The Yukon

Day 281 – August 5 (continued)

Entering the Yukon!

After the hot springs, we drove on across into the Yukon and to the city of Watson Lake at mile 635.

Watson Lake is the Home of the Famous Signpost Forest

The signpost forest is a collection of signs started by Carl K. Lindley, a homesick solider working on the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942.

This forest consists of more than 61,398 license plates, road and traffic signs, and unique home-made signs which are mounted on sturdy ‘trunks.’ (YAY Minnesota!)

Each year more than 2,000 signs are added by travelers.

Hey - New South Wales!

The sign posts are HUGE!

Hmmm now they came from a REALLY long way away!

So so many different signs
Kangaroo crossing! cute
Murray pointing the way

An interesting 'sign' - obviously put up by an aussie....


HEY we know that city!! Mum- check out that name!

We added our own ‘sign’ using a leftover tupperwear cover, a permanent black marker, a few tacks and a piece of leather rope we found (whatever works huh?)

Not bad if I must say so myself!

We also popped into the very helpful visitors center where we met a guy from Cairns who asked us ‘where are youse from’ – gotta love that Aussie accent!

We drove on and on with Murray playing DJ on the ipod while driving and me crocheting away (gotta pass the time somehow). Although the scenery was really gorgeous, so I did make sure to look up now and then!

We arrived in Whitehorse (mile 918) at 10:45 pm and it was still light out (this whole midnight sun thing up north is just bizarre)! We pulled into the local Wal-Mart parking lot to find it had practically been transformed into a campground. Everything from huge motor homes with generators to truck campers were set up for the evening, so we joined in! There were around 30 vehicles in total camping out in the parking lot for the evening – bizarre!

Day 282 – August 6

We slept good (and for FREE) for our first night in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I did have to laugh though when I woke up and peeked out the curtains, since the first thing I saw was the Wal-Mart sign glowing – ha! But, a nice money saver, and what was the point of paying for a campground that late at night anyhow. All we would have done in a campground was shower – but not at 11pm!

Random fact - Whitehorse takes its name from the local rapids on the Yukon River that reminded miners in the gold rush of ‘the flowing manes of albino Appaloosas.’ However now,there are no more rapids as they dammed the river...boo hoo!One of the other vehicles that 'camped' at Wal-Mart - ummm WOW now that is a beast!

As we left the parking lot we checked out the damage on the truck parked nearby. We had heard from the owner that night before how they had recently hit a female moose while going down the highway. She had smashed in the front right side of their truck, smashing the headlight and the windshield and jamming the passenger door. Thankfully she just shook her head a bit, went back into the forest, and came back out with her calf to finish crossing the road! Scary! Thus why Dolph had the bull bar added – that guy had a LOT of damage to his truck!

We drove to the Yukon Wildlife Reserve (only 25 minutes away) at 9, not realizing we had forgotten to set our clocks back an hour. So we relaxed and had breakfast there until the park officially opened at 9:30. We bought walking passes, and took the camera and tripod into the reserve to explore.

The sanctuary was set up in 1965 for research and breeding purposes.

A beautiful reserve of forest, grassland, meadows, and water areas, it has many indigenous animals of the far north roaming free in their natural settings in this 700-acre protected parkland of their natural roaming habitat

This odd animal is called a Muskox

It is an arctic mammal, noted for its thick coat and....


for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives.

The musky odor is used to attract females during the mating season.

Both sexes have long curved horns. Muskox are usually around 8.2 feet long and 4.6 feet high at the shoulder, adults weight at least 440 pounds, although they can exceed 880 pounds.

Muskox wool, or qiviut, is highly prized for its softness, length, and insulative value. Prices for qiviut yarn exceeds that of cashmere!

Muskox were friends of Mammoths, it is believed they somehow survived the last ice age by finding ice free areas away from prehistoric peoples.

We also saw some lovely Dall (also known as Thinhorn) Sheep

They live in extremely rugged areas with steep slopes in order to escape from predators that cannot travel quickly through such terrain.

Male Dall Sheep have thick curling horns.

Yummmm grass
During the summer when food is abundant, the sheep eat a wide variety of plants

HEY GET OUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTTAAAAAAAAAAA HERE!

We call this one squinty. He came out of the brush to see what was going on!

The all white ones are really pretty

Charging through the brush, more come to inspect the man with the tripod!


Here the Dall Sheep is scenting the air as the Rut season is coming into 'swing'.

Looks like an odd way to release scent?

Males live in bands which seldom associate with female groups except during the mating season in late November and early December

There was a little standoff - bumping of horns


We also saw some lovely Mountain Goats

This large-hoofed mammal is found only in North America.

AND a few more sheep

Posing for a picture


Murray the Elk - just shows how HUGE those antlers are!

And Mo the Moose - man that ONE antler was super heavy!!

These are the first Woodland Caribou that we have seen! The rack is so huge and heavy this one was resting the rack against the ground, which twisted it's neck but still easier than having to hold it up all the time. It takes two hands to pick up one side of those antlers!

Look at that rack! See the eye peeking!

They are also known as raindeer! However the raindeer cousin is a little stockier build. NOW - where do we find Santa & the elves?

Both sexes grow antlers, which for old males fall off in December, for young males in the early spring, and for females, summer

The antlers typically have two separate grounds of points, a lower and an upper.

