Yukon - Part 3

Dawson City to Watson Lake

From Dawson City, our travels through the Yukon this time took us to Tombstone Territorial Park (70 km north on the Dempster Highway). The Dempster highway is the highway that will take you to Inuvik, NWT and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT (and the Artic Ocean). Although we had been told by many that this drive is amazing and we should really do it, we were still a bit burnt out from our Alaska whirlwind tour that we decided to only drive up to Tombstone. And unfortunately, the rain caught up with us again in Tombstone so we didn’t get any hiking in but did visit their great Interpretive Centre (and had some lovely labrador/spruce tip tea).

From Tombstone we side tripped from the Klondike highway heading south to Mayo and Keno City (the latter being another former gold rush boom town which still does some mining but I think the population is only 20 people now). We visited both town’s museums and attempted to see the “sign post” lookout in Keno City but were socked in with the clouds (and the rain).

5 Finger Rapids (Yukon River) near Carmacks

We also checked out Atlin, BC (you can only drive to it from the Yukon) where we did some hiking and touring around their historic artifacts including an old power house. Atlin was another gold rush town that also still does some mining. The town is situated on beautiful Atlin Lake and is referred to as“The Switzerland of the North”. Their bakery had the best cinnamon buns we’ve had yet so we will have to add that category when we do another “Best Of” in 10 weeks.

Monarch Mountain hike looking down on Atlin Lake

And we went back to Carcross again as Mike wanted to do more mountain biking. Mike reminds me now that it was on our first visit to Carcross nearly a month earlier where I got the idea of the This Is That “hike-a-bike” post. I had kind of forgotten about it but sure enough, as we were biking in Carcross again and once again I was hiking my bike, it all came back and the blog post is now published. Also while in Carcross, Mike spent his evening watching the forest fire across the river from our campsite. Although this one was not nearly as devastating as the fires in BC, it is still pretty crazy how quickly they move and how much smoke they generate (and to see it all up close).

Biking in Carcross

And we just couldn’t seem to leave Whitehorse. We arrived from Keno City/Mayo, spent a few days, left again to check out Carcross and Atlin but then we needed groceries so made our way back and spent a few more days. On our last day we were sitting on a bench overlooking the Yukon river and wondering whether we shouldn’t just try and find jobs and stay. Although, we are told it is not finding the jobs that is the issue, it is finding housing and since it is a little too cold for me to think about staying in the van throughout September and October, we did leave Whitehorse and headed southeast to Watson Lake.

Grey Mountain ridge hike (Whitehorse)

So Watson Lake was (like for many) our first stop on entering the Yukon and our last stop on the way out. And it made it kind of fun to have come “full circle” on our Yukon adventure. We again talked to the staff who were equally as friendly as the first time and who gave us information on the next part of the journey down the Alaska Highway. It was also interesting to see people still just arriving to the Yukon to start their adventure.  We knew they were about to see some of what we had seen and perhaps be just as captivated by the Yukon as we had been.

So back to BC we go. But we are definitely sad to leave the Yukon.

Yukon - Part 2: Dawson City

Yes. Me again. If anyone is getting tired of hearing my perspective of this trip, please email Mike at mike.lemaistre@gmail.com and let him know you would like to hear his take on what we’ve been up to. And more than any other blog post, I think he should be writing this one as he has become a bit infatuated with Klondike history. For after our 6 days in Dawson City, he went out and bought Pierre Burton’s 500 page book “Klondike: The Last Great Gold Rush, 1896-1899” and finished it in a week. Unfortunately for you the reader though, it is me sitting in front of the lap top typing the post so if you are wanting to know more Yukon history, you may have to go down to your local library and sign out some books.

But back to Yukon Part 2 (by Kim because Mike can’t put down his book).

So as mentioned, we arrived at Dawson City via the “Top of the World” Highway from Tok, Alaska. The highway is only open during the summer months (same with the border crossing) and is a gravel road (with some sections better than others). However, it is amazing because you are driving on a mountain ridge looking down (rather than across) at valleys and looking across (rather than up) at the mountains. And then you think about geographically where you are and you really do feel that you are on top of the world.

