Yukon or Bust 2017

June 30th.  We are in Haines Junction, Yukon.  Population just over 1,000.  For the next 2 nights we are firmly ensconced in a 5 Star B&B called, "Kluane Green Sprout".  If you are ever in Haines Junction, book a stay here.  You will not regret it! I'm skipping over Dawson photos and stories of Beaver Creek and jumping right into our "wild" day on the road.  Actually, it was a day and a half.  Yesterday we saw our first Moose.  I got some photos of 2 Moose in Tok, Alaska.  Mother Moose and a calf.  They were on the move so the photo is not the best but it does tell the story. Today we departed Beaver Creek around 8:00.  We drove south on the Alaska Highway, camera at the ready for any animal that moved.  It was slow going but I did manage to get a photo of the rare Yukon Kangaroo eating Fireweed plants.  Some call this beautiful animal a Snowshoe Hare.  You decide for yourself. Shortly after the enco...

June 29th:  We are in Beaver Creek tonight.  I have not been here since 2008.  Dana has not set foot in Beaver Creek since the winter of 1977.  It was then that we came here for the bonspiel.  It was minus 60F.  F or C, that is frigging cold.  More on Beaver Creek in another post. We spent quite a bit of time birding the streets and hills around Dawson.  We found mostly Yellow Warbler, Swallows (Bank, Violet-green, Tree and a couple of Barn), Yellow-rumped Warbler, Junco, Herring Gulls, Robins, Ravens and a lifer for me, Common Redpoll. Short post but I'm too tired to think let alone blog.  On to Haines Junction tomorrow..... Common Redpoll

June 27th.  We departed Whitehorse at 0730.  It was hard to leave our friends as they had been so fantastic to us.  Very generous with their time.  Plus, they literally opened their home to us. Dawson is a 530km drive.  Most Yukoners make the trip in under 5 hours.  This day we would be on the road for around 10 hours.  We stopped at many of the lakes and information kiosks along the way.  Lake Laberge.  While standing on the shore it was easy to think of the history of the area.  Dana quoted a line for the poem "The Cremation of Sam MaGee".  I could have sworn she said "...I cremated Barry McKee...." but perhaps I was day dreaming at the time.  Here is the opening stanza from the poem by Robert Service: There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the ...

Sorry about the delay.  Here are a few photos of the Whitehorse area.  As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words".  I think that was a quote by the famous Japanese photographer Hiroshi Nikon ( I kinda made that up....) Enjoy the photos all of which were taken with either my Nikon D7000 or D500.  (shameless Nikon plug) Iconic White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad station. Mile's Canyon over Yukon River Mile's Canyon foot bridge over Yukon River (Dana and Nat) Waterfront First Nations art New condo development near waterfront The Old Fire Hall theatre on the waterfront  McBride Museum expansion on the left.

June 23rd - Okay, today is the 27th.  What?  5 days behind on posting?  Time for some POWER POSTING...... We departed Skagway on what I called our 4th leg of our adventure.  Back in Canada and already I was feeling safer and more confident.  Leaving Skagway on the South Klondike Hwy the road rises quickly for about 15k to the summit of the White Pass.  Sea level to alpine in less than 30 minutes.  The geology of the pass is fascinating and I confess that I know nothing about it only that it is other-worldly beautiful and unique.  Photo below of a small pond, stream and waterfall.  We stopped at this location to search for Ptarmigan.  We were sure we heard 2 or 3 calling but we had no visual contact. Carcross, Yukon was our next stop.  I have been to Carcross many times and each time I left sad and disappointed at how this small village was slipping into obscurity.  It seems things have changed.  2, or maybe 3 First Nat...

At the head of the Chilcoot Inlet, nestled in a narrow valley surrounded by snow and glacier capped mountains that take your breath away lies the small town of Skagway, Alaska.  On a sunny day one would be hard pressed to find a more spectacular location in Southeast Alaska.  Steeped in Klondike Gold Rush history this small town boast some of the finest period architecture from the late 1800, early 1900.  Minus the paved roads this town offers a glimpse into the glory years of the Klondike Gold Rush.  Many of the stores are staffed by workers in period clothing which adds to the charm of the town.  Friendlier people you could not find.  This is the "Beauty", now the "Beast"...... Two words: "Cruise Ships".  A single modern cruise ship holds 3,000 passengers and 1,000 crew.  Most of the ships arriving in Skagway arrive at near capacity.  Many days Skagway hosts 4 ships, some days 2.  Quick!  Do the math.  3,000 X 4 = 12,000 pa...

I'll tell you the story of Dana and Barry, who departed Rupert on a 3(4) hour cruise, a 3(4) hour cruise......  The weather was clear and calm, the skipper sober and alert.   Cut!  This is not going anywhere... We departed on schedule at 0300.  This is an ungodly hour unless you are a grad and this is grad night.  On board the SS Matanuska we obtained the keys to our stately room.  Ooops.  Make that State Room.  Actually the room was very comfortable.  The room had 2 bunks, toilet, sink a and a shower with hot water that will never run out, except for the last day when we wanted showers before we departed the ship... Ketchikan was our first port of call (nautical speak for first stop.)  We had 3 hours in Ketchikan so we left the ship and walked toward downtown K in search of birds and free wifi.  No birds but we did get free wifi at McDonald's.  We made it back in time for departure to Wrangel.  From Wrangel we sailed ...

