The character of the road and terrain changed today. There were more mountains and they were closer. We were beginning to enter the northern Rocky Mountains. The road is more twisting and there are more rough spots.

One of the scenic highlights of the day was Muncho Lake. Apparently in summer the water of this lake is a vivid green, but today it is still mostly covered in slushy ice so the color is not fully visible. Along the lake shore and for some distance both north and south of the lake there are rivers coming down out of the adjacent mountains and these rivers have created huge fans or deltas of rubble, in some case a mile wide.

It was certainly another day of animals and we expended a lot of digital film trying to capture them.

We saw the most amazing Beaver pond this afternoon. I have included some photos but they don't do justice to the scale of this construction. Three dam walls the longest of which would be 50 yards long, a beaver lodge that would have trouble fitting in the back of a gravel truck.

I think we found our most expensive fuel of the trip so far. We needed a few gallons to ensure we could make Fort Nelson, so we stopped at Tetsa River Lodge and paid Cdn$1.54 per litre, that's about US$5.00 per gallon.

After debating the pros and cons over the past few days we have decided to take the Deh Cho Route and visit Yellowknife. So this afternoon we called into Fort Nelson for groceries, fuel and laundry in preparation for what might turn out to be a 5 day sojourn in remote country.

With our chores in Fort Nelson finished we headed back up the Alcan to the junction with Highway 7 to Fort Liard and eventually Yellowknife. Not far along Hwy 7 we stopped for the night at Beaver Lake Campground were we encountered, a campground that looked like it was still under construction, a group of locals from Fort Nelson out for some weekend relaxation, the most mosquitos so far, and some creative spelling from the BC Parks Department.