After a few days of rest and service the RV we leave the Alaska Hwy and go north on the Klondike Trail towards Dawson city 550km/330miles away.
The view changes continually as we parallel the Pelly mountains and Glenlyon Mts. on the right and the Nisling range on the left. We pass Lake Leburge made famous by Robert Service in his poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Further along we run beside the Nordenskol River to the town of Carmacks where the river empties into the mighty Yukon. These rivers played a large part in the history of the northwest. The native people lived beside them, fished them and hunted by them for thousands of years, they were also a means of transportation. When the prospectors found gold and silver in this area the roads were build beside the rivers and along old Indian trails. More recently these river all carried gold and silver to be processed in Whitehorse during the gold rush era a century ago.
The silver trail is a 225km/140mi round trip from the Klondike Hwy at Steward crossing to Keno City pop 20, yup 20 residents, 11 km past Keno City is Keno Hill, once home to one of the worlds richest silver deposit and thousands of miners.
The road starting at Stewart's Crossing has many glimpses of the Steward river, half way to Keno the pavement ends and we drive on a not so well kept gravel road the rest of the way. Keno has more buildings than people and most of them are near 100 years old. Many have been restored, and open to view, some are being restored now and others are in very poor condition. All the building in this area are build with wood and without foundations so is a big task to restore them and make them safe. One newer building was built in the 1960's and made entirely of beer bottles, 32,000 in all.
From Keno City to Keno Hill is 11 km of the roughest, steepest road we had ever travelled. The road was narrow in places touching trees on both sides, there were washout 10-12 inches deep and sharp rocks and big boulders the entire length and nowhere to turn around. I thought of my friend Stuart and just knew he would love to get his 4x4 up here. It took us 45 minutes to climb the 11km to the top.
I hesitate to overuse the word but the view was spectacular. We were totally surrounded by mountains peaks and we could see down into the valleys in three directions, we marvel again at the creative genius of our God. A great sight for sure, but a high price to pay with white knuckles, tense muscles and frayed nerves, and we still had to drive down. We made it and miraculously did not tear off the exhaust system, the generator, wreck the under carriage or puncture a tire . Thank you, Lord.
The are still several small family owned silver mines in operation today, and lots of gold fever prospectors roaming the hills looking to get rich.
Back on the Klondike Hwy we follow the Steward River towards Dawson City.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
LAIRD HOT SPRINGS
Back about two weeks or so ago we stopped at Laird Hot Springs in northern BC. The natural pool is divided into to levels and as the water flows through it cools off. The bottom level has water temperature of 85F to 95F the upper pool temp ranges from about 98F to 130F. We were able to get about 1/2 way up the upper pool, maybe to 108-110. That was hot enough.
The pool is feed from a yet higher pool where the water coming out of the ground is near boiling.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
#27 YUKON
Lots of interesting cloud formations over the mountains
Carcross desert
More clouds, as nice as the mountains themselves
The sign post at Fort Nelson, over 60,000 signs
#25 BEARS
This guy walked right up to us, I took the picture then took off before he decided to come in.
Black bear
Momma grizzly
grizzlies are distinguished by the shoulder hump
#24 westward Ho
Following a stop in Fort Nelson to empty tanks and pick up supplies we turn west again towards the Yukon. The mountains of the Three Sisters Range , the Cassier Range and later the Coast Range, are always in view and keep up stopping in turnoffs to enjoy the view and marvel yet again at God's creation. Today we were stopped on the highway by a herd of Bison (buffalo for you southerners) There were 60-70 in the herd and some were walking right on the highway we had to wait over five minutes for them to decide to move, apparently they like the grass that grows along the roadway. They are a very slow moving animal but they are able to run faster that people for a short distance. As with all wildlife we took pictures from the safely of the RV.
This morning we finally saw our first Grizzly bear, in fact Momma and two cubs eating berries and grass along the side of the road, we waited hoping they would get up to the roadway but they were happy in the berry patch. Later we found a young black bear and it came right towards the RV. That likely meant that someone had fed it at one time and it was looking for more human food. Sadly any bear that has had human food will become aggressive for more and will have to be killed. Signs everywhere say " A fed bear is a dead bear" but some people are just dumb.
We pass bison several times throughout the day. We find a nice spot by a river to boon dock for the night.