For our accommodations in Dawson, we stayed at the Territorial campground across the Yukon river so every morning (and evening) we’d either load the van on the ferry or walk on the ferry with the dogs for the 15 minute free ride (the ferry also only operates in the summer as the river freezes up come October). Once you get over to Dawson City, the town is very concentrated and so very walkable. And that’s basically what we did pretty much every day – walk around the town and be confronted with history at every turn. It really makes you feel that you are walking in the city that everyone rushed to in search of gold over 115 years ago. Although most of the buildings are not originals (as Mike tells me from his reading, most of the original buildings burnt over the years except for the Palace Grande), they have been (or are being) restored to resemble their past appearance. Even new buildings have to have a certain look to them to match the historical feel of the city. Oh and in case you are wondering the Palace Grande is a theatre but was originally a brothel/gambling hall/saloon owned by Arizona Charlie).

But before I go any further, a quick history lesson (I am consulting Mike on the details). And apologies to anyone from the Yukon who is reading this and if we get any of the details wrong.

August 1896 – Skookum Jim and George Carmacks strike gold at Bonanza Creek about 5-10 km from Dawson City. However word of finding gold doesn’t get out to the world until 8-10 months later

June 1897 – 2 ships carrying gold arrive in the US – 1 in Seattle and 1 in San Francisco. This starts the “Stampede” to the Klondike. Stories of the amounts of gold available were highly exaggerated (such as “you can walk down a river bank and pick up the nuggets”) and 100 000 people dropped everything and started heading to the Klondike.

Summer 1897 – The Stampeders take different routes towards Dawson City. The most popular being The Chilkoot Trail or the White Pass from Skagway, Alaska. However to lure people to their town, Edmonton boasted a overland route (which didn’t exist). There were also some people that tried to go up the Alaska coast towards the Bering straight and around to get to the mouth of the Yukon River.

Winter 1898 – The people along the Chilkoot Trail had to winter in Bennett Lake as they were unable to go any further until the ice melted on the Yukon River for them to set sail on the boats they were building.

Summer 1898 - 7200 boats travel from Bennett Lake down the Yukon River and arrive in Dawson City. (from the 100 000 people that started out, approximately 30 000 people make it to Dawson). Dawson grows to over 30 000 people and becomes the largest city west of Winnipeg. However for these Stampeders this is 2 years too late to strike it rich with gold as all the claims have been staked. So their options were: 1) go work for a mining company already established 2) find other creative ways to make money (which wasn’t too hard in a city full of gold) or 3) go back home. Services like saloons, dance halls, gambling casinos and movie theatres as well as restaurants, accommodations and hospitals spring up and create employment. Getting food up to Dawson City also became lucrative. One guy carted 200 dozen eggs over the Chilkoot trail and made his fortune selling them at $5/dozen (while those same eggs were likely purchased in Seattle at 5 cents/dozen).

Summer 1899 – Word gets out of gold being found in Nome, Alaska. People start leaving Dawson City for the next big thing. Over 8000 people leave Dawson City in August. And all those services that were employing people are no longer needed which leads to more people leaving. Arizona Charlie considers putting his saloon on a barge and floating it to Nome.

And yet people still stayed so Dawson City did not become a ghost town (like many other places we have seen in our travels).

Back to present day and Dawson City still has the historic feel with their wooden boardwalks, historic buildings and visitors centre staff dressed up in period clothing. And if you’ve had enough of the history, there many other things to do here. There are the colourful characters (like Caveman Bill who lives in a cave on the other side of the river) and a vibrant arts community with their own visual arts school (equivalent to a first year university program). Dawson City also hosts many events over the summer including a very popular music festival, a writer’s festival and arts festival. They also have this amazing farmer’s market - who knew you could grow such great produce in a place so far north – the secret I am told is in the long daylight hours.

Mike and I did a couple of walking tours where we learned a bit about the history (and about some colourful characters- past and present) and explored some of the old buildings. We also walked the Dome hike (where the sun doesn’t set in June) and drove out to Bonanza Creek (where gold was first found in 1896). One of the highlights for me was the Jack London museum. Jack London is the famous American author who wrote classics such as White Fang and Call of the Wild. I don’t think I remember reading these books when I was younger (but maybe I did). But the museum curator gave such a passionate talk about him that I was ready to buy one of his books then and there. What was the connection to Dawson City? Jack London was one of those Stampeders who crossed the Chilkoot pass and was in one of the first boats to make it to Dawson City. He didn’t stay in the Yukon longer than a year (nor did he strike it rich with gold) but it appears that his year of living in a cabin and listening to the stories of other Stampeders and Yukoners was an inspiration for many of the books he would write in his lifetime. We also visited Diamond Tooth Gerties for a cabaret show (all proceeds going to the Dawson City tourist centre) and walked to the Paddlewheel graveyard (which is exactly as it sounds – a place along the river where about 9 old paddlewheel boats lay in various forms of decomposition).

