July 5, 2016 North to Alaska, Day 29

I was so glad we camped in the pavilion, it rained again last night.  Not enough to kill the dust on the road out of camp, but still rain is rain!! After stopping for gas in Watson Lake, we hit the road before 8 am.  Shortly after getting on the highway I saw Cindy point off to the right.  There was a bison next to the tree line. The roads here are cleared and mowed back about 30 yards on each side.  It is to give drivers enough time to avoid hitting any animals that cross the road.

Photo by Cindy

Next was this bear long the left side of the road

A second bear was soon sighted.

And then a third bear.  They were all more interested in what ever was growing along the road than they were in us.  Once we topped the next rise I saw a black shape moving along the road's edge.  I remember thinking, why would some one be walking along the road here and how do you just walk by a bear?

Photo by Cindy

As I got closer I realized it was a lone bison.  Wayne said he had been seeing hoof prints and thought maybe someone was riding their horse, but no... it was this guy.  He just kept walking while we all stopped on the shoulder of the oncoming lane and took pictures.  We left hime to his mission, what ever it was.  We continued on, stopping for coffee  at the next gas station.  Here we met some folks who were towing an Airstream trailer.  We all were amazed by the bison.

We also talked to folks that were traveling the other direction.  They warned us about this herd 

It was quite a strong herd, with at least 10 babies in the crowd

They are massive creatures

After we left the herd we came across a huge construction site.  In line ahead of us was the Airstream couple.  We all waited a while, then the pilot car came, and moved over to let the cars behind it go by. Then she drove past all the waiting cars and trucks, up to us and asked if we would like to go first.  It is a courtesy that several of the flagers during this trip have offered.  It allows us to go in a relative dust free area.  Of course we said yes.  We followed her to the head of the line, and into the construction zone expecting the cars to then fall in behind us.  They didn't.  And for some unknown  reason no one jumped in front of the guy at the front of the line.  When we talked to the Airstream couple later in the day, they said no one even honked or yelled at him.  We thought for sure the 18-wheeler driver would have done at least that!!

So we continued on with no one behind us.  Which was nice, because when we saw these guys, we could stop and no one else came by to scare them.

Nice Big Horn sheep

No wonder we couldn't find them on the hill sides, We had been looking for the white ones, these would blend into the rocks to well to see

Photo by Cindy

Then we came across these cuties on the other side of the road.

Muncho Lake was glass smooth when we went by

The reflections were outrageous 

So reflective that you can see Cindy and her reflection riding ahead.

Photo by Cindy

This guy was by himself and we were all worried that he would bolt in front of us.  Later we saw another small herd of goats, but they went over the edge before we could stop and get pictures.  We also saw a moose that day. What a great day for critters!!  I think we saw more in total today than the whole rest of the trip combined!!

After lunch we continued on towards Fort Nelson.  The sky was full of very black clouds, but we seamed to be skirting around the edges.  We could see where it had poured, but we'd just get the tail end.  Mind you we were NOT complaining!!

We spent the night in an RV Park in Fort Nelson.

Critter Count:
2 bison, one herd of bison
3 black bears
1 herd of bighorn sheep
1 lone sheep
2 herds of mountain goats
1 moose

318 miles