DrewE's Alaska Trip Travelogue
I returned about a week ago from a marvelous ten-week trip to and through Alaska (and back) with my dear mother. I went in a 32' class C, actually about 35' overall with a bicycle rack on the back, w...
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July 19th -- A day of driving, continuing along the Alaska Highway. We crossed into Yukon officially, and made a requisite stop at the Watson Lake Signpost Forest and the Yukon vistor's center. The visitor's center has some very nicely done exhibits in their little museum, dealing with the construction of the Alaska highway and life in general in the north. They also loaded us up with plenty of tourist guide information, some more useful than others. Among the better bits are a series of booklets on identifying various plants and animals (and fungi) in the Yukon. My mom, who studied and taught Biology, particularly enjoyed having and using them.
The signpost forest is rather more extensive than I was imagining. I'm afraid we were not proper tourists and did not nail up a sign.
Click For Full-Size Image.
We stretched our legs a bit at the Rancheria Falls recreation site, which has a very pleasant little trail leading to an overlook of the falls. These are not massive cascades and walls of water, but it's a pretty spot regardless. The river actually splits around a small island at the falls, making a bifurcated waterfall.
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A bit later on we crossed the continental divide (between the Arctic and Pacific oceans; there is of course also a divide between the Pacific and Atlantic, and one for the Arctic and Atlantic, and they all meet at the triple divide peak in Glacier National Park).
We stayed at Teslin Lake Territorial Campground. As is typical of Yukon Territorial campgrounds, they had free camp firewood.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The Teslin river bridge, if memory serves, under a rather dramatic sky
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Teslin lake at evening time
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Teslin lake in the morning
July 20th -- Onward for a comparatively short day of driving to Whitehorse. We did stop for lunch at Marsh Lake provincial park, a understandably popular spot for Whitehorse area residents to enjoy the summer weather. From there to the Pioneer RV park on the outskirts of Whitehorse.
This is one of the very very few places where Church's book proved to be a bit inaccurate, in as much as the city bus system no longer served the campground. We accordingly called to enquire about a cab, since driving into (and finding parking in) a comparatively large city didn't seem like a whole lot of fun, but the cab company quoted a price entirely out of all reason. We did end up driving the motorhome downtown, parking in the RV lot at the visitors center which is free and not at all difficult to get to, and walking around from there.
At the visitor's center, we enquired about the sights we were particularly interested in. It went something like this:
"What's the scoop with the Frantic Follies?"
"Unfortunately, they've stopped this year. The manager retired, and nobody was interested in taking over."
"Oh. In that case, can you tell us how to get the waterfront trolley?"
"It isn't running; it broke down earlier this year, and they won't be able to fix it before the end of the season."
"Okay...the SS Klondike is open, I hope?"
Fortunately, it was, and we toured it and took a (fairly lengthy) walk to see the fish ladder at the hydroelectric dam. It was unfortunately a wee bit too early to see any salmon; the first few would be somewhere between a couple hours and a few days away.
We had been debating whether to spend one or two nights at Whtehorse, but it became rather an easier decision given that many of the things we were interested in doing were unavailable. As it turned out, we had to spend a longer time in the city on the return trip. Whitehorse is a pretty city and they appreciate the tourists that come through. The Robert Service park has a very fine looking tent campground and is very convenient to downtown.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The SS Klondike, the largest of the sternwheelers (and open to the public)
Click For Full-Size Image.
Half of the fish ladder; each little segment is a sort of box, designed to make a little eddy and provide a route for the salmon to work their way upstream. The churning white water of the river is due to a low dam that helps direct the fish towards the ladder. (Some of the churn is also probably from the main dam, I suppose.)
Pioneer RV park is a pleasant hillside park, with decent separation between the sites and what seemed to be well-kept facilities.
The signpost forest is rather more extensive than I was imagining. I'm afraid we were not proper tourists and did not nail up a sign.
We stretched our legs a bit at the Rancheria Falls recreation site, which has a very pleasant little trail leading to an overlook of the falls. These are not massive cascades and walls of water, but it's a pretty spot regardless. The river actually splits around a small island at the falls, making a bifurcated waterfall.
A bit later on we crossed the continental divide (between the Arctic and Pacific oceans; there is of course also a divide between the Pacific and Atlantic, and one for the Arctic and Atlantic, and they all meet at the triple divide peak in Glacier National Park).
We stayed at Teslin Lake Territorial Campground. As is typical of Yukon Territorial campgrounds, they had free camp firewood.
The Teslin river bridge, if memory serves, under a rather dramatic sky
Teslin lake at evening time
Teslin lake in the morning
July 20th -- Onward for a comparatively short day of driving to Whitehorse. We did stop for lunch at Marsh Lake provincial park, a understandably popular spot for Whitehorse area residents to enjoy the summer weather. From there to the Pioneer RV park on the outskirts of Whitehorse.
This is one of the very very few places where Church's book proved to be a bit inaccurate, in as much as the city bus system no longer served the campground. We accordingly called to enquire about a cab, since driving into (and finding parking in) a comparatively large city didn't seem like a whole lot of fun, but the cab company quoted a price entirely out of all reason. We did end up driving the motorhome downtown, parking in the RV lot at the visitors center which is free and not at all difficult to get to, and walking around from there.
At the visitor's center, we enquired about the sights we were particularly interested in. It went something like this:
"What's the scoop with the Frantic Follies?"
"Unfortunately, they've stopped this year. The manager retired, and nobody was interested in taking over."
"Oh. In that case, can you tell us how to get the waterfront trolley?"
"It isn't running; it broke down earlier this year, and they won't be able to fix it before the end of the season."
"Okay...the SS Klondike is open, I hope?"
Fortunately, it was, and we toured it and took a (fairly lengthy) walk to see the fish ladder at the hydroelectric dam. It was unfortunately a wee bit too early to see any salmon; the first few would be somewhere between a couple hours and a few days away.
We had been debating whether to spend one or two nights at Whtehorse, but it became rather an easier decision given that many of the things we were interested in doing were unavailable. As it turned out, we had to spend a longer time in the city on the return trip. Whitehorse is a pretty city and they appreciate the tourists that come through. The Robert Service park has a very fine looking tent campground and is very convenient to downtown.
The SS Klondike, the largest of the sternwheelers (and open to the public)
Half of the fish ladder; each little segment is a sort of box, designed to make a little eddy and provide a route for the salmon to work their way upstream. The churning white water of the river is due to a low dam that helps direct the fish towards the ladder. (Some of the churn is also probably from the main dam, I suppose.)
Pioneer RV park is a pleasant hillside park, with decent separation between the sites and what seemed to be well-kept facilities.
