Day 24 - Fort Saint John is a great escape

Last night around midnight I went to the Liard Hot Springs under the midnight sun. I got there and found about a dozen crazy folks with the same idea. I got in and it was heavenly! After a long 500+ mile ride, doing laundry until 11:00 pm and fighting vicious mosquitos (there were thousands - it was terrible!) to set up my tent, a soak in a natural really hot hot spring felt so damn good. Ahhhhhhhhhh...... Even the slight sulphur smell actually added to the enjoyment - it felt medicinal. I soaked for a long time then swam to the source spring but it was too hot to stay. So I dried off, fought the mosquitos again to gain entry to my tent and then fell asleep like a baby. When I woke up I still felt great. Fighting off the mosquitos for one last round (thank God for DEET), I hit the road around 8:30 am hoping to get in at least 400 miles. After clearing the angry bison (OMG that scared the stew out of me!) I made it about 430 miles to Fort Saint John BC. I sure do appreciate the comforts of a bigger town with restaurant, car washes, cell service and Internet. I had a good dinner and caught up on a few things then showered and I'll be in bed soon enough. One more thing is like to add. Yesterday and today were always going to be travel days to get from amazing Alaska to beautiful Jasper and Banff. While I knew I would be putting in some serious miles I didn't appreciate the fact that a) I would have quality time to think and b) just how nice and friendly the people in the backlands would be. Having 8 consecutive hours for 3 or 4 days in a row to just think about life and future, etc has been a real blessing. I am looking forward to another 8 hours tomorrow. And the locals... I guess living in the wilderness with the winters and the bison and God's green earth makes you appreciate things in a way us city folks do not. I don't know what it is but I have not felt so welcomed by such complete strangers ever before. Maybe it just that this is the closest I've been to native American (or First Nation as they call it here) culture before but I really appreciate the welcome, the generosity of spirit and the connection to the environment that the locals have. It has been a very welcome surprise.

ODO - 5558