July 12- Fort Nelson to Liard River Hot Springs, BC - 190 miles

Today was a planned short riding day, to give us a chance to rest a little, after several days of riding.  And, what better place to rest than a natural hot springs.  Norm had known of these hot springs, a BC Provincial Park, from his previous trip up this highway 10 years ago.  Now after soaking, if I start to doze off while writing, it is because of the hot springzzzzzz.

Today's ride was again a wonderfully scenic one.  We came back into the Rocky Mountains, after riding some yesterday in the plains, and the day was just glorious!  We had bright sunshine and puffy white clouds most of our riding day (even though the temperatures were in the low 60's, and our liners in our riding coats felt good).

Last night there was a wide area rain, and that cleared the air so we could see forever when we went up through two fairly high mountain passes, 4,000 ft. Summit Lake Pass (shown in the photo) and Muncho Lake Pass.  Both of these were rugged at the top, but the ride up to the passes and back down was through heavily forested areas that were really green.  Again, I guess we owe the green to more than usual rains this spring and summer.  All of Canada has been so beautiful so far.

For the Wildlife Report, today we saw our first Caribou - standing in the road as we came around a corner.  It went off the side quickly and was gone into the trees.  Then, we saw several groups (of 2 to 10) Rocky Mountain Sheep.  The groups were composed of females, young ones, and this spring's babies - they were so cute!  Oh yes, we also saw a herd of 75-100 buffalo at what we assume was a buffalo ranch.  About one third of their number were calves, so they were very prolific.

The portion of the Alaska Highway we traveled today had lots of repair going on, and some construction.  We sure found out that "Even the lead dog eats dust".  It seems that when the asphalt surfaced road gets too rough, the Province road department adds a dirt/chip seal/calcium binder coating on top and then later, after letting the traffic pound it in, they put on another coat of asphalt road surface.  Well, we were part of the traffic pounding crew, and it was terribly dusty.  We rode maybe 75-100 miles of this dusty stuff, and found that whether you're the "lead dog" or the following dog, you eat dust.  Still, the scenery was so great that it made up for the road dust.

Of interest to our motorcycle riding friends, we ran into a type of bridge that gives riders the willies, and we want to pass on some advice.  This type of bridge is one with a "grating" road bed.  That is, the surface you drive over is a steel grating with a "box-like" end-up shape that allows snow melt to go through (you can see down through the roadbed of the bridge, and it is disconcerting).  This is tough to negotiate on two wheels because the front wheel wants to "wander" as it follows the edges of the rows of grating, and it makes the rider very uncomfortable.  We first found these in Canada last year in Ottawa, but only rode two or three during that whole trip.  Today alone, on the Alaska Highway we rode three of these bridges!  Therefore, by the third one we worked out the best technique, conversing on the CB radio to compare how we handled each one.  The following explains our suggested technique.

As you approach the bridge, slow down and shift down to 3rd, or preferably 2nd.  Then adjust your speed to 25 to 30 mph, BEFORE starting to cross the bridge.  Maintain that speed with a little throttle, so that you have the feel of applying power.  When crossing the bridge, use as your sighting point somewhere THROUGH the bridge, in your lane, and DO NOT look down or at the bridge grating ahead of you.  Let the front wheel wander as it may (it won't go far off straight) and keep your hands LOOSELY on the handlebars. The bike will find a straighter path than if you nervously try to guide it, and You will do fine.  End of advice.

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