Our journey today followed the Liard River for much of the day from just outside Watson Lake to Liard River Hot Spring. We were surprised by the size of the river, it is wide and fast flowing.

Today felt like a summers day, blue sky, bright sun and temperature in the low 70°Fs. We were able to get about in short sleeves for much of the day. And late in the day there was smoke in the air, obstructing the view of distant hills and suggesting forest fires.

We had a very good quality road today, with very few frost heaves or pot holes. The road makers cut a wide corridor through the forest and as a result there is a grass verge on either side maybe 50 yards wide. The animals seemed to like this verge as during the course of the day we saw many animals; bear, buffalo, and caribou grazing there.

The forest is beautiful. The birch and aspen trees are showing early leaf growth and their bright green leaves really enliven the look of the forest.

The highlight of the day was no doubt the opportunity to soak ourselves in the famous hot springs at Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park. For $19 we got both a camp site and access to the hot pools. There are two natural hot pools an upper and a lower pool, with the lower pool being divided by a weir like structure into two different temperature zones.

The upper pool is the temperature of a domestic hot tub, maybe 102°F or a little more, is 3 meters deep in the middle with water that is a green-blue color. It is fed by an underground spring that bubbles up in the middle of the pool. It's a little hotter just over the spring.

The lower pool is quite a contrast. It is shallow, no more than 4 feet deep, and is fed cold water from a stream that flows in at one end and is fed hot water by a bubbling spring near by. The hot water looks like it is actually boiling. Because of the two sources of water the pool water is hot on top and cooler underneath, a very strange sensation. Also because of the mixing of the two water sources the hot top layer of water moves around, so that all of a sudden the water you are in can get a lot hotter without you having moved. The water in this pool is amazingly clear as you can see in some of the photos.