Monday, September 3rd

Monday, 3 Sep 2012

Day 10

               Finally got caught up on the blog, whew! Donna went over to the Wi-fi spot and finished up while Andy and I dumped the tanks in the RV. Drove about 15 miles stopped at the Trumpeter Swan Haven observation post.  I was hoping to at least see some birds. They are at this spot (up to 2500) in late April, early May.  Question, how do you get to this spot at that time of the year, still covered in snow? The lake is fed by a warmer winter that melts the ice so the birds can land. 

               Next, we stopped at Lewes Dam, the first dam on the Yukon River, and then we continued to Whitehorse. Enjoyed walking around the city centre. Found a Starbucks, Donna had to have a latte, drank about a third of it, then dropped it, oops!

After Whitehorse, we turned north and headed off the Alaskan Hwy to Highway 2, the Klondike Loop and the top of the world highway.  We saw some more beautiful scenery.  There was a forest fire in 1958 and then again in 1998 on the Klondike Highway. We could see the differences in how long it takes the trees to recover. We ended up in Carmacks.

The route tomorrow is off the path, but we want to look at some different areas and we will see the part of the Alaska Highway that we skipped on the return trip.  We’re headed toward Dawson City and then our first real test on an unpaved road. Hopefully it is not like the Condor Road that my brother takes everyone to see the California Condors in Arizona.  Our plan tomorrow is to get up and head out early. We are having some difficulty with our water heater and need to get it fixed. Donna is tired of boiling water to do the dishes. 

Hopefully you noticed our daily mileage is less now so that we can see a few more things. We are using the Milepost Magazine, which has everything in Canada and Alaska listed.  This includes mileage markers, rest stops, bridges, rivers, gas stops, hotels, etc. In other words you name it, it’s in there. The hardest part is figuring out the distances. It’s in mile and kilometers, but can be from different directions.  It’s a great book to have to travel up here.

MILES TODAY    232         TOTAL MILES    3928

M'Clintock Bay at Swan Haven

Lewes Dam at the Yukon River

Whitehorse in Yukon Territory

Klondike Highway 2

Forest Fire Area from 1998 along the Klondike Highway

Forest Fire Area of 1958 along the Klondike Highway

ANDY’S REPORT.

Brrrrr, another cold night! Mom said it was 37 when we got up. Dad got up in the middle of the night and turned on some box to make us warm. Dad and I got the moving house cleaned up and mom finally showed up and away we went. Stopped at some water with pictures of big water birds.  Would love to chase one of those! Dad was upset, did not see any water birds.  Got moving again, stopped at some more water, this water was moving real fast.  Had a few smells, back to the moving house and nap time. Stopped at another place with a few moving houses, took a walk with mom and dad on a wooden sidewalk, told Dad hard to smell on wood, but I finally got to chase a bird, back to the moving house and it’s bedtime. Goodnight.

Brrr! It was cold last night!

Here we are looking for birds at Swan Haven.

I never miss a nap time!

Where's dinner?

Finally, I get to chase a bird!

I'm letting Dad know that you can't smell anything on a boardwalk!