TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO SKAGWAY

After that 8-mile climb yesterday we woke up to sore muscles and needed to stretch out a bit.  We enjoyed our visit to Skagway but the time had come to get a move on.  We made plans to meet our new friends, Jean and Maria, at Carcross for lunch.  Without phone service and shaky internet it was difficult to communicate but we bumped into each other at the Carcross visitor’s center and drove to Caribou Crossing Trading Post’s café for a bite to eat.  We got to know each other better and made plans to meet tomorrow morning at a turnout with a beautiful lake view.  Then we were all going to take the car 60 miles down to Atlin, BC for a day trip.  That was a plan but….

Second visit to Carcross

Second visit to Caribou Crossing but this time with new friends

They went back to Whitehorse for the night and we needed to empty our holding tanks, fuel up and fill our fresh water tank.  We left Carcross and headed down Tagish Road, which by the way, is a beautiful scenic route.  We had no problem gassing up and emptying our tanks but we couldn’t find water so we kept driving and driving, going 120 miles, all the way into Teslin.  Unfortunately, that put us way past where we were supposed to meet Jean and Marie.

So our plans changed again.  Jean and Marie are still going to Atlin for the day but we’re going to spend a night or two here at Lakeshore RV Park in Teslin.  We haven’t had full hookups in a while and this is a good opportunity to catch up on some laundry.  I’m hoping the lake is calm tomorrow because I’d like to take the kayak out and give our hiking legs a break.

Jean and Marie talked us into taking the Cassiar Highway to Hyder, AK and Steward, BC which is something we wanted to do but got talked out of because of Terry and Sharon’s experience on the Cassiar. The Cassier is a 450-mile scenic route with outstanding scenery and good wildlife viewing. However, the highway is narrower than most 2-lane highways with little or no shoulder and 2-5 foot dropoffs.  The roads are paved and in good  to excellent condition with an occasional gravel break or rough patches.  There is no passing and no center line on the northern half of the highway.  Now, doesn’t that sound like a piece of cake?  After driving the top of the world from Dawson City to Chicken  and onto Tok, I mean, how bad can it really be?

That's all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.

TRAVELING THE SOUTH KLONDIKE HIGHWAY

I must say "thank you" to Terry and Sharon who told us we must not miss Skagway.  It was only 108 miles from the Walmart in Whitehorse to Skagway but it took us all day because of all the jaw dropping, breath-taking, incredible sights along the way.

THE most beautiful lake we've ever seen has to be Emerald Lake also called Rainbow Lake by the Yukoners.  The water was so calm it was like a mirror and we could see the reflection in the water. The rainbow-like colors are indescribable and are the result of blue-green light waves reflecting off the white sediment, called marl.  Marl consists of fragments of decomposed shell mixed with clay.  I brought out a chair and just sat there marveling at the beauty and listening to the quiet. Truly, this is God's country.

That's the reflection and the blue-green light waves - Beautiful!

Did I or did I not say it was breath-taking?

Another beautiful stop along the South Klondike Highway

We almost didn't stop at Caribou Crossing Trading Post and that would have been a BIG mistake. The Milepost described it as offering several activities under one roof including a wildlife museum (we've seen those before, ho-hum), scenic dog cart rides and cozy cafe.  What they failed to mention that this is THE BEST mounted wildlife museum we've yet to see.  It had the world's largest polar bear, a life-size woolly mammoth and other now extinct wildlife.  They forgot to say that we would meet one of the "dirty girls" and have a chance to talk to her about her all-girls Iditarod team, meet her friendly dogs and see newborn husky pups.  I almost felt guilty asking about the 50-percent off admission for mentioning Milepost.  We saw pigs, ponies, goats and on the mountain we saw Dall sheep the closest we've seen so far (I'm wondering if they were real or mounted).  And, the cozy cafe, had home-made goodies that were difficult to resist.  As a matter of fact, I didn't resist and bought a flaky pastry stuffed with feta, spinach and onions with a side of freshly baked oatmeal, raisin and walnut cookie.

Entrance - we were told that on weekends they have 200 or more people visiting - we had the place to ourselves

World's largest mounted polar bear

Look at how small I look next to the Woolly Mammoth

These husky puppies were born in July - I know I need a haircut

Mom and her new-born pups

One of the "dirty girls" Maren - so called because of all the dirty jobs in keeping the team dogs

Now would you drive by the world's smallest desert?  Carcross Desert is an unusual desert area of sand dunes and an International Biophysical Program site for ecological studies.  The desert is composed of sandy lake-bottom material left behind by a large glacial lake.  Amazing.

