Whitehorse

Well, here it is Wednesday. We have been in Whitehorse since Sunday. Good trip down from Dawson City. Slow going at times due to gravel roads and roadwork. Permafrost heaves gave us a few roller coaster rides when I got the speed up a little faster that it should have been but everything held together. The weather has been just fantastic here the last four days, 27 to 30C but humidity only 18%. Makes it really livable. Monday morning we left for Carcross. about 50 km south of Whitehorse. This is were the gold rush people were finally able to get rafts, crude boats and anything else that would float into the Yukon lake and river system and start downstream to Dawson City. You would think that you were in the Caribbean, with the white sand beaches and the colour of the water. The water temperature reminds you that you are not. Always seem to meet a multitude of characters on a trip like this. One guy rode into town on a 20 year old BMW motorcycle complete with sidecar and his dog. He was out looking around and the dog was sitting and waiting for him to return.
Talked to the locals to find out where to go fishing and got some great directions for a good fishing place. It was in the direction we wanted to go, down the South Klondike highway towards Skagway. The drive down this highway is nothing short of breathless. The lakes, rivers, mountains, glaciers along with a greater number of guard rails made this a great drive. With good directions from the Visitor Centre in Carcross, we found the gravel ruts for our turn off to go down to Windy Arm, a branch of Lake Bennett and the location of our fishing spot. The only way to tell you were on the trail was to look where the rocks were the most compressed. Got down to the bottom of the road, right on the lake.

After an hour or so of no luck, we decided that the fish didn't like us and we left. Driving out was a bit interesting. A steep climb over large rocks. We were in 4 wheel drive low the whole way up. We drove out of the Yukon and into BC before hitting the  Canada customs at Fraser, where we turned around and headed back. Tuesday was a day of chores. N cleaned out the dust and dirt in the truck that had been gathering there since we left Lunenburg. In the afternoon we took the truck in for routine service. oil change etc. While that was being done we played the role of tourists and toured the galleries and upper end craft stores in town. After picking up the truck, we got a major grocery order, 250 litres of diesel and headed home. Today we decided to go fishing again. On our way through Whitehorse, N made a hair appointment for Thursday. Then we drove 50 - 60 km out to a couple of lakes that were classed as good fishing. It was hot, very windy and again the fish didn't like us. Someday soon that will change. On the way out to the lakes, and back, we had to drive over 8 km of road under construction. It was being watered down heavily and our truck was a solid mass of mud when we got back. Pressure washed the truck here at the RV park so it's clean again. This is a nice feature about RV parks in the north. Most have pressure washers to clean your truck and rig. This is about all for now. We have friends that we met three ago on our trip and have stayed in touch with since then. They are coming out of Alaska tomorrow and will be here with us for Friday. We plan on heading south towards Grand Prairie on Saturday. From there back north to Yellowknife.
Quote for the day:

Knowledge is power, if you know it about the right person.
  - Ethel Mumford

PS More pictures being posted in a new gallery called Whitehorse as well as more in the Yukon gallery. Some readers have not realized that if you click on the gallery picture, it will open up a thumbnail gallery, in some cases with over 100 additional photos. These galleries are posted on the left hand side of the blog.

Cheers

P & N