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A Transport Truck overturned on the Dempster |
Having “Done the Dempster” we
decided to work our way back Southbound to Whitehorse, so we headed
eastbound on the Klondike Highway which joins Whitehorse to Dawson
City. After about 30 km., it was time for a snack, so we stopped at
a community called Moose Creek....which has a reputation for fabulous
baked goods. They take their name seriously, as all four homes in
the community, as well as several signs, and even a doghouse, are
moose-antlered. We had a coffee and sausage pastries, with blueberry
tarts – all freshly made and yummy.
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Even the Dog House in Moose Creek sports a Rack |
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A fat porcupine |
Then continuing on to the Stewart
River, where we turned north to follow alongside the Stewart, up the
Silver Trail to the village of Mayo. Here we learned of the history
of the area, which had originally started out with the gold
prospectors, but became a steamboat landing and a centre for silver
mining operations when silver was discovered in the area. We got
another stamp for our Yukon Passport here, so that we can win some
gold for our travels, and visited a museum, the Binet House. It was
starting to become late afternoon, so we continued north a few more
km., and set up camp in a Territorial Campsite on 5 Mile Lake...very
pleasant camping. Our hatchet is very poor at splitting the logs the
park service provides, so I had to borrow an axe from a neighbouring
campsite, so that we could finish off our dinner with a sit around a
campfire sipping wine. The following day we continued on another 50
km., to the hamlet of Keno. On the way we stopped to photograph a
fat porcupine waddling alongside the road.
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Travelling up the Silver Trail
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The community of Keno is refurbished as
an old pioneer town, with the 4-building museum being the
centrepiece. There are also two restaurant/saloons, and a couple of
houses. At one time, this was the principal silver mining area of
Canada (perhaps the world), but now there is only one mine in
operation, and I believe it's in the process of shutting down. As
the town went into remission, the fellow who runs the museum kept
collecting and filling up his buildings with artifacts – and it is
quite a collection to behold, with household articles, mining and
prospecting equipment, and general memorabilia. We managed to spend
a fair bit of time viewing all of this, and then decided to view the
signpost for which Keno is famous – it's up on top of a 12 km.
Climb, some 6000 feet up behind the community, and offering
spectacular views down the Stewart River Valley as well as another
roadworthy challenge to get there.
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Keno City Mining Museum (one of 4 buildings) |
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Signpost on mountaintop above Keno |
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Looking out over the Valley |
Having ventured up the mountain, it was
time to head back again (we were at the end of the road again), so
stopped into Mayo for some groceries, and then continued to the
Stewart Crossing at the Klondike Hwy. A short visit with the visitor
information fellow at the Junction was interesting, as he showed us
his many photos taken here in his past 40 years here.....wildlife
photos, aurora in almost unimaginable displays, and awesome scenery
shots. We then continued south to Pelly Crossing where we visited
another Interpretive Centre/museum (big Jonathon House) which we
found only mildly informative...but we got another Passport stamp.
Then it was on to another Yukon Territorial Govt. Campsite at Tatchun
Creek. We'd run out of beer, so I had to settle for a root beer for
happy hour. This was another fine campsite, with a stream running
behind our tent. The stream provided a number of bucketfuls of water
to sluice off some of our Dempster muck (no carwashes to be found
anywhere!). Several beaver dams and lodges were situated nearby, and
Linda was impressed with the size of trees the animals had been able
to fell for their dams. Again we had a nice little fire in the
evening, and I crammed for my Sam Magee recitation, which would be
due the next day.
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Tatchun Creek Campsite |
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Beaverdam...Linda was impressed by the size of the birch tree felled here |
The following morning was cool, but
very pleasant weather, and we were off fairly early, stopping at the
Tage Cho Hudan Interpretive Centre, which this time we found
extremely interesting and informative regarding the First Nations in
the area. A short way further down the road was a brunch stop. We'd
met hundreds of motorcycles northbound, and learned that there was a
“rally” (the Dust 2 Dawson Motorcycle Gathering – not a Rally)
in Dawson City this weekend – likely to be a great success if the
numbers of cycles is a measure. Another hundred km., and we were at
Lake Laberge. There is a government campground here, but it was
packed full....so I was able to stand on the marge of Lake Laberge
and made my recitation, before continuing toward Whitehorse. We
checked out a campground at a Hot Springs (Takhini Springs), but
didn't like the looks or the prices there, or the long lineup to get
in. There is a Game Refuge nearby, so here we saw our first elk.
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Reciting "The Cremation of Sam Magee" at Lake Laberge |
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Elk |
So we entered into Whitehorse and found
the Robert Service Campground which caters to tenters, and found a
great little spot within walking distance of town, and (bonus!)
delicious ice cream cones. With time to spare we went on into town
and found at the visitor centre a warm welcome, a free parking pass
for 3 days in town, great wi-fi (I got the last blog issue posted
finally). We also discovered information on a local restaurant which
serves Arctic Char, so dinner was decided – you may remember that
was another item on my bucket list. While we were out, there was a
short thunderstorm, but our camp survived nicely, and perhaps even
washed off some dust. Following our beautiful Char dinner, we came
back to camp, had a short walk along the Yukon River, and called it a
night.
Saturday (18th) dawned warm
and dry and clear. We filled our day with exploring the city of
Whitehorse, and getting educated at museums – Beringia Interpretive
Centre (history of the Yukon from pre-glacial times onward),
Transportation Museum, old log church, steamboat S.S. Klondike, and
of course a tour of the local microbrewery, the Yukon Brewery, who
make “beer worth freezing for”. We were also interested in
learning that they distill single malt whisky, and the first two
batches sold out immediately. Next batch is out in July, but I
couldn't pre-purchase any (I'd hoped that would make a good addition
to a tasting on our return). As we'd spent a couple of days' budget
on our char dinner the previous night, we hit up the local Superstore
and got some groceries for a simple meal at home at the tent. I was
surprised to find cherries at a reasonable price, so we had dessert
sorted out (along with some more of the fine ice cream offered at the
campground).
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Arrival Whitehorse |
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Huge skeletal remains of a mammoth at Beringia Centre |
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DC-3 Windvane (it works even at 3 kts wind) at Transportation Museum |
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Single Malt aging in its barrels |
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A 3-story log cabing skyrise in Whitehorse |
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So now I've scratched off a few more things from my bucket list.....getting through the poem at Lake LaBerge, and having an Arctic Char dinner among them. We'd also learned a huge amount of history, from pre-glacial to recent, due to the many interpretive centres, museums, and passport stops. Today is Father's Day - Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers out there. It will be our last day in Whitehorse today, as we visit the Game Preserve to see more than the elk, and a bit more touring of the town. Tomorrow the plan is to head south about 180 km., to Atlin in northern BC. While we're close, we want to check it out. Then we'll be turning eastbound again on the Alaska Highway. Blog postings may get intermittent again from here....not sure how much wi-fi will be available.