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photo of a red fox with a furry breakfast in his mouth. Unlike the one yesterday, this one wanted nothing to do with us and disappeared into the woods before we could get off the lens cover.

We saw a number of buffalo, either single individuals or small herds with calves. Like all baby animals, the calves were adorable but the adults were not as cute. These are woods buffalo (as opposed to prairie buffalo like we’ll see in Yellowstone) and they are endangered, mostly by the humans hurtling toward them in trucks and motorhomes. Quite a few are killed each year because the buffalo walk into the road without concern for traffic. Doesn’t do any good for the drivers either - I imagine it would be like hitting a wall.

We had stopped at the Laird River Hot Springs on our trip in 2001 and decided to stop again this afternoon. These mineral hot springs have been a healing place since long before European explorers and trappers found them. A rustic boardwalk leads you down the 15-minute walk to the first of two springs and another five minutes takes you to the second. If you decide to check it out, take towels, water shoes or flipflops, and mosquito spray.

Our final animal sighting was small group of stone sheep. (We think they look like goats but, according to some local wildlife posters, they are a type of sheep.) We arrived at Northern Rockies Lodge (located on Muncho Lake), a place we remembered fondly from our previous visit. However, we are disappointed with the cabin, the restaurant prices are outrageous (canned cokes are $2.75 ea.). The float plane trip we had hoped to take won’t be possible, so we are leaving in the morning for Fort Nelson.

The Model T ran good again today. We got 22.75 Miles per gallon on today’s drive despite it being totally in the mountains. We are very gald we installed the Warford transmission in Anchorage before we set out. It took only 8 hours and has saved us hours of Ford low gear going up hills. I have not had to use Ford low once since we left Anchorage.

The Alaska Highway is paved for it’s entire length now but that doesn’t mean it is smooth. The road surface

is quite rough but has few potholes. There are many frost heaves and areas where the shoulder has fallen off and been repaired but the only gravel areas we have seen are where construction is going on.

The traffic is very light with a vehicle mix of about one heavy truck for each five cars or pickup trucks and ten motor-homes or camper trailers behind pickups. Many of the roadside services have been closed in the last few years and those that are still open are deteriorating in quality. The locals are blaming the economy for the slow down but I suspect two other factors. The deteriorating quality of the facilities and the increased use of motorhomes and RVs which give visitors a less expensive and more reliable alternative for both food and lodging.