Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Dropping in from the Westmark Hotels in Whitehorse, Yukon where the sun is trying its hardest to break through the clouds.

 It is about 0 C but the wind is very cold.  We were supposed to leave here and go to Dawson City today, but Dawson is still in the DEEP FREEZE, so the drivers, including Gordon, will be trained in Whitehorse beginning tomorrow.  Jeanne will be  going to Dawson with our boss, Saralee, on Friday.  Things are a bit behind because of the weather but we are looking forward to getting everything in its proper order and place and preparing for the arrival of the first guests of the season!

Here's a couple of websites you may find interesting

www.postalmuseum.si.edu/gold/women.html

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/klondike.gold.rush

and for some Yukon fun:

travelyukon.com/media/dawsons-sour-toe-cocktail

Hello from Whitehorse Yukon April 28, 2013

We arrived Whitehorse around noon after a morning of mixed road conditions and weather.

Upon awakening in Watson Lake to a snow covered vehicle, we emptied the hotel room of all our stuff,  then stopped in the restaurant for breakfast.  The forecast didn't look good for the upcoming drive and we were both a bit apprehensive, so after we had sat down and received the menu, we decided we couldn't eat.  Pulled out of Watson Lake at 6:35 am.

Andreas Hotel, Watson Lake

Not far down the road Gordon said that the road condition was better today than yesterday.  About 20 miles east of Teslin we ran into about 8" of snow on the road with just the centre as a driving lane.   Upon meeting another vehicle we had to move into the heavy snow.  Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive! Those conditions lasted until we arrived at Teslin.

Leaving Watson Lake

The Teslin River is one big river, but there are several very large rivers in the north.  I took pictures of them, but everything was snow covered, so they all look like a great white field.  The bridge that spans the river is impresive.  Stopped in Teslin for fuel for the vehicle and for the passengers,  and for a much needed break.

Looking out windshield at road

After Teslin the driving conditions changed dramatically.  Imagine a totally clear road and even though we didn't get clear skies, it lightened up considerably and we thought that maybe spring was coming to the land of the midnight sun.

More Alaska Highway Scenery

Arriving in Whitehorse we went directly to the Westmark where Saralee, our boss, had us booked in for tomorrow and Tuesday.  She came and booked us in for tonight at no expense to us.  We had some down time, much needed by Gordon, then walked down to Tim Horton's for a bowl of soup.  There is a cold wind blowing so we didn't take any sightseeing walks.

The pictures are mostly taken looking straight onto the road.

Teslin, Yukon

Just a bit of history:  "On August 16, 1896, gold was found in the Klondike and the Yukon changed forever.

Though the goldfields were more than 500 kilometres from, the city exists because of gold fever.  Stampeders hoping to strike it rich first had to navigate the treacherous waters of Miles Canyon and the White Horse Rapids, south of the present day city.  In 1897, two entrepreneurs built a tramway to carry goods and small boats around the rapids - for a fee.  At the head of the tramway on the east bank a tent town grew out of the forest:  Canyon City.

Bridge over Teslin River

In 1900, construction of the White Pass & Yukon Route railway from Skagway was completed and Canyon City was abandoned as a new settlement called Whitehorse came into being at its railhead.


For years, the city continued to be the Yukon's transportation hub, connecting the railway and riverboat traffic. In 1920 the first plane landed. In 1942 thousands of US Army personnel arrived to build the Alaska Highway.  In a record-breaking eight months and 23 days, 1,534 miles of highway were laid down.

Statues in Teslin 

Whitehorse was incorporated as a city in 1950 and in 1953 became the territorial capital, replacing Dawson City.  Whitehorse is on the banks of the Yukon River."

The only four legged wildlife we saw today was a fox running across the highway shortly after leaving Watson.  Other than that, three little birds were sitting on the snow covered road and flew away before I could get a picture.  So, when we saw these moose we thought it was a must to get their picture!

