Part # 3 My Summer Vacation (:>) !

Part 3 of &.. Check out part #1 and 2 ..Part #1 starts as of  May 26th, 2009

*Note Part 2 may be hooked to this part 3… scroll down.

June 3rd through June 5th

  June 3rd, I leave the Airforce Lodge at Watson Lake early and start-up the Campbell Highway. The Yukon’s  Highway #4.  The first 30 miles is paved and then I came to road construction. After about a 1/2 hour wait they sent me through the construction by myself and told me to use my 4 wheel drive since much of the grading was still soft and to give the equipment a wide berth and watch for signals from the operators. This construction was about 10 miles long and really not too bad at all. Was interesting to see how they do their highway construction, different from the states, no escort car on this project, but every equipment operator was aware of you and usually signaled you on or had you wait  a minute or two. They were not paving  just redoing the gravel road and widening the areas on the side of roads. Much of the area here is somewhat boggy yet from the winter snows. After passing a couple smaller lakes and a  Jack Rabbit  I see a another Grizzly Bear and once again get a nice butt shot of it going into the woods. They seem to be much more skidish than the black bears.  

About noon I notice this old Cabin which had seen better days and I would see several old cabins like this one  over the next few days.

  

Soon I come to one of the nicest spots on the Campbell Highway, Simpson Lake camp grounds.

This is really a nice Lake and campground. There was only one person camped there when I pulled in to have some lunch. The view from there is just amazing with the snow on the mountains behind it. I believe that those mountains are called the Simpson Range. This was turning out to be a beautiful day and I could see fish, even a noon jumping for bugs. The mosquitoes were not bad at all for there was a slight breeze. While I was taking some pictures the Camp Operator came by and we talked about just about everything under the Yukon sun. He visited the area about 25 years ago as a young man from Germany. He went back home to Germany and got his papers in order to move to Canada’s Yukon. He lucked out and was able to get the job he wanted and has lived there ever since. Now married with a couple kids and lives there 12 months a year. The camp  job has little to do in the Winter (since the parks are under about 5 feet of snow and frozen solid.  It is common to get down to minus 30 or 40  degrees (F)  or  below. )  So he works some traps in the winter and enjoys outdoors sports like cross  country skiing  and snowmobiling. Trapping for furs are a big part the economy in the Yukon. He still has his German accent and the Canadian { a-boot } sounds a bit strange . Really nice fellow and very knowledgeable about Canada, the States and our issues with the economy and Illegal immigration. He didn’t understand why we let people stay in the US when we know they are illegal. He said; that’s not the way in western Canada, if they catch an illegal person they either leave the country or go to jail. He thought it was very important that people immigrating to a new country such as Canada believe in their new counties laws and forget the laws of the old country. He was a real Canadian Citizen.   I forgot to ask him, but most Lakes with a small Island on them call the Island a ” Honeymoon Island” so I did too. So after a nice visit, a good lunch and some photo takeing, I moved on.  The next large lake I came to was Finlayson Lake, from the view spot I had it was incredible in size and still partly frozen.

Soon the landscape changes, the forest is dying from the Pine  Bark Beetle, as far as one can see the trees are affected. Then the  down the road a bit I see this Moose staring at me, this shot is a bit fuzzy.

 

I saw this Bald Eagle in the distance, was able to get this photo, but by time I changed to a longer zoom lens it had taken off.  Notice the trees, they are all dying from the Bark Beatles. Sad to see what could have grown into a beautiful forest turn brown and die. This situation also increases the fire danger. Today was a long drive in time, not so many miles, maybe 200. 95% gravel and dirt road. Saw 2 grizzly bears, 1 Moose, 2 White rabbits, 2 gray rabbits, and 1 bald Eagle. Camping tonight at a pull off on the Hoole River.

 

After I had my dinner a construction worker ( Buck ) drove in to check on the river and see if the fishing was going improve soon. The river was still running a bit fast and muddy, but he thought that in a few more days it would be good. He lives outside of Whitehorse and is a highway engineer surveyor. Said; he has been doing that now for 35 years and moved to Canada from Minnesota. Loves it there and would never think about moving back to the states. Asked me if I wanted to drive down to his home and have dinner with him and his wife, but I had just finished mine, so I said no thanks. With the increase in daylight his day begins at  4 am and runs until 11 pm. He said they catch up on their sleep in the winter.   Loves the longer hours, he can still get some fishing in after work. At about 8pm he took off for home in a cloud of dust. Dust I had seen a lot of it today, so I sat down and cleaned my cameras. I have now traveled 2194 miles from home. Slept in the  back of the Jeep that night  and didn’t hear another vehicle all night.

June 4th, 2009

Weather looks good again today as I start back up on the dusty gravel road heading northeast towards Alaska. In about 5 miles I come to more construction. Summer time is the only time Canada can work on these roads, so construction is just about everywhere. Shortly I see “Buck” with his Surveyor’s equipment along side the road. We briefly say good morning and he says I missed a good elk steak last night. Soon the landscape is changing again.

 

As I move down to lower ground there is lots of water, bog and  mosquitoes. Next stop I at Ross River and have  a cup of coffee chat with new owners.

    

One of them said he has lived in the area for a long time, and when the motel and restaurant came up for sale after being closed for quite a time, he and a partner decided to buy and fix it up. Inside is pretty nice, still have a lot of work. On the way back to the main road from Ross River this dog comes down the road. At first I thought maybe it was lost, but I was only about three miles from Ross River and I had just passed a road construction area, so I think it belonged to one of the workers there. I stopped and called to it, but it was on a mission and was not going to be deterred.

