Days 17-18
July 26-27,2019
We left Nugget City and the Baby Nugget RV Park on July 26 and began driving towards Whitehorse YT, continuing our journey along the Alaska Highway.
During the last few days we have made stops in Whitehorse and Haines Junction. We also made a day trip to Skagway AK!
The weather contines to be against us. We have experienced cloudy and rainy days and even some fresh snow on the mountaintops!
In Whitehorse, we stayed at the Pioneer RV Park for two days and had a wonderful cliffside site among the trees. It was semi-secluded and would have been great for some outdoor relaxation by a fire, except for the rain and cold temperature.
Whitehorse, YT
We made a special trip downtown to our favorite Klondike restaurant…Salmon and Rib BBQ!. We had to wait 25+ minutes and stand outside in the rain…along with about 30 other patrons! I can’t think of another restaurant that we enjoy enough to stand and wait in the rain! The food was worth the wait! Ken and I both had the 3 peice Halibut and Chips. The Halibut pieces were so large, that we each took a piece to go!
We did a driving tour of Whitehorse, making stops at the Old Log Church Museum and The Yukon Transportation Museum. Located in front of the Transportation Museum was the World’s Largest Weathervane! A restored Douglas DC-3 was mounted on a rotating pedestal, acting as a weathervane. I wanted to see it spin! Whitehorse was the largest town we had been in for awhile and we were able to stock up on groceries, and purchase some other needed RV supplies.
Since the weather was not cooperating in Whitehorse, we decided to make a daytrip to Skagway AK. We drove 111 miles to Skagway in hopes of some nicer weather. It was fairly nice as we drove past the beautiful Emerald Lake. This was one of our favorite lakes from our Alaska 2011 Adventure. We joined the other tourists along the roadside trying to get a great photo of the lake. It is also referred to as Rainbow Lake, but, we didn’t see any rainbows today. With all of the rain we have had, I think there should have been a rainbow!
Continuing on towards Skagway, we got into some fog. There were many bicyclists on the road, and they were very difficult to see. At least most of them were in a pull-0ut off to the side of the road. Approaching Skagway we crossed the border into the USA. After talking with the nice border agent, we stopped to take our Welcome to Alaska Photo. It was very windy and cold, so we didn’t waste any time…in and out of the jeep quickly!
In Skagway, it was cloudy, cold, and windy. We toured the historical district, with false fronted buildings and walked along the boardwalk streets, looking at all the shops. There were alot of jewelry stores. Why so many? Most of the shops seemed to be selling the same thing. We did find a nice apparel store with excellent prices. We bought a few Alaska shirts and sweatshirts to replace our worn out ones from our previous trips. We stopped at the Popcorn Emporium to sample some of the flavored popcorn. We bought a bag of carmel corn mixed with white and dark chocolate to enjoy on our trip back to Whitehorse. The small bag of carmel corn cost $10!!! It was tasty, but, not worth the money.
Skagway is a historical Gold Rush town and owes it’s birth to the Klondike Gold Rush. Skagway boomed as thousands of gold seekers arrived to follow the White Pass and Chilkoot trails to the Yukon goldfields. Since we are interested in the Gold Rush history, we decided to seek out the Chilkoot Trail. We were successfull and walked a few feet on the trail! The Chilkoot Trail is a 33 mile trail that climbs over Chilkoot Pass (elevation 3,739 ft) to Lake Bennett in Canada. This is the trail of the gold seekers of 1897-98. I can’t even imagine the difficulty endured by those crossing the Chilkoot Trail.
It was interesting to see Skagway, but, I don’t think we will make the trip again. Been there, done that!
On our drive back to Whitehorse, we made a brief stop in Carcross. We won’t need to ever go back there again, either. Only two things interested me there…the Anglican Church and Lake Bennett. Lake Bennett is where the gold seekers built their boats after enduring the Chilkoot Trail.
Day 19
July 28, 2019
We had reservations in Haines, AK starting on Monday 7/29. Instead of driving from Whitehorse to Haines all in one day, we decided to do a two day trip. We drove 100 miles to Haines Junction, with a plan to stay at the Kluane RV Park.
On the way, we stopped at the Canyon Creek Bridge. In 1942, during construction of the Alaska Highway, this bridge was hand-built in 18 days. Obviously, we did not drive over this bridge today!
Haines Junction is another small town on the Alaska Highway with a population of 840. It is located at the junction of the Alaska Highway and the Haines Highway and is the gateway to the Kluane National Park. The Kluane Mountain Range and the St. Elias Mountain Range to the west contain many of Canada’s highest peaks. Driving through town, we passed the Village Monument. It is a 24-foot-high sculpture depicting area wildlife. Supposedly, it is the most photographed spot in Haines Junction…I can see why…there is not much else in the town!
At the edge of town, we arrived at the RV Park and discovered that it was closed. We turned around and drove a short distance to the Fas Gas RV Park. Definitely, nothing special, but we had full hook-ups and were able to catch up with our laundry!
Tomorrow- Haines AK
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