August 7 - 17, 2022

4A - August 7, 2022

Chicken, AK

Another ferry ride (quick one at that) across the Yukon River as we headed out of Dawson City. Drove the Top of the World Highway to Chicken, AK. Gravel dirt road for most of it, with one large section paved right after the US/Canada Customs Border in Poker Creek, AK (the most northerly land border in the US).  And with that, welcome to Alaska; another state for us to add to our list! But we will need to come back another time to really explore it. It's hard to imagine how gorgeous the views would be on a bright blue sunny day, but pretty good nonetheless on our somewhat cloudy day.

Spent the night in the parking lot behind the café in Chicken, AK, supposedly named because they couldn't say or spell Ptarmigan.

It is a small place, a few RV lots, some nick/knack shops, a café (with delicious homemade pies and cinnamon buns!) and a saloon (with hats and all sorts of other paraphernalia hanging wherever they would fit).  

Met the "Jersey Boys" at the bar, who were in town to restock their liquor supply while trying their hand at gold mining.  Bought their claim last year but this is their first summer to mine it.  Sounded like a lot of work, being at the bottom of a creek vacuuming up rock and hoping for gold. Such a change from their successful high end home reno business that they operate in New Jersey in the winter.  Who knows what the lure of gold does to people.

Took a break from the drinking and walked to the local airport where Ken tried to take off as it looks like this airport does not get much use!

It's fun to chat with other travelers on the road; everyone wants to share experiences and plans; great way to spend the evening.  I think that this is one of the most unexpected and best things we are finding out about travelling.

4B - August 8, 2022

Lake Creek Territorial Campground, YT (after Beaver Creek, before Burwash Landing)

Had to use our spare gas can to get us to Tok, AK as we did not fill up in Chicken. It could have been a crucial mistake, but we made it. 

Wow, the Alaska Highway from the US border to our campground, rivelled the roughness of the Dempster Highway! Actually, although "paved", I think this road was worse! Lots of wavy ribbon road with lots of potholes and corduroy/washboard sections. The truck and trailer were doing some pretty good bouncing when we were caught off guard from going a little too fast and by fast I mean 60kph (about 35mph). And did I mention that this was the paved road?  All we can say is WOW to that and to the gorgeous views once again.

The border crossing into Canada was extremally slow for an out of the way crossing, only one officer that we could see and lots of trailers ahead of us.

Finally saw our first moose! I spotted the cow and her baby in the middle of a pond and as soon as they heard us, they headed to the shore.  But got a few pics to make it official. 

4C - August 9, 2022

Haines Junction, YT

A pretty uneventful drive from our stopover last night but still awesome views.  Saw some of the largest mountains with glaciers on the peaks and in Kluane National Park & Reserve, it has Canada's highest peak, Mount Logan, topping out at 19,550ft. I think I was in such awe of them that I forgot to get any pics of them, but they were there, I promise!

Took a few stops along the way, at a lookout for Kluane River and walked on the original Alaska Highway when we did a short hike up Soldier's Summit where the Alaska Highway was officially opened in 1942. The Adirondack chairs, supplied by Parks Canada, which are a thing, so took a moment to enjoy the view at the peak of Soldier's Summit. The national park was set up to protect the wildlife in the area and to get to most of it, you need to fly in to see the glaciers or backpack in.  There were a few shorter day hikes that we hoped to do but due to the rain the next day, that did not happen. 

Stayed at Pine Lake Campground and finally not very many mosquitos so it was enjoyable; but would have been better if the rain held off!

4C - August 10, 2022

Haines Junction, YT

A rainy start to the day and finally the rain let up mid afternoon.  After a lazy morning, took the afternoon to head back to Haines Junction to see the town, enjoy an ice cream treat, a beer from 1016 Pub, at mile 1016 of the Alaska highway, (the bartender was from Reunion Island just east of Madagascar!), visited the most photographed church in Yukon (a tiny Catholic church built out of a quonset hut) and picked up a couple of items from the weekly farmers market.  

