Takhini river, Yukon.

We headed into the city of Whitehorse and went directly to the airport to confirm flight times for my intrepid navigator - who was ending this excursion early to fly back to Toronto for a wedding. With time to spare, we went next door to the Berengia Interpretive Centre in Whitehorse. It features the mammoth, the giant short-faced bear, the steppe bison an the scimitar cat, as well as beavers as large as bears!
After seeing the navigator off at the airport, I took care of some essentials like fuel ($1.01/l for diesel), propane, a few groceries, and a fine Tim Horton's double-double.
Unfortunately, by this time, it was too late to tour the Klondike (below), another gold rush era sternwheeler on display in downtown Whitehorse.
So, with only myself and the cat still aboard we headed south and east, then down into British Columbia again, for a quick visit to Atlin - at the end of the road.
The day was kind of grey and I did not have time to linger longer than to look for a glass repair shop. The road to Atlin is half gravel and half hard surfaced and was half under construction, and a speeding yellow service truck threw two huge rocks at my windsheild, both succeeding in huge craters.
On the way back, there was a lakeside campspot around Km 54 that looked like a great place to stop for the night.
We had the place all to ourselves, ( N 59 54.357 W 133 48.311)
and the cat (below) had time to get out and check out the local fauna. Being far enough east and south, my Sirius satellite radio had begun to work reliably again.
On the way back, I watched for more speeding trucks, but the damage had already been done. I covered the divots with duct tape to keep any water out - hoping to get to a glass repair place before the cracks started to spread.
We came across this quaint little log place that I had driven by on the way south. My curiosity got the best of me. (Click on any photo for larger view)
The place was clearly abandoned, but had an 'open' sign in the window!
Read the signs below and inside.
Inside was a range of 'goods' for trade or barter. It was a do it yourself situation.
In spite of the obvious bargains to be had; and there was even a register to record your transaction, I managed to resist the temptation to swap any goods.
Because we had come north on the Alaska highway, I decided to return via the Stewart-Cassiar highway, south from Watson Lake. I checked out this map and mileages on the sign along the road.
Back in the Yukon, I filled the tank at Jake's Corner, and again at the juction of #37 south in case fuel was not plentiful along the way.
Camping opportunites were few and far between at quitting time, but I finally found this lakeside spot at the Sawmil Point Rec Area along Dease Lake. N 58 46.736 W 130 06.200

I finally managed to consume the last of the Braeburn lodge cinammon bun from 2 days before!
Next: Telegraph Creek

We arrived in Whitehorse, the capitol of the Yukon in late afternoon, and determined that even the capitol had NO cell coverage for ROGER's cell phones! What kind of company has no coverage that we could find - anywhere in the Yukon? Might be time to switch services?

Fortunately, my iPhone can utilize wi-fi signals as well, but that's not the point.

We quickly tracked down the Klondike Rib & Salmon bake for a hearty meal. There was a line-up already, but we used the time to walk a bit of the downtown area and visit an ATM.
After eating, we toured on north about 30 kms and camped for the night at Takhini Hot Springs, the second and last time we would camp in a developed campground for the entire trip. We were waiting to get into the pools when they opened at 8, but found that since they drain the pools every night, they were still only about 2/3 full by opening time. Nevertheless, it was a good soak and a needed shower.
After that, the route planned by my navigator took us back south past Whitehorse, and on down to Carcross. This was an important stopping place during the gold rush. It lies at the north end of Bennett Lake, the south end of which connected to the White Pass and Yukon railroad route from the coast of Alaska.
Above is the restored remnants of a paddle wheeler used on the lakes in the area.
Many of the buildings are either well maintained or restored.

We traveled south along the shores of Bennett Lake.
The water was glassy and calm, but I suspect it is not always so mellow.
There were the remains of an old abandoned mine along the shore, but there was no where to stop for a better look, and there were no historical plaques seen in the area.

As we approached the southern end of the lake, the scenery was quite stunning.
This area is bursting with history, including incursions by the US military while the location of the US - Canada border was still unclear. Finally, the North West Mounted Police set up a check-point on the summit of the Chilkoot pass, and that remains the border to this day.
The hike over the Chilkoot pass is also a popular one, that starts on the Alaska coast at Dyea, and ends at Bennett, on the shore of Bennett Lake.


It was hard to imagine the hundreds of boats and rafts under construction and thousands of gold seekers on the shoreline around 1898 at the height of the gold rush.

Onward to Skagway!