June 2

SOLTESWEB.NET ALASKA TRIP 2005 - JUNE Page 2

Saturday, June 4 - Whitehorse

Woke up to rain and 44°. We didn't find much of interest in Atlin, so we drove out of the valley (in the rain on a dirt road) to Whitehorse. Arrived about noon. We spent the afternoon walking, shopping, sight-seeing in town, and then wandered over to Wal-Mart for the evening. That's a picture of the Wal-Mart "campground" at 11:15 pm (still light).

Whitehorse is quite a town, about 23,000 people. Consider, though, that the entire population of the Yukon is about 30,000! That's something, considering that there are also in the Yukon about 275,000 caribou, 10,000 black bear, 6,000 grizzly bear, and about 55,000 moose. Where are they all hiding?

Sunday, June 5 - Whitehorse

A beautiful warm, sunny day. We found a great little church for Sunday worship: Yukon Bible Fellowship Foursquare. After church, we went back to the downtown area and went to historical museum about the Klondike and the Gold Rush, then walked along the Yukon river and enjoyed sitting on a park bench. We went over to see the fish ladder near the dam, but it was not open. About 7 pm, we were parked at the back of the Yukon Inn where Ed hooked up to the internet right from our camper, thanks to a wireless connection! Back to Wal-Mart for the night.

Monday, June 6 - Up the Klondike Hwy

We woke up to rain...very surprised as yesterday was so beautiful. When we went to bed at midnight last night, the sky was still clear. The sun finally emerged about noon, and we started up the Klondike Hwy toward Dawson. That's a view of the Yukon river that runs alongside the highway. We saw a small business selling these pine logs with burls. We stopped at Twin Lakes for lunch, and were treated with views of an eagle and a loon. Earlier, we had seen a pair of red-breasted mergansers on a different lake. This evening, on a small pond, were about 10 scaup (diving ducks). We're parked for the night on a side turnout overlooking the river on the way to Mayo on the Silver Highway in the Yukon.

June 06 - Road to Mayo

June 06 - Road to Keno

Moose droppings

Tuesday, June 7

Rain again this morning until about 10:30, then a semi-sunshine day until about 4, then more rain for about an hour, then sun. Clear blue sky at 11 pm. And we thought the weather in Texas was fickle! This morning, we spent some time in the town of Mayo, visited their museum, then drove another 35 miles or so on dirt road to Keno. Keno was an old silver mining town, but now has a population of about 25. No words necessary for the following pictures, taken on the way to Mayo and then to Keno City.

We drove up the Keno hill (another 14 km dirt road) and nearly made it to the top, but the mud turned us back. Some great views, however. We were above the tree line, and into the snow.

Gold Panning

The first picture shows a current silver mining operation there.

All of this got Ed anxious to try out some panning. Looks like an old prospector to me. Hey, you gotta look the part!

We're staying at the Keno City Campground on Lightning Creek.

Wednesday, June 8 - Towards Dempster Hwy

We drove towards Dawson, and the road rewarded us with purple flowers everywhere, often sprinkled with yellow. We saw many butterflies, and our first bull moose at Gravel Lake.

About 25 miles before Dawson, we turned up the Dempster Hwy. This dirt road is 25 years old, and goes north several hundred miles to the town of Inuvik in the Northwest Territory. On the way, you pass the Arctic circle, where on June 21, you get 24 hours of sunlight. In Inuvik, there is not even twilight from May 26 to July 20. It also is very dark from Dec 6 to Jan 6, without a hint of dusk.

We weren't going that far, but we drove up about 45 miles to the Tombstone Territorial Park, where there was a beautiful campground. There is to be a birding program here this weekend. The two pictures are of the river flowing through the campsite and the mountains behind.

Here we are at the campground. Note the north fork of the Klondike river in the background. They supply firewood for your fire complete with kindling! We got a fire going and roasted marshmallows.

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