DAY 33 – 36 ~ WHITEHORSE (June 19 - 22)

Whitehorse is Yukon’s capital city; a city that is surrounded by mountains and the Yukon River.  Whitehorse was born during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898 and was named after the historic White Horse Rapids which resembled the flowing manes of charging white horses.  These rapids prevented any steamer traffic from going any further south on the Yukon River.  Today the rapids are buried deep under water due to a dam that was built in 1958.

This city is located at Mile 918 of the Alaska Highway.  This is as far as we will be driving on the Alaska Highway. We will be staying here for 3 days and 4 nights.  Then we turn south and start the return trip.

There are a few attractions in this city that is worth visiting.  The BERINGIA INTERPRETIVE CENTER features life-size exhibits of animals of the last ice age.  The MacBRIDE MUSEUM of Yukon History has artifacts and stories of the people and events that built Canada’s Yukon.  You can try your hand at gold panning and get real gold dust.

About 25 miles outside of Whitehorse is the Yukon Wildlife Preserve; a unique wildlife viewing facility featuring ten major species of Northern mammals.  The facility is 700 acres, too much to walk it (but there are trails where you can).  We went on a bus tour with a guide that explained all the animals we viewed.   

DAY 34 ~ SKAGWAY, ALASKA  (June 20)
  

We were close to the US border of Alaska and decided to do a day trip there to visit Skagway. It is 106 miles from Whitehorse and Skagway.  So on this day we gathered up our US$$ and our cell phones (we have had them shut off for the last month) and our passports and headed west.

  

On our way we made a stop to visit the world’s smallest desert in British Columbia and visit the historical town of Carcross.

We were traveling on the Klondike Highway through the White Pass into Alaska and it was a beautiful drive with lots of scenery and a bear sighting.  A big brown bear strolling and eating along the highway in the rain.

We crossed over into the US and Alaska in the pouring rain.  Skagway was crowded with people from the 3 cruise ships that were docked there.  They were only there for part of the day and the rain was not going to keep them away.  So we walked up and down the streets checking out the shops.  We found some unique items to throw away our money on, but hey we are supporting the American economy.   We had lunch at the Red Onion Saloon; built in 1897 and was considered Skagway’s most exclusive bordello.  The bartender kept 10 dolls on the back bar, one for each girl.  When a girl was with a customer, her doll was laid on its back.  By mid afternoon, the rain finally stopped, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.

We came back to our car and found a note on the windshield in a plastic bag.  Our tail light had been smashed and the back bumper dented....  The note was from the driver of a Princess (cruise line) shuttle.  There was contact info to file a claim with.  Wow..  maybe we can get a free cruise out of this.  The driver had gathered up all the broken plastic pieces of the taillight and left them on the curb.  Dave collected them and when we returned to the trailer he put all the pieces back like a puzzle and taped it all in place.  We can now continue with our trip with a tail light.

Since the rain stopped and some of the fog lifted, we were able to see the scenery better along the White Pass on our trip back to Whitehorse.  The scenery along the White Pass is filled with rolling hills of granite with many pockets of lakes.  In the background are the snow capped mountains.  Awesome!
  

There are two trains (one is a steam train) that do day trips through the White Pass from Whitehorse to Skagway.  You can see the railway tracks that these trains travel on in the above and below picture.

See the road going up the hill.  
That's what the road was like from Whitehorse to Skagway.

DAY 37 ~ WATSON LAKE  (June 23)

We left Whitehorse and turned back and returned to Watson Lake for an overnight stay before we head south leaving the Yukon and start our return trip home.

Goodbye Yukon and hello British Columbia.