Today was a road trip day in the Hummer back across the 60th Parallel to Fort Liard in the North West Territory. The main purpose of the trip was to get the last stamp in our Deh Cho Passport required for a NWT diamond drawing and to see what we missed by not taking NWT Highway 1 (the shortcut).
We did get the last stamp that we needed and found that we did not miss a thing by not taking the “gravel” dirt highway. About the only thing missed was not filling the coach with red dirt.
As reported all that could be seen was a dirt road lined with trees as far as the eye could see.
The information center at Fort Liard didn’t even know if there was a place to eat, they did have some very expensive native arts for sale most of which were made from Birch Bark. We drove around town and could not find an eating establishment.
Fort Liard is located on the south bank of the Liard River near its confluence with the Petitot River (known locally as the Black River because of its color).
The Northwest Company established a trading post in 1805. The post was abandoned after the massacre of more than a dozen residents by Indians. It was taken over by the Hudson Bay Company in 1821 and re-established in 1822 when the two companies merged.
The ice bridge was closed so we did not get a chance to try our ice road driving skills.
The Nelson Bridge is the longest Acrow Bridge in the world at 1,410 feet. It is 14 feet wide, with a span of 230 feet from pier to pier. The Acrow Bridge, formerly called the Bailey bridge after its designer, Sir Donald Bailey, is designed of interchangeable steel panels coupled with pins for rapid construction.
One might had wondered if it would support an Alfa but after seeing the large, heavily loaded double trailer trucks speeding across it, all such worries were laid to rest. The whole area is full of gas and oil wells and new exploration sites. There are several large work camps set up all along the road to house the workers.
No comments:
Post a Comment