We had a “Small world” moment when we were chatting with one of the staff at the Visitors Centre about our experience of Chilkoot Trail and she mentioned her sister from North Bay had also hiked the Chilkoot Trail. Sure enough her sister was in our little group of hikers!

Dawson City was definitely exactly what we needed after our days of driving on Alaska’s highways and I think it was there where we really started to feel the effects of “Yukon fever”.

A new olympic sport?

If anyone is a CBC Radio nerd like me, they have listened to or at least heard of This Is That. If you are not a CBC nerd then I will try to explain what the program is and you will thank me for it if you ever come across it for the first time and wonder “what the heck are they talking about??”

So This Is That is a ½ hour radio program that sounds like any regular CBC program with the radio host giving a brief description of a story and then interviewing people about the story. The difference being the stories are made up and completely ridiculous. But because they sound so real, when you first listen to the program, you are flabbergasted by what you are hearing - it can’t possibly be true because it is so ridiculous. What’s funnier is they often play recordings of voicemails from people who are either flabbergasted (“how can this even be real”)or quite impressed by the story (which is also ridiculous).

Anyway this is my pitch for a This Is That story:

Host: We are joined now by Kim Mowrey in [insert any city here] to tell us about a new sport that is becoming quite popular and which she hopes will one day make it into the Olympics. Kim, can you tell us a bit more about this sport.

Kim: Yes Peter. Thanks for having me on. The sport is called hike-a-bike and basically it is as it sounds. You are on mountain bike trails but instead of riding the trails on the bike, you are hiking the trails pushing your mountain bike.

Host: Uh-huh. And how did this hike-a-bike sport develop?

Kim: Well, usually what happens is your significant other wants to go mountain biking and thinks the trail he has picked out will be a good one for the both of you. He then takes off down the trail but because the route he has chosen is super technical, you end up hiking your bike to the end of the trail.

Host: So aren’t you technically mountain biking but you are just not very good at it?

Kim: Well yes, that is how it was initially until I started meeting up with other people who were also left behind by their partners and hiking their bikes so we decided to race hiking our bikes.

Host: I see. So are you timing yourselves?

Kim: The boys are because they are addicted to Strava so once they get to the end, they start a regular timer and must divide our time by their time.

Host: That sounds complicated. How are you going to have this in the Olympics when it relies on both your partners time and your time (and what if someone doesn’t have a partner).

Kim: Right. I have no idea but I figured talking about getting it into the olympics would get me on this show and here I am!

Host: I guess that did work for you.

And that was Kim Mowrey talking about the new sport, Hike-a-Bike. If you see Kim on any of the trails, be sure to say hello and perhaps point her in the direction of a less technical trail so she can actually get back on her bike.

Reading on the road

WARNING: If you haven't figured it out already by the title, this is going to be a nerdy post about books and my reading habits with a few references to CBC.

8 months ago my night stand would usually have had between 3-5 books on it. Therefore, my Thunder Bay Library account would have 3-5 books checked out and I would also have 3-5 books on hold. That being said, I would often have to be at the library either returning books or picking up books at least once/week.

I didn’t necessarily read all the books I checked out. Sometimes I would only get to sign a book out for a week (as someone else had it on hold) and as a fairly slow reader, I don’t often finish a book in a week.  Sometimes I just got bored with the book. I once read that if you read a book a specific number of pages (100 subtract your age) and the book hasn’t drawn you in, you move on to another book. So although I didn’t read exactly 60 pages (100 – my age) to decide if I was going to keep going, I definitely didn’t try to plough through books that I wasn’t enjoying.

For the list of books I wanted to read, I relied (and still rely) on recommendations from friends, CBCbooks, CBC radio programs and book club. I started out just keeping an excel spreadsheet of the “books I have read” and “books I want to read” but then someone introduced me to the social media site Goodreads and so I let that site take over my database (plus I get to see what my Goodreads friends are both reading and rating which often further adds to my “to read” list).

However, reading on the road (like most everything on the road) has changed my previous routine.

