IS THIS MONTH'S JOURNEY
May, 2008
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace.
From a poem by northern writer and poet Robert Service entitled “The spell of the Yukon”
As we pulled on to the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek, B.C., en route to the Yukon, I noticed, there are as many people heading north today as there probably were during the days of the Gold Rush, when everyone was going there, hoping for the mother lode. Travel was difficult in those days. They had to come by steamboat, train, horse, dog sled and even on foot. Conditions were harsh and some didn’t survive the trek. Today, however, we come in the comfort of our travel trailers, our fifth wheels and our million dollar Diesel pushing motor coaches. We travel on paved roads where the only thing that stops us is a few potholes from the past winter’s frost, 
a once in a lifetime photo opt eagerly presented by some friendly four-legged beauty, or we just ran out of gas, which I don’t suggest you do, because this highway has virtually no services for miles. We make the trek today for reasons even more valuable than Gold. We come to see the Glaciers before they retreat to a few droplets of H2O. To see the wealth of wildlife, unlike anywhere else in North America and its sheer raw beauty before man ends up annihilating it also.
Doesn't your indoor cat also deserve a KITTY KAT KABANA?
Canada is such an immense country. We’ve been travelling through only a small portion of northern British Columbia now for more than a day and still have a good day’s drive before we reach the Yukon Territory. Today’s drive was awesome, some of the most spectacular scenery I have ever seen. Snow capped mountain vistas reflecting in clear calm turquoise lakes, fast moving rivers meandering through deep valleys, the sweet scent of a spring forest just sporting a smidgeon of new green.
We slowed to a snail’s pace to watch Black Bear, Stone Sheep, wild Bison, Caribou, Deer, Moose and wild ponies, graze on the new greenery beside the highway. We even saw a fox; crossing the highway, proudly showing off his just caught lunch, as he scampered toward the canopy of the forest. Today’s trip was worth every penny of the $400 it took to fill the gas tank.
Our second stop on the Alaska Highway was in Laird River Hot Springs Provincial Park in B.C. Just a ten minute hike across a boardwalk trail from our campsite, are two hot spring pools, with temperatures ranging from 42 to 52 C. The source for these hot pools begins as ground water seeps down through natural faults to the hot core below the earth.
There, it is heated and under great pressure is forced once again to the surface along natural fault lines. The only downfall is that as the hot water is forced to the surface, it brings along with it many minerals, including the nasty smelling Calcium Sulphate. These amazing wetlands also support hundreds of boreal forest plants, including species of Orchids that couldn’t survive in this northern latitude, if it weren’t for these hot springs. In shallow pools beside the boardwalk we saw an interesting little fish about three inches in length. These lake Chubs or Hot Water Fish, that they are so appropriately named, became isolated from their own kind thousands of years ago and have adapted to the hot water, in which they now thrive.We stopped at Kilometre 1119.9 on the Alaska Highway and stood at the Great Continental Divide. This is a ridge of high land that separates two of the largest river drainages in North America. Only lumps of sand and gravel separate the west-flowing Swift River from the east-flowing Rancheria River. If, I dropped a leaf into the Rancheria River to the east, it would float to the Liard River near Watson Lake,
continue to the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories and eventually reach the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean); a long journey of 4,200 kilometers for our waterlogged leaf. If at the same time, I dropped a leaf into the Swift River to the west, the current would take it to Teslin Lake and the Teslin River. The Teslin flows northwest to the Yukon River which cuts across northern Alaska en route to the Bering Sea (Pacific Ocean); a journey of 3,680 kilometers.
All along the Laird Basin Forest, White and Black Spruce dominates the forest floor, while scattered stands of Lode Pole Pine, Alder, Willow, Aspen and Birch provide critical habitat for Caribou and Moose. Rich green marshes, muddy swamps and crystal clear lakes within the Liard River area support the largest population of breeding Trumpeter Swans in the Yukon. There are 33 species of fish in the Liard River and its tributaries.The Yukon Territory is huge. It is twice the size of Great Britain with less than 32,000 living on this frontier. As a matter of fact, it has more Moose living here than people. Its summer days are warm and long, with temperatures creeping into the mid 20’s C and daylight hours lasting up to 22 hours. There is no wonder that this part of the continent is called “The land of the midnight sun.” We spent several days in the Yukon and it seems no matter when I go to bed its daylight and regardless of how many time I awaken, its daylight and when I get up in the morning, it’s always daylight. I think it might be daylight 24 hours a day. However, in winter days are short with only three hours of sunlight and a temperature of -35 C. But even in the short days of winter, not all is lost; they have their Northern Lights dancing across a perfect polar sky. “And soft they rolled like a tide upshoaled with ceaseless ebb and flow”- by Robert Service
We spent a couple of days in Whitehorse, which gets its name from the historic rapids on the Yukon River, which to the native people resembled the manes of charging white horses.
All along the highway from Whitehorse to Dawson City, we saw evidence of past forest fires just about everywhere. Some of them were caused by careless campers and others by Mother Nature through lightning strikes. Although it’s sad to see the devastation of the forest by fire it’s also a necessary evil. If it weren’t for the fire, certain species of trees wouldn’t reproduce. Once they reached old age, they would die off and that would be the end of that species. An example is a certain species of pine, when a forest fire occurs, it melts the sap coatings on the pinecones, thus releasing their seed to other areas of the forest, allowing that species to continue.
Our final stop in the Yukon was at Bonanza Creek, in Dawson City. Yes, the very same creek where on a sunny afternoon in August in 1896, George Carmack, Dawson Charlie and Shoohum Jim were walking along Rabbit Creek, later renamed Bonanza Creek and saw Gold glistening between rocks in the creek bed. The other version of the discovery has Mrs. Carmack making the find while doing George’s washing in the creek. In either case, this is where it all began – “The Great Klondike Gold Rush!”
We walked a small section of the Bonanza Creek, in heart of the Klondike where numerous claims are still being worked today. We were both a little disheartened however, by the raping of the land. Sitting in huge piles as far as the eye can see are living testimonials to what has been done to our beautiful land, all for the riches of gold. These tailings (left over dredging) remains an eye sore and will for eons’ to come.
Dawson City itself however, is charming with most of the original buildings still standing. Due to an influx of newcomers in the summer of 1898 a city was created virtually overnight, larger than anything west of the Rockies. By the turn of the century, Dawson City had become refined, with grand Government Buildings, stately homes complete with running water, electricity and telephones.
We didn’t allocate a tremendous amount of time for Dawson City, but we did make time to visit Diamond Tooth Gertie’s gambling casino and dance hall. During the Gold Rush, Diamond Tooth Gertie was the main attraction in Dawson City. She and her girls kept the men folk entertained, plying them with booze and allowing the customers to hold them for a few minutes, during a 25c dance. Gertie had a gap between her teeth and would wedge a diamond between them while she was entertaining, hence getting the name “Diamond Tooth Gertie”.A little bit of Klondike trivia;
K&G, somewhere on the road
An additional side trip, if you have time:
Take a drive to the top of Midnight Dome high above Dawson City. 
The view is spectacular of the the Yukon River and its valley as well as the city nestled against the hill side far below and the gold fields of Bonanza Creek. It is a steep climb so a smaller vehicle may be best.
Take a drive to the top of Midnight Dome high above Dawson City. 
The view is spectacular of the the Yukon River and its valley as well as the city nestled against the hill side far below and the gold fields of Bonanza Creek. It is a steep climb so a smaller vehicle may be best.