Thinking Carcross with a population of 399 was just another one of those old mining towns, we thought we'd just drive through.  Nope, had to get out of the coach and check it out.  We learned about the little locomotives, the Duchess and the Duke, which operated on the 2.5-mile portage between Taku Landing and Scotia Bay until 1921.  In the early days, passengers and freight transferred from rail to stern-wheelers at Carcross.  One of those stern-wheelers was the SS Tutshi which was burned down in July 1990 but the hull remains.

I love this colorful painting done by a local artist

This is what remains of the SS Tutshi (pronounced Too-Shy)

I guess the Duke didn't survive

Someone from town is sinking in a bunch of money to renovate the old Caribou Hotel established in 1906.  Because it is a Yukon Heritage Site, the owner must work closely with the government in renovating and use as much of the original structure as possible.

Caribou Hotel - not much to look at but after the renovations, I bet the interior will be beautiful

We descended about 2,600 feet to finally arrive in Skagway, the roads were excellent and the views were beautiful. We drove into the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Visitor Center parking lot and talked with the Ranger.  He gave us information about the campgrounds in the area. The three in town started at $40 per night and the Municipal Campgrounds don't allow RV's over 26 feet, which rules us out.  From the visitor's center parking lot Denis saw a parking lot and starting thinking, why can't we park there.  He went over and talked to a bus driver there and was told the lot belongs to the hotel.  Denis went and talked to the hotel manager and they gave us permission to stay there for a few nights because the buses don't run during the week.  We have a great, private spot right in town and they wouldn't take any money.  Fantastic!

We made it!

That's all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.

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.

STAYING ANOTHER DAY IN BEAVER CREEK, YUKON

We're just so relaxed and comfortable here at White River RV Park that we paid for another night. And what did we do today?  practically nothing, which was very nice.  We played around on the computers, took a walk, did some exercise, read a book, washed the sheets and hung them outside to dry, talked with the geologist about their explorations for gold and enjoyed the sunshine.  No bear sightings today.

For dinner, I baked the halibut that Gail's daughter gave us and steamed some rice with a nice garden salad.  Thank you Shannon for the halibut and salmon, both are yummy.

The bears love these berries as evidenced by their scat

Does this look like a bomb to you?

That's all folks!  Thanks for stopping in.

YUKON TERRITORY

Wednesday we spent the day on Chena Lake, North Pole, Alaska.  It was wonderful to relax and finish my book.  Remember, I bought a book in Chicken entitled Tisha about Anne Hobbs who in 1927 had the courage not only to brave the Alaska wilderness as a teacher in Chicken but also to face down the community's violent disapproval when she dared to treat the local Indians as human beings. It's a good read for anyone looking for a bit of Chicken history.

The Fireweed has gone by which means summer is over here

Late that afternoon, we hit the road and drove to Tok for our second visit there.  We knew exactly where to stop for fuel, dump, water and RV wash.  We drove a short ways to Beaver Creek, Yukon. Denis found a nice place to spend the night.  We tucked in beside Our Lady of Grace Mission.  It was built in 1961 from a salvaged Quonset hut.  It's one of three Catholic missions on the north Alaska Highway and has masses the third Sunday of every month during the summer.

All tucked in for the night

Thursday morning we woke early and drove 30 miles at no more than 30 mph on loose gravel and frost heaves to White River RV Park just south of Beaver Creek and bordering Kluane Wildlife Santuary. What a beautiful spot with full hookups, wi-fi and grizzly bears popping in to say hi every once in a while.  We are deep in the wilderness of the Yukon and not surprised that our cell phones are useless.

Now doesn't that simplify things?

Most westerly community in Canada

Spotted these swans from a distance and stopped for a zoom

Cheers!

It was a day for washing the rig, baking bread, laundry and a little house cleaning.  Before I knew it the day was almost over and I hadn't even taken a walk around the park.  After dinner, we got to walk the park, check out the helicopter that they use to bring people out to the bush for exploration and gold drilling and we checked out the animal mounts in the lodge.

They have a large collection of fully intact moose antlers

Inside the reception area of the lodge

Around 7:30  we heard a knock at the door and we were invited to a bear hunting jeep ride.  About fifteen of us climbed aboard a 1942 military jeep and off we went.  We didn't spot any bears but the ride was an adventure and our guide was a self-proclaimed historian of the area and a bit of a comedian.  We were all beginning to wonder if our guide was ever going to bring us back to the campground, it was cold and we were getting silly.  He didn't bring us back to the campground until 11:00, of course, the only way you'd know that is by looking at the clock, the skies were still bright. 

Everyone's waiting for our jeep adventure

The 1942 jeep just keeps on going

We didn't see bears but we did see evidence - tree with bear hair, scat and tracks

This is what the skies look like at 11PM