Back in Whitehorse...

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Trip Start Jun 17, 2008 Previous
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  Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
Friday, August 1, 2008

And, back to Whitehorse...

I hate to admit it but coming back here felt a bit like coming home.  We're staying in Hi Country RV Park again (it's one of our favourites - you actually get something for your $24) and there's a sense of familiarity in returning to a place we've already been.  There's a playground here that the kids love, pristine laundry facilities and they put fresh flowers in the bathrooms.  Really.  I asked Kevin if the Men's washroom had flowers as well, and with a shrug he said, "all I know is that the stalls were lacking in quality graffiti".  AND, we know where the Walmart is without checking the GPS...

We've had quite a week - full of amazing scenery, heroic acts (in my mind anyway) and a bit of adventure. 

Our first highlight? Valdez..

Richardson Highway to Valdez

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·    The trip to Valdez along the Richardson highway was incredible. Spectacular views of the Alaska Range, glaciers that almost reach the highway, Keystone Canyon's amazing waterfalls, and Thompsons Pass...all within a span of 170 kilometres.  Not that we saw too much of Thompsons Pass - as we climbed the mountain we were blanketed in a fog so thick that we couldn't see the RV coming towards us until it was 10 feet away.  Not exactly perfect weather when driving on the top of a mountain - I admit to holding tightly to the door handle at times, and I'm not sure it helped to have Kevin say that he was just going to close his eyes and use his "batman" sonar senses.  Throughout the drive however, Kevin showed his true patience with me as I asked to stop every few km and take pictures.  Of course we don't know what those little voices were saying (ever so quietly) in his head, although he did say it was an enjoyable five hours;

·     Valdez is a typical little fishing town that has had some big tragedies.  Everyone knows about the horrific Exxon Valdez oil spill on Good Friday in 1989.  But some (including me before this trip) may not know that 25 years earlier, also on Good Friday, an earthquake registering 9.2 on the Richter scale hit the town; ultimately, the entire town had to be relocated 4 miles down the highway to more stable ground.  Although we didn't get into any 'good versus evil' theological discussions, we did decide not to plan any vacations in Valdez for March 2014;

·    One of the highlights of Valdez for us was a cruise into Prince William Sound.  Although the weather was cold and gray, it wasn't raining which was an improvement on most days

Mount Billy Mitchell, Richardson Highway

.  During the day, we were fortunate enough to see sea otters, sea lions, puffins, humpback whales, and icebergs.  I didn't really know that icebergs could be that blue - it's quite incredible.

·    I think we were all fascinated to watch a few guys throw their freshly caught 100lb halibut up on the public fish cleaning station and carve out enough fillets to last for months;

·    We were equally fascinated by the salmon runs we saw...literally thousands of salmon trying to swim back to their birthplace so that they could lay eggs and die (after living in the ocean 3000 kilometres away for their 3-5 year live span).  You could reach in and just grab one of the salmon (if there weren't regulations against it)...and that was basically what the sea lions were happily doing just off the shore in the bay;

We stopped at a State of Alaska Recreation Site in Willow Creek for the night - nothing more than a big parking lot with picnic tables, and a whole bunch of people in fishing hip waders and camouflage clothing.  It had its share of excitement and interesting characters:

·    Gene, a spry 79 year old gentleman.  Gene spends every summer at the campground, eats freshly caught fish every night for dinner, regularly bikes the 8K round trip to the campground gate and wants to still be bowling when he is 100;

·    The men on a fishing trip from Alabama who offered us their leftover fresh salmon (in their words, they'd caught too much)

Whales in Prince William Sound

.  Nice treat, and enough left over for the next day's salad.  Of course, the thought of salmon jumping onto his line was all Kevin needed to don his fishing gear and head out with Michael to try their luck.  Unfortunately, not only did they come home empty-handed (although Michael gleefully pointed out that his Dad had caught a large twig), he missed all the excitement of the fire...

·    The RV next to us that caught fire.  Since Kevin was off fishing, I ran with water and the fire extinguisher to put the fire out.  (Yes, this was my heroic act).  Apparently, the fire chief (who owned the RV) didn't have room for a fire extinguisher in his RV.  Oddly enough he did have room for his 12 rifles.  Literally.  They were the first thing I saw rescued from the RV, even before their dog.

And, then we went to Dawson City...

