Fort Nelson to Muncho Lake, 6-6-13

Fort Nelson, B.C. to Muncho Lake

We got a better night's sleep last night partly due to our “eyewear.” I had ordered us both eyemasks to wear up here in the “land of the midnight sun.” Since it doesn't get dark here until almost midnight and it gets light again around 4 a.m. So it's hard to get sleep when you are used to having it dark. The fashionable eyewear I got us takes care of that problem.

We left this morning and we didn't get too far before we spotted a herd of buffalo/bison out in a meadow. We were quite a ways from them, but I zoomed in for a better shot. We continued on our way and passed some beautifully spectacular scenery. We are in hills and valleys, mountains and plains. We are pretty much seeing it all. Most of the time we are skirting the Northern Canadian Rockies.

We saw a lone animal today who seemed totally confused by us and his surroundings. We thought his mom must be nearby. We weren't sure if it was a moose or a caribou. The owner of the campground where we are parked verified it was a caribou and that it was probably about two years old. And he said they act goofy, so that is probably just his normal state. He also said by that age, they are on their own.

One big treat was big horn sheep. We saw three and they were just sitting looking at us from a short hill. We were quite close to them and they didn't seem too interested in us. Across the road from them were Stone's sheep. I'm not sure why they are called that, but they looked more like goats.

We arrived at Muncho Lake this afternoon. We hadn't covered much more than 150 miles, but we stopped at a couple of way points and met some colorful individuals. We also made several stops to see animals.

Muncho Lake is a natural mountain lake that runs for seven miles. It is narrow for the most part, but deep. Much of the lake is 300 feet deep and goes as deep as 600+ feet. The water was very cold, but it was super clear. There were actually some children camped here with their parents and the children were in the water. The campground owner said they were “locals” which may explain why they could tolerate the cold water. We have a beautiful view from right out our door. We can see across the lake and up the hillside.

The owner told us we could see sheep on either the mountains in front or behind us and perhaps some mountain goats. He also said that in the morning caribou swim across from the far side of the lake and sometimes come walking up through the camp. Also elk are prevalent and a black bear has frequented the camp recently. We have already seen the sheep. We saw them on the hills behind us. They were far enough away it was hard to see, but I did get some shots on my camera. We are hoping to see some moose or caribou yet.

We had a great campsite tonight, but we had no wifi, so this post will be a day late.

Till next time. . .

Dale