Skagway, AK to Whitehorse, YT

We had a wonderful drive up to Whitehorse today. The White Pass wasn’t too much of a problem, we saw a brown bear and a black bear, and the scenery was gorgeous. This brown bear was grazing right beside the highway and didn’t mind us stopping to take a picture (through the window).

Bove Island on Tagish Lake was very pretty:

The Carcross Desert is really unique. It has miles of sand dunes, just like you’d find near the ocean!

The colours of the water in Emerald Lake (which is also called Rainbow Lake) were sure beautiful. I hope they show up in this picture:

Just before we got to Whitehorse, we stopped at Miles Canyon for a little hike. It is very scenic and has a suspended bridge and lots of hiking paths. It would have been nice to hike more than we did. The cairns enjoyed it.

We got to Whitehorse in time to take in the last tour of the day of the SS Klondike National Historic site. This grand old stern-wheeler was used to carry cargo and passengers from the terminus of the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad at Whitehorse, all the way down the Yukon River to Dawson City. It was retired in 1950 when the highway was completed. We watched a film with footage from the 1930’s then got to go all through the boat. It is really nicely restored and very interesting.

Fran thought he'd try lifting one of the cartloads of wood that was used to fuel the steam boilers. Not a chance!

The staterooms, dining room, kitchen, etc. are full of period appropriate items.

The paddle wheel on this thing was huge!

We walked back to the motorhome along the river and asked these canoers where they were headed – “Dawson City” was their answer. That’s over 300 miles away by road. It would be a fairly easy paddle, though, going with the current.

Our next stop was the Visitor Centre where they showed a film about the Yukon. Then, we had a delicious supper at the Klondike Rib and Salmon restaurant. It was highly recommended by locals. Fran had the halibut fish and chips (huge pieces) and I decided to try something a little more exotic and had the Elk stroganoff. Both our meals were excellent. The restaurant has lots of character, too. It is located in the two oldest buildings in Whitehorse.

It was quite late by the time we finished eating so we went looking for the Walmart to spend the night. It was a bit of a surprise - there were about 50 RV’s parked there already!