White Horse, Yukon

Stan:

Our last post was June 16 from Grand Prairie.  Since then we have moved up the road 710 miles through, Fort Nelson, and Lake Watson, and another 268 or so to White Horse.

I’ll back track a little and review our trip from Grand Prairie to White Horse.

From Grand Prairie we went to Fort Nelson.

The RV park at Fort Nelson was located behind a motel and was a dirt parking lot.  The motel had Wi-Fi so I took advantage of it and uploaded some files to Typepad. It would be very nice indeed if I could use Wi-Fi all the time. We didn’t do much there and left early for Watson Lake.

Road conditions are not always to my liking, but I don’t have any choice but to drive on. I just try to ignore the worst bumps and dips and enjoy the scenery. I can bitch and moan while I’m driving, but once we’re to our destination, I tend to forget the worst part. Like a bad tooth, once it’s pulled, the pain becomes a receding memory. But two of the worst stretches are still fresh in my mind. The highway through Jasper National Park, the Icefield Parkway, was bumpy, rutty and had stretches of frost heave that shook my poor old brain.  And the other, even worse, was from Dawason Creek to Watson Lake. This roadway is not only rough, but it twists and turns through a mountainous region, and I hade to concentrate mightily just to stay on the road. Since I’m not great at multitasking, or concentrating mightily, I either watch the road, or the scenery. I miss some of the sightseeing, but we get to where were going.

From Fort Nelson we went to Watson Lake.

I wanted to see the last day of the US Open, and the Down Town RV park has cable. We arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed through Sunday. Tiger couldn’t recover from all his stray shots, but the golf was good anyway.

The most interesting part of Watson Lake, is the Sign Post Forest. It was started in 1942 by a homesick army engineer from Danville, Il. While working on the Alaska Highway in Watson Lake, he put up a sign pointing the way and distance to his hometown. Many travelers have since thought this was a good idea and have posted their own signs. By 1990, there were 10,000 signs.

A stoll down the Sign Post Forest

The Alaskan Highway is an interesting drive, we don’t encounter much traffic, occasional trucks, and RV’s. However, at the end of the day, certain RV parks collect  trailers and motor homes like fly’s to fly paper. RV parks are all along the highway, every 50 to 100 miles, but only a few parks attract the majority of RV’s.

The Down Town RV park in Watson Lake is one such popular stopping point. When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, there were only 10 or so RV’s; by six in the evening, the park was full, 60 or so rigs. The big attraction, I suppose, is cable TV and an area where you can wash your rig, free. Easy access and a good rating in Trailer Life also help a lot.

Watson Lake Saturday afternoon, 2: P M.



Watson Lake 6: PM , just about full.

From Watson Lake we planned to stop in white Horse. Again, we chose this RV park, the Pioneer RV Park, for a specific feature. They claim to have Wi-Fi, but I wouldn’t know the band width until I got there. Hopefully it would be as fast as the connection in Canmore. That was super fast, almost instantaneous, or so it seemed. I could definitely get used to band width like that. 

White Horse, capitol of the Yukon.

Oh happy day, the ether is full of Wi-Fi, and it’s pretty zippy when I hang the ZyAIR wireless adapter in the window blinds next to the kitchen table.

White Horse is next to the Yukon river, but after last nights rain, I think we may be part of the river. I mentioned that Sheila tends to walk around mud puddles, today, their all connected so she has to slog through them, ladylike of course.

Talk about RV parking lots, this layout defiantly fits the description. The parking spaces are as close together as they can be and still allow slide outs to open –  side by sides they’re called. No grass, no picnic tables, just bare gravel. Of course we have cable, Wi-Fi, discounted fuel, a place to have breakfast, a pet wash,  unheated showers,  requiring a token, and more. All of these amenities make this a very popular stop on the road to Alaska.

I think this trip will be memorable for many reasons. And for me, a special memory will be taking part in what seems to be a unique experience. It’s a little bit like a pilgrimage, or rite of passage. Above all it’s a very interesting spectacle.  You’re not a seasoned RV’r until you have “Gone to Alaska,” and survived the Alaska Highway. I had one Canadien declare that all Americans apparently would some day, drive to Alaska. There  is a great deal of “Alaska Highway” lore, complete with anecdotal tall tails detailing the difficulties encountered on this wilderness trail. Of course the reality is – that roads aren’t that bad, fuel stops are every 100 miles or so, you can always find a Wal Mart, and you only have to boon dock or dry camp if you want to. – hardship is not involved.

I suppose as the truth sinks in, that this trip is no harder than any other, people tend to glamorize it a little bit. So far, with the exception of rough roads, it’s been easer and less stressful than most we’ve done. There are ample road side pull outs, fuel stops, and accessible RV parks. I think we’ll survive the Alaska Highway just fine.

One dictionary definition of a spectacle is, “an elaborate and remarkable display on a lavish scale,” which describes the “Going to Alaska” experience just about right.  In this RV park alone, there must be five million dollars worth of trailers, fifth wheels, and motor homes – this is no exaggeration, the average price of a motor home is $200,000; 30 motor homes add up to big bucks –   all either coming, or going to Alaska. Caravans of twenty or more motor homes, surge up and down the highway,  reserving big chunks of an RV parks available spaces.  The parks don’t mind, their big operations in there own right.  This park, for instance,  provides more than parking space, they offer bus tours to Skagway,  tickets for the White Pass train ride, tickets and tour buses to many White Horse attractions, and a daily breakfast, a pretty tasty one at that, especially since the coffee comes with the meal, like in the good old days.

