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.