Day 38
   
   6/4/01
   Mile 3613
   Near Fireside, BC
   
   I met the other biker, Mike, at the cafe at 8am for breakfast.  We
   talked for a while, and he showed me some of his gear.  It looked
   good, except it seemed to me like he had way too much of it.  Oddly, he
   carried an electronic spell checker - for the personal journal he kept with
   paper and pencil.  We finished breakfast, and I said goodbye, since he
   was going only to Liard today, just 40 miles.
   
   Muncho Lake is a beautiful one, with mountains in the background and
   that wonderful blue-green color so often found in waters like these.
   Farther down, I saw Stone Sheep licking the roadside for minerals.
   Caribou were also grazing alongside the hills.
   
   And yes, I finally saw a bear.  Not too large yet, it was a young
   black bear scouring the roadside for berries and whatnot.  Nonetheless, I
   shadowed a slow-moving car as it went past so as to provide a little
   cover for me.
   
   The peaks around me became slowly smaller as I descended to the Liard
   River, finally reaching the northernmost tip of the Rocky Mountain
   chain.  The Rockies stretch south from here some 1850 air miles; the
   Mackenzie Mountains run northwards from this point.
   
   The Liard Hot Springs are a famous waypoint.  Weary construction
   workers came here to soak in the 105F-degree springs during the
   building of the road in 1942.  Now, almost 60 years later, a weary 
   bicyclist seeks same.
   
   But when I arrive, the area is roped off, and a sign says "Closed -
   Dangerous Bear In Area".  I talked to a ranger about it.  Turns out
   some people were swimming four days ago and a grizzly wandered in.  Cleared
   things out pretty quick!  The decision was made to close the springs
   until the bear decided to leave.  Maybe tomorrow, I was told.
   
   Too long for me to wait.  I grabbed lunch across the street (ten bucks
   for a burger and fries - food has been getting ridiculously expensive
   the farther I go) and head north again.
   
   The hills get quite steep around Coal River.  My 2001 AAA map shows
   services at the town of Fireside, but everything is closed, and nobody
   is camping there.  I head north for an hour.
   
   At 10pm I decide to stop for the day, since I'd found a good spot, and
   bears tend to forage more late in the evening.  I fired up the stove
   for some ravioli and coffee.  Still, there are no appreciable
   mosquitos; as I write this at 10:30pm, the sun is just setting, and I 
   sit outside my tent with no repellent.  The full moon is coming up, 
   giving company to the few cirrus clouds that color the sky. It's been 
   a good day.

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