WHITEHORSE, YUKON TERRITORIES

This is our second visit to Whitehorse and we'll be spending the night at Walmart with at lot of other RVers.  We drove about 260 miles today.  The roads were not as bad as some people said but we had frost heaves and loose gravel.  We just took our time and saw some of the sights along the way.

We drove to Burwash Landing, population 84, visited the Kluane Museum of Natural History and saw the World’s Largest Gold Pan.  I love burl bowls and today I learned that burls start as an irritation in the spruce.  The tree sends extra sap as a healant, which creates a growth or burl.  The burls are peeled of their bark, shaped and finished into those beautiful bowls.

This is a burl

We noticed the fireweed and charred trees from the June 1999 fire.  The fire closed the Alaska Highway and Burwash Landing was evacuated.  Some 8,000 acres were burned and five homes were destroyed.  I learned that Fireweed is one of the first plants to reestablish itself in burn areas.

Evidence of the 1999 fire

We passed through Destruction Bay, population 55, before arriving at Haines Junction, population 840.  We turned off onto Tachal Dhal Visitor Center and spotted a small herd of Dall sheep on the southern slopes of Tachal Dhal (formerly known as Sheep Mountain).   Then a few miles down the road was Kluane Lake, the largest lake in Yukon Territory, covering 154 square miles.  At that same view point we could see the Kaskawulsh Glacier.  If you’ve never seen a glacier lake, it is very difficult to describe the color of the water but it is just beautiful.

Not much to see in Destruction Bay

Dall sheep

Kaskawulsh Glacier

We couldn’t miss Haines Junctions’ local landmarks, Our Lady of the Way Catholic Mission and St. Christopher’s Anglican Church.  The Mission was built in 1943 by Father Morriset, the first Catholic priest to preach the Gospel in the area.  This is the second church we’ve seen which was converted from and old quanset hut.  The Anglican Church is an 8-sided log church designed and built by local craftsmen.

Next stop was the Kluane National Park and Reserve Visitor Center which is now located at the new Da Ku building (which is a class act).  The National Park encompasses extensive ice fields, mountains and wilderness and has become a world-class destination among wilderness enthusiasts.  The Ice field Ranges are Canada’s highest and the world’s largest nonpolar alpine ice field. For a mere $150 per person you can take a plane over the ice fields, if you are so inclined. The cultural center features Champagne and Aishihik First Nations cultural exhibits.  The exhibits were some of the best we’ve seen.  I love the glass bead work on the animal hide clothing and moccasins.

Beautiful glass beading

This was one of my favorites - applique and glass beading

Part of the cultural building

Of course, we had to stop at the most photographed spot in Haines Junction to take a picture of the 24-foot-high sculpture referred to as The Village Monument.

Nicknamed the "muffin" and I don't know why - maybe the shape

This is the way bridges used to be built - scary

We settled into the Walmart parking lot, did a little shopping, unhitched the car and went to 7:30 mass at Our Lady of Victory.  Denis didn’t know he dropped his cell phone by the priest’s car and so the priest played a joke on him.  He asked Denis if he could borrow his phone to make a call.  Of course, Denis is searching through his pockets in a panic before the priest told him he found it.  Close call.

Then we got back to the coach and in the process of typing up the blog and travel pics and we get a knock at the door.  Surprise it’s Terri and Sharon, the couple we met at Gail’s house in Sterling.  They came for a visit and convinced us that we need to drive the 110 miles to Skagway from here.  So Denis did a quick re-routing and just like that “pronto” our plans have changed.

Now for the sad part of my story and you bloggers will relate to this one.   I already typed this blog earlier tonight and when I went to McDonalds to connect to the internet and upload my pictures before publishing it, I lost everything I just finished typing.  Yes, I was not a happy camper.    So now it’s 11:30 PM and I’m saying good night.

That’s all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.