13.-19.08.2007: Fort Nelson - Muncho Lake - Whirlpool Canyon - Watson Lake - Teslin We were hoping to meet up with Ingelore and Rolf who we had met in Álamos. We knew they were heading south and that they were somewhere close so we kept our eyes open as we headed north to Fort Nelson. We went straight to the visitor centre and Kirsten got onto the internet there to send Ingelore and Rolf an email, telling them where we were heading. Helen went out to Winnie to get our Milepost book, so that we could tell them exactly where we would be stopping that night, when, Lo and Behold!!, Ingelore and Rolf drove up!!! Amazing! It would have been so easy to miss each other and yet we'd managed to find them - or they'd managed to find us! We were all excitedly recounting how we'd feared missing each other and laughing at how we'd somehow managed to meet up! We drove down to the Muskwa River and drove onto the pebble beach. We parked up and the first thing was "Coffee and Cake" in the true German tradition!! Then Rolf built a fire and we put some potatoes wrapped in foil into it for an impromptu evening meal. The weather was super and we watched some ATV's hurtling through the river as we caught up on everywhere we'd been and what we'd done since we saw them last Christmas. We had a great time chatting and swapping stories. They are heading south and will be back in Germany in three weeks so they had to rush off the next day as they have to get over to the east coast to get their ferry. So we waved them off the next morning at 8-30am. We continued west on the Alaska Highway and saw a black bear at a closed-down restaurant on the way. We stopped at Tetsa River campground for sausage rolls on the way and then at Toad River Lodge to see the 6,800 baseball caps so far collected! We stopped to take photos of a really sweet moose and found a spot for the night just north of Muncho Lake. The next day we stopped at Liard Hot Springs for the day where there are several hot springs. Then we just had a short drive up to Whirlpool Canyon for the night. Unfortunately, a little mouse decided to come and visit us in the middle of the night!! We had a hard job getting it out and then blocking where it had got in the first place!! It was determined to keep trying to get in and consequently kept us up most of the night! We checked Winnie the next day to make sure our little mouse hadn't got under the bonnet or into our air filter and swapped our cupboards around so that our food would be inaccessible to any hungry little visitor! Back on the road there were warning signs for buffalo and not long afterwards we encountered the first one walking along the road! It was really sunny and warm so we hunted for a spot to park up where we couldn't be seen from the road, hung out our solar shower and had wonderful showers. That's something we haven't done in a long time - hang out the solar shower that is, because it hasn't been warm enough! That night we got our first glimpse of the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights). It was only a very faint green but it was the first time either of us have ever seen it!! Well worth staying up in the middle of the night! The first thing we did when we arrived at Watson Lake was to wander around the "Signpost Forest". It was started by a homesick engineer working on the Alaska Highway in 1942, who erected a sign with the mileage to his hometown. Since then others have followed the lead and by 1990 there were 10,000 signs! Now they are up to 68,000! We also went to the Northern Lights Centre to watch a one hour show on the universe and, of course, the lights. The mechanisms that produce auroral displays are not completely understood. It is known, however, that charged particles arriving in the vicinity of Earth as part of the solar wind are captured by the Earth's magnetic field and conducted downward toward the magnetic poles. They collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms, knocking away electrons to leave ions in excited states. These ions emit radiation at various wavelengths, creating the characteristic colours (red or greenish blue) of the aurora. It was really worth going to. We drove to the free dump station at Wye Lake Park and there was some kind of a barbecue going on with a water slide for the kids and live music. Entertainment while you dump!! Not far from Watson Lake we stopped at Rancheria Falls Recreation Site and did a short 1 mile boardwalk to the falls. We were treated to a mating dance from a Ptarmigan who was strutting his stuff and flashing his feathers for the ladies!! On Sunday we stopped at Dawson Peaks Resort to try out their award winning rhubarb pie and ice cream..... Yummy!!! Then we stopped at the Yukon Motel in Teslin and went to look at the excellent Wildlife Gallery. It was very well done and there's no entrance fee!! That night we found a place to stop at Salmo Lake for the night.