Monday, July 7

Today we learned of another attribute of the Pacific coast besides salmon that has made it this far inland: the Tlingit Indians, with their rich artistic culture . They make up most of the population of the town of Teslin, and we visited their cultural center, where we saw examples of the work of resident wood carvers and the decorated canoes that they use for races on the lake. We also visited a museum devoted to George Johnston (1893-1972), a Tlingit whose fine photographs document the life of the community through the 1940s. He brought the first car to Teslin, a 1928 Chevrolet, and built three miles of road on which to drive it; in the winter, he had the entire 86 miles of frozen Lake Teslin on which to drive.

We reached the most northerly point of our trip at Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon, at 60 degrees, 43 minutes. Whitehorse's importance stems from the fact that it was here that the mighty Yukon River becomes truly navigable. The Yukon River, measuring nearly 2000 miles, drains three-quarters of the Yukon Territory and a third of Alaska. We found Whitehorse a very pleasant city, enjoyed halibut fish and chips at a local hangout, and spent the night at a city campground near the river.