Alaska Day 15 – Liard Hot Springs to Morley River Recreation Area

John, Paul and Linda

After a great afternoon soaking in Liard Hot Springs and then grilling dogs and burgers around the camp fire, it was off to bed for a much needed rest.  Up early for our goal of the day which was to stop in Watson Lake to place our new sign in the Sign Post Forest and then on to Morley River Recreation Site for the night.  As we left the campground at Liard River, we were full of anticipation guessing what kind of wildlife we would see today and wondering if our sign we placed in the Sign Post Forest in 2011 was still there.  Once again there were bears and bison on or near the road, flowers of many different sizes and colors and the beautiful snow covered mountains to keep us entertained.  As we got closer to Watson Lake, the more excited we got just wanting to find that perfect place to put our new sign and find our old one.  Once in Watson Lake, off to the Sign Post Forest in search of our old sign; guess what… it was right where we had placed it in 2011.  Now to find the perfect place for our new sign was our next mission.  After some time looking for a place for our new sign and reading many of the signs people had left in the past, we decided to place it at the entrance in a place that appeared to be left just for our new sign.

After wandering through the forest reading signs from all over the world (but not all of them, for there are over 75 thousand signs in the forest) it was back on the highway North to Morley River Recreation Site for the night.

The Alaska Highway South of Watson Lake.The scenery was simply beautiful with all the flowers, water and mountains. Pictures just don't do the drive justice.

Alaska Highway South of Watson Lake

Large Black Bear eating beside the road

Some more wildlife we saw along the road South of Watson Lake.

Another view of the same bear

Another Bison

Old Shaggy

We were not sure who had the right of way, so like the vehicle in front of us we gave him all the room he needed or wanted.

Our sign we placed in the forest in 2011

 Putting the final touches on our new sign for 2013.  We liked this location, right on the entrance posts.

A few more signs behind the Jeep

These next four pictures are on the Alaska Highway between Watson Lake and the Morley River Recreation Area.

We are in a single line following a pilot vehicle. They use some type of small gravel, which makes it very dusty with little pieces of gravel flying up hitting the vehicles, to make these repairs in the road.  It is hard to see with all the dust from the traffic and with all the gravel being kicked up we have three new dings in the windshield of the jeep and one on the motor home.  Speed limit here is about 10 - 15 miles/hour.

Gypsy decided after all the wildlife viewing and having to walk through the sign forest it was time for a nap.

Finally a place to stop... Morley River Recreation Area.  This photo was taken at around 11:15PM. Paul and Joyce are in the red truck camper and we are in the motor home