Dawson to Whitehorse

Dawson City to Whitehorse
Last night it rained all night and in the morning we decided on no more sightseeing in Dawson today as the weather was not looking too good and we needed to get to Whitehorse to be closer to an airport in case Bev needed to go home early for the second grandchild’s coming.
So down the Klondike Hwy we came and we saw our first grizzly bear today. Yessiree he was rambling along the road and when he spotted us it was up into the trees he was a goin. But it was still nice to see him and we did get some good pictures. Made up for the two porcupines we missed on the Dempster Hwy (they were just too fast to take pictures of).
It was also nice to be on a paved road again after the last roads (the Taylor Hwy, the Top of the World Hwy and the Dempster Hwy) were all dirt roads and after a while even in the Jeep that gets old.
The Klondike Hwy follows basically the Yukon River and the lades and the rivers are just wonderful. There were several places where signs were posted as to when forest fires had occurred and you could see the reforestation effect after so many years. In general it appeared that it took 40+ years for the vegetation to fully recover.
We came to the Five Fingers Rapids which were quite dangerous as there are 4 large cylindrical boulders coming out of the river in one place and cutting the river into five rapids. Near this area was where the paddle wheelers and steamers took on wood for fuel. It took load and loads of lumber to fuel these ships and they operated until the 1950’s when the road was completed to Dawson. Really that is not too long ago.
Well Gabe we are now in the Wal Mart parking lot in Whitehorse and this is quite a popular place for RV’s to stay while here. I think that we will probably stay here 2-3 days to recuperate and then move on. The last day in Dawson was clean up and laundry so we haven’t had a lot of rest days lately.
We did meet a couple from Switzerland and she had canoed the McKenzie River from Slave Lake (Edmonton, SK to Inuvik) seven years ago and then bicycled back there, now that is one hearty woman. They were going to canoe from Whitehorse to Dawson and then bicycle back to Whitehorse (that’s about 325 miles).
This brings me to another adventure I could plan in the future. When Christopher my one year old grandson will be 10 years old he and I could canoe down the McKenzie River from the Great Slave Lake to Inuvik and then we could go to the Berring Sea (that’s the Artic Ocean) and then we could just forget the bicycle trip back but find another way. Think of the adventure that would be.
Well if I can find internet service tomorrow I will post these newest blogs and hopefully some of the pictures. Sorry I tried 3 times to post the pictures and no luck with this internet provider
Lorne