Meet the Berzowskis Alaska Adventure: Yukon Territory

Jim and Robin are heading to Alaska! The Honda CR-V is packed and their trusty GO, L.E.O. (Low-Earth Orbiter), is ready for adventure. Follow along and get a taste of #myGOlife…Berzowski-style!

After leaving Dease Lake, we continued to drive to the end of the Cassiar Highway and turned onto the Alaskan Highway (Highway 1). The views during the ride continue to impress. There was intermittent rain and gravel roads, but otherwise, a nice drive. Reached the Yukon Territory; their tag line is “Larger than Life”. We had our picnic lunch at the Continental Divide. The view as we drove down into Teslin was spectacular. Adding to my pleasure was cell service in Teslin. So when we stopped for gas, for the first time in days, our phones were pinging away with incoming texts and emails. I was very happy to hear from the kids! ?

We decided to camp just north of Whitehorse at the Takhini Hotsprings Campground and Hostel. Our wooded campsite was enormous – plenty of room for both cars, the GO, the CLAM and Mary’s tent!

The location was quiet and peaceful. There was electric at our site and central potable water. During the day (8am-10pm) the indoor hostel bathrooms were available with flush toilets and hot running water, otherwise, there were clean outhouses. They have pay showers, the nicest we’ve experienced so far, in a spacious washroom. The staff were helpful, friendly and fun!

The GO was still soaking wet when we set it up, but dried out very quickly and the inside was still dry – we really love it that we can count on dry sleeping conditions! Also love the Over Easy Kitchen. The counter space is perfect for when we are first setting up and when cooking…there is so much room for ingredients and preparations.

When set up was complete and lunch consumed, we headed to the southern section of Whitehorse to hike Miles Canyon. The color of the water and its swiftness were impressive. The full trail is a circular 15 km loop, but we just went some upriver and then some downriver.

We then went to the Whitehorse Rapids Fishway to see the longest wooden fish ladder in the world! Built in 1959, it provides access for salmon and other species to above the hydroelectric dam. It was too early to observe the fish going upstream to spawn, but it was very cool. The staff were knowledgeable and very friendly.

Everything we see in Whitehorse is steeped in history, related to the First Nations, exploration and the gold rush.

Jim cooked his trout for dinner and while we were eating, we spotted a red fox casing our campsite, no doubt hoping for scraps. Turns out we saw foxes a few times a day at our site! After dinner, we took a bike ride to check out the hot springs and just enjoy the outdoors – it is light pretty much all night long, so it’s difficult to bring the day to an end?

The next day we visited the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. There is a 5 km walk through the area. They have large natural habitats, for example, the moose have a kilometer enclosure that includes woods and wetlands. We enjoyed observing mountain goats, thin horn (Dall) sheep, muskox, caribou, lynx, bison, elk and mule deer. We also had a close encounter with 2 wild fox kits, who decided to live in the woods there! We did not see the moose, although 4 rescued moose live there.

That afternoon we toured the SS Klondike at the National Historic site. There was a short movie with actual footage showing the background of this old stern-wheeler, the largest on the Yukon River and how it was used to carry mail, supplies, liquor, passengers, and silver ore on the 460 mile route between Whitehorse and Dawson City until 1955.

Along the river, Whitehorse has parks and a wonderful multi-purpose path. We walked along the path and a bit through the town. There is an old log church that is well maintained. Notice the Green Bay Packer fan way up here in the Yukon!

We had some rain (again) in the evening, but our gear was not too wet when we packed up in the morning.

We’re on our way to Dawson City!