Travels with haRVy

We turned off the Alaska Highway near Whitehorse, Yukon onto the South Klondike Highway towards Skagway, Alaska.

This specimen lived up to Al’s greatest fear.

Another Emerald Lake. Think this might be our third.

The town of Carcross, YT lies about halfway down this stretch of the highway. Once a hunting and fishing camp for Inland Tlingit and Tagish people, Carcross became a key stopover and supply center during the Klondike Gold Rush. We were pleasantly surprised to find more going on in this tiny town than expected.

The White Pass and Yukon Railway, extending from Skagway through Carcross to Whitehorse, was completed in 1900. With the completion of the railway, Carcross became a major transportation centre. The Carcross railway station is designated under the federal Railway Station Protection Act.

This guy truly loves his job.

The S.S. Tutshi was a historic steamer that burned almost to the ground while being restored. The town made the best of a terrible situation by erecting this informative memorial around the remains.

Many of the homes in the area seem pretty rustic, but all the people we came into contact with were jovial and welcoming.

Recently built area for tourists to shop, dine, and explore the culture.

We were lucky enough to meet Tlingit artist  Keith Wolfe-Smarch in his carving shop.

His son designed and carved the mask on the right.

Railroad bridge across the narrows.

At approximately 1 square mile, The Carcross Desert is often considered the smallest desert in the world.

Not only does Carcross have a desert, but it also has a sandy beach!

I never expected to see this in the Yukon… did you?

We have camped at Walmart a few times, but that didn’t prepare us for the scene we found at the store in Whitehorse, Yukon. Folks staying there represented many walks of life, several states, and a few foreign countries. It felt a bit like a circus!

This is just one row of overnight “guests,” there were four more.

Think this guy has been here for a while?

Or this guy? Where’s his tow vehicle?

Here’s another nice one.

Here’s one at the other end of the spectrum. Gotta love the guy walking his dog by skate boarding too.

Vintage, but not in a good way. Note the bucket under his leaky sewer pipe.

And I thought campers road on the back of pick-up trucks.

No idea why this guy needs to tow a travel trailer behind his maxi-rig.

This Smart car housed a woman and her three dogs. I’m not kidding. Note the long horse trailer and Airstream trailer in the background too. The variety was amazing!

These German cuties are traveling around North America for four months. Not exactly sure how they all slept inside that mini-van, but they were in good spirits around their breakfast table the next morning.

While it would have been extremely entertaining to spend a week in the Walmart parking lot, we did manage to get out to see some of the area attractions. The most interesting being the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center. This museum explains the ancient place called Beringia, that lay between two continents on the edge of the Arctic. It was a land of ice, giant mammals and the First People of North America.

Mammoth skeleton

Giant Bison

Al learned how to use a dart launcher. Did a pretty good job too. right after he chucked this one a real red fox came out from the brush.

This DC-3 in front of The Yukon Transportation Museum is actually a working weather vane.

Before heading out we took a short hike at Miles Canyon.

I included this poster just because I like it.

As far as we could see, the only attraction worth visiting in the town of Watson Lake, Yukon is the Sign Post Forest. We also visited the Northern Lights Space and Science Center, but that is definitely not something to write home about.

In case you can’t read the copy in the photo above, the Sign Post Forest was started by a homesick GI in 1942. Today it takes up a couple of acres, with huge new panels snaking through the trees being constantly added. There are street signs, welcome signs, signatures on dinner plates, and license plates from around the world.

Can you believe somebody would carry this huge directional sign all the way from Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts to display it here?

Another “German Assault Vehicle,” as I have decided to call them.

Rancheria Falls – short hike to stretch our legs after a few more hours of driving.

Camped for the night overlooking Teslin Lake. We must have picked the best campsite as several other visitors brought their cameras over to take photos.

Yes, that is a bicyclist traveling the Alaska Highway. There are not many as this is a LONG difficult road with hundreds of miles between accommodating places to stop for the night. 

These vehicles are a few of the thousands left behind after World War II.

This campground in Whitehorse, YT had almost everything one could want (except Hot Springs). It had a unique community feeling to it too, which was probably because it was primarily for tent campers who are always more sociable than RVer. Unfortunately, the traffic noise was so bad that we left after one night.

Hippy Yuppy Coffee Shop, Ice Cream Parlor, and Campground Office.