Day miles: 422
Trip miles: 1652
Tetsa River, BC to Teslin, BC

I woke up in a drizzle today, packed up and headed down the road. I soon began seeing signs for Tetsa River Outfitters and their “famous” cinnamon buns. Hungry and in search of coffee, I was sold right away. The camp ran on a generator but had a solar powered Trace system with a few strings of C&D batteries, which I recognized from my years working in telephone offices. When I asked about their origin, the proprietor came over to ask if I was familiar with the system at all as he was having problems with the inverter. Another patron and I looked it over, but the owner was pretty busy and we didn’t talk to him about it again. It seemed as though the former owners had passed away and he was struggling a bit to fill their shoes, but the food and coffee were good. Mostly I enjoyed the lifestyle that was communicated by the buildings and equipment. From the distance to anywhere, these folks clearly survived out here on their own ingenuity.

Canada has more road signs that are pictures rather than words compared to the United States. The best have been the wildlife road signs. I saw many more signs warning of wildlife than I saw actual wildlife. I wondered if Canada negotiates territory with animal herds, as I would often see a sign for moose, then one for horses, then another for moose. How do they negotiate their borders? Normally the signs for horses show the horse running or jumping, I can’t tell the difference, but then I saw one of a horse standing. Perhaps it was a sign for wild mules? Later I saw three signs in a few miles that had different size antlers and I was ashamed to have no idea what animal they were meant to represent.

Further down the road, I stopped for a late breakfast at Toad River lodge. I had an enjoyable long conversation over food with a couple traveling with their baby daughter from outside Toronto to Whitehorse, where she doing the Yukon River Quest from Whitehorse to Dawson City for some kind of charity.

Eventually the sun came out in time to have nice weather while passing Muncho Lake and appreciate its unique color. Back on the wildlife front, I was getting a little disappointed about not having seen any wildlife on the Alaskan Highway. Eventaully I started seeing Wood Bison. Then I saw an animal crossing the road up in the distance. When I passed where it crossed I looked in the woods and saw a wolf staring back. I have a fondness for wolves, so my disappointment was completely cured by this sight.

I spent the night at a campground on Teslin Lake at a truck stop. This provided some decent wireless access for uploading pictures and catching up on email, as well as having breakfast conveniently located nearby.