Blogs from Yukon, Canada, North America - page 33

So we've come in search of white horses but alas, the town was actually named after the water rapids that resembled the manes of white horses. Why Whitehorses of all places to visit? Well, Jo-ann and I found a great airfare deal to come up for the weekend including three nights hotel so we jumped aboard that deal. I think i have to take what adventures I can admist the negligence & liability, constitutional and property law thats bogging me down! It was evident on the flight that the great divide between Edmonton and Calgary extends to well, airplanes. Despite booking together, Jo and I could not find seats together as the Edmonton passengers sat separately on one side of the plane from the Calgarians. Jo and I have set off on this fine snowy saturday ... read more

We headed across the border today to Canada. Only a short way up the road we were joined by three rather large moose. They really are some sight and Manuel informs us can grow to at least 750lbs. The scenery was beautiful, like the Highlands at times. As its Fall here, the trees are a great yellow colour, which makes everything seem that more special. I think Canada needs some more exploring!!!... read more

Morning dawns early and cold, we load up and start on the road to Dawson City. We turn right from Chicken onto a gravel road and over an old bridge, we start climbing up a long narrow road with steep drop offs on our right and a straight mountain on our left, no room for mistakes. The road in rocky, full of ruts and when you do encounter a car your tires are just on the rim, one slight miscalculation and your over the side. We continue on for a while and it’s my turn to drive, we stop and Larry gets out and so do I, as I reach the drivers side door I notice the door latch is pushed down, looking through to the other side I notice that the other latch is also ... read more

Hello all, As you may have read in one of John's earlier blogs, my travel plans have again changed. An opportunity arose to go with Chelsea and some of her family and friends to the Yukon Territory of Canada for a wedding, and later to Alaska for a bit of a vacation. After looking at flights to Whitehorse and finding them to be very expensive (1000 dollars for a return domestic flight!) I decided to just book the flight home and drive up there with some of Chelsea's friends, who had bought a van just for this trip. A vehicle we affectionately refer to as the Angry Beaver, because its previous owners were two lesbians. The road from Winnipeg to Whitehorse (actually Haines Junction, a small town) is almost 4000 km and took nearly 36 hours ... read more

First, a little history lesson. At the outbreak of World War II there was no overland access to Alaska from the lower 48 or Canada. Fearing a Japanese invasion of Alaska (which actually did occur in June, 1942), in March 1942 the US Army undertook a crash program to build a road to supply military bases in Alaska. The road stretches 1,422 miles from Dawson Creek, BC to Delta Junction, AK, where it connects to the Richardson Highway, which runs from Valdez to Fairbanks. The project was huge, crossing rugged mountains, heavily wooded forests and swampy tundra, all under some pretty miserable weather conditions, but it was completed in eight months at a cost of $115 million, or $81,000 per mile. For comparison, the Boston Central Artery project (“the Big Dig”) cost about $1.8 billion per ... read more