All along the way, every business is somehow geared to the Alaska bound traveler. In a way, it’s a lot of fun, kind of a moving tail gate party. When you stop to talk to someone in an RV park, the only question is, are you coming or going? Sometimes you can tell. If they are coming from Alaska, their rig is dirty and bug splattered, and, I swear, they exhibit a certain swagger; we’ve been there, we’ve survived, and you haven’t Ha, Ha. Oh well, you just wait Henry Higgins, you just wait, I’ll go,  survive, and come back to gloat myself.

Johnna: June 17, 18, 19, 20, 21

June 17, 2005

Woke up to overcast skies. Ran into a few showers on the way into BC. Rolled right through Dawson Creek and kept going. Sky began to clear as we reached Fort St. John. The country side between Grand Prairie and north of Dawson Creek is made up of cattle ranches and  grain farming where the land has been cleared. North of Fort St. John, the terrain changes to rolling hills and forests of mostly spruce and birch. Many of the signs on side road entrances indicated gas exploration sites. Met many empty logging trucks going south. Couldn’t figure this out as most of forest seemed to be to the north. All the trees are fully leafed out and the grass is a foot or more tall. Wild roses and strawberries are in full bloom. Many other wildflowers are beginning to bloom.

Arrived at the Blue Bell Inn & RV Park in Fort Nelson about 3:00 PM. It had warmed up enough that we needed to take off the sweet shirts. Except for one afternoon in Canmore, first time we had been able to do that. Set up the little gas grill to cook the Alberta AAA rib eye stake and California corn on the cob we had purchased at the Safeway in Grand Prairie. Really impressed with Alberta beef. It was the main ingredient in the sukiyaki at the Japanese restaurant in Jasper. Melt in your mouth tender.

Sun didn’t go down until after 10:00 PM. Still twilight at 11:30 PM.

June 18, 2005

Oh happy day! Not a cloud in the sky! Set out at 6:00 AM thinking to get to Watson Lake early enough to get a rv site with tv access so that we could watch the US Open Golf Tournament. It was a good thing we did. The drive was slow with several rough stretches of road and new road bed construction north of Liard Hot Springs. Interesting scenery going over Stone Mountain Summit. While descending from the summit, passed a small herd of stone mountain sheep. There were a dozen or so adults with three or four kids. They are light brown in color and much smaller than the rocky mountain sheep we saw on the Icefields Parkway. By the time we reached Muncho Lake, a cloudy overcast had begun to develop. From Muncho Lake to Laird Hot Springs there were road side warning signs to watch for buffalo. Did not see any until we reached the road construction area north of the springs. They did not seem to mind the dust and noise made by the large equipment. However, I imagine that the road construction crew would have been happy not to have to look out for them. There were other warning signs for elk, cariboo, and moose. No sightings though. Crossed the Liard River two or three times. I was surprised at how large this river is. Larger than the Snake; maybe as large as the Columbia before being joined with the Snake. Looked up where the Liard drains. It joins the Mackenzie River at Fort Simpson about 300 miles northeast of Watson Lake. The Mackenzie must surely become a very large river then.

Ran into a few sprinkles at Liard Hot Springs and a fairly hard rain shower south of Watson Lake. Right after we were set up in the Downtown RV Park (pull through sites very tight) in Watson Lake and started to watch the golf tournament, a thunder storm with hail and hard rain passed over. Came down rather intently for about 15 minutes. Glad for the early start this morning.

June 19, 2005

Did not rain last night, but the wind blew hard before sunrise. Cloudy and windy all morning. A break in the clouds in the afternoon. Temps in the high fifties. Did not completely wasted day by staying indoors to watch a golf tournament. Needed the stand down anyway. After golf was over, walked over to the famous sign post park in Watson Lake. There were signs from all over the world. Didn’t stay as long as we would have liked due to the mosquitoes.

June 20, 2005

Started out early with partially cloudy skies. Made our first stop at a viewpoint at mile 684 from Dawson Creek overlooking the Rancheria river valley. Had sunshine to enjoy the scenic view of valley and mountains. The next stop was at the Rancheria Falls Recreation Site. Half of the 10 minute walking trail was by a board walk through the boreal forest to the view point of the water falls. The Rancheria River splits around a rock protrusion in the river bed making two falls. If it hadn’t been for the mosquitoes, this would have been a place to linger for a while.

Many wildflowers were beginning to bloom. Interesting is a miniature dogwood (Bunchberry) which does not grow into a bush but is only a single sprig. Have been noticing that all the aspen leaves have a silver cast. First thought was that this was a different type of aspen. Research on the internet at the Energy, Mines and Resources (Forest Management) Web site reports that this condition is caused by the aspen serpentine leafminer. Their research (over ten years) indicates that this pest, although showy, is not harmful to the tree.

Missed the turnout to the viewpoint for the Nisutlin Bay bridge (longest on the Alaska Highway) at Teslin. Will catch this scenic view on the way back. We keep saying that every time we miss a point of interest under the theory that we will need something to look forward to when returning south.

Arrived at the Pioneer RV Park at about 1:00 PM. The pull through sites are the tightest we have ever seen. After getting set up, went to downtown Whitehorse to have lunch and check out the old town site. Had the lunch special, Goulash, at a German restaurant (the Panda) located on Main Street. Walked up and down main street window shopping. We were impressed by the neat, clean look of the downtown area.

June 21, 2005

Woke up to rain again. Since the rv park has a wifi connection, will be able to do some internet research on the interesting places and things we have seen along our way. Did not do any exploring as it rained steadily most of the day. Something else to check out on our way back. On to Dawson City tomorrow.