Now I typically use my ereader which takes up way less space than 3-5 books on a nightstand.  Prior to the trip, I received some KOBO gift cards so I used them to purchase some books from my “to read” list. However, because I actually bought the books (and only have a limited number of them), I now feel pressured to actually finish them even if I am not that into them. I also stop at most Little Lending Libraries and have been to a few thrift stores to check out their used book collections as well (especially if the thrift store proceeds go to a cause like a local animal shelter). With limited space, I usually only keep 2 actual books on hand. I never find books on my “to read” list at little lending libraries or thrift stores so the books I do get are kind of hit and miss over whether I enjoy them (although I do have an easier time giving up on them if they aren't good as they were either free or less than $2 – that went to charity).

And surprisingly, I am not reading as much as I was before the trip (I initially thought I would be reading at least a book a week). And maybe it is not surprising because now I am trying to get through a book that I am not always loving. I also think I am doing more writing than reading.  And not that I am a "writer" but I have a journal where I write daily on where we are and what we have been doing. And then of course the blog posts (which I have been tending to write the majority - I think because I like it!). And then keeping in touch with family and friends with emails rather than texts as I no longer have a cell phone (and my emails tend to be a lot longer than my texts were).

However, looking back on my Goodreads "read" books, I have read some good books on the road.  So if you aren't on Goodreads to have seen what I have rated a 4 or 5 recently, here are a few I have enjoyed on this trip:

Feeding My Mother: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as My Mom Lives with Memory Loss (by Jann Arden)

I am (and have always been) a huge fan of Jann Arden. Initially it was her music that drew me in (I Would Die For You, Insenstive) and then after seeing her perform live, it was her humour and honest storytelling on stage. Now add to that her ability to share her life through writing probably as a way to not only deal with what she is/was going through with but also to help other people relate to the challenges and feel that they are not alone in the challenge.

Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid (by Jessica Alexander)

This book gave me a whole new perspective on where my money is going if I am donating to a charitable organization. But since it is told from one person’s perspective and her experience,it kept the book flowing really nicely because you were following a personal story (and she told it quite well).

The Ghost Keeper (by Natalie Morrill)

This was a good little lending library find. A heartbreaking but beautifully told historical fiction book about a Jewish family in Austria in World War 2.

Around Alaska in 11 Days

I guess you could say we saw Alaska but it definitely was a world wind tour that killed our gas budget. It also had us so sick of driving that we ended up spending almost a week in Dawson City, YT once we crossed back over to Canada just to so we (us, the dogs, the van) could rest.

Alaska is beautiful but we just never found a place we felt comfortable in. It also probably didn’t help that we don’t really fish and we had dogs with us so we couldn’t do those day long boat tour excursions or sea kayaking adventures or the 12 hour bus tour in Denali National Park (as they only allow buses past the 15 mile mark of the road). Also, about 6 days in, it started raining and really never stopped until we got back to Canada.

Where did we go? I think we hit everywhere except Whittier, Seward and Anchorage. So Tok, Valdez, Palmer, Homer, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali, Fairbanks and Chicken (yes there is a place called Chicken).

Kenai Lake (near Cooper Landing, AK)

Homer Spit (Homer, AK)

What did we see? Black bears and moose along the highway and tons of rabbits in Valdez. Tall mountains and glaciers. Rivers filled with fishermen and fisherwomen in their hip waders and fly fishing rods. Lots of guns. And many, many over the top touristy places that just weren’t doing it for us.

What didn’t we see? Grizzly bears (despite all the rivers of salmon that we drove by), Mount Denali (previously called Mount McKinley and the highest mountain in North American) as it was covered in clouds on the day we got there (which is pretty typical for the summer). And marine life as we didn’t do the boat or sea kayaking tours.

What we liked? Palmer is just north of Anchorage and was a nice little agriculture town with some decent bike trails. Kenai National Wildlife Refuge had some nice hiking trails and a great Visitors Centre. (Mike also liked their free camping sites). And The Top of the World Highway from Chicken to Dawson City has been our favourite drive so far (even though we drove through it in the clouds, fog and rain).

What we didn’t like. Guns. There are a lot of guns in Alaska. The guy cleaning the bathrooms at one of the campgrounds we stayed at had one in a side holster. The guy that showed up to hike a 5 km nature trail around a lake brought his assault rifle. There were guns on hips in Walmart and guns strapped to chests in rest areas. Guns were for sale at every gas stations we stopped at.

