Whitehorse, Yukon Territories

Yes, it says "Whitehorse" not "Chillkoot Trail". I reluctantly abandoned my goal to hike the trail. My ankle is still swollen although feeling better. Then Sunday night my back went out as it does once in awhile. I woke up Monday morning and could hardly fall out of the bed. I said "OK my body is trying to tell me something here!"

My reservation wasn't for another 3 days. And looking at my schedule, if I did the hike I would have to rush through some of the northern parts of Alaska that I want to spend some time visiting. I was tired of sitting around and wanted to get moving again.

So for all of these reasons I decided to hit the road again. This gives me an extra 8 days to tour Dawson City, Fairbanks and Denali areas before I meet Marne in Anchorage. When I first made my reservations back in April or May I asked for a week earlier but everything was booked up. August 1st was the first day I could get. But in the end the timing just did not work out besides being a little dinged up. Age is setting in.

As close as I got to the trial.  :(



Whitehorse is a very nice city. It is the territorial capital of the Yukon. They have saved a lot of their old historical buildings and incorporated them into a very nice downtown area. The city lies along the banks of the Yukon River and there are parks all along the river. There is a very nice boardwalk and bike/walking trail that goes along the river. It probably helps that the weather has been beautiful, about 80 and sunny.

Marne was curious and looked up the reason the city is called "Whitehorse". There was a nearby rapids that reminded the early settlors of a white horses mane. The rapids is now underwater because of a power company dam built in the 50s. All of these buildings are in the downtown area:

An old church. Still in use.

I put this picture in for my sister, Sally Haugen. The Hougen Centre was established in 1944. My sister was established in 1945. Both seemed to be well cared for and aging nicely.

Construction of this house began in 1937. The couple cut down their own trees for the logs. They lived there until 1969.



The "Klondike". An old paddle wheeler.

Another old relic.

This is the very nice, new cultural center of the First Nation people that occupied this area before the gold rush. The name of the tribe is the Kwanlin Dun. They, of course, were forced off their lands. In recent years they have made an agreement with the government and received some of the land back.

I thought this was Randy and Luda at first.

 

 

An observant eye would discern that the Yukon River flows north.

 

Tomorrow I aim towards Dawson City but before I get to Dawson I will head north on the infamous Dempster Highway. This is a two lane gravel highway that goes for several hundred miles and well beyond the Arctic Circle. I only will travel 45 miles on the highway to Tombstone Territorial Park. I will camp primitive again. There are some good day hiking trails in this park. This will be my northernmost point in Canada.

 

So I am disappointed that I did not hike the Chilkoot but happy to be on the road again. In memory of JJ Cale I am calling this trip "The Breeze" trip..."well, they call me the breeze, I keep rollin' down the road..." 

 

Have a good day!  :)