MILE 422 ON THE ALASKA HIGHWAY - TOAD RIVER LODGE

We left Fort St. John early this morning, stopped at Fort Nelson to put $368 of gas in the tank and looked into staying the night.  Other than a museum, we didn't find the town all that interesting or friendly and decided to keep driving.  We stopped at Tetsa Campground and for $20 you get 15 amp service, dump station, water with no wi-fi or phone service but they are supposed to be world-famous for their cinnamon buns (they did smell good).

The Alaska Highway roads have been in good condition, the heavily wooded pine forests and mountains are very pretty.  I spotted a Great Gray Owl and asked Denis to turn around so we could get some pictures.  The owl patiently waited for us to get some good pictures and then flew away.  As we passed by Summit Lake and Stone Mountain we saw a small herd of Stone sheep.

They call him a big phantom of northern forests because they are usually hard to find 

Standing 27" tall, they eat mostly rodents

Stone sheep 

After driving 350 miles we were happy to see Toad River Lodge and decided to stay.  For $26 we got 30 amp service, cable, water and wi-fi.  Toad River Lodge is a historic highway lodge.  It has been a fixture on the highway since 1950. The lodge is known for its collection of hats, over 7,000 of them.  The park is clean, has a restaurant with home-cooked meals, ice cream and bakery goods.

We couldn't help ourselves

The surrounding view 

The soft serve ice cream was very good

This is just one room of hats on the ceiling - there are two other rooms

We settled in, turned on the AC, did three loads of laundry, ate dinner, walked around the park and bought a nice creamy vanilla soft serve ice cream cone.  I would recommend this campground to anyone looking for a nice stop between Fort St. John and Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park or Watson Lake.

That's all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.