Blogs from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, North America
May 26th 2012
Road miles to date: 1133 Our wildlife encounters continued as we were sitting by a campfire on our last night in Denali when a moose and her calf walked right by us. The next morning they were still nearby when a park ranger came around saying that a grizzly had been sighted about 100 yards up from our tent and it was probably tracking the calf. Unfortunately we didn't get to see it but took it as good a sign as any that it was time for us to pack up and leave. We rode North to Fairbanks and after a quick stop for fuel and food we decided to plod on and head up to a place called Chena Hot Springs. The hot springs were discovered (or first developed at least) by the gold miners ... read more
April 1st 2012
An important detail to organize before I go is the blog! I enjoyed recording the New Zealand trip for posterity, and am preparing to do so with this adventure in Oz as well. Here we go!... read more
December 9th 2011
Oh man, planning a trip to Japan is much harder. Our plan is to get the JR Rail Pass for 21 days, this will ensure we have the train ride from almost North to South. We printed the map of railways our pass will cover and now we need to decide on what stops we want to adventure at. This is hard, we know main cities but trying to investigate whats in these other small towns is near impossible. We have decided to blow up the map and sit down with it and the inter-webs to explore each stop. We have a few stops we know we are going to stop at however the thins we want to experience like a traditional tea cermony. Where do we go for that? Where do we go to find ... read more
December 7th 2011
Hello!! I have decided to start a blog to detail my experince on planning and during my trip to Japan. There are 2 of us going, myself and Keri my best friend. We had been thinking of going on a trip for awhile now, about 2 days ago we had made our decision. Japan! Our plan is 4 weeks, backpacking a figure 8 to start and end in Tokyo. We decided to leave around March 16th and return April 12th. Our budget is $6,000.00 each. This will include flights, traveling withing Japan, food, accomidations and any entertainment. We bought 2 Lonley Planet travel books Japan, and Discover Japan. Both have alot of information. We have been looking into Hi-Hosteling online and other random sites. I will update with ones we find useful or where we make ... read more
August 11th 2011
How far north can you drive? Where does the road end? At what point do you have to bust out dog sleds and snow shoes? One possible answer might be Inuvik. At the top of Canada's Northwest Territory, it's two degrees above the Arctic Circle and Canada's northernmost town. (Alaska has four towns further north. Barrow is the northernmost.) My friend Jerry and I once planned a fantasy trip to Inuvik. We were going to take our fathers (who, not surprisingly, didn't think it would be such a great idea.) The trip had the added advantage of traversing the storied Yukon. As a kid I followed the adventures of Sergeant Preston of the Royal Canadian Mounties. The gold rush brought a lot of seedy characters to the Yukon. Only Sergeant Preston stood between them and the ... read more
August 10th 2011
August 9 – 10, 2011 DAWSON CITY TO WHITEHORSE, YT Our drive to Whitehorse was a full day and rather uneventful, at least for us. Our tail-gunner, Pudge Wright, had engine trouble with his pick-up and had to be towed into Whitehorse, arriving about 10:30 p.m. He has to wait for a day for the part needed to fix the problem. Fortunately there have not been any other major problems with any of the other rigs and no accidents. Dinner was provided again after our arrival in Whitehorse. It was a wonderful BBQ steak, baked potatoes and salad, and of course a delicious dessert. The dinner was held in the banquet room at the RV park. Wednesday morning we were picked up in the bus and taken to the banks of the Yukon to board a ... read more
August 6th 2011
Today we left Beaver Creek, YT around 8 a.m. The overcast and foggy conditions gradually gave way to some amazing weather just in time for us to reach Kluane Lake (one of our favorite locations from 3 years ago when we were driving to AK). This time we pulled over and took a walk with Duke down to the water. He had fun smelling everything in sight and just getting a chance to get out of the car. It sure is a good thing he loves car rides!!!! Kluane Lake is gorgeous with aqua waters and surrounded by the Ruby and Wrangell-St. Elias mountain ranges. We stopped for lunch in Haines Junction, searching in vain for the awesome sandwhich shop we went to 3 years ago. We have since concluded that that shop must have been ... read more
July 20--Mayo to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
Published: July 28th 2011North America » Canada » Yukon » Whitehorse
July 28th 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011 Galena Park, Mayo, YK 55 degrees, cloudy, but some blue sky can be seen. Need to get a loaf of bread today. Drove through the community of Mayo to the grocery store---it doesn’t open until 10.00!!! We have discovered that the Yukon govt. helps these small, mostly First Nations communities/villages/towns publish a “walking tour” of the town. Two color printing with drawings and not expensive photos, but still?? It would be like publishing a walking tour of Tucker or Clarkston----here is Aunt Susie’s house whose father fought in the Civil War; here is the fire station that was built in 1955 after the original structure burned in 1954; Fred’s gas station is located here where there was once a house of ill repute----you get the idea. Anyway, we drove around and looked ... read more
July 21 and 22--Whitehorse, Yukon
Published: July 28th 2011North America » Canada » Yukon » Whitehorse
July 28th 2011
July 21 and 22nd, 2011 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Wal-Mart Parking lot. 60 degrees and sunny. Mileage 12519 These two days we set aside to stock up and get ready for the next ten days or more before we get to the next big town of Prince George in British Columbia. First thing on our list this morning is laundry. I did two large double loads while Valerie worked on her computer at the next door McDonald’s. After folding all the clothes and linens, we drove around and looked at the horse park area that was to have a show this coming weekend. Had lunch watching the ground squirrels go in and out their holes and then pop up to look around ---they are really cute even if they do cause a lot of problems with their ... read more
July 16th 2011
July 16, 2011 WHITEHORSE TO DESTRUCTION BAY Shortly after leaving Whitehorse we began seeing the majesty and grandeur of the highest mountains in Yukon. They rose on our left and became more magnificent as we approached Haines Junction and the Visitors Centre for Kluane National Park. In the Centre we learned about the highest peak in Canada, Mt. Logan, which towers up to 19,550 ft. It is in such an isolated section of the park only the hardiest adventurers will ever see it. There are massive icefields and glaciers in the park, the smaller of which can be seen from the highway. Several of our fellow-travelers saw grizzlies today, but all we saw were little ground-squirrels. Destruction Bay is on the west side of Kluane Lake where it was originally a construction camp for the building ... read more
