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.

Day 6 Land of Moose habitat and No Moose

(First Starbucks I've seen on the trip, so I can upload a few days of the blog. There are 2 here in Whitehorse)

273 miles today- Downtown RV Park to the well-known Whitehorse Yukon Territory Walmart. I never thought it would come to this (LOL) but I was just too tired to keep moving. I listen closely to my body because I need to be alert when driving these roads. Although, I wonder all day, every day why there are moose crossing signs. Good grief, I saw a woodland caribou and a stone sheep which are much rarer than a moose! I figure if I want to see a moose it’s closer to travel to Yellowstone. The boreal ponds (muskeg) are fantastic; too bad there’s never a safe pull out adjacent to them so I can stay for a few minutes to see if a moose appears. I give up on the rascals.

First Wye Lake

Last night I was serenaded by loons calling and cackling. I found out where the source of the calls came from as I was leaving Watson Lake this morning. Right across the street is First Wye Lake, a lovely lake with a trail encircling it. I wandered a ways down the trail so I could see the common loon and became surrounded by tons of little birds in their fall feather colors. I suspect they were warblers and vireos moving through.

Watson Lake Yukon signpost forest

I also stopped by the signpost forest- 75,000 signs posted to trees and posts and whatever else folks can post them on. It was started in 1942 by a homesick soldier while working on the Alaska Highway. Apparently, he erected a sign pointing to his home with the distance on it and folks have been putting up random signs ever since. And these signs are from all over the world. Really, do people fly internationally with a sign? TSA must love that!

The only wildlife today, besides the moving-through birds, were the many gray jays flying over the road and a probable northern goshawk. It was an accipiter but with deeper wingbeats than I’ve seen in a cooper’s. Northern goshawks are much more common here in the northern latitudes.  Birding while driving is definitely a challenge! 

No roadkill but definite signs of past roadkill. Why do I write about roadkill? Humans built this amazing road through the middle of a vast wilderness that belongs to the wildlife that live here; and then we run over them. And the road is straightened so humans can drive faster with no forethought on how this will impact wildlife that need to cross the road for food, water, shelter, or to find a mate. Of course, this happens everywhere, it just seems like such a shame for it to happen here (not unlike national parks where they’re protected). This is something I want to change. If nothing else, making people aware of their impact and to encourage and support road departments in planning for safe wildlife pathways across roads.

 I stopped at the Tlingit Heritage Center in Teslin- not much to see but a beautiful facility. I listened to the tapes at the few displays and was reminded that this highway also completely changed a way of life for the First Nations that have lived here for centuries following their traditional ways. I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't thought of that. This is a strong community holding to their traditional ways and adapting to more modern ways over the decades. The young people state they want to stay. That's a strong statement considering how isolated every little berg is out here. And, yes, the highway was and is a big deal. You can't help but feel it as you learn more about it and drive the length of it.

Driving

My favorite- steel grated bridge deck!

Today was a long monotonous drive; not in a bad way. It was vast open wild boreal forest for miles and miles. It was and is wondrous. I stopped to walk to Rancheria Falls and practiced panorama shots with my cell phone camera. It is a 10 minute walk through the boreal forest and no one else but a couple of parks guys were around.

Rancheria Falls

It was a day of meeting people. The other Scamp folks I met at Watson Lake were out for a couple of months exploring B.C. They’ve been to every state and province except B.C. so here they are. They gave me a gift without knowing me for more than 20 minutes or so. It’s a cool suction cup hook for the trailer. When I stopped for gas (14mpg means a LOT of stopping) at the Rancheria Lodge I met two women who were a hoot. One was born in Hawaii and grew up in Centralia Washington, my second home. My dad grew up in Centralia so we visited my grandma at least once a month when I was a kid. I still have relatives there. Not a small world, a tiny one. I may stop back by there on my way back to say hi. At Johnson’s Crossing I stopped by for the excellent bakery and was given a luscious fresh Okanogan peach- free. I bought a sandwich (real sourdough bread), scone (tomorrows breakfast), spruce tip jelly (weird so have to try it), and an Alaska Highway plant book. Then while parking my trailer and truck in the Walmart parking lot a 

Ahh Walmart parking lot camping.

young (30s?) French local started asking questions about if I was alone, how much the trailer cost, where I was going, etc. In between questions he talked about his mom (64) and how he wanted her to get out and see the world. He wants to save up enough money to buy his mom a small trailer. We had a great chat before he headed out to meet his friends. The Yukon information center folks have been absolutely great. Most folks I’m running into are quite friendly and open. I think some of it’s because the heavy tourist season is over. I’m traveling at the perfect time!

Rancheria Falls

Lesson #6 Every day is a looong day so make the most of it and be in 
the moments.