The Great Yukon Plateau

The last installation of this blog found us in the city of Whitehorse's public library the morning that we were scheduled to take the ferry from Skagway to Haines. It was a beautiful day. We did the self guided tour of the stern wheel paddle boat, SS Klondike, one of several that plied the waters of the Yukon River bringing passengers, supplies and ore in Yukon Territory between Whitehorse and Dawson. We then returned to Skagway to catch the afternoon ferry to Haines, AK.

SS Yukon

Once again, our time table got turned upside down. Upon arrival in Haines we found that the salmon were running in the Chilkoot River.  Originally planned as a one night stop, we ended up staying for four days. Sarah purchased a one day fishing license and this inexperienced fly fisherman gave her a rudimentary lesson in how to cast a fly. Sarah enjoyed it so much that she purchased her own waders, vest and annual license the next day. While she was shopping, I trolled the lake for Dolly Vardon, a type of trout/salmon that is common here. I hooked two pink salmon but they both got away which is alright because salmon caught in the lake must be released. But, they were big!!!

Arrival at Chilkoot Lake at the head of Chilkoot River, Haines, AK

Being sailors, we know that one cannot always trust the GPS. In many parts of the world, the chart coordinates are not very accurate. We know other sailors who have experienced this first hand when the chart plotter placed the boat on dry land. We had just the opposite experience in Haines. The GPS would try to put us roads that didn't exist. And  as the picture shows, placed the road on the water. Also note how far off the actual road our track appears.

Sarah fished most of the afternoon, but only got one strike with her dry fly. Using flies, my experience matched hers. I switched to lures on spinning tackle in hopes of landing a salmon. I didn't catch any salmon, but I did land three nice Dolly Vardons. Just enough for dinner for two. As Sarah was exiting the river, she got baptized. She fell into the stream and was thoroughly soaked. After the shock wore off, she laughed as much as I.

Fishing the Chilkoot

The Chilkoot River is the valley of the eagles. There are hundreds of Bald Eagles here. All the while fishing, one hears the squall of this mighty bird. They chirp to one another from the highest Spruce trees. In this place they are as common as Blue Jays in Massachusetts. We are told that in another month, the population will increase dramatically when the spawning salmon die.

Fishing Companions

Haines is situated on the peninsula formed by the Chilkat and Chilkoot Rivers. While it is also visited by cruise ships and has the requisite tourist sites, it felt much more like a living community than a tourist destination, though clearly it was that also. In contrast to Skagway, this town felt more vibrant. When we arrived, there were no cruise ships in town so we got to meet the local residents. Of course, the best place to do that is at a bar. In Haines, the Fogcutter Bar is just the place. We did visit two of the museums. One unlikely treasure was the Hammer Museum. When I read about this in the guide book I thought it was a tourist trap I would certainly avoid. But, with only a three dollar admission, Sarah and I gave it a go. We were quite surprised. This tiny museum of only 3 rooms kept our attention for over and hour. It is not to be missed.

The hammer museum

 

From Haines we drove north on the Haines Highway toward Haines Junction and our return to the Alaska Highway. The scenery was as wondrous as we had been led to expect. Most exciting was the sight of Grizzly and Black Bears. We observed a Grizzly with two cubs. The cubs were frolicking in a grassy meadow alongside a creek and the Black Bear was browsing on dandelions in a patch of grass near the road. Unfortunately, in my excitement of seeing the Grizzly, I didn't set the ISO on the camera correctly for the lens I was using and we don't have pictures of them to post. Oh well, the quest for Grizzly pictures will continue.

A short 120 miles took us to Lake Kathleen, in the Kluane National Park, our next overnight stop. Before coming to Alaska and Yukon, we had heard horror stories about the vicious mosquitoes. But, they have not been as bad as we feared. On the contrary, they have been a minor nuisance. In fact, the worst mosquitoes were in Pennsylvania. In Hyder, AK, Sarah found an all natural mosquito repellant that has been working very well. Stay Away Insect Spray made by Back Bay Botanicals in Sitka, Ak is great. The campground at Lake Kathleen was also infested with black flies and this product worked equally well to repel those pests.

The drive from Lake Kathleen to Beaver Creek took us along Lake Kluane, the largest lakes in Yukon. This is the north west tip of the high Yukon Plateau. We marveled at the difference between the mountains on one side, steep and jagged versus soft and rounded, on either side of the lake. From one of the roadside information areas, we learned that we were straddling a major geological fault. The steep and sharp mountains to the southwest are part of a tectonic plate that in the past 50 million years has pushed 150 miles northeast from Haines up against the much older mountains to the east.

