Whitehorse Part 2

This is at 10 Mile Lake Provincial Park

We arrived in Whitehorse and spent 2 hours cleaning the camper and the truck. Neither one of us felt like cooking so we just grabbed a pizza from Dominos of all places. It was quick and easy.

The next morning we headed out to Skagway. We’re driving along and all of a sudden we see this flashing sign letting us know there was a landslide on the road to Skagway. That’s why Waze wouldn’t take us that way. It kept trying to get us to go to Haines which is 5-6 hours and then take a ferry to Skagway. I kept telling John no way, it is only 2 hours to Skagway from Whitehorse and then we can take a ferry to Haines. Makes more sense so we opted to use our road map. It’s not like I can’t read one. I am the main navigator on this trip. John is constantly asking me which way to go because I planned it. I did all the navigating. I don’t need Waze—well unless there is a landslide—to tell me to go another way. Well, I refused to go that route so we hung out in Whitehorse another day. We had so much fun hanging out in Whitehorse.

Whitehorse is the capitol and only city in the Yukon with over 40k people living there. For being out in the middle of nowhere it is quite a modern little city. I use the term modern very loosely. Lots of old buildings, lots and lots of history and tradition but, their government building and visitor center are very modern structures and most bathrooms are unisex. Including the one at the visitor center that looks just like a mens or ladies restroom with dozens of stalls (doors do go from floor to ceiling) but men and women share that one room. It does feel a little weird when you go in and a man comes out of the stall next to you and then there is another man at the sinks and one entering. I had already done a double take going in—thinking I made a wrong turn or misunderstood—but that is unisex in the big city of Whitehorse.

We spent a good part of the day at the MacBride Museum. If you ever go to Whitehorse you really need to take the time to go through the museum. We were there for hours. The history is so interesting as are all the artifacts and stories told. Ladies, wait until you see the ladies room—yes it is separate from the men in the museum. All the stall doors are covered with the Women of the Yukon. I love a good story about strong independent women and these women were the epitome of strong & independent. Sure some where whores but hey, they did it their way. My favorite was Klondike Kate. She made $30k her first year in the Klondike which was in 1898. You go girl!

We ate out at Ricky’s Grill which was a little disappointing but, you win some and lose some—right? It was a local place.

The next day we were headed out taking the Cassiar Highway. One reviewer stated the Cassiar was more beautiful than the Alaska Highway but had fewer gas stations, fewer campgrounds and fewer pull overs for camping. He also stated the road was much worse than the Alcan. Well, we were not deterred. We fueled up and headed down the Alaska Highway to the Cassiar. Well, the first 50+ miles of the Cassiar was burned out forrest. There were two little ghost towns–I honestly don’t think anyone lived in either of those towns. After that, it was beautiful. The road was so much better than the Alcan and there were plenty of pull overs and campgrounds though most of the campgrounds were full. Gas stations were a bit limited but not to where we were uncomfortable. We found a pull over by a lake the first night. There were several other cars/campers there as well but it was peaceful and quiet. We had no service until we got to Kitwanga on CA 16. From there on out we had spots without service but mostly we had service. Lots of little towns and shops and gas stations. We spent a night at 10 Mile Lake Provincial Park for $20. That was my cover photo. We found a cute little quilt store in Chilliwack and then we crossed the border. This was the first time we actually had to wait in line at the border. So many people crossing over. But we made it!! It was so good to be “home.”

The Dempster and Arctic Ocean

The Dempster Hwy is 737.5 km hwy in Canada that connects the Klondike Hwy in Yukon to the NW Territories in Inuvik. After the Dempster is the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Hwy that is 138 km that takes you all the way to the Arctic Ocean. It opened in 1917 and until that time residents of Tuktoyaktuk relied on planes in the summer and ice roads in the winter.

They really should call it the Dirty Dempster. Imagine driving a dirt and gravel road for approximately 461 miles one way and then 461 miles back. There are also 2 ferry crossings along the route. Gas stations are limited and internet service is just as limited.

We set out initially wanting to get to Eagle Plains which is where the first gas station is–229 miles in before we could fill up. Pulling a camper uses more gas so we were sure to carry some extra–just in case. While driving and realizing we were going to get to Eagle Plains mid afternoon, John and I discussed going a little farther and thought maybe we could get passed those ferries before settling in. The first one was only another 115 miles–or close to that and the second one was about 40 miles farther. We just thought since the ferries didn’t start until 9:00 in the morning (and we seem to be early risers) it might be good to get that far. We ended up going all the way to Inuvik and camping there. I think it was about 11:00 pm when we arrived. We lost an hour because we went from Pacific to Mountain time so I am not sure what time it was. John was up again around 6:30 (naturally). Sometimes I wish he would slow down a little. We didn’t pay when we arrived because the office was closed until 7:00 am. Finally someone arrived about 7:30 and she just told John to not worry about it because she wasn’t ready. Score–especially for John. He loves a good deal–we even had electric which is great because here we were in the Arctic Circle and it was hotter than any place we had been. And mosquitos were horrible.

I decided to divide this post into two posts because it was going to be so long and I am hopelessly trying to edit a video so I can post that. This really might take a while.

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