We continued north through the various Canadian gold fields.
We stopped in again at Watson Lake where they tout the world’s largest sign
jungle. When we were here 10 years ago we thought it was really big. But it is
at least 10 times bigger now. We are not sure that it has room to get a lot
bigger, maybe a few more years until they are out of space!
Coming out of British Columbia we had a good day – 7 bears,
a porcupine and several hundred bison. I am not sure our claim holds for the
bears as it was actually only 4 sightings – one of our sightings was a great
big momma along with 3 little cubs. We weren’t aware that northern BC had a
considerable population of bison. We drove a long way after seeing the caution
sign but hadn’t seen a single one. Then all of a sudden, they were everywhere!
We also saw a caution sign warning about a large migrating herd, the Forth Mile
Herd, of caribou, but we never did spot them. Might be the wrong season.
We then set out to revisit the Yukon River and the town of
Whitehorse. The Yukon River fed most of the miners lusting to strike it rich in
the Canadian Gold Rush. Between it and the Mackenzie, it brought the majority
of the supplies into the gold bearing areas. While riverboats no longer plied
these rivers once the railroads arrived, there era left much to admire. The 3rd
longest river in North America, the watershed of the Yukon River is
considerably larger than the state of Texas.
We learned that locals have decided to change the names of
their towns from what the founders named them. They keep the theme but modify
them nonetheless. For example, the residents of Caribou Crossings apparently
found that name too cumbersome to use routinely. So, in the early 1900’s, they
have shortened it to Carcross. But I think you can take a thing too far as
well. The founders named it White Horse in deference to the White Horse Rapids
that mane of a horse. In 1957 the locals decided to shorten the name – to
Whitehorse. As far as I can tell, it’s the same number of characters. Maybe
they wanted to save the ink from not having to print a capital W, or it was
just making the name take up one less space on a printed page. None of these
thoughts to me justify the cost to change a cities name!
Just south of Whitehorse we discovered Miles Canyon. This
was an infamous barrier to the gold miners rushing to Dawson City. The Yukon
narrows here to rush through a basalt lava canyon under 100 feet wide. Before
the hydro dam was built downstream the rapids here were navigable by only the
most skilled and experienced captains. Many hundreds died in the canyon, before
a tramway system was built. Miners would stop above Miles Canyon and unload
their goods. The tram would transport their goods to a point below the Canyon.
Then they would hire an experienced captain to guide their boat through the
treacherous rapids. Today, the dam makes the Canyon look like just a pleasant
paddle!
Just north of Whitehorse a way we discovered the Five Finger
Rapids. At this point, four islands divide the Yukon into five narrow channels.
Again, many lives were lost until it was determined that only the eastern
channel was able to be navigated, and even then, it wasn’t always successful. A
solution eventually made these rapids safer and even allowed for steam powered
riverboats to make their way from White Horse to Dawson City. A very heavy
cable was anchored to the rocks both above and below the rapids. When a boat
came to the rapids, it attached to the cable which helped it stay stable
through the torrent, and then detached at the end.
We drove a way up the Klondike Highway to take in the beauty
of Emerald Lake. Apparently, the bottom of this lake has white deposits of
marl, which causes the sunlight to be reflected in a neon emerald appearance. Marl
is a mixture of clay and calcium carbonate. The shallower the lake where there
are such deposits, the brighter the neon emerald appears.
I am sure we have mentioned this before, but the amount of
graffiti in Canada is so much more than what we see in the states. We see rocks
with graffiti, entire hillsides with graffiti, and many various objects in the
cities covered with it. However, occasionally they even make me chuckle.
Apparently, this artist liked the more physical sports than just hiking or
cross-country skiing.
And holy cow do they have big families in Canada. I have
seen either front-back or side-side strollers in the states, and I am pretty
sure I have even seen a stroller with 3 side by side seats. But I have never
seen a stroller like this beast!
We got in one last walk around town with the pooch and made
it a point to stroll the path along the Yukon River before we headed on. We had
explored this grand riverboat that used to ply the waters of the Yukon when we
were hear 10 years ago, but it was still nice to have a sit down between it and
the river.
Talk to you soon!
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