After getting back to our site, we enjoyed a short walk on another section of the Trans Canada Trail and a walk to Pine Lake in our campground where we could finally see the mountain.  Then it was time for a fire as Ken loves being a lumberjack!

4D - August 11-13, 2022

Whitehorse, YT

Only a 1.5 hr drive to Whitehorse this morning and good thing as we needed to get the truck looked at due to an engine flashing light that had been on for the last 3 days or so. Took it to the Ford dealer and luckily they were able to get it diagnosed and we needed a part that had to be delivered from Edmonton. So it will be at least a week before we are able to leave here but could be longer...here's hoping for shorter!

We were able to get back into Hi Country RV Park; a great pull-thru spot right at the back and not many people here so it is quiet!  Ken spent some time getting the back of the truck cleaned up a bit from all the dirt that got into it from the dirt roads. 

Toured the SS Klondike, but were not able to get into the inside as they are busy doing work on it and no visitors at this time.  Would have been nice to see the comparison from the SS Keno in Dawson City as this was a much larger vessel.

And found another Rotary Park; they are everywhere...if you look for them!

Will take the next week to see more of Whitehorse and do some relaxing.

4D - August 14, 2022

Whitehorse, YT - Rotary

Found another touch of Rotary here in Whitehorse on our walk to the Fish Ladder along the Millennium Trail which is also part of the TransCanada Trail.  We tried to attend a Rotary meeting here in town, but unfortunately one of the clubs closed down at the end of June and the other club is not back to regular meetings until September.  But at least we are on the lookout for where Rotary has hopefully made a difference.

4D - August 14, 2022

Whitehorse, YT - Fish Ladder

The power of the water coming from the power plant dam was pretty amazing and ferocious.  I took a few videos so that I would remember the sound and the speed that the water took. Thought I had some pics of the dam as well, but it turns out I do not.  So hard to take photos of all that we see.  

The Fish Ladder was built so that the salmon could return to their spawning grounds after the dam was built.  Unfortunately for us, there were no salmon or other fish to be seen here at the observation room.  Before we arrived, they only had 4 or 6 salmon come thru the ladder system that day.  They told us that this is an unusually slow season for the fish and by the time they reach here from the Bering Sea they have travelled over 2000 miles, taking about 3 months!  What a feat, I wish I had their endurance!!

4D - August 15, 2022

Whitehorse, YT - Miles Canyon

Well I was hopeful that Ken would be able to cross the suspension bridge to get to the hiking on the other side, but he could not make it. Darn, that nasty fear of heights that he has!  But I was rewarded with some beautiful views of the green/turquoise water after the water flows thru Miles Canyon.  And I was hoping that the bridge would be a little bouncier, but for me, it seemed to be built very sturdy.  I think Ken would have made it if he would have just closed his eyes and let me lead him on!  

4D - August 16-17, 2022

Whitehorse, YT 

Finally found some local chocolate produced by The Chocolate Claim.  They closed down their store front operation just recently but still provide a local gift shop with their product.  And as we are short on space here in the trailer, food and drink are a couple of easy items to purchase and consume.  Good for the space issue, not so good for the waistline!

Even though there seems to be a large population of Indian people here in Whitehorse, there are not that many Indian restaurants. But the Daat Indian Cuisine food truck rated highly and rightly so as the food was delicious!

The last few mornings we have been woken each day by a pesky squirrel, argh!  Ken finally caught what he was doing as he was throwing out pine cones from the top of the tree beside our trailer and  they make an awful loud thump when they hit. Doesn't he know we are retired and like to sleep in past 8 o'clock!

And finally the awaited truck part came in this morning on Aug 17th and the folks at the Ford dealership were kind enough to get the truck in right away and have it installed.  Well worth the box of Tim Horton donuts & Timbits to let them know that they were appreciated! And now, we are able to get away tomorrow morning.  Yeah! Time to move on in the hopes of finding warmer summer weather!