Rain Squall in the Kluane Range

The final push to Beaver Creek, near the Alaska/Yukon border was on the Yukon plateau. A vast plain stretching across the land of perma-frost. Here we experienced the roughest roads yet. Pot holes, frost heaves and stretches of gravel road forces us to slow down. Despite that, we were occasionally caught unprepared for changes in the roadway. We chose not to cover Mary Joan with fabric to protect her and so far she has only received minor dents on the stainless steel stone guards. I will accept these as battle scars and right of passage on the Alaska Highway.

Tonight we stay at Beaver Creek which puts us just a short way from Alaska.

Stay tuned.

Whitehorse Yukon and the Ferry Columbia from Skagway to Haines

Leaving Boya Lake on the Cassier Highway we continued north to the intersection with the Alaska Highway at Junction 37. While I never worried about the ability to acquire fresh water when planning our trip, I did have concerns about three other necessities that might pose a problem. Two were acquisitions, diesel fuel and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF). The other was disposal of waste water from our gray and black water tanks. I solved the fuel issue by carrying two five gallon jugs of diesel in the TV and made it a rule to fill up as soon as possible anytime the fuel gauge indicated 1/4 tank or less. As with the fuel, we always carried an extra 2.5 gallons of DEF in the truck. DEF is a mixture of highly concentrated urea in water. Small quantities are injected into the specially designed catalytic converters of modern diesel vehicles to convert the harmful nitrogen oxides usually emitted to harmless nitrogen and water. It is carried in a tank separate from the fuel tank on the truck. That tank needs to be replenished every few thousand miles with about five gallons of DEF. It is available in nearly every auto supply store and many larger truck stops. But, many smaller gas stations that sell diesel fuel do not carry DEF.  While the truck will still run when the DEF tank is empty, vehicle speed is reduced to about 30mph. Finally, I was afraid that getting rid of our waste water would be a logistical challenge. Those with more experience traveling in an RV and others with no experience at all might be amused by our concerns. While virtually every privately owned commercial campground has a sani-dump station, not all public campgrounds are so equipped. Besides, we expected to boon-dock (staying on public lands away from designated campgrounds) which would require finding public sani-dumps. Our concerns were eased once we reached the midwestern United States. From then on, many towns and fuel stations had sani-dumps readily available.

We dumped our black water tank at the sani-dump and re-fueled here at Junction 37.  Sarah and I saw a young man with a small dog walking through the parking lot of the service station and hitch-hiking west on the Alaska Highway. We stopped and offered him a ride to Teslin, the next 'major' road house on the way north. Simon, and his dog Paddy joined us for the rest of the morning. Simon's goal is to learn how to live off the land by fishing and gathering native edible plants and roots. We felt that his efforts to gather sustenance was not as effective as he might have wished, so we stopped at Rancherio for lunch and insisted that he be our guest. Although, as hungry as we knew he was, he ordered the least expensive item on the menu, porridge with toast. We enjoyed Simon's youthful idealism as well as his stories of sleeping in the woods alone with his dog. We said goodbye to Simon at Teslin where he wanted to stop for a while.

Simon and Paddy

The tinwheeler continued on to the Wolf Creek Yukon Campground just outside the major city of Whitehorse, Yukon. The population of Yukon Territory is only about 30,000 people and more than two thirds live in Whitehorse. Whitehorse is a tidy city on the Yukon River. It is the cultural, governmental and tourist center of the territory.

Downtown Whitehorse

Exploring the MacBride Museum of Yukon history (http://www.macbridemuseum.com/) we were surprised to see a machine built in our home town of Worcester, MA. It is a machine that puts label on bottles.

The label machine

Made in Worcester

We have deliberately chosen not to have a firm itinerary for this adventure. This seemed to be exactly what we wanted when we learned that a music festival was scheduled for the next weekend in Dawson City, about 325 miles to the north. Although our original plan was to go south from Whitehorse to Skagway, AK, following the trail of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897-98, then take the ferry to  Haines, AK and back up to Haines Junction, Yukon and the Alaska Highway we decided to slow down and make Dawson City in time for the festival. Since we still wanted to see Skagway and the route taken by those seeking their fortune in 1898 we left Mary Joan at Wolf Creek and made a day trip to Skagway. We stopped in the small town of Carcross and strolled the street seeing the many old buildings from the gold rush days. During our stroll we met a young man who told us that the music festival at Dawson City was not what we expected it would be, certainly nothing like we experienced at Smithers. This caused us to rethink our plan to go to the festival, but we put off the decision of where we would go next until later in the day.

Carcross cottage

The road from Carcross to Skagway was through another landscape like we had never experienced. The route provided not only the usual majestic mountain vistas but also a high mountain plateau. It was near tree line, studded with dwarfed trees and mottled with small alpine ponds. From this plateau, the road dropped precipitously back to sea level at Skagway, the launching point of the rush for gold.

