ON THE YUKON LOOP

Day 53 – 2015-06-12

Time to put some miles behind us.  We left Watson Lake bound for somewhere around Jake’s Corner or Tagish.  As always, we were in hope of seeing wildlife along the way, but again, all we saw was BC97/YK1.  We got to Jake’s Corner with plenty of time left in the day, and being a day or two ahead of schedule, we decided to make a detour toward Atlin.  West on YK8, then SW on YK 7 pointed us in the right direction.  We stopped at a campground about a third of the way to Atlin.

There are two YK Campgrounds along this road, Snafu Lake and Tarfu Lake.  For those who are unfamiliar with these terms, SNAFU stands for Situation Normal, All… and TARFU means Things Are Really……  Who is surprised these were named by Canadian GI’s who were building the road as part of the WWII war effort? 

Name notwithstanding, we pulled into Snafu Lake to find crystal clear waters in a gorgeous mountain pond.  

The campground only had a few residents so we were able to secure a nice site with a good view.

A German tourist named Dierks helped me maneuver the trailer between a bunch of trees and we were set.  He and his wife are touring Canada and Alaska in a rented motorhome.  We had a chance to talk to him about touring in Europe in a motor home and he has got us thinking about it.  Dierks and I went kayaking on Snafu Lake in the early evening and saw a lot of nice sized fish, including one Northern Pike that was well over 2.5 feet.  

Afterwards, Bettie and I enjoyed the company of Whitehorse natives Lynn and Lee around our fire pit.  They made a special trip here just for the kayaking and beaver spotting.

Today gives me pause to think about how much our trip has been enhanced by the people we have met along the way.  I guess everyone who is out doing what we are doing has at least some purpose in common with ours, so conversation comes easily, and information sharing has been key to our planning.  In fact, taking the road to Atlin was suggested to us by a Canadian guy we were talking to in the Liard River Hot Springs.  Without that recommendation we would probably have done something else and missed this beautiful place. 240 (7,614)

Day 54 – 2015-06-13

We got up early to make the drive into Atlin in hopes of seeing wildlife before it disappeared into the woods for the day.  No such luck.  But we did find Atlin situated along a LARGE mountain lake.

The town itself did not have much to offer, so we headed back to camp.  AND FINALLY, about half way back a Black Bear crossed the road in front of us.

It ambled along next to us for a ways.

Then answered once and for all the lingering question “Does a bear make big potty in the woods?”

We got back to Snafu Lake with the intention of kayaking, but the weather is cool, windy, and threatening.  So instead, we loaded them back on the truck and waited out the rain.  After dinner it cleared up and we took a walk up to the top of the hill above our campsite.  On the way up, we found a “Beaver Clear Cut”.  Why they chose just these saplings to take down is anyone’s guess, but they obviously did a thorough job.

When we got to the top of the hill we were rewarded with this panorama of Snafu Lake. That's Bettie surveying the territory.

This has been perhaps our most enjoyable campsite yet.  Aside from the view, there were few bugs and we were able to sit outside around our fire both nights.  The temperature has been around 55 until bedtime (fyi, sunset 11:15 today), not dropping into the 40’s until close to morning, so it made for a very pleasant outdoor experience.  We are sorry to leave here.  103 (7,717)

Day 55 – 2015-06-14

The drive from Snafu Lake to Skagway, AK today was perhaps the most beautiful yet.  Most of it ran along a lake nestled between craggy peaks covered with snow.

We crossed the border into Alaska for the first time today.

Next Stop, Skagway.

And of course, we had to try the local brewery. 

Bettie had Skagway Brewing Spruce Tip Ale (yes, it’s flavored with spruce tips) and I had their Boom Town Brown.  

We met camp mates Charlie & Carol (Spicewood, TX) and Larry & Cathy (Casa Grande, AZ) and spent most of the evening swapping road tales.  Bettie and I excused ourselves to return to Skagway Brewing for cheap burger night and a couple more local brews. 117 (7,834)

Day 56 – 2015-06-15

Laundry day today, so, much of the morning was consumed with that.  We took a drive to the historic site of Dyea, AK, which competed with Skagway as the starting point for the Yukon Gold Rush miners (Skagway won).  The park was very disappointing with poorly identified ruins hidden in the underbrush and an even worse map for the walking tour.  We don’t recommend this.  But, we did get a nice overlook of Skagway during the drive.

After this outing, we took the car ferry from Skagway to Haines, AK.  It was an experience loading the truck and trailer into the ferry (but not as much as backing it out when we got there).  The ferry ride gave us some good views of the fjord.

However, the directions in the ferry could have been a bit more clear.

