How nerdy and nostalgic am I? I paid an astronomical price today (almost $7 for a 6 pack) so I could eat a Klondike bar on the Klondike Highway in the Klondike. What would you do-oo-ooo for a Klondike Bar?? I’d drive all the way through Alaska and Canada! Lol.
Leaving Skagway was another border crossing into Canada. Easy peasy. Again, a jaw dropping drive with spectacular scenery, different than any we’ve seen. (Do I say that every single day?) A long waterfall that can only be captured in panoramic mode, glaciers, and a black bear walking through the rocks on the hillside. The hillside with no pullout so thus there are no pictures… We must be back in Canada. One lake ranged almost as far as we did today. It just went on and on. Of course our day got a much later start than expected after chores and a nice hike so by the time we reached Carcross, and the time change losing an hour, we ended up bypassing the town. We did stop briefly to take a picture at the strange and unique phenomenon called the Carcross Desert. Desert? In the Yukon? What else do you call this…
I mean, sand dunes and everything. Turns out, this was the bed of an ancient lake. The sand feels soft, just like beach sand. Crazy, eh? Definitely worth the quick photo stop. We then diverted to Tagish and camped overnight at Tagish Campground, previously a Yukon government campground now operated by First Nations.
On the road again, we passed 2 coyotes as we began our day. Our odometer has officially hit 7,500 miles for this trip, and yet I suggested we take a day trip to Atlin. This is a 60 mile drive each way to the largest natural lake in BC (British Columbia) and chances for wildlife along the entire drive. That’s right, 120 miles extra of basically everything we’ve seen. We stopped for lunch at the (only) cafe in town. It was busy inside! All 4 tables were occupied, so we were invited to join a long table that fit 8. By the time our soup and paninis were gone, several couples had come and gone from our table. This was definitely the place to stop for a cup of coffee with a side of gossip. One local was the fishing charter captain for the lake, boasting 3 lake trout this season weighing over 30 pounds. The view of the lake surrounded by snow capped mountains and a tree covered island really was spectacular. On the one hand, it probably wasn’t worth the drive. On the other hand, it would have been fun to spend a night here. We drove another 3 miles out of the way to see Pine Creek Waterfall, a series of falls into big pools. Hard to photograph, but stunning to see. There was a log cabin halfway down the road that we pulled over at. Turns out it is a Trading Post. There’s a sign on the door to take anything you want inside as long as you trade something for it. You’re just supposed to write your exchange on the door before you leave. Isn’t that fun! Of course most of the items inside were total crap, a blender base with no container, clothing, a martini glass, books, skillets. We didn’t take anything with us, but we did leave a spatula that Mark hates and a pot lid that doesn’t fit anything so hopefully someone down the road can benefit from those treasures. The cabin was smaller than my bathroom at home and yet that was someone’s home years ago. (Mark made a view of the log cabin if you want to see it on facebook.)
Back onto the Alaska Highway, we continued our drive east, logging 150 miles before turning into Big Creek Campground, another Yukon government campground that set us back $12 CAD and is surrounded by quiet and trees bordered by a creek. Today is the first time we’ve had a high speed limit in a few months, since we were on this highway on the way here 2 months ago. We were really flying at 100 km/h (62mph). Mark says, “what am I looking at?” We slow down in time for a porcupine to cross the road. Like every good driver spotting wildlife, Mark stopped right in the middle of the road to get a picture of it waddling up the bank of the hill next to the road. Of course it was walking away so here is what a porcupine’s butt looks like.
We only drove 25 miles on the Alaska Highway until we turned south for 50 miles onto the Cassiar Highway. This was another campground destination, the kind where “everyone” (on our facebook group) said you “had to stop”. Sure enough, Boya Lake Provincial Park is spectacular. If we didn’t know we were in Canada, we’d think this lake was in the Caribbean. It is that turquoise blue! Terrible for fishing as it is shallow too far out, the water is stunning, backdropped by some snow topped hills. We had just pulled into the campground trying to find a spot when an outgoing camper parked blocking our way and walked over to our truck. Mark thought he might be trying to warn us that we wouldn’t fit on this loop or some other danger. Instead, he asked about our camper as he is looking to buy one. We pulled into the first spot we could so we could quickly set up camp and show this inquisitive stranger and his wife our home away from home. Lucky for us, the first campsite is also the prettiest with a full view of the breathtaking lake. There are 2 short trails on the either side of the campground which Molly couldn’t wait to walk on. The sun came out and it was the warmest day we’ve seen in awhile. Into the 60s for just a moment, I changed into shorts, a T-shirt, and flip flops until the sun went behind the clouds. It was a lovely and indulgent day of sitting by the lake and just living in this moment. There’s no exciting stories to tell and no particular memories we will carry, except the feeling of peace and beauty deep in our hearts. The Cassiar Highway is the alternate route of the Alaska Highway and we are looking forward to a different view from this road. It’s hard to describe the differences, we see trees, rocks, hills, lakes, ponds on every road, but yet this road is different than any we’ve been on yet. We watch for wildlife and listen to our audiobooks as we just enjoy the ride.
Thursday was a lot of driving. Hard pressed to leave Boya Lake, we got Molly out for a 2 mile walk through the forest with a few lake views before pulling out. We drove 100 miles, with no cell or internet service, to Dease Lake. We parked and got out the side by side UTV to drive Telegraph Creek Rd. The truck could have handled the dirt road, but we can go faster and worry less in the UTV. The road ends at the town of Telegraph Creek in 71 miles, but our destination was an overlook only 56 miles away. It’s been our warmest day in a few weeks, hovering in the low 60s with blue skies, so it felt great to be out in the sunshine. A black bear posed for us around mile 20. He (or she) was munching on some clover plants just 50 feet off the road, completely unbothered by us or our running engine. We snapped a few pics and watched it for a little bit before continuing our original aim. The road was a bit boring. Lined by thick trees, there wasn’t a whole lot to look at except what was right in front of us. The last 15 miles really seemed to drag on. After declining a 20% grade and crossing a river, we finally popped into a new horizon. The trees on the hillside have all been burnt by a fire in the sometime recent past, though there were actually still a few blooming fireweed remaining. The terrain changed again as we entered lava beds. Black porous, volcanic rock filled our views now. Knowing the unmarked mile marker, we pulled off the road and traversed a short section of lava bed to see this view, locally called the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River. (I know, creative, right?) We snapped a picture, enjoyed a just barely unfrozen Capri Sun and headed on the long road back to the truck. It was indeed a pretty view, unlike any of we have come across in Alaska or Canada, but we’re unconvinced it was worth 4 hours and 112 miles of our day. We loaded back up and drove another half hour to an RV Park in the barely existent town of Iskut, BC. We haven’t had cell or internet service in 2 days and probably won’t again for a few more days, which is frustrating for us with the responsibilities we have back home, so it was worth it to get WiFi, even though they limit it to one hour. If Mark were ever to design and own a campground, it would have looked a lot like Mountain Shadow RV Park and Campground in Iskut, BC. In the last pic below, you can barely see the lake, with a float plane and a boat. This was the view from our camper window.
