We started today with a nice long walk in the forest (and rain) near the campground and found a good example of a beaver felled tree. Once underway we made our way into the little village of Boyle for a fuel top-up before starting the stretch of road to Fort McMurray. Not far out of Boyle highway 63 turned from a rural road into a new 4 lane freeway/motorway/expressway (whatever you want to call it) clearly built to handle the demands of the energy industry, indeed we passed a number of oversized loads during the curse of the day as well as seeing many heavy transporters returning south. I was a bit captivated by the trailers and their many wheels, at one point we caught a photo of a returning combination with two prime-movers (at pulling and one pushing), 26 axles on the trailer and 8 wheels on each axle.

Just a little aside on beaver. You might have noticed that we are a bit obsessed by them. We read an info board today that explained that the reason beaver build dams is to ensure that the water around the lodge (their house) is deep enough that it will not freeze all the way to the bottom in winter.

We stopped for the night at Crow Lake Provincial Recreation Area about 70 miles short of Fort McMurray. It was a bit wet under foot, and a few other groups in the campground even though the water and dump are closed for the season.