When we pulled into the Oceanside RV Park in Haines, we were rewarded with this view from our campsite just as one of the cruise ships departing Skagway came by.

We like the look of this place, a much more laid back vibe than Skagway, so we will stay a couple of days and check it out. 30 (7,864)

Day 57 – 2015-06-16

We started today with a drive to Chilkoot Lake.  We were greeted by a Bald Eagle resting by the side of the road.

The river that flows from the bottom of the lake is a salmon river, but the run has not really started yet.  Too bad.  When the salmon are running, mother bears bring their cubs here to teach them to fish.  We saw pictures, but no live bears at this time.  The lake itself is very pretty, but is large, so we didn’t kayak this one.

On our trip back to the campground, Bettie spotted a pod of orcas in the fjord.  They were quite a ways out, so no pictures, but we were really excited to see them.

In the afternoon, we took a flight-seeing tour into Glacier Bay National Park.  Without a doubt, this ranks in the top 2 spectacular things we have done in all of our travels (competing with a helicopter tour in Kauai).  The sheer vastness and scope of this park can only be experienced by air.  Here are a lot more pictures than you are probably interested in seeing.

This is what the top a glacier looks like (unless it is covered with snow and looks real smooth).

A glacier meets the sea at the head of a fjord.

The same glacier from another angle.  The vertical height of the face is about 400 feet.

This same glacier was throwing off icebergs, which were floating out into the fjord.

Another large glacier.  Part of the surface is craggy and crevassed, while further back it is covered by smooth snow.

A close up of a glacier as it contacts the fjord.

This is the same glacier.  It extends 30 miles to the horizon where it disappears into the clouds.

Here, two glaciers exit two canyons to meet at the fjord.

Bettie actually saw the smaller glacier on the left calve a huge chunk into the water – 400 feet of ice made quite a splash.  Too bad we didn’t get a picture of that, but here it is just before the event.

Tonight, we ate halibut & chips at a local pub.  This is a big deal up here, and it lived up to expectations.  Too bad they didn’t have any local brews we liked, but we made do anyway. 49 (7,912)

Day 58 – 2015-06-17

We had a laid back day today.  We returned to Chilkoot Lake on the off chance of seeing a bear.  There were many eagles, but no bears today.  Later we drove out to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve.  During the winter, this section of the river does not freeze due to warm summer water trapped in the gravel bed of the river.  Between 3,000 and 4,000 eagles winter here every year to take advantage of the fishing in the open river.  The pictures are amazing.  Almost worth a trip back in the winter just to see that.  No eagles and no bears today, but we did see a couple of Trumpeter Swans on the drive out there – but, too far away for a picture.

When we got back to town we took a driving tour and got a couple of pictures of our campsite, which is right on the fjord. 65 (7,977)

Looking from behind our trailer.

Haines, AK (complete with cruise ship, which happens here somewhat infrequently). I marked our camper in the picture.

Day 59 – 2015-06-18

We awoke today to dead calm and dreary, with LOW clouds all around.  Bettie says this is what it looked like on most days when she did the inside passage almost 20 years ago.

We made the drive back across the Canadian border toward Haines Junction (2 bears spotted along the way).  The drive was right at the top of the tree line, through a wide valley that oscillated between 2,200 and 3,200 feet.  It was lined by high rugged mountains that extended well above the vegetation line on both sides and had lots of snow patches remaining.  We stopped about 15 miles before we got to Haines Junction and spent the night at Kathleen Lake Yukon Park.  From the shore, the lake looked so nice we decided to kayak it tomorrow.

We set up camp in a 40+ unit campground.  When we arrived, there was only one other camper so we were able to get one of the two sites with a view of the lake.  By morning, there were a few more campers, but we were amazed at how little utilized this park is. 137 (8,114)

Day 60 – 2015-06-19

We dropped the kayaks in about 10:30 in the morning.  The sky was clear, the lake was dead calm, and the view was magnificent.  The lake is CLEAR.  Vertical visibility must be over 50 feet.  It was a bit disconcerting.  The water bent the light and made it look like the bottom was rising up toward us all the time as we paddled across.

Here’s a picture that captures a bit of that image as well as the mirror effect of the lake itself.

At one point during our paddle, we were able to see a far distant snow covered peak.  We looked this up and think it is Mt. Logan – close to 20,000 high.

Kathleen Lake is about 300 feet deep, and the water in the center of the lake looks like clear blue ocean water.  This shot captures it pretty well.

We made our way to Haines Junction in the afternoon.  Our camp is not much more than a gravel lot, but the view makes up for it – and it has WiFi, so I can send this to you. 19 (8,133)