During August 2003 I drove through British Columbia and into the
Northwest Territories on a combined confluence hunting and sightseeing trip.
I started close to 49°N and went as far North as 61°N, covered
6,200 kilometers (3,850 miles), did 7 successful confluence visits, and
had another 12 confluences that are incomplete. I made
a map that shows the route,
and the confluences in the order they were done, with the successful ones
shown with black markers. The incomplete visits are a mix of actual attempts
and situations where I drove somewhat close to the confluence, and included
a 'visit' as a way to document the confluence location for future visitors.
The first confluence on the trip was
52°N 121°W.
17-Aug-2003 -- After my incomplete "visit" to
59°N 125°W I continued westerly along
the Alaska Highway, enjoying the scenery, and making a number of stops to take pictures.
Before long, I was entering
Muncho Lake Provincial
Park, and the wonderfull scenery continued.
Near the south end of the lake, near the Strawberry Flats campground, I took
a picture looking north up the lake.
I continued north along the highway, crossing 59°N. At that point, the
confluence is 13.27 kilometers to the west, in rough terrain in the Terminal
Range, at the headwaters of the Trout River.
At the north end of the lake, at the Muncho Lake Viewpoint, are a couple of signs.
The wording on the
'view sign' is 'MUNCHO LAKE, Elevation
817 meters (2680 feet), "Muncho" means "Big Lake" in the Kaska language, At 12 kilometers
long (7.5 miles) it is one of the largest natural lakes in the Canadian Rockies'.
The features indicated on the sign, from left to right, are: Sentinal Range, Alaska Highway,
Muncho Lake, Peterson Mountain, and
Terminal Range. In
my photo taken from the viewpoint you can see
all these features. North of the lake I took a couple of photos of the
Sentinal Range.
Normally I try and find an old logging road, or recreation site, to camp for the night,
but in the Muncho Lake area, other than the highway, there aren't many roads. I continued
north on the Alaska Highway, past
Liard River Hot Springs
Provincial Park, and then turned off onto the Mould Creek microwave tower road. On the
way up the road, I met a minivan with a family coming down. Once I reached the top, and
saw the view, I realized that they had perhaps been up there to watch the sunset, as it
was just past 9:30PM when I arrived at what would be my camp spot for the night.
The next confluence on this trip was
60°N 128°W.