July 26 - Heading to Yukon!
Today starts part 2 of my northern adventure as I head to Whitehorse Yukon. This is a solo trip.
It’s a cloudy morning in Juneau as I arrive to get my flight to Haines. My plane gets delayed because the cloud ceiling drops 20 minutes before my flight. (They don't fly by instruments on these planes - totally visual.) Take-off time undetermined :(
But as fast as the ceiling dropped, the clouds blew away and we left only 10 minutes late - yea!
The flight to Haines was nice - surprisingly not too cloudy. Flew by a few glaciers, Sentinel Island (the lighthouse we initially thought was a monastery while on the ferry last week) and came into Haines from the north. I pick up my rental car and I'm off up the Haines Hwy towards Haines Junction Yukon. Should take about 2.5 hours but I'm taking my time so who knows how long it will take.
It's cloudy (low clouds) when I leave Haines which was OK last week but this week I want to see mountain tops. And that requires sun and a high cloud deck – I have neither right now. I’m hoping to drive thru this stuff and get to better weather (at least higher clouds so I can have some mountain views).
I pass thru the Bald Eagle Reserve stopping at one viewpoint. There's one Bald Eagle sitting on the ground. He's got dirt all over his face -- must have had a tussle with a salmon.
A little further along, there's a wetland with 2 Tundra Swans - one swimming and one in the pond’s grasses eating.
There's also a few ducks on the pond as well.
I pass through Canadian Customs without a hitch - like I expected one. :)
Welcome to British Columbia!! And continued rain L
I'm starting to climb towards the Haines Summit. More open and hilly. There are mountains somewhere behind the clouds.
Lots of patches of Fireweed and Cottongrass --- that continues pretty much up to Haines Junction.
I pass by Guardsmen Lake and I should be seeing the 3 Guardsmen (mountains), but unfortunately with all the clouds and drizzle, they are not visible. :(
I reach the cloudy summit (3510ft)
and take a quick look see. There is a little peak.
Funny how 3500ft looks like arctic habitat here and I live at 4500ft and it's a hot desert in the summer.
I'm hoping to see more swans at Twin Lakes (my Yukon guide says they are found there) but nothing.
I'm passing lots of lakes, ponds and wet spots -- no moose, no bear.
I enter Kluane Country and the Yukon!
Next stop is the Million Dollar Falls campsite. There is a short trail to the Falls. I pull-in, there's no one around and I'm in grizzly country
- so I pick a song to sing along the trail. It's only a short walk, mostly on a boardwalk to the falls so I'm probably OK but ..... singing away! :)
The falls are pretty – love the sound of the roaring water – but I expected a taller falls. Definitely worth the stop though.
Continued on -- lots of fireweed!! And small lakes/marshes -- see another tundra swan.
Next stop is the St Elias Lake trailhead. It’s 4.5 miles (round-trip) to the lake. I’m very hungry right now and have nothing to eat – probably not wise to start this trail – but I went anyway. I went part way but I'm a little bear spooked and hungry. This isn’t going to work so I turn around. Maybe I'll have time on the way back to hike this.
I pass Dezadeach Lake -- very long and pretty lake and stop at Rock Glacier Trail for the 1/2 mile walk over a rock glacier (just a piles of rocks left by a retreating glacier).
Good views of the lake from here.
I stop at the viewpoint. There's a trail that continues higher but I still have a long way to go so I turn around.
I make a quick stop at Kathleen Lake. She's a glacier-fed lake and is supposed to be turquoise-blue - just hard to tell with the clouds/drizzle. But the lake is home to a Sockeye salmon that no longer return from the ocean -- these are landlocked salmon -- known as Koknaee.
I stop at Quill Creek - tons of cottongrass here - so pretty.
Stop in Haines for lunch - its 2pm already (Alaska Time). Not sure what took sooooo long to get here but obviously I took my time. Eat at the Village Bakery – good sandwiches.
Now is decision time, I can continue to head to Whitehorse (in the drizzle) or I can head northwest towards Fairbanks (actually Destruction Bay which is a lot closer than Fairbanks) to see what I can see. With the rain and low clouds not sure it’s worth it. But, hey, I’m on vacation, I’m going for it!!! I limit myself to no farther than 30-40 miles before turning around.
Off I go headed for Fairbanks!
Lovely fields of bright yellow flowers heading out of Haines Junction – probably a farm crop like safflower??
Although the mountains are still cloudy, it seems to be clearing the further west I go. It’s exciting the sky is actually clearing!!
The mountains to my left should be Bear Creek, Boutiller and Soldier's Summits.
I pass Sulpher Lake – the edge along the highway is a bit creepy with a bunches of dead trees.
I stop at a wonderful creek with circles of cottongrass. In the distance I get my first look at Kluane Lake. Kluane is the largest lake in the Yukon. Such a pretty blue in the mixed sunshine.
I stop at the lake to walk around
and see my first butterfly of the trip a sulpher! Still haven’t decided which species it is yet.
There's a lot of green and a lot of brown dry grasses here and the wind is whipping up mini dust storms.
Tachal Dhal (Sheep Mt) is ahead - the name mean "skin scraper mountain". The mountain is home to Dall Sheep.
I stop and look but only see a trail (probably from the sheep) up the mountain.
I drive around two more corners before I turn around. I really want to get to Destruction Bay (it’s along 30 miles or so) but go it's 4pm (5pm local time) and I still have around 3 hours to Whitehorse. Time to turn around and return to the dreary, drizzly weather.
The last stop is a rest area that has a wonderful old log bridge - Canyon Creek Bridge.
I’m on the last stretch of road and passing through Elk country and wild horse country but see nothing.
I finally make it to Whitehorse!!
Good day!
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