This one caught Sarah's eye

Skagway is a tourist town, through and through. The center city is a conglomeration of gift shops catering to the cruise ships that frequent this town. One highlight was the Skagway Museum and Archives. This museum presents a clear depiction of the who, what, when where and why of the frantic follies of the Klondike Gold Rush.

Before leaving, I inquired at the Alaska Marine Highway terminal about taking the ferry from Skagway to Haines. I found the cost not as bad as I thought and there was a supplementary ferry the next afternoon in addition to the one usually scheduled at 7AM. With the disappointing information about the Dawson City Music Festival and the less than expected cost as well as convenient departure time, we booked passage on the ferry for the next day. After our tour of the town, we returned the Mary Joan in Whitehorse.

Our last morning in Whitehorse was spent updating this blog at the public library and touring the SS Klondike, the last stern paddle wheel to ply the Yukon. It has been meticulously restored and is well presented with a self guided tour.

By the time we finished touring the SS Klondike, we had just enough time to make the trip back to Skagway to catch the ferry. While we had driven this stretch of highway twice before, we found the scenery as magnificent as if we had not seen it before. The differing light and the absolute calm of the water presented a novel view of the scenery.

Mirror Lake

We arrived in time for the ferry employees to measure our vehicles and position us in the line to board the ferry. The boarding process was a bit daunting but was accomplished without incident. The ramp into the ferry was steep and parking the truck and trailer in the confined space of the ferry was a challenge. The effort was worth it because the hour and a half ride down the fiord presented grand vistas of snow capped mountains we could not have experienced any other way.

Heading toward Haines from Skagway

A white knuckle moment came when the ferry workers told me I had to back up the trailer inside the ship in order to get off the ferry. Being just inches away from the hull, this request was not accepted very eagerly. But, with deliberate care, we followed the load master's direction and successfully extricated the Mary Joan from the bowels of the ferry Columbia to the docks of Haines, Alaska.

Mirror Mirror too close to the wall!!!

Stay tuned for more.

Smithers to Boya Lake, British Columbia. Great fishing

After visiting the Ksan Historical Village we pressed on to Stewart, British Columbia. We saw our first Grizzly Bear and Black Bears not long after we were on the highway.

First Black Bear

Every turn of the road presents vistas that are prettier than just a few miles past. Snow covered peaks, thundering waterfalls are around every bend in the road. And, the roads have been great. While there are some stretches that cause some rumbling, in general they are as good as any secondary road in Massachusetts. We can easily maintain 50 – 65 mph most of the time (except on the big up-hill climbs).

The highway spur, 37A, to Stewart is a beautiful road. It passes close by Bear Glacier then down into Clement Lake (Bear Lake to the locals because of the numerous bears). We pulled into the Clement Lake (Bear Lake) campground. This was the most challenging campground we have encountered yet. Sarah did a supreme job directing me to back into a very tight spot. One wheel of the TV (tow vehicle) was nearly axle deep in mud while backing the trailer into the campsite. We are so glad for our 4 wheel drive. While some say that you can tow an Airstream with much smaller vehicles, that may be true on paved interstate highways, but NOT in rain soaked Provincial Parks.

I tried my hand at fishing early in the morning after spending a rainy night at Bear Lake. The fish weren't biting, but Sarah pointed out the fresh bear tracks in the sand where I was fishing. Clearly, we had visitors in the night.

We drove into Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK for breakfast. Crossing from Canada to America was a non-event. There is no United States border security at all, just drive across. On the return, the Canadians are a little more concerned. They have a border agent who asks the requisite questions, do you have drug, pepper spray or handguns?. Of course we have pepper spray, it's for the bears. Oh, the agent replies, it has a picture of a bear on it. It's bear spray, not pepper spray!!!

We drove out of Hyder to the Salmon Glacier. This immense river of ice is hard to comprehend due to the grand scale and the distance from which it is viewed. . We were impressed at how much snow remained from last winter. I could only hope that the melting of the last eighty years might be reversed and the glacier would once again be sustained.

We saw our first marmots at the end of the road to the Salmon Glacier. They whistle loudly when approached. They are only moderately shy and can be approached to within about 75 feet.

River of Ice, The Salmon Glacier

It seemed appropriate that we reached Alaska on the 4^th or July. Hyder Alaska is truly a town at the end of the road with all the personalities one could expect in such a town. There is the gregarious gift shop owner, the gruff motel/hotel manager and all the characters at the local watering hole. We resisted the local attraction of getting “Hyderized” (falling down drunk).

