North to Alaska … Day 16 – Tuesday 5/18/10 to Skagway, AK
Emerald Lake can be viewed from the Klondike Highway 2 South leading from WhiteHorse YT, to Skagway, Alaska. Emerald Lake is situated in the Watson River Valley and is famous for its turquoise blue and green waters, The amazingly vivid blue-green color of this lake is not caused by glacial silt, rather it is caused by sunlight reflecting off the white layer of “Marl” – Calcium Carbonate clay – which is on the bottom of the lake.
The drive from Whitehorse, YT to Skagway, AK in May has to be one of the most awesome sights we have witnessed to date. I just keep running out of adjectives to describe everything. It’s like sensory overload. See and judge for yourself.
Photos of Drive from Whitehorse, YT to Skagway, Alaska
Crossing back into the good old US of A was easy. Kind of strange that these guys know things about you that they should have no clue. We were asked if we parked our 5th wheel in Whitehorse. Had my lid on the back of the GMC covering things up and there was no way he could see that I had a hitch in the back of the truck. We think the US and Canadian border agencies share info.
A place exists in Alaska where the past lives on, where the cries of “gold in the Yukon” still echo from steep canyon walls, where the sounds of barroom pianos and boomtown crowds ring out in the night. A place where the romance and excitement of yesteryear linger around every street corner, every bend in the trail. That place is Skagway! Cruise ships dock right downtown within easy walking distance. The deep channels cut by glaciers allow this to happen.
White Pass Railroad Summit excursion
Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months.
The $10 million project was the product of British financing, American engineering and Canadian contracting. Tens of thousands of men and 450 tons of explosives overcame harsh and challenging climate and geography to create “the railway built of gold. The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901.
North to Alaska … Day 15 – Monday 5/17/10 @ Whitehorse, YT
PETE: Today was spent enjoying more of the sights and sounds of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. We took in the MacBride Museum of Yukon History, Murals, the Yukon Transportation Museum, a bald eagle, and the longest wooden Fish Ladder in the World. The ladder allows Chinook Salmon to continue their journey up the Yukon River that was dammed to provide hydro-electric power to Whitehorse.
After an enjoyable ample breakfast, we started the day by visiting the MacBride Museum of Yukon History. Here are some of the sights from the museum
Many buildings in Whitehorse have been adorned with Murals. Here is an example of two of those Whitehorse Murals
The Yukon Transportation Museum houses a unique collection of artifacts depicting the Gold Rush transportation heritage. Here are some photos of the Yukon Transportation Museum
North to Alaska … Day 14 – Sunday 5/16/10 @ Whitehorse, YT
PETE: Today we took things slow and easy. It gave us an opportunity to sleep in and just catch our breaths. We visited the Miles Canyon Suspension Bridge that crosses the Yukon River and what a sight to behold. The water was so blueish green and we could have stayed there all day just relaxing and enjoying the vistas. Before the dam was built downstream in 1958 for a hydro-electric plant that services Whitehorse, Miles Canyon had foaming rapids which forced the stampeders to bypass the treacherous waters on the “Trail of ’98”. Miles Canyon rapids are now tamed and have been replaced with the Schwatka Lake reservoir.
While in Whitehorse, YT we are staying at the Hi Country RV Park. Like other parks here it is mostly gravel but there are plenty of full hookup pull thrus. Here we are relaxing with some new found friends, Terry and Debbie from Iowa and Henry and Grace from Ontario.
North to Alaska … Day 13 – Saturday 5/15/10 @ Whitehorse, YT
PETE: Today marked our first extended stop on this Trek. We’re going to rest and take in the Whitehorse, YT area for 3 days before going on to Skagway, Alaska. One of the highlights of today was visiting the S.S. Klondike. There were 250 of these paddle boats in their prime running up and down the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City. As you’ll see from these photos, the Klondike was a wood burning paddle boat that provided some really comfortable first class accommodations. It cost a person a month’s wages to make the 36 hour boat trip.
We found out that Whitehorse has some great restaurants and nightlife entertainment. Have noticed that they serve you a very healthy portion at reasonable prices. The Klondike Salmon & Ribs BBQ was sure to be good since we saw a long line outside for the second night. Our wait was rewarded. Karen had the ribs and I had the 3 piece Halibut fish and chips. My word … the half rack that Karen received would have fed the both of us and each piece of my Halibut was about the size of Karen’s forearm.
Visited the Yukon Brewing Company but the tour is only provided on weekdays. Able to taste the six brews on tap and found their product to be exceptionally smooth and great tasting. Learned about a “growler” and of course I had to partake and bought a growler to take home. Turns out a “growler” is used to bring home fresh beer from a brewery and it got its name because originally they used a small bucket with a lid on it which would create pressure when you carried it home and would start making a growling noise. Never knew that before. I chose to fill my growler with Yukon Red. Yukon Red won Canadian beer of the year in 2009. The slogan at the Yukon Brewing Company is … “beer worth freezin for” and I have to agree with their slogan. Check out my Yukon Red “growler”.
North to Alaska … Day 12 – Friday 5/14/10 to Whitehorse, YT
PETE: We finally got on the Alaska Highway. The Alaska Highway starts at Dawson Creek, BC but we didn’t come up that way since we chose to go up the Cassiar Highway. I don’t see us coming up the Cassiar again in the near future … man, that road turned out to be a bear. Proceeding up Alaskan Highway from Junction 37, YT to Whitehorse, YT started out great. Once again we were able to travel at 100 km/h and just as you start getting comfortable you begin to see those little red flags on the sides of the road. I can’t emphasize more the importance of slowing way down for each and every flag. Some of those frost heaves will do a lot of damage to your unit if you hit it at speed. The one you don’t slow down for is the one that will get you into trouble …
Today we were once again blessed with great scenic views and animals . We saw 2 Caribou, 1 Black Bear, and finally got to see our first Moose which was closely followed by our 2nd Moose … Our animal count to date is now 13 Black Bears, 5 Caribou, 1 Fox, 1 Grouse, and 2 Moose. No, Karen did not see a grouch – it was a Grouse!! Here are the animals that we were able to capture.
As we were driving into the Hi Country RV Park in Whitehorse, YT we were pleasantly surprised to see our friends and ex-caravan mates parked at the office. Debbie and Terry decided not to risk the road conditions leading to Skagway and opted to visit Whitehorse first. It was pure coincidence that we wound up at the same RV Park at the same time. Fate sometimes plays an interesting hand.
One of the benefits of being this far North is the hours of daylight available. Here are some photos that shows the Titanium in the RV Park at 10:30 PM. It takes a little getting used to but when you think it’s about 7:30 PM it’s actually around 10.