Whitehorse,Yukon, Canada with a side trip to Skagway, Alaska

Wednesday, June 1, 2016 Start: Teslin Lake, Yukon, CN   End: Hi Country RV Park, Whitehorse, Yukon

Today was a short driving day to Whitehorse, Yukon.  We decided to stay 3 nights at the Hi Country RV Park 

old work jeep outside Hi Country RV Park Whitehorse Yukon CN

just outside of town with full hookups (sort of like staying at a Marriott rather than a Motel 6).  It has a few old cars from when the Alaska Highway was built at the entrance to the park.

We ran errands in town, picking up an elk steak for a future dinner and checked out Whitehorse.  We both got hot showers (amazing how everyday things at home are luxuries on the road!) and stayed up late soaking up electricity for all our gadgets (2 phones, 2 cameras, tablet, PC). 

Thursday, June 2, 2016 Side trip to Skagway, Alaska

Well, technically today we entered Alaska, at least for a few hours.  We left the RV park early with the jeep and drove south to Skagway, Alaska.  We crossed the border checkpoint about 10 miles before the town. 

sign outside Skagway, Alaska

overview on way to Skagway

It’s a tourist trap for the cruise ships so lots of shops and eateries.  There’s the Klondike National Park which consists of several of the downtown buildings and a nearby trail.  We toured the newly opened Soapy Smith Parlor to get a bit of gold rush history.  I got my National Park Passport stamp and we spend the afternoon exploring the shops and having some eats.  Mike enjoyed seeing where the gold rush miners began their journey to the Yukon. We considered a train ride but our own transportation gave us fantastic views.

road to Skagway

waterfall on road to Skagway

Emerald Lake (the water is really that color!)

The ride down and back was a constantly changing panorama of mountains, streams, waterfalls and meadows.  We saw bobcats and caribou that moved too fast to get pictures and a big old brown bear.

There's a "desert" outside of Carcross, sort of made me feel homesick.

Carcross Desert

After we got back we stopped at Berengia, an exhibit about the land mass between Russia and the US during the Ice Age and the animals  whose fossils have been found there.

pre-historic bison 

 Whew, a full day!