Next we visit the town of Carcross shortened from Caribou Crossing to see the Desert garden. Not a true desert because it is not arid but a area of sand left from the ice age that is continued sculpted by the wind. It is quite unique for this far north.
We are now in Whitehorse, Yukon for a couple of days of R&R before heading north into the interior and on to the Arctic Ocean. I'm hearing that the pictures are popular with some of you so will try to get more on.
This morning we finally saw our first Grizzly bear, in fact Momma and two cubs eating berries and grass along the side of the road, we waited hoping they would get up to the roadway but they were happy in the berry patch. Later we found a young black bear and it came right towards the RV. That likely meant that someone had fed it at one time and it was looking for more human food. Sadly any bear that has had human food will become aggressive for more and will have to be killed. Signs everywhere say " A fed bear is a dead bear" but some people are just dumb.
We pass bison several times throughout the day. We find a nice spot by a river to boon dock for the night.
Next we visit the town of Carcross shortened from Caribou Crossing to see the Desert garden. Not a true desert because it is not arid but a area of sand left from the ice age that is continued sculpted by the wind. It is quite unique for this far north.
We are now in Whitehorse, Yukon for a couple of days of R&R before heading north into the interior and on to the Arctic Ocean. I'm hearing that the pictures are popular with some of you so will try to get more on.
#22 WATERFALLS
Three Tiered Louise Falls, ( note water color)
Alexandra Falls
Alexandra Falls same guy in the way, sorry don't know how to remove pictures
Sambaa Deh Falls#21The Deh Cho And Beyond
Driving north again we pass seemingly endless oil wells, this is Alberta for sure. Entering the fertile Peace River valley there are fields of oats, barley and flax, their yellow flowers stretching as far as the eye can see.
The farm and ranch land slowly give way to the Boreal Forest and through the tree we see gas wells, shale gas is plentiful in many parts of North America and lots drilling is taking place. I spoke to one gas worker and was told that welders earn over $40 per hour and labourers can earn $25 per hour and work 90 hours a week. Anyone interested.
As we drive deeper into the north forest, the miles of spruce, fir,birch, larch and other variety of trees flash past as we near the 60th parallel. The 60th is the division between the Canadian provinces and the northern territories. It begins the true north. The territories covers a full1/3 of the land mass of Canada with a population density of 0.015 persons per square mile.
The Deh Cho route is a 1,367 mile loop from north Alberta following the Mackenzie Highway into the Northwest Territories , then west to the town of Checkpoint then south on the Laird trail to the Alaskan Hwy. at Fort Nelson. The entire trip is through native land and all of the towns and roads were established by fur traders and explorers. there are very few people or travellers up here and we would drive for 2-3 hours and never see anyone else.
At Enterprise we take a side trip and follow the coffee colored Hay River to the town of the same name on the shore of Great Slave Lake. The town was the location of the TV series North of Sixty a number of years ago.
Deh Cho is called the waterfall route and we stop numerous times beside beautiful waterfalls and sit and listen as the water makes it way to the Mackenzie River and on to the Arctic Ocean.
Across the route we pay the highest price for gas so far, at $1.547 and $ 1.68 a litre. ( $5.85 and $6.35 a gallon.) When there is only two gas pumps in over 1000 miles you don't get much choice.
We really enjoyed the many waterfalls, but the rest of the trip was boring, just mile after mile of trees on a gravel road and rain, we were quite happy to get back on pavement, civilization and a much needed car wash.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
#20 More Pictures
In Memory of fallen peace officers
JASPER NATIONAL PARK
BOW LAKE
A NICE YOUNG COUPLE ENJOYING THE PARK#19 Banff, Jasper and beyond
As we continue north into Alberta we find the city of Lethbridge. A old cowboy town that is still surrounded by ranches and open ranges. we visit Nikka Yuko Japanese garden, it was build to remember that Japanese -Canadians were interned here during WW2. A Japanese garden is about order, peace, serenity and tranquility, a place to relax and reflect. We did just that as we considered our trip so far. Lethbridge is also home to the worlds longest and highest tressel type bridge, built in 1909 it is 314 ft (96m) high, and 5327 ft (1623m) long and took 12,436 tonnes of steel when built and takes 7600 gallons of paint every few years to protect it.
we later stopped at a World Heritage site named "Head Smashed-in buffalo Jump" For centuries the natives would run the buffalo over the cliff to kill them and then would harvest the hide, meat bones and other parts for survival.
