July 23 and July 24--Whitehorse to Rancheria Falls Trailhead, Yukon to Boya Lake, BC

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July 23, 2011 Wal-mart parking lot, Whitehorse, YK 59 degrees and overcast at 8:40. Starting mileage at 12560.

Valerie had breakfast at Mickey D’s while using their internet to send off stuff she had worked on. We filled Rosie II with water, dumped the holding tanks, and topped off the propane. Left Whitehorse toward Watson Lake about 10:00 following Jim and Diane’s RT. Rocky was riding shotgun.

This part of the road we had all driven up on, over two months ago. It looked different without the snow on the mountains and with all the wildflowers blooming. You could also see ponds and rivers that you couldn’t have seen coming the opposite way because of the road angle or tree blockage.
When we got to the community of Teslin we stopped to tour the George Johnston Museum. It was closed when we went by before as it was too early in the season for them. This was by far the best First Nation’s museum we have been in and even better than many public museums. George Johnston was a member of the Tlingit tribe and took and developed photos of his friends, family, and community functions starting early in the 1900’s. We watched an extremely well done video of his life and it was fascinating.

Besides his photography, he was an entrepreneur. He built and operated a small store in the community. He owned the first automobile in the area. He and his friends cleared a road for three miles and he charged people $2.00 to ride in his model T on it. When winter came and the 90 miles of lake was frozen he drove on it, but painted the car white so he could hunt using the car. He re-painted it in the spring.

The documentary also showed what happened when the army built the road through their land/village. There was apparently no notice given to the tribe that a road was even going to be built across their property, it just was taken. One of the most devastating results of this “interaction” was almost all of the tribe members got a serious case of measles that killed some of them. Film clips taken in the 1940’s were inserted in the video showing soldiers desecrating tribal gravesites by removing items placed in the burial “cabins,” and of them pulling out bear cubs from winter dens and using them for target practice and then draping the dead cubs on the front of their cars like trophies. Since the natives have Oriental-like features the Tlingits had to have ID cards to pass on the road that was through their village as the US controlled the road and all that traveled on it until way after War II. The video claimed that all was endured as the tribe was aware of the threat to the US and Canada after the Japanese captured several of the Alaskan Aleutian Islands. But still-------------------!!!!!!!!!

After touring the museum, we drove on toward Watson Lake, but we felt it was too far to get there this evening, so stopped for the night at Rancheria Falls trailhead. We all walked to the falls---much of the trail was on a boardwalk as the ground was too rocky with huge boulders to traverse any other way. Pretty falls. By the time we settled in for the night there was another Roadtrek and a Pleasure Way parked with our two in this rather secluded gravel pull-out.

July 24, 2011 Rancheria Falls trailhead, YK 12759 was the starting mileage. 62 degrees and clear blue gorgeous

sky. Left out at 10:00 am.
Drove to Watson Lake to nail our “Rosie II was here sign” with the many 100’s of other signs nailed to posts at the Welcome Center. We found the sign the Houchins put up when we came through in May, and there was room for ours to be nailed below theirs.

Got gas nearby at $1.289 per liter. We filled her with 73 liters @ $92.87 . Mileage at 12844. We then had lunch while looking around Wye Lake. We looked for the ducks and grebes that were there in May, but not much going on now.

Stopped and got some money from their tiny bank which is open only 3 days a week from 10:00 to 3:00 with an hour for lunch. We had less than $50 in Canadian cash and all the parks require cash either placed in a “self” registration envelope or given to a ranger when they come around to collect.

Shortly after turning onto the Cassiar Highway, we found ourselves in the midst of a recent [last year a ranger told us] extensive forest fire. Soon after, we began to see lots and lots of empty cars and trucks parked along the road. Every once and awhile there would be a fairly substantial camp with tents and tarps and everything obviously set up off on the side of the road for a long stay. This observation stopped as soon as we were out of the forest fire area which was about 20 miles or so. We asked the Park Ranger about this when we got to Boya Lake Provincial Park to camp for the night and she said that the first year after a forest fire, the morel mushrooms grow very well and that the cars belong to the pickers who are combing the area for mushrooms. They can make $350 per day so that is why lots of vehicles are parked on the side of the road and the camps are set up for the whole summer. The Ranger said the buyer is right there to purchase all that is picked and pays in cash. Most of these mushrooms are exported to Japan.

Boya Lake is a very pretty blue lake. Several people were out on the lake in canoes and kayaks. Saw a spruce grouse crossing the camp road. Sorted out our box of books and maps and threw away all the Yukon Territory maps and brochures. We have crossed into British Columbia, so got out all the applicable stuff we had stored knowing we would be back through this province again.

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