Deh Cho Trip day 2 - July 10, 2011

Fort Nelson to Fort Liard

Patrick and Mo wishing a good journey.

With the KLR. It's a bit of a tall bike.

The day began hot in Fort Nelson as I bid farewell to Mo and Patrick. After a quick fuel stop and check at the Visitor Info Centre I was on my way to NWT.

I had driven past the turnoff for Fort Liard many times, always wondering when I would take it. Well, that day had finally come. I tried to get a picture of my bike near a big sign proclaiming where the highway went, but had to settle for the small road sign on a stop sign, there being no other road accessible sign.

KLR at the Liard Highway turnoff.

As I rode this new highway I noticed that the ditch clearances were not as wide as the Alaska Highway, the forest feeling closer. In the distance, I could see rain in the sky, in the direction the road appeared to go. Once I actually hit some light rain I found a place to pull in and put on my rain pants, already having on the rain layer under my jacket.

The rain lasted only a short distance and I didn't think about it much after that.

My first break was after crossing the Nelson River Bridge, which is a long, one lane, wood deck bridge. There was a rest area on the other side and I took advantage of it to stretch a bit, walk a bit, and take some photos.

The Bridge over the Nelson River

(Insert history of bridge here).

It was here hat I saw the first other tourists doing the Deh Cho Connection, as RVs and even a couple of white KTM bikes rushed across the bridge, going the other way. I seemed to be one of the only people on this route who did the loop clockwise.

I was getting a little bit warm, but still wearing my rain layers when I got back on the bike and was under way again. The day kept getting warmer, and I started to over heat. Pulling in at the Pettitot River to wander a bit I removed the rain layers and stripped down to shorts and a t-shirt, which made for much nicer riding.

Finally, I crossed the NWT border, bidding farewell to BC and pavement, the latter for close to a week until I reach Highway #3 to Yellowknife.

The border for the NWT, gravel highway beyond.

Apparently, they had freshly re-gravelled this stretch of highway, and I found the bike harder to control, even going 50-60km/h. I had to force myself to relax, grip the tank with my knees and just accept the swaying of the bike as I carefully followed chosen lines, drawing on what littledirt and mountain bike skills I had, making sure to look where I wanted to go, not where I didn't want to go.

It was with a lot of relief that I saw the sign for the turnoff for Fort Liard.

My camp set up in Fort Liard

I found the camp site, set up camp, then went into town to get gas and dinner. The gas I found easily, the dinner not so much. I was told at the gas station that everything was now closed, it being Sunday evening, and that even the general store had now closed. I wasn't completely out of luck, I knew, as I had packed a bunch of camping food, but had been hoping to save it for lunches and when I was camping at Sambaa Deh Falls, well away from restaurants. A bit disappointed by this, I decided I might as well ride around town and see what I could of it and get a bit of a feel for the place.

As I was getting back on the bike for this I chatted with a guy filling up at the diesel pump. He noted that he was heading up the highway to get a bike that had been left there. The rider, a woman from Quebec, had gotten frustrated with the gravel and refused to ride any further, getting her partner to give her a ride into town, and he was giving him a ride back to where she had left the bike, to ride it into town.

Riding around town, I saw the closed general store, the closed Acho Dene Crafts, but soon found a general store that was open, attached to a motel. I went in and searched the aisles, eventually finding a frozen pasta meal and can of chick peas to make a quick dinner without depleting my camping food.

With dinner purchased, I was all set to head back to camp when a sight caught my eye and I went over to check it out - the giant Liard River. I walked down the banks to check out the river, and see the Petitot flowing into it. I had seen a bunch of benches, tables and chairs through town at the top of the bank, and looking at the river, I understood why.

Confluence of the Pettitot and Liard rivers

Riding back to camp for dinner I looked over and saw a pretty serious looking skatepark, and shortly after waved back at a young man walking with his skateboard.

After dinner I chatted with my fellow campers, while we all tried to fend off the bugs. There was a family in a rented RV, who had come out from Ontario with the ultimate goal of driving the Stewart-Cassiar, as well as an older guy and his wife, who had driven up from Sudbusy. He filled in some of the details about the woman from Quebec, as he had helped translate for heer at the motel, having grown up in the Eastern Townships.

We shared advice and information, it rained, and we all went to do our things. I took some photos and tried to do the hike around the lake. I got halfway before the bugs got overpowering and I decided to turn back
and call it a night.

Hay Lake, with the Ski Hill across the lake.

"Night" in Fort Liard

In the tent, a lot stood in the way of sleep. First, some bugs had gotten in, so I had to go on a hunt/killing spree. This worked for all except for the tiny black flies, who kept appearing out of nowhere. And then, it was clearly too hot to be in my sleeping bag, so I left it packed and instead lay in just the silk liner. And finally, there were all of the bugs outside making their presence known. As a background drone it would have turned into white noise, but there was always one close to my head, determined that this time it would be able to fly through the mesh. I tried zipping shut the nylon door to no avail, but finally remembered my earpugs. I dug them out, stuck them in, and finally drifted into a sleep disturbed only by the need to pee, which allowed me to see that it can still get dark-ish in Fort Liard in July, although not so much that I needed the head lamp I had packed.

This is the text only version - photos will be added to these posts later (likely in a week or so, as I've got a LOT of photos to sort through).