Leaving Watson Lake we headed west, south, northwest to Whitehorse. In our meandering to get to Whitehorse we re-entered British Columbia for a short period. There was a massive fire south of Watson Lake. We saw the cars lined up waiting to be led through the burn area south towards Prince George. There were not many roads in upper B.C. and Y.T. One group we talked with at the hotel had to go south through the fire area to get to Vancouver for their flight to Australia. If the road was closed they would have to backtrack and would lose several days time. We learned that you do not want to be on the roads after 8pm. Gas stations close, there are no hotel rooms available and the wild animals come out.
Smoke from the fire obscured our views. We were very glad when we started heading northwest away from the smoke. The mountains off in the distance provided us with some impressive landscapes. Highway signs were scarce. There were no notifications of the territory changes between B.C. and Y.T. along the route. Nor was there any sign informing us of the watershed sending water to the Pacific rather than the Arctic. Another missing notification was when we crossed the 60 degree latitude. (On a different vacation when I traveled to the Northwest Territories there was a sign informing us that we had crossed the 60 degree mark. The Arctic Circle is at 66 degrees latitude.) We had to depend upon our maps to know these informative facts.
Some of the trees were beginning to change color; however the official start of Autumn was not due for another 5 weeks. The weather we experienced was mild. We had the best weather from Watson Lake to Whitehorse. Shorts were the appropriate clothing that day.
Upon arriving in Whitehorse the sign and Yukon River appeared simultaneously. Whitehorse was named from the white rapids on the Yukon River flowing through the city. Yukon Territories has a population just short of 32,000 people. 25,000 folks live in Whitehorse. The town hosts two theaters, several food stores, all kinds of car dealerships, museums, restaurants and many tourist shops. Twice a week a direct flight arrives from Germany. Even with all the tourist prosperity, there remains a depressed feeling amongst a portion of the native population. Evidence of problems with alcohol were seen in the people and billboards. Our hotel was next to a bar that opened at 9am every morning. It was common to see women hanging around the bar.
There was a local town brewery, Yukon Beer. We took a tour of the brewery. The beer was very good. They were very generous with their tastings. Guess that does not help the alcoholism problem in the area. All the art work for their labels and t-shirts was done by local artists.
A restaurant recommended to us offered some of the best food we'd had since our farewell lunch at Pyramid Lake in Jasper. We ended up eating at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Barbecue both nights. The food lovers will want to know what we ate. I had some barbecue ribs the first night. Bill had some delicious chowder the 2nd night, the first night he had fish and chips. Sandy had a cod dish that was very tasty. The vegetarian dinner offerings were delicious; I feasted on one of the vegetarian dishes for my second meal. A vegan bakery in town offered tasty coffee drinks and breakfast breads. We enjoyed the food and hospitality of Whitehorse. Whitehorse enjoyed our tourist money.
The MacBride Museum featured history during the gold rush period and beyond. Stuffed animals from the area were displayed; we confirmed it was mountain goats that we saw along the road. Sam McGee's cabin, Sam McGee from the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee", was replicated and housed on the museum property. The history of the gold adventurers was interesting, especially the women who came to the Yukon. Women could not make a claim or own a saloon but they came here to change their fortune. One woman left her husband and kids in Chicago; she traveled with her brother to search for gold. The interesting stories were plentiful.
Here were pictures of 2nd Street and an interesting building adornment. We never did find out why the fighting moose were displayed on the roof.
Whitehorse and all the towns up north had amazing flower displays.
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