June 11, 2013 Whitehorse

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Did a Tim Horton’s stop for coffee and bathrooms and then set out to explore Whitehorse a bit. 

First went to the Whitehorse Fishway to see the world’s longest Fishladder - a long wooden trough which allows the salmon to bypass the hydroelectric dam here on the Yukon River.  It allows the King (Chinook) salmon to continue their travels upriver to spawning grounds.  The salmon don’t “run” here till late July, but it was still interesting to see the displays of native fishing traps and read about the salmon’s long (2800 miles) journey! 

Mostly sunny day.  We walked past the dam a little ways  and watched a float plain from Black Sheep Aviation take off.

Next stop the public library, but wi-fi was so weak couldn’t load 3 pictures in an hour!  Went to McDonalds instead.  Better, as we sat with six others using computers, some skyping and using at least 3 different languages.

Library is next door to the Kuwan lin Cultural Center,  a First Nations multi-purpose building which had some interesting history and art displays, particularly beaded headdresses featuring the clan animals, like beaver, crow, and frog.  Beautifully done!

Headed out of town, with a stop at the Yukon Wildlife Park, where we walked 5km of trails.  Saw thin horn sheep, bison, muskox, elk, muledeer, caribou, moose, a lynx and big horn sheep and mountain goats.  The baby mountain goats were cutest, as they practiced climbing and jumping skills on Mom and Dad and each other.  Thought we would get rained on because we could see the rain coming over the mountain, but it zigged and we zagged and stayed dry.

Just down the road from the Wildlife Park was Tahkini Hot Springs, which has an associated campground.  We chose a site, then when back to soak in the Hot Springs for a while and enjoy a hot shower afterwards.  Ahhhhhh….. 

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Today we left the Alaska highway and headed north on the Klondike Highway, with the eventual goal of Dawson City, Top of the World Highway, and – finally, ALASKA.

Our first stop was Braeburn Lodge for one of their huge cinnamon buns and coffee.

 Run by an older white-haired man who looked like he could be wee Mr. Braeburn himself, I think he baked cinnamon buns and slapped together sandwiches, and that was the menu.   The bun was properly sticky and sweet and yummy, but so big we couldn’t finish one – will be breakfast again tomorrow!

It was a mostly sunny day, with temps starting out at 49 degrees, but reaching 60 by noon.  We took the hike down to Five Finger Rapids, a spot with several channels among the rocks that was very problematic for the early travelers.  Steamships too, had a difficult time here and had to winch themselves up stream to make it through the rapids.

  Nice walk down, with wooden stairs provided part of the way, but got the blood flowin’ walking back up nearly 300 steep steps. Saw this snowshoe rabbit along the trail – very large, and his belly and legs were still white, while the rest had already changed to brown from his winter white. Cute chipmunks too.

Lots of lakes- Fox, Twin, Riser, etc.  and always a river nearby.  You could see the remains of white volcanic ash some places, which dates back to roughly 700 AD. 

Have seen the results of many forest fires on this trip and note that with the shorter growing season, it takes  longer for recovery the further north we go.  Some areas burned in the 1990’s still have small trees.

Uneventful road till Pelly Crossing, where we stopped at Big Jonathan Heritage Center, which showcased history and crafts of the Selkirk First Nations Indians.  Similar story to the Tinglit and other tribes – they lived from the land, hunting fishing, following the seasons, etc.  till the coming of prospectors, steamboats, trains and then highways.  They have fought for rights, land and compensation from the Canadian Government, with some success.

The rest of the road was pretty ho-hum.  The trees and brush grow very near the sides of the road here so it is difficult to see any wildlife.  We decided to push on and take a bit of the Dempster Highway, which eventually goes to the Arctic.  It is a small, gravel road but was recommended by someone back at a shop in Watson City.

 We took it as far as the Tombstone Provincial Park, about 50 miles. Averaging between 25 and 40 mph  Greg says good luck to anyone going the whole way to the arctic!   Not much traffic, though, as we probably saw about 8-10 other vehicles.

The Dempster leads right into the Ogilvie Mountains and Snowy Range where there is still a good bit of snow on the ground and one lake that is still partially frozen, even though today’s temperature was in the 50s.   Saw this pudgy marmot  eating along the roadside.

 

We crossed the tree line to the tundra just as we reached the campground.  The vastness is just breathtaking – can’t be captured in a photo.  Our campsite is right next to a thundering river and the campground provided plenty of wood (for free even), so we had a great campfire.

Still odd having daylight go so long.  Saw a little sunset last night around 11:00 PM.  Fortunately the curtains on the Trek make it fairly dark insidel