Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 122

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 122

Canada

6/14/09 – Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, Canada

We really enjoyed the High Country RV Park here in Whitehorse.  The spot was nice and we were placed next to Oregonians.  The park has all the goodies for RVer’s and we used most of them.  The main office/store is a beautiful log cabin.  ‘War time’ vehicles are placed in areas all along the entrance way, in areas that are ‘treed off’. They are part of the Park’s landscape. Very interesting.  We take time to buy groceries and check out Whitehorse, mainly because it is Sunday and we still need to get Yukon fishing licenses.  We find the grocery store ‘Extra Food’ and the Walmart store. 

Medic!!!

We circle Whitehorse, capital city of the Yukon, several times.  Not a lot of buildings in the downtown area, but more than we have seen for a while.  The population here is about 24 thousand, which is 2/3 the population of the entire Yukon Territory.  Whitehorse is the center of the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territory for transportation, communication and supplies.  An amazing place.  Sam says that we thought we were in some isolated spots when we were in Mexico – but nothing like this. In circling Whitehorse, we have to follow the Yukon River a ways.  We saw travel/tour boats, pontoon planes and very few people out enjoying them.  Apparently we are still a few weeks ahead of the main tourist season.  We finally obtain our Yukon fishing license and are ready to travel.

What Road?

Our main goal is to travel 100 miles up the road to Haines Junction, then decide our next move.  We get there with no problems, wonderful scenery, but no critter sightings.  We go the main store/lodge/community center in Haines Junction and talk to a few locals.  We decide to take a side trip off of the AlCan Highway and go to Haines, Alaska.    We turn left at Haines Junction, Yukon and go in search of a place to set up camp.  About 40 miles down hwy 3, we come to Dezadeash Lake Provincial Park.  We pull in to check it out.  Very nice spots, some on the lake.  Very few people.  We go on – mostly to get a little further down the road.  About 20 miles later, we come to the Million Dollar Falls Provincial Park.  Need I say more. 

Haines Junction Art

We both know this is where we belong.  We pull in, circle the possibilities and decide on a very spacious, level, wonderful spot right next to the river.  I hop out to give Sam guidance in backing into the space.  He does not need the help – I just like to give it.  He is gracious and watches me in his mirror to make sure I don’t walk where he is planning to park.  We decide to walk to the falls before we unhook.  We take off and Sam meets up with a few mosquitoes.  We get to the river by following a path.  When we reach the river’s edge, a wooden path takes over.  The path has railings and decks and seats and many stairs and switchbacks.  It is unique.  We walk the path and run into other people.  This may not seem unusual – but – we had not seen anyone prior to this and there is only one way to get to this path – through the campground.  We catch sight of the waterfall and who else is there does not matter.  The falls happening right there, just below and out of sight of our chosen camp spot, was amazing.  The drop comes out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, other then to create a waterfall.  It had many parts to it.  One main fall, below several split falls with a curve in the river thrown in. I got pictures.  We stayed until we had to go.

Million Dollar Falls

We walked back to our space and on the way – Sam was dive-bombed by another swarm of mosquitoes.  He slaps at them, hops around and even yells at them – but they continue to swarm him.  Me. I am watching. No, that is not a grin on my face.  Sam decides that this is not a good place to camp.  As he gets Brutus started and ready to zoom away, I take pictures of this really pretty camp spot – complete with river roaring beside it. 

Dezadeash Lake From Our Window

We return to Dezadeash Lake.  We select the only site that is raised up a bit, still level, and provides a great view of the lake.  Once we are set up and window shades are opened, we can see (with a little neck stretching) high, snow covered peaks on all four sides of us.  I am not positive how this happened, but I think the road comes into this valley and turns.  The mountains seem to be very close.  It is beautiful!  The sun is still shining bright, even though it is sixish and even though there are all of those mountains around us.  We decide to try and stay up late to see if it ever gets dark.  I make signs with the time and date on them.  At 7 pm, I take Sam’s picture.  At 9 pm, Sam takes mine.  At 11 pm, I take Sam’s again and we decide to take a ride around the area as I take more pictures. I cannot believe how light it is. Since we are too tired to stay up until midnight – we decide that it will stay light, whether we see it or not. 

11 PM Light