Later in the day we toured parts of Calgary and marvelled at the amount of new construction of roads, bridges, buildings and housing.
In the morning we aimed the RV for Canada's largest national parks, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, together they run 560 miles (900km) through the rocky mountains and cover 2564 square miles. Here the road runs through the valley so we do not have the up and down excesses of the other parks we have visited. The Canadian Rockies tend to be more rugged and jagged than the U.S. Rockies and generally are higher as they go north towards Alaska (we will see the highest mountain in North America, Mt Denali in a couple of weeks)
We had visited here some years ago and decided to skip the touristy place we saw then and visit some of the harder to get to (read more hiking) but just as beautiful places.
Unfortunately it was an overcast day and not the best for picture taking. Moraine Lake is in the valley of ten peaks, the lake water is glacier melt water and is a incredible aqua blue, As the name implies the valley is surrounded by lofty mountain peaks, we hiked up to a picture perfect lookout for a incredibleview of the peaks and lake. If you have a 1969-2003 Canadian $20 bill the picture on the back was taken from this spot.
A bit further up the valley is Athabasca Falls, where the force of the water has cut a channel over 100 feet deep in the rock. Another pretty out of the way place is Bow Lake, at over 7000 feet it snows here even in July and August, but again the view of the peaks and the lake is spectacular.
Along the way we see mountains goats standing and walking on seemingly thin air along the cliffs.
Next day we stop in Edmonton attend church and again meet people we know (good old army)
after lunch we visit West Edmonton Mall. The mall has hockey rink, swimming pools, amusement parks wave pool, hundreds of stores and about a gillion people there, sure was glad to leave there.
Back on the road we stopped at Mayerthorpe at the memorial to fallen peace officers. at this place in 2005 four RCMP officers were shot and killed and the towns folk Built the memorial to honour all peace officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.
we later stopped at a World Heritage site named "Head Smashed-in buffalo Jump" For centuries the natives would run the buffalo over the cliff to kill them and then would harvest the hide, meat bones and other parts for survival.
Later in the day we toured parts of Calgary and marvelled at the amount of new construction of roads, bridges, buildings and housing.
In the morning we aimed the RV for Canada's largest national parks, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park, together they run 560 miles (900km) through the rocky mountains and cover 2564 square miles. Here the road runs through the valley so we do not have the up and down excesses of the other parks we have visited. The Canadian Rockies tend to be more rugged and jagged than the U.S. Rockies and generally are higher as they go north towards Alaska (we will see the highest mountain in North America, Mt Denali in a couple of weeks)
We had visited here some years ago and decided to skip the touristy place we saw then and visit some of the harder to get to (read more hiking) but just as beautiful places.
Unfortunately it was an overcast day and not the best for picture taking. Moraine Lake is in the valley of ten peaks, the lake water is glacier melt water and is a incredible aqua blue, As the name implies the valley is surrounded by lofty mountain peaks, we hiked up to a picture perfect lookout for a incredibleview of the peaks and lake. If you have a 1969-2003 Canadian $20 bill the picture on the back was taken from this spot.
A bit further up the valley is Athabasca Falls, where the force of the water has cut a channel over 100 feet deep in the rock. Another pretty out of the way place is Bow Lake, at over 7000 feet it snows here even in July and August, but again the view of the peaks and the lake is spectacular.
Along the way we see mountains goats standing and walking on seemingly thin air along the cliffs.
Next day we stop in Edmonton attend church and again meet people we know (good old army)
after lunch we visit West Edmonton Mall. The mall has hockey rink, swimming pools, amusement parks wave pool, hundreds of stores and about a gillion people there, sure was glad to leave there.
Back on the road we stopped at Mayerthorpe at the memorial to fallen peace officers. at this place in 2005 four RCMP officers were shot and killed and the towns folk Built the memorial to honour all peace officers who have given their lives in the line of duty.
Monday, July 18, 2011
#18 BANFF NTIONAL PARK
That is not the sky, it is looking down the slope to Bow Lake
Bow lake at 7000 feet
More mountains, we love them can you tell?