Clearing after Teslin

If you want to enlarge the photos just double click on them.

Tomorrow should be a very quiet day for us.

SS Klondike, Whitehorse

Saralee, our Boss

Yukon River, Whitehorse, Yukon

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Woke up in Fort Nelson, BC this morning.  A little history of the town:  The North West Fur Trading Company first established it in 1805 and it was names for Horatio Nelson, who won the Battle of Trafalgar.  It's present site is the fifth site - the previous four were vacated due to floods fires and feuds - at 59 degrees north latitude and 122 degrees west longitude and sits at an elevation of 1383 feet / 422 metres.

Outside Ramada Inn

After a rather interrupted sleep, due to the noisy next door neighbours, we rolled out at 6:00 am, expecting 3-5 cm snow.  How happy we were that there was just a skiff.  The hotel offered a breakfast of ham & cheese bun, muffins, cereal both hot and cold, juice, coffee, tea, yogurt and fruit salad.  It was a nice breakfast.  Fueling up was a bit hard (on the pocketbook) at $1.499 per litre.  For our American friends that's $6.00 per gallon.

North of Fort Nelson, BC

The day began very dismally weather wise.  We will take you down the Alaska Highway between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, Yukon.  Hope you enjoy it more that we did!  At least you won't have to chew your nails on the trip!

Black Ice on Highway

Just north of Fort Nelson we ran into freezing rain and black ice on the highway.  The further we drove the worse conditions became.  Sometimes we could see patches of the road and at other times it was completely covered with snow.  Sometimes we could see a bit of vegetation along the shoulder of the road and sometimes it was just white.  All the lakes and rivers were just white.

Along the way we came by Steamboat Mountain and the summit is at an elevation of 1,067 metres / 3,500 feet. Just before Tetsa River we encountered the first casualty - some fellow hit the ditch.  No one hurt.  It was windy around Tetsa River Regional Park.  Summit Lake is the highest point on the Alaska Highway at an elevation of 1,295 metres / 4,250 feet above sea level.  No wonder we were socked in!  The area is known for dramatic and sudden weather changes and travellers have been known to see snow in every month of the year.  Great fishing we hear. As we have been through this area before, it is too bad everything is covered in snow, because the lakes and rivers are spectacular.

I thought yesterday we came upon a winter wonderland, but it was nothing like what we saw today.

Racing River Bridge

Toad River is at Mile 406 / Km 653.  During the Alaska highway construction, there were problems crossing the river and so vehicles had to be 'towed' across.  The proprietors at the time adopted "Towed River" as the name of their lodge.  The lodge is a gathering place for locals, is open year around.  It is known for the collections of 8,000 hats that hang on the restaurant and gift shop ceiling.

Next on the highway is Muncho Lake.  "Muncho" means Big Lake in the Kaskan dialect and is 7.5 miles / 12 kilometres and is renown for its jade green colour which is attributed to the presence of copper oxide leached from the bedrock below.


Down the road from Muncho Lake is Liard River Hot Springs.  We stopped there as Gordon was in need of a rest from driving.   We walked in to the Hot Springs, took some fellow's picture and he took ours, then we returned to the truck and headed north again.  Buffalo love the area of the Hot Springs so we began looking for tracks.  It was a few miles down the road before we saw the first tracks.  That is all we saw - tracks!  I was getting disappointed when low and behold!  They were just waiting for us to come along.

Finally we arrived in Watson Lake, Yukon around 4:00 pm after a long day of travelling.  Chose a room at Andreas Hotel, went to the in hotel restaurant and had a good meal and met a couple, Al and Joey from Whitehorse.  Visited with them for about an hour over dinner.

Honeymooners - keeping away from the crowd

Hope you enjoy the pictures and the trip up the Alaska Highway today.

Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, Yukon

Sign Post Forest

April 26, 2013

Yesterday we pulled out of Calgary at 7:20 am on our way north.  Temperature was +3 C.  Our first stop was at Gordon's uncle Roy's in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.  We visited with them, went to the Legion for a steak sandwich for lunch and then said our goodbye's and were on the road again at 1:06 pm.  It was overcast and windy.

As we headed west we passed large farms.  Oil and farming are the major industries in the area.  Got to Whitecourt, Alberta at 3:50 pm still fighting the wind.  At 4:45 pm we arrived at Fox Creek.  We changed drivers there.  Saw a field of Elk, but the camera was not at hand.  Stopped at Bezanson, Alberta for soup and left there at 7:02 pm.  Got to Grande Prairie around 8:00 pm.  The road from Edmonton was very bad and we are thankful we are not pulling the 5th wheel.  Spent the night at my nephew's.  We visited until 11:30 pm.

Friday morning came much too soon, but after breakfast and a short visit with Mark we left at 10:05 am  - in the wind.  We are thankful, again, that we are not pulling our 5th wheel.

Grain storage bins

Beaver Lodge, Alberta

More farm land

Farm equipment on highway

Arrived Dawson Creek, British Columbia at 12:15.  Dawson Creek is Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway

Mile 0 Alaska Highway

Curved Bridge on old Alaska Highway

We took a detour down the old Alaska Highway, build in 1942, to see the curved bridge.  The whole road was very curvy to inhibit enemy planes from bombing convoys travelling to Alaska

Change in landscape

Blue Sky

 This afternoon we finally ran into a break in the gloomy cloudy weather.  There really is blue sky and sunshine behind those clouds.    Fort St. John was behind us by 1:35 pm.  The weather got worse.  We were meeting oncoming vehicles with packed slush on their vehicles.

Mountains in the distance

Winter wonderland

In the distance the mountain are covered with snow.  It is the 26th of April. I really hoped that spring would be making an appearance.

We stopped at the Esso at Wonowon where I purchased Laura Beatrice Berton's book "I Married the Klondike"

North of Wonowon, Mile 101 on the Alaska Highway, we ran into a

WINTER WONDERLAND!

Fort Nelson, BC came into sight at 5:30 pm. Gordon was glad as he had driven all day.  Checking into the Ramada Inn we had to wade thru snow to get from the truck to the room.  For $140.00 per night one would have thought we could at least have had a cleared path.

The current weather is -6 C.  Forecast:

Friday:  -6 C few flurries

Saturday -  snow 1-3 cm

 Sunday: 5-10 cm snow
Monday: close to 5 cm snow

We stopped in the Visitor's Centre in Fort Nelson and were told that some motorists turned around at Muncho Lake because the roads were so bad and returned to Fort Nelson.

 It is 968 km (601 miles) from Fort Nelson to Whitehorse, Yukon

Hope spring has sprung wherever you are!


Be back on the blog soon!

In front of Ramada Inn Fort Nelson BC

White Pass & Yukon Railroad

Hi all!
Thought you may all like a trip back in time.  For an exciting train ride.  I am just learning how to insert a link so when you click on the link below click the one that comes up and scroll down to Rotary Plow.
Click on this link  www.wpyr.com/explore/broll.html 

Jeanne

Friday, April 19, 2013
My how time flies.  Returning from the desert we are in the final preparations for our trip to the far north.  Hope it warms up a bit as it is still well below seasonal in Dawson City, and their seasonal is very cool.  We have been trying to get our cell phone to speak with our laptop. It took only 1 hour 11 minutes and 39 seconds of being on the phone to Motorola to be able to download music to the phone. Now I have to go out to a restaurant or somewhere that has WiFi to see if my phone can connect to WiFi.  If so, it is our new home router. If not it is the phone and then that means more time holding for Motorola.

Technology is not my thing!  At least the front yard doesn't look like it did on Sunday morning, but forecast is for rain and snow again this weekend.

arizonadesertrat.blogspot.com