Atlin, British Columbia, CanadaAtlin – Teslin – Watsons Lake
Marsh Lake??
It looks like it will be nice and
sunny – so we decided after filling up gas, dumping, cleaning the truck we will
only head to Marsh Lake to enjoy some sunshine on the campground – good plan!!!
Ok Part 2 dumping – there are no
dumpstations in Whitehorse unless it is on a campground – as we camped twice at
the Hi County we decided to dump there, and in the car wash Paul said I spray
you clean and Gine said no: because otherwise I’m getting wet – we tried this
before. We arrive at Marsh lake and the day use is closed – it’s flooded, the
campground is in the forest and we decided – that is a no.
Little Atlin Lake
And you can’t miss the turn off – as
there is not only the sign – but someone actually put it in stones. Shortly
after the turnoff we come to the boat launch of Little Atlin Lake – as it is
lunch time we decided to stop and have a break with lake view and enjoy the sunshine.
We also decided it is not the perfect spot for overnight camping – so after
enjoying the views and soaking up some sun we continued south and see there as
we were in the truck to continue on – the clouds came back
Along Atlin Road
As we head down the road there are two
creeks and campgrounds which we think have crazy names – and in case you wonder
the Road was built in 1949 by the Canadian Army and they named those two
creeks:
Snafu – Situation normal all fucked up
Tarfu – Things are really fucked up
Soon after we had to stop as we came
by a lake called Davie Hall Lake – and Gine said we need to take a picture for
David Hall (Gine’s old Boss)
And let’s not forget we are back in
BC!!! At least for a few days. Oh and one time we came by a lake with lots of
water planes – what is up with that!!!
The town of Atlin
Our first stop was the tourist info
- Which is also the museum (as the tourist info is inside we did see a bit of the museum too) and it is in the 1902 schoolhouse
– so we did learn that there is already some
Aurora action going on and that we if you can see it after midnight. Ok that’s
something – we then drove down to the lake. The view is gorgeous with the
mountains around it – very idyllic. We make coffee and then walk over to the
old Sternwheeler the MV Tarahne:
- The MV Tarahne built in 1917 used to transport people and goods from Scotia Bay to Atling and in the 1920s was used for cruises to see the Llewellyn glacier
Paul said a campsite would be nice
instead of staying here in town and so we decided to head down to Warm Bay
RVing on the Shores of Atlin Lake
We head to Warm Bay Rec site which has
5 campsite and they are all taken – what a shame!!! Gine said lets go around
the corner as the road is still close to the lake maybe we can pull out and see
there is already a van pulled out and maybe we can sneak out too – as we stop
and check it out, the guy pointed out a spot on the other side of the bay and
as we check it, yes we can pull in. As Paul backs in the trucks literally sinks
in the gravel (good thing we have a 4x4) – but you can’t be much closer to the
lake than that!!!
- By the way Atlin lake is the largest natural lake in BC 137 km long
- The Tlingit called it Atle’n meaning “big water”
- At the southend of the lake is the Juneau icefield part of the largest non-polar icfield in the world (no we didn’t go there as there is no road going and the paddling was a bit too far)
- like many towns in the north it got built during a gold rush
It was a gorgeous evening and we had
some amazing sunset views – but it was still fairly cool outside. By the way we
set the alarm to check for the Aurora boralis – no luck tonight.
Should we stay or should we go
Ok it would be nice to spend two days
with a relax day in the sun. As we woke up it was not sunny at all – so the
question was is it because it is early and sometimes it is cloudy in the
morning??? So we slept in and the sun came for a little bit out but then the
clouds took over again. So we decided as it is too cool to sit in a Tanktop –
that is not a summer vacation – and we rather head slowly back towards the
south and the warmth. But before leaving Mandy wants to go for a walk – I think
that becomes a daily ritual.
The Warm Spring
we did stop at the Warm Spring and see
there is a tiny “lake” and when you step in – the water is warm (not hot – as
it is not a hot spring) – it is kind of cool for having it there totally
unassuming.
At the Grotto
Ok Gine was not so impressed – but the
Paul pointed out, that it is a bit special if the water comes out of a rock –
ok maybe. On the way back we stopped at the Palmer Rec Site: wow a lot of
people are here in this mini campground. Next stop was at the Glacier lookout –
and yes you can see the far away glacier from here – even a few trees are in
the way.