ATHABASCA FALLSThursday, July 14, 2011
#17 Pictures Wateron Glacier International Peace Park
Peaceful valley
Mountain grandeur
Weeping Wall
Some of the many peaks, see the road in the distance
More beauty#16 Going to the Sun Road
Waterton Glacier International Peace Park straddles the longest undefended border crossing in the world between Canada and The United States. The park is part of the Rocky Mountain chain and is home to 50 or more mountains and dozens of glaciers.
The main road in the park is The Going to the Sun Rd that winds its way up the side of the mountains to the Logan Pass at 6628 feet.
Logan pass opened yesterday, July 13, 2011 at 0742 H That is the latest opening date since WW2 when there was a lack of equipment because of the war. The late opening was because of the abnormal heavy snowfall this past winter.
Apparently everyone for about 500 miles around was waiting for the road to open because it was really busy and stop and go traffic for the entire 52 mile length. That turned out to be a benefit because we had lots more time to view the sights and take pictures with out pulling off the road.
But before that we hiked the Avalanche trail, 2 miles each way through the forest, up and down, across mud holes, over roots in grizzly bear and mountain lion country. We were the first ones on the trail and had it to ourselves all the way in, that hike rewarded us with a incredible view of a lake and six waterfalls cascading down the mountainside. It was breathtaking.
We sat for some time just admiring the view until the crowd began to show up.
Nope, never saw a grizzly or mountain lion but Keith kept hoping.
Leaving there we drove the sun road up to 6626 feet through the grandeur of God's creation deep vallies of lush green, towering snow covered mountains peaks, glaciers above the treeline, non stop beauty all the way to Logan's Pass where the snow is still over 30 feet deep. The unique location of the pass allows the snow to drift and combined with a exception heavy snowfall this past winter accounts for the amount of snow. There were dozen of skiers enjoying the slopes above the visitors centre, they could get a certificate saying they skied in July.
Heading east downhill we again enjoyed the scenery at a slow pace with plenty of opportunity to record the views.We cross back into our homeland of Canada while still in the park and continued north towards Lethbridge AB.
Our journey is nearly 1/3 over we have travelled 4838 miles in 27 days and truly enjoyed every mile. after seeing the U.S. national parks we now head to the 2nd oldest national park in the world at Banff.
What do you think so far, are you travelling with us, please let us know. Diane & Keith
The main road in the park is The Going to the Sun Rd that winds its way up the side of the mountains to the Logan Pass at 6628 feet.
Logan pass opened yesterday, July 13, 2011 at 0742 H That is the latest opening date since WW2 when there was a lack of equipment because of the war. The late opening was because of the abnormal heavy snowfall this past winter.
Apparently everyone for about 500 miles around was waiting for the road to open because it was really busy and stop and go traffic for the entire 52 mile length. That turned out to be a benefit because we had lots more time to view the sights and take pictures with out pulling off the road.
But before that we hiked the Avalanche trail, 2 miles each way through the forest, up and down, across mud holes, over roots in grizzly bear and mountain lion country. We were the first ones on the trail and had it to ourselves all the way in, that hike rewarded us with a incredible view of a lake and six waterfalls cascading down the mountainside. It was breathtaking.
We sat for some time just admiring the view until the crowd began to show up.
Nope, never saw a grizzly or mountain lion but Keith kept hoping.
Leaving there we drove the sun road up to 6626 feet through the grandeur of God's creation deep vallies of lush green, towering snow covered mountains peaks, glaciers above the treeline, non stop beauty all the way to Logan's Pass where the snow is still over 30 feet deep. The unique location of the pass allows the snow to drift and combined with a exception heavy snowfall this past winter accounts for the amount of snow. There were dozen of skiers enjoying the slopes above the visitors centre, they could get a certificate saying they skied in July.
Heading east downhill we again enjoyed the scenery at a slow pace with plenty of opportunity to record the views.We cross back into our homeland of Canada while still in the park and continued north towards Lethbridge AB.
Our journey is nearly 1/3 over we have travelled 4838 miles in 27 days and truly enjoyed every mile. after seeing the U.S. national parks we now head to the 2nd oldest national park in the world at Banff.
What do you think so far, are you travelling with us, please let us know. Diane & Keith
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
# 15 The St. Ignatius Mission
Front of the alter
The Alter
Ceiling and front of church
Bridge built over the highway for animals with native language#14 MORE YELLOWSTONE
If you look closely you can see the boiling mud flying out of the hole
different colours of hot mud
superhot water bubbling out of the ground.
Fire hole
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