 

Shortly I come to the Lapie River Canyon and good views of the Pelly River. All this area and the next town I come to is in the Tintina Trench. http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/magazine/JA07/feature_tintina_trench.asp

Faro was a splash of Color, Big Red truck, green lawns, white building and really nice people. I stopped for lunch at the local hotels restaurant ( not like Ross River) and then went to the tourist information center. Used their internet connection and chatted with the volunteers. As for the Red truck, it is the third mining truck of  its kind for the Anvil Mining Company and ran 24 hours a day for over 6 years starting back in 1968. Than I got some good advice as to where to find some Dall or Fannin’s  Sheep.

These two shots were taken over a 1/2 mile away, across a canyon at midday. I was happy to see them come out on to the hillside. When I got to the view spot they told me about there was not a sheep to be seen. Than one came in sight and about 6 showed up in an hour crossing the hillside to this small semi shaded spot. Happy days for them and Me! This was one of the warmest days I had experienced in the Yukon. Shortly after leaving Faro and the sheep, I saw my first Brown Bear, not  a grizzly.

As for the rest of the afternoon, I drive and drive on gravel and dirt mixed with mosquitoes  past several large lakes. Than I come the village of “Carmacks”, total population of about 430 people mostly first native. Here I come to the Yukon River and meet up with Highway #2.  Ahhhhh payment again how smooth and quite the old Jeep is (:>).. I now head North towards Dawson City looking for a camp spot. After trying several camp areas and other spots, I finally pulled off  onto another dirt road and try to reach a small summit for some air and little breeze. I don’t know who’s land I’m on, but I finally reach a somewhat open area and make it my home for the evening. It is warm and the mosquitoes are really not too  bad here. A couple of the spots I pulled off at earlier near the water, the mosquitoes were so bad you could hear them waiting for you, as I stepped out of the Jeep they were all over you.  I had a quick dinner, sent out my Spot message and downloaded my pictures of the day and walked around the area, nothing much to see.  Too hot to sit in the Jeep and I was trying to keep the mosquitoes out, so I kept the doors and windows closed. That was most likely my warmest nights sleep so far. It got semi dark about 11:30 pm and light again around 3:30 am. I have  now traveled 2498 miles from home. My journal said; “Miss my Wife, My Bed and My dog, but I’m still having a good time in spite of the dam mosquitoes”. I have a friend back in Beaverton who would have caught the first airplane south if he had to deal with these bugs. Even there in Oregon where we don’t have many mosquitoes they find him delicious.

June 5th, 2009

That was a warm, long, light night. The days are really getting longer now and the nights shorter. As I leave my camping spot I see a really large male moose, but he moves in the woods before i could get a picture. Stopped at a place called Stewart Crossing for some coffee. Two truckers were in there just finishing breakfast and I asked them about the big front bumper guards on their rigs.  I said they remind me of cow catchers on a train, they both laughed and said no they were tourist catchers. I asked them if they mind me takeing some pictures of the bumpers, they said hell take all you want. When I was ready to go one of the truckers said I’ll walk out with you. On the way out he told me how much they save using them. He Said it you hit a full size moose or Bear at 60 or 70 miles per hour it can do up to $30,000 damage to front end. The Beefed up bumpers cost about $10,000 and usually can be repaired for a few hundred dollars after an accident.  I needed that coffee, mine does not seem to have enough kick to it. Still only 7:50 am when I leave the cafe. In a couple hours I come to the Yukon River and by noon I come to Dawson City.

 

Dawson City is quite a town and was one of the busiest towns in the Gold Rush days. Today it has about 1400 people ( late 1800′s 40,000) and is a big tourist destination. They have painted up most of the old and some new building. The streets are still unpaved except for the main highway to the ferry crossing the Yukon River. There are huge piles of mining tailings all along the creeks from the mining dredges. I visited several shops, their museum and took a number of pictures. The first photo was actually taken after I left Dawson, crossed the Yukon by Ferry and was up on the hillside above the city. http://www.dawsoncity.ca/    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawson_City

Oh yes, the average winter temp for Jan/Feb.  -30 degrees!  Burrr!

 

 

The above photos are of a local horse pulled wagon ride and trip around town. The one next to it is of the Bunk House a sort of hotel , youth hostel. And above them are Entering City sign and a Ferry steamer that will take you up or down the Yukon river for some sight-seeing.

 

This two Photo’s above are the Downtown Hotel and Klondike Kates restaurant.

 

The two Photo’s above are of the Local Museum and a picture from a display inside of a tall figurine. I’ ll see another very much like this one later in Skagway. The museum was very interesting and I spent about 2 hours there and that’s a lot for me. After that I gassed up, restocked my cooler with ice ( at $4.00 a bag ) and some fresh milk, pop and goodies. Than headed for Alaska. To do so you have to  take a ferry across the Yukon River and follow the road to the “Top of the World Highway” .  Shortly I was climbing steep and curvy but paved road.  Around 5 pm I reach the summit and it is a wonderful view. A few more minutes and I can see the Border. This is the only Border crossing that I came across where the USA and Canadian Border guards where in the same building. Also it is only open from 8 am to 6 pm. After 6 they lock the a gate across the road.

 

Soon I was at the Border. The Guard checked and stamped my passport book. Poker Creek Alaska. I was back in the USA. Time now was 5:50 pm and 4127 feet. Time to look for a camp area for tonight.  

 

Now the road is down hill and back to dirt. Next town Chicken Alaska. Next section starting June 6th  will be part# 4.  See additional pictures of Alaska, Canada, England, Scotland and around the USA at:  www.donsiebelphotography.com