A walk around historic Atlin
We stopped near the old ship for our
walk around the idyllic Atlin. First we went out to the dock and admired the
view over the lake (it is so cool that we nearly need a jacket - hey it’s August!!). What is cool that a lot
of the historic buildings have a plague on them so you could read some history
about them – I think it is more fun to only look at them. Then we saw a
supercute little old “cabin” and as we stood there and looked at it, we started
to talk to this gentlemen of Quebec – his daughter owns this house and he is thinking
about a house here in Atlin – wow!!!
According to him, they have all in town with the 250-400 inhabitants,
you can go kayaking – enjoy the nature… And we learned from him, that the
little cabin was once the fire hall and the house was once the hardware store
(if you walk around you can see it nicely restored – and someone put in a
restaurant in the top – it’s closed at the moment). One house has a huge clock
in front of it, then we saw the pyramide house, some old ones which clearly
need a new owner who restores them
The most northern town in BC:
- Yes this is Atlin “Beyond Believe”
- The natives here are the Taku River Tlingit
- Many of the old buildings are from the 1900s: in 1898 they discovered gold in pine Creek and around 10.000 gold seekers came – but already in 1915 they all left
- Around 2000 men worked on the Rocky point train when they heard about the gold in pine creek in Feb 1898– within days hundreds left their job to try their luck in Atlin, most left without even collecting their pay - by August 500 claims have been recorded
- Before the road got built steamers brought people from Bennett to Taku – then the travellers had to make their way over the portage to Scotia Bay and there was a boat to Atlin. In 1900 a short railroad was built from Taku to Scotia Bay (as there was no turn-around the locomotive had to make the trip towards Taku backwards): it was a 2 mile trip and cost 2 dollars – and still sometimes you had to get out and help push
- Paul asked how many people live here: but we don’t have any cellphone reception so that question has to wait
Along Atlin Lake
We decided we saw all and then
continued on – coming by Como lake: that’s the one with all the float
planes, and then comes the rest area we
discovered yesterday so we pull in – actually it is like a pretty campsite –
lakefront sites with picnic tables – only downside: no real sitting on the lake
and it is not that warm – I think we get fussy, but decided to skip this nice
spot.
SNAFU – Situation normal all “fouled”
up
Back in the Yukon, we decided to go to
the Snafu lake – as we really love the name – ok I guess it is weekend and the
sun is shining (even it’s not warm) so everyone is out camping: and we were not
so impressed with that campsite in the first place. Guess we leave Snafu
behind.
Boat watching on Little Atlin lake
We stopped here before at the little
Atlin lake and found a perfect spot to pull in: having coffee enjoy the
sunshine and watch people – it is super full here. And then we had most of the
fun, as one boat after the other came in and got pulled out – we are now
experts on who is good in putting a boat on a trailer – it really was a lot of
fun.
And then we decided that we will
continue on, so that by tomorrow we can leave the Yukon behind us and slowly
head into the “warmer” BC.
Back on the Alcan
And we are back on the famous Alaska
Highway – we drove this stretch before, and now heading back towards Teslin. We
were hoping to pull out somewhere – haha joke, there are no pullouts along that
Highway. No big deal -we head to Teslin lake campground – and wouldn’t you
believe it, the campground is in the forest (not on the lake) – the “lake-view”
sites are one RV behind the other in a row (really!!!) – good thing it was
full.
At the Teslin Rest area
It is nearly 6 pm, and in the last bit
it warmed up – so driving makes more tired and we decided that it is time to
pull over somewhere. Rest area one “no camping”, next stop we find “no
camping”, we pull out at the park and it says “no camping” – really you want
tourists in town – let them stay somewhere.
After crossing the river we pull into
the rest area on this side, and lucky for us the only sign here says “no
littering” – good enough for us. We pull up at the top, so we have a nice view
on the lake and the sunset (yes it is super perfect for the view).
By the way we also learned that Dragon
flies eat Mosquitos – so as where in July you have lots and lots of mosquitos –
once the dragon flies come in August they eat the mosquitos and there are less.
We had a huge one visiting us in the Camper.
After Supper Gine said, I will walk
down to the info signs – Paul said no. Once Gine heads back Paul is on the way
down with Mandy on the leash – now what should we think!!!!!!! Do it for the
cat not for your wife???
Good Bye Teslin and the Southern Lake
area of the Yukon
2025-05-22