·    The route to Dawson City, Yukon from Tok, Alaska involves driving on the Top of the World "highway".  A winding dirt road with more than its share of washboard, chuck holes, and frost heave, and, incredible scenery.  We figured it wasn't a heavily travelled route when the Canadian Border guard, after checking our passports, took the time to walk us over to show us a hiking trail up to a scenic vantage point

Icebergs, Prince William Sound, Valdez

.  His corresponding US Border guard was in the process of firing up his grill for dinner, and neither one of them seemed too concerned that in the process of our hike we crossed the border five or six times (...and for the record the views, including that of the caribou, were great);

·    The kids and I have been studying the gold rush as we've been driving through Alaska and the Yukon, so this was our first "official" field trip.  We went to Discovery Claim on Bonanza Creek, (where Skookum Jim and George Carmacks found the gold nuggets that started the Klondike gold rush) and we panned for gold using Tupperware containers and tin foil pans.  We were the only people there so it was quite surreal.  The kids (and Kevin) were quite excited about the prospect of finding gold.  At the end of the day, Sarah put it best in her journal.  "We are not ritch.  We just found stuf."   I say it is the cheapest souvenir so far - a jar of marginally gold coloured rocks/pebbles from the creek.

Some other miscellaneous tidbits from the past week...

·    There is a little town in Alaska called Chicken.  The town was supposed to be named Ptarmigan but they were concerned that the town folk wouldn't be able to spell it

So Many Salmon You Could Walk Across Them

.  You'd think with a population of 21 in the summer (and only 6 in the winter) this wouldn't have been a problem, but what do I know...;

·    I mentioned (oh so politely) to Kevin the other day that perhaps he should comb his hair (or maybe even consider getting a haircut).  He said he was going for the "Wild Alaska Man" look.  I, for one, am glad we are now in the Yukon where it seems Wild Alaska Man has been put to rest (although as I write this he says he is going outside to become Wild Yukon Lumberjack Guy and chop some wood);

·    We told Sarah in the early days of the trip that one of our goals was to stomp some of the princess out of her.  Well, her future husband should thank us; she mentioned quite casually the other day that she now likes outhouses.  Perhaps we've gone too far...;

·    Many of the traffic signs in northern Alaska are riddled with bullet holes.  You don't have to worry about the bears here as much as walking in front of someone's target practice.  Perhaps the fire chief was here...;

·    We became educated on Robert Service (who?)...he is the Canadian who lived in the Yukon for a number of years and became famous for his "poetry" which included works such as "The Cremation of Sam McGee"

Top of the World "Highway"

.  I italicize "poetry" because, in his words, he wanted to write poetry that would make poetry lovers cringe...it's very enjoyable reading, and some of his works have now been incorporated into the kids curriculum.  They particularly enjoyed the one where the goat vomits the red shawl he ate earlier in the day so he can flag down the train and save his master from being run over;

·    The Yukon government campsites deserve special mention...40 of them scattered throughout the Territory, and you get a beautiful, large, isolated campsite, hiking trails, free firewood and a playground for $12...no power or water (or people for that matter...it's "self check-in") but if the Big Zeke has gas for the generator and water in the fresh water tank, these sights are perfect;

·    Since Kevin discussed scat at length last week, I thought I would try to raise the bar for the blog a bit and talk about flowers...I can't get over the abundance of wildflowers along the highways - all different colours and growing like weeds.  It doesn't seem fair when I think about dandelion season and the abundance of ugly weeds that naturally infest my garden at home;

·    One flower, in particular, deserves special mention

Top of the World Highway Viewpoint

.  The Fireweed is the official flower of the Yukon.  It is so named because it is the first plant to grow back after forest fires.  We have seen the effects of forest fires throughout the north - the common thread is overwhelming populations of Fireweed.

·    The self professed "World Famous Cinnamon Bun" in Braeburn, Yukon was in fact the biggest cinnamon bun we had ever seen.  We had one between the five of us, and we barely finished it;

·    And speaking of food, we have been pondering the question of whether you can ever make too much sweet potato on the BBQ...leave it on long enough and it comes out of the skin "mashed"...add some cinnamon sugar and maple syrup...mmm!!!

And as an update to Wild Yukon Lumberjack Guy, he's just come back in sulking...apparently the hatchet is too small and/or the wood is too hard.  I just chuckle to myself.

One final note as I'm finishing.  There's nothing like listening to Kevin's playlists in the Big Zeke and having The Little Drummer Boy (yes, the Christmas Carol) and Amazing Grace interspersed with Black Sabbath's War Pigs.

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

2-Top of the World Highway	Typical Alaskan Sign	Taylor Highway	Fireweed, Taylor Highway
Dawson City Fun	Richardson Highway to Valdez	Keystone Canyon, near Valdez, Alaska	Top of the World Highway
1-Top of the World Highway

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