Blogs from Yukon, Canada, North America

Today was a long road day and we'd be heading back into wildfire smokey skies. I could smell a hint of it when I stepped out of the trailer this morning. It was all around us the moment we got on the highway. Back in our first week when we drove to Tok from Dawson City, Yukon we came down on Alaska Highway 5 (a.k.a. the Top of the World or Taylor Highway). When we reached the official end of the Alaska Highway at Delta Junction, AK we hadn't driven the entirety of the highway. We deviated in Watson Lake and drove north. Not far out of Tok we continued on Alaska Highway 2 (the Alaska Highway). Today's leg was part of the section of the Alaska Highway we missed on the way up. Have I ... read more

I tried to stay up to see the Northern Lights, but when 2:30 rolled around and it was just dark enough to start the first feature at a drive-in movie theater I decided to call it a night. While I was waiting for it to get dark I did pull out that bag of ketchup flavored potato chips and tried a few. Yep, they taste like ketchup. Would I buy them again? No, not my thing. I woke to a beautiful day, the bright sun already high in the sky. Dave spoke with a couple last night who gave him the lowdown of what to expect today. He passed the good news on to us this morning. From Pelly Crossing to Dawson City we can expect to encounter potholes. Lots of them. Some "big enough to ... read more

Woke up to the clearest day we've seen in what seems like quite a while, but in actuality has only been four days. I suppose if you've only been on the road six days, four is a long time. We can actually see the cloud cover and patches of blue. The downpour we heard pelting the roof last night worked its magic and cleaned a lot of the smoke from the air. It's refreshing to be rid of the brown-gray filter and see the true green of the trees again. It was a very slow, lazy start this morning. Today's drive will be the shortest at only 94 miles. There's no rush to get on the road. So we didn't. Hold that thought. (One hour later) I had to take a timeout from the blog post ... read more

It’s easy to forget what your own country has to offer. As the end of 2018 was approaching, you start to look back at your year and you start to think about what you have accomplished. How many of those so-called “New Year Goals” have you realized in the last few months? The approach of a new year always gives you that extra push to accomplish even more of that 2018 list. Plus, how exciting is it to tick off a list and start a new one? At the beginning of 2018, I had given myself the goal to explore all of Canada’s provinces and territories. I want to see more of my own country. There are no deadlines, no starting point really. But how about the Northern Territories? Whitehorse, Yukon img=https://i2.wp.com/spiritbirdmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/DSC_0026.jpg?fit=1024%2C681&ssl=1 It was early November ... read more

These narrows on the Yukon River look tame after the installation of two dams. But in the 1890s they were impassible and stymied gold seekers trying to reach Whitehorse to journey on Dawson City. It’s in the 80s and the group is stressing the parks power grid. Some parks have their own generators-there’s no public power available. The views while driving are expansive.... read more