Day 3 - Whitehorse

Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
"Hey, did you come all the way from Virginia ?" a guy yells at me, as I struggle with my helmet and gloves in the parking lot behind the Klondike Rib and Salmon BBQ -- the only restaurant in town.  "Yeah -- you from there ?" I reply .  "No, but my grandmother lives in Front Royal" he counters, "and I own a Honda Shadow -- wish I could ride it up here..."  But this rather normal exchange went further than the usual "wish you well" . We ended up having a long dinner together as he told me about his passion for re-enactment (on the Confederate side) of the major battles of the war. He takes this very seriously. He traces his family back to soldiers in the Revolutionary War, and of course, the Civil War. Highlights were his participation in the re-enactment of Picketts Charge -- where he and 13,000 confederate soldiers re-stormed the ridge at Gettysburg. And the battle of the Cornfield and the Sunken Road at Sharpsburg (Antietam to me). I know of these vicious battles from the famous pictures by the Brady photographers. He talks about being right inside them, firing the old rifles in the early morning charge. Amazing.  

Breakfast was with a couple of geologists from the University of British Columbia -- doing a detailed survey of a portion of the Yukon . They were going out by boat today, to look at rocks down the Yukon River. One of them was fixated on feldspar (why?) They had been conducting the survey by helicopter and truck for the past month, paid for by both the mining companies and the government. No, they said, they have not found the mega mother lode that spawned the placer mines of the last century -- and they disabused me of the idea that Yukon was a big mining center. There is only one silver - lead - zinc mine operating in the Yukon -- at Keno, some 350 miles north of Whitehorse.

The ride from Dawson City to Whitehorse was so different to yesterday's. The paved road allowed good speed and normal braking and turning. It was a beautiful day to follow the valleys of the Klondike and the Stewart and eventually the Yukon south. Many lakes, wetlands and forests of blue spruce -- very few humans. I even saw a porcupine, alive, sitting quietly by the side of the road. When I turned back to take its picture it ran off (how did it know?). A German couple I talked to at a viewpoint along the highway had been back to Alaska and the Yukon for 5 summers for their holidays. They said they needed it to relax after life in the fast lane in Stuttgart.
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Comments

Beth
2012-08-16

It is so much easier to get into a great conversation with strangers when you are on your own.

Harry
2012-08-16

How does a red horse explain it's presence in Whitehorse? Your adventures are being watched avidly and supportively by Linda, who says Hi, and by my daughter Susan and her husband Pat, both avid bikers. Great video/nice water.

Gwynn
2012-08-16

So interesting that your friends should have been excited over feldspar; it's a pretty neat mineral, and there's quite a bit in Virginia.

2025-02-11

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