Would I recommend it? My advice is make Yukon your destination because it continues to be awesome (I will likely dedicate one blog post just to Dawson City). Then take the side trips from Haines Junction, YT to Haines, AK or from Carcross, YT to Skagway, AK (and take the ferry between Haines and Skagway) for a little bit of coastal Alaska. Finally drive the Top of the World Highway from Dawson City to Tok and then drive from Tok to Beaver Creek for a bit of interior Alaska. Or if you want to see Mount Denali, supposedly fall and winter gives better chances of seeing it.

For us, we are going to continue to tour around the Yukon awhile longer as if I haven’t mentioned it already – we really like it here!

Best of...after 12 weeks

Normally when Mike and I travel, we like to talk about the highlights of the trip. Given that we are going to be gone for a year though, we worried we would forget about some of thing things we had seen and done in the beginning (even going through our list 12 weeks in, we had some “oh yeah, I forgot about that" moments too). Anyway here is our best of for this first portion of the journey:

Best hike
Mike – Chilkoot Trail (Skagway, AK to Bennett Lake, BC)
“53 km of awesome”

Kim – Dover Creek Trail (Haida Gwaii – Sandspit Island)
“Hiking in Haida Gwaii is just really calm and peaceful”

Best mountain bike

Mike – Crow’s Nest Pass or Terrace or Burns Lake or Williams Lake or Salmon Arm or Whitehorse or Rossland….etc, etc, etc

Kim – Ellison Provincial Park (Vernon, BC)
“A just right challenge ride for me.

Best downtown to walk around

Mike - Smithers , BC

Kim – Rossland, BC

Best campground (free)

Mike – Kenai Lake (Cooper Landing, AK)
Kim – Grey Bay Recreation Area (Haida Gwaii, BC)

“The campsite walkway leads to what feels like your own private beach”

Best campground (paid)

Mike - Kager Lake Recreation Area (Burns Lake, BC)

“Technically free but I put money in the donation box because I loved the mountain biking there so much”

Kim – Bare Loon Lake (on the Chilkoot Trail)

“Probably all about the weather but after being rained on for over 24 hours, we arrived to Bare Loon Lake and sunshine.  Also, since it was day 4 of the 5 day hike, we had gotten to know the hikers It felt like we were all celebrating the sunshine and our last night on the trail with them.  It definitely felt more like “Happy Camp” than the previous campsite we stayed at on the trail called “Happy Camp”.

Best visitors centre

Mike – Williams Lake, BC

Kim – Williams Lake, BC

Best scenic drive

Mike – the drive into Stewart BC from highway 37

“Mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and rivers gallore”

Kim – the drive to Cypress Hills Provincial Park (Saskatchwan)

“Having driven highway #1 from Kenora to Moose Jaw many many many times, I had no idea this crazy hilly place existed”

**EDIT: We wrote this prior to doing the Top of the World Highway from Chicken, AK to Dawson City YT and we both decided the Top of the World Highway is the best drive so far. You literally feel like you are on the top of the world.

Best beach

Mike – Agate Beach (Naikoon Provincial Park – Haida Gwaii, BC)

Kim – Carcross, YT

Best pool

Mike – Canada Games Complex (Whitehorse, YT)

Kim – Canada Games Complex (Whitehorse, YT)

Best farmers market

Mike – Terrace, BC

Kim – Whitehorse, YT

Best attraction (free)

Mike – mountain biking anywhere that has trails

Kim – Writing on Stone Provincial Park (Alberta)

best attraction (paid)

Mike – Barkerville Historic Site, BC

Kim – Haida Heritage Centre(Haida Gwaii, BC)

Best side road that we are glad we took

Mike – Hyder AK - the dirt road drive up to the Salmon Glacier

Kim – Barkervile Historic Site

Best hot springs

Mike – Nisga’a Provincial Park

Kim – Ainsworth Hot Springs

Best community garden

Mike – Burns Lake, BC

Kim – Burns Lake, BC

Best restaurant/bakery/coffee shop

Mike – Fukasaku Sushi Restaurant (Prince Rupert, BC)

“Vegetarian rolls with brie cheese, walnuts and fire roasted wild mushrooms = yum”

Kim – Village Bakery (Haines Junction, YT)

The people we've met on the road

We have met some pretty cool people in our travels. Sometimes at a campground, sometimes along the Chilkoot trail and sometimes as we are exploring different areas. A few of these people are also blogging (and gave us their websites) so if you just can’t get enough of our blog and want to follow some other travel blogs, here are a few of the people we've met (I will try to keep updating as we go).