Almost Hyderized

Hyderized

Mountie Sarah

Having purchased a season fishing permit for British Columbia and knowing we had some good opportunities to fish ahead we stopped at Kinaskin Lake Provincial camp ground. This lake reportedly has a good population of Rainbow Trout. Here I inflated the dinghy and put the 5 HP Honda motor onto it. I tried fly fishing but switched to a small plug that I trolled. I caught one 24cm Rainbow. This one fish wasn't enough to make dinner for two, so I released it after failing to catch another. The next afternoon I had more success. In less than an hour I had two 25 cm beauties. Just the right size. The flesh of these trout, even though they all breed in the same lake can vary in color from nearly white to a rich pink color. These two had light pink flesh. I cleaned and fileted them then simply broiled them in butter. They tasted as good as we had imagined they would.

Bringing home the trout at Kiniskin Lake

We made a short drive the next day to Dease Lake. We stayed at the RV park in the center of the town because it had laundry facilities. It is also at the intersection with the Telegraph Creek Road. This seventy mile long gravel road leads to the town of Telegraph Creek, a town made significant due to its role as an important telegraph outpost that helped connect Northern British Columbia with Vancouver . The first 50 miles of this well maintained road was not unlike some of the roads in Vermont. However, after that, the road climbed to a ridge where the trees thinned out revealing a spectacular vista. Over a thousand feet below was the Stikine River which we reached by descending a tortuous and steep road. Sarah and I were taken aback by the sheer enormity of the valley we had descended into. As amazing as this was, even more breathtaking scenery awaited us just around the corner. Again, the road climbed back out of this valley to a high lava encrusted desert like environment. Then the land fell away on the right side of the road to a canyon with a river roaring at the bottom. We had found what is described as the Grand Canyon of Canada. At the next turn of the road, we found ourselves on a promontory overlooking the confluence of two rivers where the road now fell away on both sides leaving just a strip of land wide enough for the road. This led back down to the river to a First Nations settlement where many families were gathering to fish for Salmon that were just beginning to reach this far up the river.

The Canyon

The last stretch of road from the village to Telegraph Creek was the most frightening road I have ever traveled on. One lane wide with only a few turnouts to allow two vehicles to pass, this road is carved into the side of a cliff with the roaring river over a thousand feet below and there are no guard rails. While we enjoyed the views on the ride in, I silently mulled over my deepening apprehension of having to retrace my route out. Needless to say, we made it. But, I was thankful once we made the First Nation village on our return.

Telegraph Creek

There are so many interesting and beautiful places to see. We have guide books that we have come to trust, especially when they list places as a must see. When this information is reinforced in talking with other travelers heading south, we make sure to adjust our plans to include these places. Boya Lake, our next stop was just such a place. Called the jewel of British Columbia by some, it is a pristine, aquamarine lake at the foot of a richly forested mountain, made even more dramatic by a brief squall with thunder and lightening. The squall delayed my plans to fish for the reputed Lake Trout present here. So dinner was tofu stir fry. But, since it doesn't get dark until nearly midnight, after dinner I went out onto the lake and caught a 28-30cm Lake Trout.

Lake Boya

Squall over Boya Lake as viewed from our camp site

On the ride from Boya Lake, we passed through a large area of forest that had recently burned. We saw many people tenting and camping along the road in this burned forest. We were confused about why they would be here. We saw one group with rifles and others with dogs. We concluded that they must be hunting, but for what? We got our answer a few miles later when we saw a tent with a large sign that read “Mushroom Buyer”. Then we remembered that the person who sold us the Morel mushrooms in Smithers told us that morels were found in areas where there had been a fire. We decided to stop and try to buy some from one of the buyers. It was early in the day, and most of the buyer's tents were closed (the buyers usually show up in the afternoon when the mushroom pickers return with their find). We spotted one buyer on the opposite side of the road and was just about to pull into a rest area a couple hundred yards further along when we saw a large black bear in the rest area. The bear had gotten into a trash barrel. Even though the bear was leaving, we knew that it was not safe to walk in an area where a bear considered it a food source. There were no more mushroom buyers along the road. But, at Junction 37, the intersection of the Cassier Highway with the Alaska Highway, we found some buyers staying at the motel. Here we bought two pounds of fresh morel mushrooms for $5 per pound. That night we had Lake trout steamed in foil with onions and herbs and morel mushrooms with a cracker crumb crust fried in butter. We were the embodiment of happy campers.

You see a burned forest, I see morel mushrooms

There is much more to tell, but we are in the public library at Whitehorse and it is a chamber of commerce day. We have places to see here before we head onto Skagway to catch the late afternoon ferry to Haines. So, even though we may not have internet access until we reach Alaska, we will leave off here and continue later.

Stay tuned.