Larger Than Life/Plus Grand Que la Nature...adventures in the Yukon

Hello again!

Although we haven't posted in a while, we are writing to you from the exact same spot as last time - Teslin, YT. After making our way around all of the Yukon, we return here on our last night before heading to Edmonton through BC. 

In Teslin, the only thing worth seeing is the natural history exhibit containing dioramas of species found in the Yukon. Fortunately, it was right in our campground. Then we set off for Carcross, short for its original name, Cariboo Crossing. This was a midpoint on the railroad bringing gold prospectors from Skawgay to Whitehorse. Its breathtaking lakeshore was also the spot where prospectors sailed out toward Dawson City before the railroad. 

Right outside the city, we visited the Carcross Desert, the world's smallest. It was odd to see sand dunes surrounded by snow-capped mountains. From there, we went on to Carcross trading post where we attempted a hike which proved too steep. Instead, we made friends with Crazy, the dog who tried to lead us up the mountain while  playing fetch with tree branches (or shall we say small trees). 

On our way up to our destination of Mayo, we passed by the five finger rapids, one of the most difficult to traverse. It too was part of the boat passage to Dawson. When we reached Mayo, we got in touch with Matt, who luckily became our local tour guide for the remainder of our stay in Yukon (thanks Rafi!). 

Wildlife count for that day was only one bear. 

The next day, June 21st, also known as the summer solstice, we set out for Dawson City on a mission to see the midnight sun. On our way, we visited Keno, a small silver mining town. We toured their mining museum as well as saw a house insulated with glass bottles (interesting concept...). We also drive to the top of Keno hill (or shall we say mountain) to see a signpost that indicated the distance to various international cities (including Haifa!). 

Just to give our readers a sense of the size of these mining "towns," on a walk along the lakeside in Mayo, a group of locals after hearing we were visiting from Montreal asked in a surprised tone why we had come there. 

Dawson City proved to be slightly larger. Our first night there all we really did was drive up to the Dome to watch the midnight sun. Despite the light rain, it was still really cool to see the sun not set. 

Wildlife count for that day was a golden eagle in Keno, a red fox and porcupine on the road. 

The next day we toured Dawson and visited the city museum. In the afternoon we set out on the Dempster highway. Heading North, we saw lots of tundra (which is springy to step on), crossed into the Arctic Circle, and said "hello" to the Northwest Territories. We camped that night on the Dempster. We were so far north that the sun didn't even bother trying to set. When we went to sleep at 2AM, it was as bright as 2PM. Needless to say, our internal clocks are very confused. Wildlife count for the day was a bald eagle, a black bear, and a rabbit. 

On the 23rd, we took the Dempster back into Dawson. On the way, we stopped in Tombstone Territorial Park. Unfortunately, it was too rainy for a hike, but we learned all about the animals in the tundra environment. An Valerie learned to tell the difference between a white spruce and a black spruce. She uses this knowledge daily. On the road we saw our first marmot!

Back in Dawson City, we had dinner and a show in Canada's oldest casino, Diamond Tooth Gertie's. We also witnessed a timeless Dawson City tradition, the Sourtoe Cocktail. Apparently, it seems that for some people the logical thing to do upon finding a pickled toe is to put it in a whisky glass and take a shot (not swallowing the toe but merely touching it to your lips). Don't worry, we weren't daring enough to try it ourselves. 

The next day, we drove to Whitehorse. Before leaving, we took a short scenic drive on the top of the world highway which goes into Alaska. The road was built along the ridge of a tall mountain. We saw amazing views of mountains from above. We also stopped in Braeburn for the largest cinnamon bun you have ever seen. It also made a good breakfast the next day. 

Finally arriving in Whitehorse that evening, we were excited to finally be back in a real town. It had two Tim Horton's! (the only two in all of Yukon). We celebrated in a "busy" bar called Tippler's. Wildlife viewings for the day were a black bear, a ground squirrel, and a coyote. 

After sleeping in the next day due to sun-lag, we spent lots of time in the Beringia Centre where we learned about animals of the ice age including Mammoths, and Scimitar Cats. We also learned how people got to North America by following them across the Bering Strait. 

From there, we went to the train museum for a ride in an old mine train. This also happened to be the starting point for a 24 hour mountain bike marathon. 

We enjoyed an appetizing meal at Timmy's and then went on a hike along the water. We saw Canada's largest fish ladder as well as an abandoned town. 

On June 26th, we went on a day trip to Kluane National Park. The park was larger than we imagined, and so required more driving and less hiking than we had hoped, but we still managed to fit in 2 nice hikes (well, one and a half...). The first was on an old sheep trail and had gorgeous views of the river and surrounding snow-capped mountains. The second gave us a view of rock glacier, a rock face shaped by a melting glacier (as you may have been able to deduce by the name). Definitely worth all the driving (especially since it was sunny and beautiful). That night we stayed back in Whitehorse with a friend of Matt that we had met the day before at the bike marathon. 

Today, we finally got a chance to be typical tourists in Whitehorse. We spent the morning souvenir shopping. We also toured the S.S. Klondike, the largest sternwheeler to have crossed from Whitehorse to Dawson City in the 1930s. It was able to sail in less than 2 meters of water even when fully loaded with ore from the mines. 

In the afternoon, we set off for Skagway, Alaska, our first (and hopefully last) time crossing the US border. The drive over was spectacular, definitely the best scenery we have seen so far. The view of the clear glacial lakes in front of snow-capped mountains was phenomenal. In the city, we toured the Dyea village, a town built up and torn down in the span of a century. Now, there is hardly a trace of anything at all. The only remaining structure, a false front of a real estate office, only remains because it is being heavily supported by beams. The town grew quickly because of the gold rush. It was the start of the Chilcoot trail which took prospectors over a nearly vertical incline to Bennett Lake, YT. The boom of the town lasted only three years because of competition with neighbouring Skagway. They won the railroad, so Dyea fell. It was incredible to hear about how much the town grew in such a short amount of time, only to fall even faster. 

We could not end our short trip to Alaska without visiting the Sarah Palin store. The funniest part about it was the Obama store next door which was not open for business. We also sampled some local spruce-tip beer which was excellent! (and has a day's supply of vitamin C - the beer was originally brewed to help prevent scurvy among the travelers.

Wildlife count for the day was one bald eagle and one fuzzy porcupine!

Now we have circled back to Teslin and will be making our way down to Edmonton. This brings to a close our Yukon chapter of the trip