Mackenzies on the road

I feel like the Mackenzies are doing all of those back roads that Mike and I sometimes think about doing but then think about how long of a drive it would be to do. We met Darrin and Melissa at a recreation site near Stewart BC and then again ran into them at another rec site further up highway 37. They did northern Yukon and Alaska first (whereas we focused on the south) so I have definitely been checking out where they’ve been (and what they have to say about it) to see if these are some of the places we want to tackle. They have some pretty amazing pictures of both the Dempster and the Dalton highways (the 2 highways that head north to the Arctic ocean) but I still don’t know if we will follow in their tire tracks.

Traveling cows

I had a brief chat with Sandra and Hanson while Mike and Dawson were going to the summit of King’s Throne in Klaune National Park. Maverick and I decided to turn back about halfway up as heights aren’t really my thing and the loose rock was making Maverick nervous (okay, okay it was making me nervous). Anyway I was hanging out with Maverick at the day use area reading a book and seeing if I could spot Dawson and Mike on the mountain. Sandra and Hanson came over and we started chatting about our travels and giving recommendations to each about what to see in our respective next legs of the journeys. While we were chatting away, a gentleman came over and asked us to please be quiet as he was trying to film and our conversation was ending up in the audio. I am assuming he was a video/you tube channel blogger and I definitely didn’t ask for his website.

The Dangerz
We met Brian and Jen in Valdez. They were parked at the wharf with their van door open so Mike couldn’t help but look into their van and see their folding kayaks (and comment on them). After both human and dog introductions, we learned these guys have been on the road for 6 years!! Their website has beautiful pictures of the places they have been and their van is not only functional but looks like it is out of interior design book for vans (if such a thing exists).

Dejala
We met Marie and her partner in a campground in Tok, Alaska.  They gave us great travel tips (especially for travelling in Mexico).  Marie is an avid traveller with a ton of experience (I think she was on her 12th country just this year)

Yukon - Part 1

Watson Lake to Beaver Creek

Initially I thought Alaska was going to be THE destination of our northern road trip but it is not. The Yukon is. Don’t get me wrong. We like Alaska. But we love the Yukon.

So what is it about this territory with only 39 000 people? So far, it is Whitehorse with its concentrated downtown, walking and biking paths everywhere and wilderness in your backyard. Oh and they do city wide composting (like they pick up your compost if you live there or have bins at municipal buildings) and recycle pretty much everything. They also have the nicest Canada Games Complex I have ever been to (sorry Thunder Bay) and a great Farmer's Market.  It is also Haines Junction and its access to Klaune National Park (hello Mount Logan – highest peak in Canada). There are some fun side trips to coastal Alaska communities of Haines and Skagway. There is the culture and art and history in every town you visit. And then there’s those beautiful mountains and rivers and lakes alongside you wherever you go.

One of the hundreds of mountain bike trails in Whitehorse.

And we have just done a really small part – there is so much to explore by road or river or foot or bike.

One of the hundreds of hiking trails in Whitehorse and a view of the Yukon River.

Oh and did I mention they are super visitor focused? Visitors centres that are open 8am-8pm all through the summer with free wifi, comfy places to sit and get caught up on email, courtesy phones (or pay phones – I haven’t seen pay phones in forever!!) and the friendliest staff who are just so excited for you to be in the Yukon. They want to know where you’ve been, which way you’re travelling and where you are headed next. And to anything you answer they often exclaim “oh you are going to love it there.” And we do!

And the territorial/government campgrounds are great. They are usually just outside a town or somewhere along one of those long highways you are driving to get to a town. $12 Canadian to stay the night and the campground has a pit toilet, picnic table, free firewood, a lake or beach or sometimes a nice hiking trail (always with a sign saying “Bear In Area”). And if you are a real risk taker, you stay at Congdon campground and sleep in your tent behind the electric fence because it is a grizzly bear hot spot (needless to say, both Mike and I were definitely taking a good look around when we would get out of the van in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning).

Haines, AK (accessed from Haines Junction, YT)

I do have to admit though that we also took advantage of an offer to house sit from a friend we went to school with in Kenora.  So we did spend some time in Whitehorse in a house.  She was hiking the Chilkoot Trail with her family so we stayed there for a few days.  And again, those bike trails are literally accessible less than a 1 km away from her house - so basically in her backyard! 

But my main point of this blog post is this - consider visiting the Yukon as your destination (as opposed to it being a through route to Alaska) because it is amazing.