Day 16 Closer to Cassiar

The results of yesterdays 80 miles of Yukon Road

Badge of honor

289 miles today- Whitehorse Walmart to Downtown RV Park; much better. I’m back at the Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake. I really needed a shower and wanted to get some entries posted in the blog before I enter the real hinterlands down the Cassiar Highway! Unfortunately, I only get 2- ½ hour wifi sessions again so I’m posting these on the morning of the 17^th day so I can edit them when I’m awake.

Today started quite briskly in Whitehorse. Usually I get dressed in the morning and take Templeton out for a potty walk then return for breakfast and tea. Sometime during the night the trailer door popped open and since he had jumped off of the bed before I rolled out he decided to go on his own. We’re in a Walmart parking lot next to a busy road!! I jump outside in nightshirt and flannel pants and call to stop him. I finally convince him to come back when I walk to the truck and say let’s go for a ride. So scary. Damn door is curved and is a crappy design. My son Allen has spent a lot of time trying to get it to close properly which we thought was fixed. Unfortunately, the constant rattling of the Yukon roads are causing issues. Tonight it’s closed and bungee corded. Thank goodness we weren’t at Pine Lake- known for bears- because there was a bunch of dog food all over the floor (don’t ask)!

Templeton's new spot to travel. On top of the pile o'stuff behind and sort of between the truck seats.

Then after I posted my “badge of honor” muddy vehicle photos, Allen texted that one of my tires looked pretty low. All of the tires were 6 pounds under which may be the reason the 4wd wasn’t working quite right. I must have spent an hour literally driving in circles around Whitehorse trying to find air for the tires. All of the tire stores and automotive-type shops were closed- including Jiffy Lube. And the gas stations didn’t have air- well one did but I couldn’t get the trailer and truck into it. I finally stopped by the information center and they told me about one at the other end of town- been there twice now. Back I go and yay- they have air for my tire. The truck handled much better today. I didn’t get out of town until 12:30. Ugh. I really wanted to stop at a couple of museums but no time.

My drive was taken up listening to “Trucker” radio out of Ontario because I forgot to change out my CDs. I can only listen to the same ones over and over a couple of times. Trucker radio is country but not the new stuff that sounds like pop music. And they did interviews with various trucker people including a 22 year old woman who is a trucker. Different world.

Just another lovely river view

There wasn’t much Autumn color today. This section will be lovely a week or so from now. Like much of the trip the road is nearly always in the shadow of mythic mountains. So high above you that you are humbled by their magnificent size. I never get tired of being in their presence. I don’t know their names and really don’t feel a need to. I feel like I’m the size of a flea.

I went through an area called Carcross, short for caribou crossing. There used to be thousands of caribou in the area. Once the Alaska Highway was built the population dropped to a few hundred. The numbers are around 1,600 now. The highway cut through the migration path of the caribou, allowed for more killing of them, and loss of habitat from mining and logging. I have a lot of time to ponder such things and this highway is so much bigger than it seems. In 1942, in the name of security, the U.S. and Canada built a road through the wilderness with absolutely no regard for the people whose land it was nor for the wildlife that utilized the wilderness. This type of disregard for the First Nations/Native Americans is still occurring. Just look at the huge stand being taken in South Dakota. The tribes are standing up for their land and water because an oil pipeline is being shoved down their throats. How ridiculous. Greed has destroyed our planet, our water, our air, and so many people. When the hell do we stop? Maybe the South Dakota conflict will be the turning point to put the land, the wildlife, and the people first. Rant done.

Rainbow over the highway

Tomorrow I head a new way toward Prince George to save 130 miles but has so much beauty I hope to take a few days enjoying it. The Cassiar Highway offers Stewart B.C. with Hyder Alaska across the road. Hyder is the location of the Fish Creek bear platform where you can watch them fishing (google it and watch the videos). Also, farther south is Kitwanga, home of some of the oldest totem poles and the 'Ksan Historical Indian Village nearby. I have no idea where I’ll be camping except, hopefully, Camp Run-a-Muck RV park in Hyder tomorrow night. Maybe Kantishna Lake tonight. And somewhere near Kitwanga or along the Yellowhead Hwy 16. It's 2 days to home from Prince George.

See ya on the other side because I don’t know if wifi is available anywhere along the road.

Wildlife- American kestrels, red-tail hawk, magpies (I see them nearly every day), golden eagle, sharp-shinned hawk, and some sort of little bird that likes to sit in the middle of the road doing something (they have a slightly yellow breast).

Lesson #16 Give your dog treats whenever he gets in the truck to go for a ride, just in case of an emergency.