There was also a field full of curious Mule Deer

I think Murray may have startled this one! ha ha eeeeew.

They of course get their name from their large mule-like ears

One little baby wondering around by the males... cute!

They are cousins of the white-tailed deer, the difference is that their tail is black tipped and their antlers 'fork' as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam (as with white-tails)

Instead of running, mule deer move with a bounding leap (stotting) with all four feet coming down together

Check out those EARS! He was listening to Murray's camera snapping!

Each year a buck's antlers start to grow in the spring and are shed after mating season from mid-January to mid-April

Kiss for hot mama mule!

An adult buck will weigh from 150 to 300 pounds

They look like little growths rather than forked antlers I think!

Cute fawns playing together

They are the largest deer - standing an average 40 to 42 inches at the shoulders, and stretching 80 inches or so nose to tail. The Moose is the largest within the deer family - but its not called a Deer as such - so the Mule wins.

Bit of a spit polish

Fawns are born in the Spring and stay with their mothers during the summer.

They are weaned in the fall after approximately 60-75 days.

We finished up our tour at 1:45 – wow it seemed like 4 hours just flew by! The reserve was excellent (nice to see the animals right up close).

Then we drove back into Whitehorse and checked into the Hi Country RV Park. The ground was too hard and rocky, so we didn’t set up our tent for lunch. I almost cried with joy when I saw the hair dryers in the ladies room – hooray! We had GREAT showers, I dried the heck out of my hair and then Murray power washed Dolph before we set off into town to check out the visitor’s center. We got some great information, and then went out for a very disappointing meal at Pizza Hut. However, the evening ended on a good note when we were able to sit up until late using the free wifi to catch up on our emails.

Day 283 – August 7

Today was a catch up day! Murray worked all day on the photos for the giant Wyoming blog (starting around 9 and finishing around 8:30pm). We fit a lunch break in there, and lovely Swiss couple in the campsite next door gave us a bunch of great Alaska brochures and maps they didn’t need anymore.

We had leftover heated up pizza for lunch yummmm

it needed a bit of help to keep the heat in, don't forget you can see the northern lights here - in other words its COLD!

I read all day, starting and finishing the Nicolas Sparks book Dear John (wow – sad, but so well written). After Murray finished we made a nice tuna pasta dinner, and then I uploaded the 500+ photos onto the web, finishing around midnight.

Day 284 – August 8

Last night Murray woke me up in the middle of the night – sitting straight up in bed to tell me he had to go put the emergency handbrake on because we were rolling. I said no, Murray, we are parked in a campground, go to bed. Seems to be a continuing dream for him on this trip, he dreams that he is driving and braking, then wakes up dazed trying to push the pedals as I try to sleep!

I got up early and finished blogging by noon. We had a nice lunch break, and the Murray updated the budget spreadsheet and finished burning copies of his photos by 7pm (it’s not all holiday time – we also need to do our admin now and then). We then got some groceries, petrol and ice before driving off towards Kluane National Park.

It was a stunning drive

Mountains everywhere

We stayed in the Pine Lake Campground, just before Haines Junction (at mile 1016). We had a lovely (EASY) dinner of cereal down by the gorgeous lake, and then crawled in to enjoy an episode of Lost before bed.

Me having my cereal dinner down by the lake

It was SUCH a pretty view - one father and son fishing at dusk

Stunning

Day 285 – August 9

We got up early (because it was COLD in the back) and set off by 7:15. There was a lot of roadwork going on (a continuous task on this road due to the harsh winters and permafrost).

We had a beautiful view of the St. Elias Mountain Range

Dolph was all packed up, ready to go!

We had to stop and wait for blasting to make the road wider by Kluane Lake, which took ages (since the road was down to only one lane for quite a few miles so that the construction could continue all day).

A bit more about the Alaska Highway…

The road was completed in 1942 after only eight months and twelve days It linked the United States to Alaska through British Columbia and the Yukon as a military supply route and to defend the northwest coast of Alaska.

The workers shared mobile army camps that were moved along the route as construction progressed. If a company got stuck in one of the many dismal swamps, they employed such techniques as laying corduroy – where whole trees were laid side by side, then spread with gravel. In some places en route as many as five layers were required!

Today the original gravel road has been replaced by a two-lane, mostly asphalt highway. The highway’s many curves are gradually being straightened, shortening its total length. The present road now covers 1,488 miles (2,394 km).

Unfortunately, Dolph got a little hurt. A small steel bracket was on the road and flipped up from the wheel onto Dolph's side. Dolph laughed off the cut and said he has no time to bleed, but I think he may have sniffled a bit when he thought we couldn't hear.

The cut, about an inch long - ouch!

But that little accident didn't put us off enjoying the stunning scenery

The roughest most frost heaved portion of the Alaskan Highway is between Kluane Lake (pictured here) and the Alaskan border

I made do with the bumpy roads by enjoying my tea - lovely!

Now THAT is a setup - huge motorhome, and a trailer with two jet skies, motorbikes, ATVs AND a truck with bicycles on the back - holy cow!

Then…. we crossed the border– just after Beaver Creek at mile 1202- into…………. ALASKA! (oh and as you can tell by the bicycles we decided to ditch our comfy truck and ride the rest of the way - ya right)

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY ALASKA!

Waiting in line at the border - we laughed as these two curious dogs peeked out at us from the Dodge in front of us!

Alaska blog..... coming soon!