From Atlin, we shopped in Whitehorse then headed West, finally settling at Aishihik Lake Territorial Park (TP) which is 42 kilometres (26 miles) up a dirt road and is extremely rough in parts. We have the entire campground to ourselves with an unlimited supply of wood which gave us a great campfire on our first night plus fed the woodstove the next day in the picnic shelter since the weather turned nasty (read wet, cold and windy). At least the deary day allowed us to play Scrabble and Skip.Bo while being toasty next to the heat. Besides Yukon's barks and Squirrels’ chattering, it is even more peaceful here than Atlin’s McDonald Lake. However, wildlife has been extremely sparse on this trip so far except for Porcupines. A couple from Haines Alaska had too much food on their trip and gave us some Halibut that they caught late last year; all three of us dined in style that night after blackening it on the woodstove. The following night we ate Grayling that I caught in the Aishihik River along with grilled Portobello mushrooms and rice.
It turned nice on Sunday so we had a great walk being careful to minimize Yukon's time on sharp rocks until his paw pad heals.
Off early on Monday morning, it took us an hour to retrace our tracks back forty-two kilometres to the Alaska Highway where we continued our journey West. We settled into Pine Lake TP which just opened after a woman runner and her dog were mauled just outside the park a week earlier. After setting up, we drove to Haines Junction for a few supplies and to visit the Kluane Visitor Centre for WiFi. We had great campfires on both evenings which took the chill away; even the daytime highs have not been hot, in fact highs so far have been 20C/68F. Pine Lake was likely named by a joker - only Spruce exist here. We took some time exploring for decent random campsites to get away from the herds of large camping rigs; we will try one out soon. We also did laundry at ripoff prices compared to Whitehorse.
Left our Pine Lake campsite early and had a Sticky Bun breakfast from the local Bakery then filled up with water before heading to the shore of Sulphur Lake for some random camping.
We setup “Wild” ten feet from the lake; the terrain is good for Yukon and no sharp rocks are around but it is still windy and unseasonably cold 3C/29F at night and around 18C/65F in the day. We disconnected “Wild” and toured the area including hiking the Spruce Beetle Trail. Back at the camper while we were having lunch, a 1947 Piper float plane landed on our lake and shortly after a pickup truck with horse supplies arrived to load up the plane. This outfitter provides multi-day wilderness trail rides which sounded great but likely pretty expensive. An interesting Aussie (Jono) arrived at dinner-time on his bicycle and shared stories around our campfire; over two plus years he has walked, kayaked (Seattle to Skagway) and bicycled from Patagonia without using any “helpful” rides. We also searched for other potential random campsites and saw two big healthy Black Bears but eventually decided our next resting spot would be Congdon TP besides Kluane Lake. Besides returning to Haines Junction for supplies we explored for more random campsites West of us which we tried soon.
With the cold and wind, it has been really nice having campfires morning, afternoon and night; in fact we even cooked some meals over them.
We moved about a kilometre down the road and setup on a random site overlooking Kluane Lake; these free sites are used by many travelers as one night stands, mainly people in a hurry to see everything in a short period. Although further from the water, this space is great for Yukon since this area is mainly sand. Walking is the main venue for our exercise and we have also discovered another couple of random campsites upon our return.
Although Yukon wanted to stay here forever, we backtracked to camp along the Haines Alaska road which gives us access to supplies and WiFi before we truly head to Alaska. On our way to Haines Junction we saw our first Moose cross the highway. About eight kilometres (5 miles) from the BC border we found an amazing random campsite next to the Takhanne River surrounded by mountains; even Yukon loves this location. The Swallows, Cliff and Bank, are interesting to watch flitting about decimating the higher layer of bugs.
I tried fishing but no fish could get above Million Dollar Falls which is a little bit downstream. We got one day of Summer with 28C/82F temperature which was followed by large thunderstorms and overnight rain. So far, all nights have been cold with temperatures just a few degrees above freezing. This overnight rain raised the river by at least 30cm/12” and helped clean some of the mud off Wild, elbow grease finished the job. Besides the swallows, we also had a busy Kingfisher that was nesting in the bank with hungry dependents to feed. Since the border to Haines is closed at night, there is no traffic noises to wake us.
From paradise we drove to Sulphur Lake for a night with another stop in Haines Junction for supplies, gas and the internet. Our next stop was a two night stay alongside Kluane Lake where Yukon had complete freedom to chase Squirrels and Ravens. Campfires are great in the chilly mornings and there are lots of places to walk, albeit on smooth rocks. The wind has been blowing nonstop at Kluane Lake where one needed a jacket to stay warm.
Heading further West we random camped in a defunct gravel pit next to the Denjek River and watched a Beaver dining on saplings alongside the pond. Later that afternoon, a plethora of big rig campers descended on this random campsite. Overnight the rain arrived so we continued driving to Snag Junction TP where we stayed for two rainy days using the campground shelter to stay toasty plus cooked our meals on the woodstove.
So ends our time West of Whitehorse; my next Blog will cover our sojourn into Alaska where we will meet up with Zach (Cindy's son), Shari plus Iris and Dahlia (but not Daisy). Hopefully the weather will improve for this part of the trip.
Tidbits:
- Bear 19:1 Moose
- Not much rain this year and all lakes are extremely low in the Yukon
- It is a shame that three Grizzly Bears were destroyed because of human stupidity; at least one got away. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/haines-junction-bear-attack-victim-speaks-1.7256750
- Bats seem nonexistent in land of the midnight sun but Brown Bats have a house at the TP
- To keep dust from camper one must have removable seal over furnace and hot water vents - too late smart :)
SPOT:
- Aishihik Lake TP 2024 07 03-07: https://maps. app.goo.gl/AuFef9Rgv3xPgdxo9
- Pine Lake TP 2024 07 08&09: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zcq74oC1RWEB5cKN7
- Sulphur Lake Random 2024 07 10-14 & 26: https://maps.app.goo.gl/2z4fSshHQBCCxZk98
- Congdon Creek TP 2024 07 15&16: https://maps.app.goo.gl/kqQ8j71HxzAF4S1F8
- Kluane Lake Random 2024 07 17-19: https://goo.gl/maps/mC2gDCdRPQJMGa2Z6
- Takhanne River Random 2024 07 20-25: https://goo.gl/maps/Anbj1L7p18RWrcn3A
- Kluane Lake Random 2024 07 27&28: https://goo.gl/maps/S7YEWYB6fGLMz8Dx7
- Denjek River Random 2024 07 29: https://goo.gl/maps/C3uqduGoGYox8k8R8
- Snag Junction TP 2024 07 30&31: https://goo.gl/maps/BTGqxQ7MGhVtbdts8
tracy
2024-08-09
Happy Birthday Cindy!!! Have a fun day with the fam!! Will have a Keystone cheers in honor of you!!