June 28 – June 29 Watson Lake,Yukon Territory
We arrived in Watson Lake, the self described “Gateway to the Yukon,” but more commonly known as “Signpost City,” on Sunday, June 29th. The campground areas were now making a visible change. It was a virtual parking lot of 150 RVs, motor homes, & mammoth motor home buses with towed vehicles. We were in the minority with our little 26 ft. BF, but we definitely have adaptability to all conditions. It's kind of comical to see these RV parks. Literally parking lots for RVs traveling to or from Alaska.
First thing to do in Watson Lake is to visit the Sign Post Forest. In 1942 a homesick army soldier, working on the Alaska Hwy, put a sign up that indicated how far it was to his home town, Danville, IL. From that moment people have been adding their personal signs ever since. It is estimated there are over 80,000 signs posted there now & the town encourages anyone to add his own signature sign. Personally I thought is was silly & a bit ridiculous & wasn’t that interested in viewing it, but once we got into the forest it became addictive. Reading many (you can’t read them all!) signs & some with personal messages & just taking in the many parts of our country & world from where folks have traveled from & who have ended up for a day or 2 in Watson Lake, Yukon. Amazing! We did not have a sign to leave, but next time…. We had met a family at one of the hot springs who was on their way to AK & the dad could hardly wait to get to Watson Lake to see if the sign he had posted in 1978 was still there! We certainly hope so! What a trill for him if he saw it & to be able to show it to his young family!
Also in Watson Lake we visited the airport which is probably typical of airports in the Yukon. It was remote, 1 runway, actually paved, & open for business should any aircraft decide to come through. The terminal had an excellent display of historical photos depicting the aviation history of the area. Watson Lake had an airport long before it had a road! The route for the Alaska Hwy was chosen along the path of airports & air transportation even though it was not the easiest route on which to build a road. I was amazed to learn that there were a significant number of women pilots who flew for the army/air corps at that time & particularly from Watson Lake to Russia for the Lend Lease Program. Women pilots were a secret during that time period we learned! Interesting, huh? We also visited the Northern Lights Center in Watson Lake which had a lovely & impressive interactive showing of the aurora borealis inside a theater. The aurora borealis is only visible during the winter months so this was the best offering to get the “feel” of those magificent sightings. A few days later a first nation (original native) woman told me that the Japanese like to come to the Yukon to conceive their babies during an aurora borealis! (Maybe other people as well!)
At the Watson Lake campground we took care of quite a few housekeeping issues – laundry, washing BF, trying to use the WiFi (sitting outside the campground office with all the mosquitos!). We also ran into the SMART group again & once again enjoyed their camaraderie. From Watson Lake our paths diverged as we were heading to Whitehorse & they went another direction to Skagway. We’ll catch Skagway on our return out of Alaska.
Our way to Whitehorse we stopped in Teslin to visit the Tslingit (pronounced "Klingit") Heritage Museum. The Tslingit are the native people of this area. It was most interesting & gave us insight into much of the culture in the area & the special relationship the people of the Yukon have with their environment.
July 1 – July 2 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon. The population of the Yukon is approximately 30,000 & the population of Whitehorse is 24,000! Wow! We pulled into a major city & it was a whole lot smaller than Alexandria, VA or smaller than most American towns for that matter. We spent 2 days in Whitehorse & while we were there we took in several museums, a boat excursion along the Yukon River into Miles Canyon. It was a lovely 2 hour trip & it made us long for our Chesapeake Bay. Besides the beauty of the river & the canyon we were treated to the sights of 3 bald eagles! Two were simply perched on the cliff of the canyon walls & both masterfully sat still for lots of pictures from the visitors. The 3rd eagle we saw soared above the boat over & around the river & canyon. It was a sight so hard to believe! A fabulous spectacle! All 3 of the eagles were much larger than any eagle I had ever seen & I’ve certainly never seen too many! I'm awed & now know why it is our national bird!
In Whitehorse we visited the Transportation Museum & got more information on the development & growth of the Yukon & the building of the northern part of the Alaska Hwy. The stories & pictures are wonderful! We also took a tour of the SS Klondike stern wheeler (known to me as a paddle boat!). It was built in 1929 & was the largest vessel on the Yukon River. It carried mail, passengers, supplies, & silver & gold & zinc ore between Whitehorse & Dawson City. The tales of those travels & viewing the ship were magnificent. It was easy to imagine life on the Yukon in the early 20th century!
A bit of shopping in town & returning to the RV for dinner completed our day. Early to bed. A long road ahead the following day!
FYI, it’s all DAY TIME up north right now. It is truly light 24 hours a day. I know, because I seem to wake up every hour,or more, during the “night” & am compelled to look out the window to see if it is light or dark. I am finding it so amazing! I really love it that it is so light. On the other hand I find I need to nod a tad bit during the day just to catch up.