June 19th - Prince Rupert, B.C. Dana and I lived in Prince Rupert from March 1981 to September 1984.  We moved to Rupert from Calgary where we had spent 3 years working rather than living.  Prince Rupert was where we began to live.  Driving into Rupert my mind was alive with some vivid and other sketchy memories.  I remarked to Dana that Prince Rupert was a place of connections.  Of course the main one was my Mom and Dad.  Mom and Dad lived in Prince Rupert for several years in the late ’70’s.  Dad loved it in Rupert.  He really dived into the “sea” life.  After he left Rupert he would often remark that he “had sea air in his blood”.  I think Mom liked it too but maybe not as much as Dad did.  We met some wonderful people in Prince Rupert, some who became friends for life.  One who we metaphorically “adopted” as the child we never had.  Although our lives took us in different directions we still exchange Christmas cards ...

June 19th - On the way into Prince Rupert we made a short detour off Hwy 16 at the Port Edward exit.  6k beyond the turn-off we came to a complex of old cannery buildings.  This Heritage Canada site was home to a thriving, mainly salmon fishery in the early to mid 1900.  Preservation work is underway to prevent the buildings from further decay.  Tours are offered except for Monday. Unfortunately this is a Monday so we did not get to see much of the site.  I posted a couple of photos in this post to give you a sense of what it still at this site. We made our way back to Hwy 16 and headed to Prince Rupert, but we had one more detour to make and that was to Ridley Island. Once back on Hwy 16 it was only a couple of K to the turn-off to Ridley Island.  We proceeded about 5K down the road only to be stopped at a Security gate.  Beyond the gate is the Canada Border Services Central Examination Warehouse, Ridley Island Grain Terminal, Ridley Island Coal Ter...

June 18:  We departed beautiful Smithers at 9:45.  We packed up our tent in the sunshine this morning.  It took awhile to dry the tent fly but other than that the camp take down was uneventful and peaceful as we were the only tenters in our section of the park.   This morning we made tea for Dana and Starbucks (product plug) french press coffee for Barry.  We enjoyed our morning hot drinks while packing up.  From the campground we went to the Alpine Inn restaurant where seeking to restore calories lost keeping warm overnight we enjoyed a hearty breakfast. On route to Terrace we made a short detour to Ross Lake Provincial Park.  Seeking exercise and  more birds we hiked the 3k trail that runs around the lake.   We saw a few birds, got our exercise and killed many hundreds of mosquitos.  Looking forward to going north to escape the mosquitoes. We arrived in Terrace mid afternoon.  The main reason for our stopover in Terrace is to ...

Tonight we are in Terrace.  We spent the past 2 nights in Smithers.  Yesterday we got up early and headed for the alpine meadows on the Hudson Bay Mountain, the same mountain where you can find the local ski resort. After a short 40 minute drive to the ski resort we parked the rig and found the trail that would take us to the alpine.  The elevation at the parking area is 1500m.  The trail took us about 1.5k up the mountain past the tree line to the snow covered meadows. We expected wildflowers and a Julie Andrews sighting, but no such luck.   It was windy and cold in the alpine with nowhere to hide.  We came to a snow covered creek.  You could hear the water rushing downhill under the snow.  "Adult" moment:  We choose to not cross the snow over the creek over concerns of falling through and being at worst injured and at best wet and colder.  At this point we were at about 2000m elevation and too far from our truck for Dana to carry me....

June 15:  We departed the Kumsheen Resort around 9 a.m. after breakfast (coffee/tea and raisin bran) and long hot showers.  Given the weather for the day we thought a long day on the road was in order.  We delivered on that, for sure.  Driving north from Lytton we drove generally north to Prince George.    On this leg of the journey we passed through many small towns, and many, many farms.  100 Mile House was a bit of a highlight.  The weather eased a bit and we were able to have lunch out of the back of the 4Runner at Centennial Park.  The park seems to consist of an old executive length golf course and wooded area.  Again, what impressed me, and I will sound like a broken record, was how clean and well cared for this and the other parks we have visited thus far on our trip.  Civic pride is alive and well in central B.C.  The wooded area at Centennial Park was beautiful.  Big trees lining a small draw with a creek runnin...

June 14th:  We set out from Whidbey Island and pointed the 4Runner north.  We crossed the Canada/USA border at the Huntingdon/Sumas crossing.  From there it was first east to Hope and then north on the Trans Canada Highway to Lytton. We needed to pick up some supplies so decided to stop in Hope.  I have been to Hope before but not since the past decade.  My memory of downtown Hope is fuzzy, as is my memory for many things in the last century.  I must say the town looked pretty good.  It was neat and tidy and the people we did speak to were very friendly.  There is a park in downtown Hope.  It is a mix of trees and well cared for lawn.  There are ample picnic tables.  We used one to make coffee and tea.  I don't know why I was surprised at what we saw or why I am droning on about it but I left Hope feeling encouraged that it is in good shape. We arrived in Lytton at around 3 o'clock.  We went to the tourist information ...

We depart Whidbey Island tomorrow.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our 3 days with Aunt Lynda and Uncle Bob.  Very peaceful here after the busy time in Seattle, although we would not have missed Chloe's grad for anything.  We have been birding a couple of times.  Yesterday we observed an adult Great Horned Owl who has been busy caring for 2 owlets.  I got a good photo of the adult yesterday and this morning I went back to the location and got photos of the 2 owlets.  Priceless!   Short post today.  Time for bed.  Enjoy the photos!