6/29/17
Left Watson Lake
around 8:20. On the road, I saw a moose, but not quick enough to get a
picture. We also spied black bears and that was it for animals on this
stretch of road. Lots of beautiful trees. Roads were pretty good,
with only a few patches of gravel.
We decided to stop for breakfast at a little café. There were a few
cars out front so I got out and walked in to see if it was OK. The people
inside said it was good, so I went out and got Tom. We walked in to a
small dining area and all the tables were full, except one by the front door,
which only had two single young people at it. The waitress said that we
could sit in the back room. She turned on the lights and we sat down
inside. We sat there a couple of minutes, and I told Tom that I would
rather sit in the front room and save the waitress the extra walking, so we got
up and moved to the front table where the two young people were sitting.
I asked the girl (she was about 22 or so) if we could join them at this table
and she smiled and invited us to sit down. I sat right next to the young
man (he was about the same age). I asked them if they were together, and
they were not.
We ordered and I started talking to the girl. She was on her own,
driving a Honda Fit car. She sometimes tented, but most of the time she
slept in her car. She was traveling from
Washington
DC to
San Francisco
by way of
Alaska,
for school. She said she always wanted to see
Alaska. She wasn't at all afraid of
the wilderness or the wild animals. She had traveled all over the world,
even lived in
China
for 2 years, and she loved it. I was just amazed.
Then I glanced over to the young man, who was typing on a laptop - in
German. I asked him if he spoke English, and he said "yes", and
went on to speak in perfect 'American' English. He said he worked hard on
getting rid of his German accent and was logging his trip on his laptop.
He was from
Stuttgart,
Germany and traveling all over the
US on a
bicycle, alone. He had already been to
Alaska
and he was now headed south to
New
York City. He had a small pouch with electronic
items (camera, cords, computer access., etc.) and a larger pouch with 'personal'
items. He had two more rolled bags on his bicycle with a tent and clothes
for the trip. I think he was working for whatever money he needed as he
moved. The people at this café offered to comp his breakfast, and before
he left, he was sure to go back to the kitchen and thank them all. What
an amazing man.
The two young people left, and soon we were joined by our tail gunners, who
stopped for breakfast. We visited with them for a little while, and then
headed back out. What a great morning!
We stopped at the Rancheria
Falls (about 9 miles from
the café), and walked in. They were two
small falls, but very pretty.
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Rancheria Falls 1
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Rancheria Falls 2
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All the wild flowers were in bloom, and we
constantly see them along the sides of the roads. Lots of purple, and some pink, yellow, and
white. Here is a purple flower I called
a purple tulip.
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Purple wild tulips
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At 4:00, we pulled into the Pioneer RV Park in
Whitehorse, Yukon.
Whitehorse is
the capital of the
Yukon Territory.
We bought gas at the front of the campground
and got settled.
This campground is
ugly—just a dirt parking lot, and no internet, and no laundry.
We decided to go out to dinner, as the tail
gunner recommended the Klondike Salmon & Ribs as an excellent dinner
house.
We went downtown, and when we got
there, there were already 6 others from our caravan waiting in line for a large
table.
We joined them and had a
wonderful dinner with them all.
I had
Char, which I have since found out, is much like trout—a mild white fish.
It was wonderful.
6/30/17
The tour company put us all on a bus for a half day tour of
Whitehorse and some of the surrounding
sights.
First, the driver took us to a
lookout point high above the Yukon River, which runs along
Whitehorse. The Yukon River starts at
Marsh Lake.
Then is continues to flow northbound all the
way to the
Bering Sea.
It is the lifeblood of the city.
In the early days, hunters, trappers, and
miners came here by way of the river or on horseback through Indian trails, to
eke out a living off the land.
Then,
around 1898, gold was discovered in the
Yukon,
and the gold rush was on.
Here is one of
my favorite pictures to date.
It is of
the
Yukon River from the lookout point.
Can you see the suspension bridge?
Notice the aqua color of the water?
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The suspension bridge over the Yukon River
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A larger scope of the Yukon River
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The second stop was the SS Klondike, a paddlewheel steamer built in 1929 to
carry passengers and supplies to and from
Whitehorse
to
Dawson City in the north, long before roads had
been built.
It stopped operating in 1955,
after many roads had been built, but it has been preserved and is open to the
public to tour.
Here are some pictures
of the ship, and our tour.
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The SS Klondike
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The Steam Room
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The shaft
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1st Class Room
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2nd Class accommodations
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Tom and Linda on deck
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Poster of the Klondike going through the rapids
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The third stop was a dam on the
Yukon River,
and the fish ladder beside it.
Today the
water flow is about one third of its capacity.
The fish ladder is one of the longest in the world, but not many fish
today, as they arrive mostly around August.
Here is a picture of the dam and the spillway.
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Dam on the Yukon River
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Spillway
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Lastly, the driver took us through the downtown area and pointed out many
historical buildings, most of them built 1900 – 1910.
We stopped at the
Visitor Center
and watched a video, but honestly, it wasn’t very good.
I almost fell asleep, and it was way past
lunchtime.
I thought they were going to
take us out to lunch, but NO!
We went
back to the RV and fixed our own lunch (about 2:00 p.m.).
Tom gathered the laundry, but the laundry wasn’t
working.
Also, I tried to do some
banking and blogging, but no internet.
So…...we got in the car and drove downtown to get our chores done, and go to the
grocery store.
Tomorow we will tour a sled dog complex, and I hear that they have puppies!
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