Yukon Territory

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
If there’s anything we’ve learned over the last week or so of traveling through remote country it’s this: if there’s a gas pump, pump it; and if there’s a pot, pee in it. Don’t wait for the next one because there may not be one for hundreds of miles (or kilometers as the Canucks insist on having it.)

We finally finished the last leg of the Cassiar Highway this afternoon and got out on the actual Alaska Highway about a dozen miles west of Watson Lake. The Cassiar was a great alternative route. We don't regret taking it despite the white-knuckle experience of narrow lanes and steep dropoffs at the edges. The wildlife and the scenery were both remarkable. This morning we came across three moose breakfasting in a quiet roadside lake so we stopped to watch them. They apparently knew we couldn't get anywhere near them so they pretty much ignored us and continued their placid munching. It was so silent all we could hear was our ears ringing. Amazing! No traffic. No dogs barking. Nothing. Denise and I decided we'd like to come back and build a little cabin on that lake someday. Then a bit further down the highway we ran across a couple of bears - big shorty and short biggy - loitering in the roadside brush. The smaller of the two must have had some experience at begging handouts because he came right up to our stopped vehicles and sniffed around, waiting for us to supply a treat. He finally waddled off unfulfilled on that score. The picture was taken by Denise from the truck window, without using the zoom!

The Alaska Highway is like I-94 compared to the Cassiar. More traffic now, too, but at least we can drive along at 55 and not have to slow down every hundred yards or so for potholes or to cower over at the road's edge while a huge lumber truck roars by. Tonight we're at a resort/campground called Dawson Peaks near the town of Teslin, Yukon, and on the shore of Teslin Lake (pic) which looks on the map to be about a hundred miles long, give or take a mile. We hunkered around a smoky fire this evening eating beans from tin cans (actually popcorn from microwave bags) and listening to the Tigers whoop up on the Cardinals on our XM radio, while the wolves howled in the hills round about (actually trucks on the highway). Tomorrow we'll venture on to Skagway, Alaska. Yes! Alaska!