see such a massive beast casually walking though a campground without a worry in the world.

The campground is good about posting not to feed the wildlife. Basically, the text reads “A fed bear is a dead bear”. The paragraph below explains feed wildlife will endanger the animal into wanting to approach people for food, verse staying at distance eating its own food sources. If the animal become accustomed to approaching people for food, the park rangers will need to shoot the animal to protect the visitors.

To have best action with Fred the Bison get sites 47, 44, 43, and 50.

I cook baked potatoes, hotdogs and hamburgers on the campfire. Lora’s habit is to drink wine, then eat. We have not eaten all day and the habit become too much for her. She stumbles from her seat onto the ground. Embarrassed mostly she gets back up and decides enough is enough on the wine and decides to eat her food. As soon as she finishes she is out for the evening sleeping off the excitement of the day.

I clean up the dishes, eat my food and wait for the fire to tie down before retiring. I purposely place only 7 beers in the refrigerator before leaving in the morning, so they would be cold when we arrived at our destination. Having a couple on our arrival and then later, I was able to pace myself. I also can eat and then finish my beer in needed. I am not innocent of sometimes getting into trouble myself, but I knew we were dry camping in an area with wildlife and did not want to be toasted out first night dry camping and a bear come up.

The morning was very chilly. Lora loves the windows open. Bella got me up sometime when it was dark. I used a flashlight to scan the area before walking her. It was quick, and she and I were back in bed. Bella later got up at her normal 6:00 am walk. I fed her, and she went back to bed with Lora.

I seen Fred the Bison crossing the road toward another campsite. I walked over to get a picture. The couple in the campsite were awaken by Fred grazing by their tent. They got out and stayed on the road until he moved on to another site.

I walked to the Liar River Hot Springs in hopes to capture the steam rising in the morning chill. There was only one pickup truck in the parking lot. I seen the packed pickup from the campground earlier. I walk down the path with another guy wanting to see the steam as well. He is a steel worker from Rochester, New York. He just got 5 weeks vacation from working 13 years as a steel worker and he wanted to take his children to Alaska. His wife teaches on an island near Homer, Alaska. He wanted to drive his wife and children to Homer on the kid’s summer break. I guess she flies normally to get to Alaska.

The steam was coming off the water in the meadows. The sun was just right to capture the reflection of the clouds in the meadow’s pond.

The Liar Hot Springs had a steady flow of steam coming out of the pools. It must have been so much more at sunrise, around 3:15 am. I am able to capture the steam in my photos. The lower pool was empty and the upper pool had people swimming or relaxing.

I walked back to the campground to see Lora was up. She washed her hair in place of a full shower. We have no coffee because I cannot use the generator till 8:00 am and it is only 7:00 am. I see the Liar River Hot Springs Lodge also has a restaurant and the sign says open. I suggest to Lora we get some breakfast.

We walk to the lodge and seat ourselves. The breakfast is made to order. Lora orders a basic breakfast and I order a Denver omelet with hash browns. The food is a lot. The hash browns are down just right. The omelet is light and plentiful. The meal also came with 2 slices of Texas Toast buttered just right. It was a hearty meal for sure.

We walk back to the campsite, packed up in a short time. Mostly disengage the leveling systems, pick up the pads and hookup. I put away the generator, chairs, and other items earlier in the morning.

We are planning to travel around 200 miles. The only specific point of interest is The Sign Forest in Watson Lake which is a shorter distance away. We may try dry camping if we can find the perfect spot outside of any campgrounds or provincial parks. Let see on our adventure…

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