A postcard-perfect day boating on Lake Bennett

Posted On June 25, 2012

We’ve been having a very cool, wet Spring and Summer so far, but Saturday was so incredible it almost made up for all the bad days.

Our group took 3 vehicles to Carcross for a day of boating, suntanning, fishing and picnicing. I was first with the pickup, as I had some more artifact hauling to do. I parked it at the cabin and walked to the boat launch to meet my niece who trailered her little boat. This was the view of the Nares River from the footbridge at noon – the muddy water to the left is the outflow from the Watson River, with the water of Lake Bennett still clear.

At the boat launch, we waited for this very cool craft to be brough ashore. The owner has spent 3 years building it and plans to use it to run tours of the Carcross area.

Bobbie and I were on our way just before 12:30 – passing under the railway bridge in this shot.

Aaaah – the incredible beauty of Lake Bennett!

Bobbie loves being on the water! Our cabin can be seen at the extreme right of the photo.

Approaching the West Arm of Lake Bennett, with its many glaciers. Bobbie was so moved by the place she was almost in tears at this point – I really like travelling with people like her and Cathy who get it!

We made a landing just before 1:00pm to have a look at the MacDonald Creek power plant, which supplied electricity to the silver mines on Montana Mountain 100 years ago.

MacDonald Creek. On the far side of the lake in this area there are some beautiful beaches – even better than the ones on this side.

Looking north from Mile 62.9 on the White Pass & Yukon Route railway (the cabin is at Mile 67.1).

This is where we beached to explore the MacDonald Creek area – on the delta of the creek.

This is a very dynamic landscape – there are many huge rock slides and slumps, some that leave me wondering about the cause.

This large lava plug is known as Dundalk Knob.

Two thumbs up, Mother Nature – nice work!!

Some of the mining roads on Montana Mountain can be seen through one gap in the mountains.

A video look at the trip as we approached Boundary Island.

A couple of the small islets at the Yukon – British Columbia border. This was shot at 2:50pm.

Some of the gulls on the islets at the border.

I could easily have spent a while (a whole day?) on these rocks. Scenically and spiritually a very special place. I’ve spent a fair bit of time here in the canoe – while tougher to get here, the silence of the canoe is better to explore places like this.

We had a look at the Pennington section house from the boat, then went back a few hundred yards to a better spot to beach the boat for a closer look.

The quiet little bay we beached at was thick with pollen, and the movements of the water made some interesting patterns.

Near the section house is an even older log cabin – this is the back of that structure. Straight ahead is a root cellar, to the right is a workshop.

Pennington, Mile 51.6.

The upper storey of the section house is all bedrooms. I used to dream about turning this place into a B&B – if I was 30 years younger I might do it.

Yeah, I could live at Pennington!

Across from Pennington and about a half-mile further south is this large waterfall. Bobbie wanted to climb up to see the plunge pool (which has the potential to be amazing!) but the avalanche willow was too thick and we didn’t have any time left.

This is the Pennington section house as seen from the creek that flows from the waterfall above.

This 36-second video was shot at the creek seen above. Having no engine noise gives a better idea of what the place is like.

The waterfall was the furthest south we went – at 4:00pm we reluctantly began the trip back to Carcross. This gull didn’t seem to be the least bit concerned with us going by quite close!

The is the “Welcome to Yukon” sign at the border, facing the railway. This sign was installed about a dozen years ago and could use some TLC. The original sign can be seen in a corner of the Bennett Eating House.

One more landing, on Boundary Island to visit the graves of Luc Richard and Thomas A. Barnes, who dies when they fell through the ice in May 1898 while hauling freight.

Bobbie started to get worried about our fuel situation, but I looked up and told her that we had no problems because the Husky God was watching over us 🙂 Thanks for helping keep us safe, Kodi.

Having Lake Bennett calm all day is quite unusual – I’ve had to walk home from too many outings that began by canoe! This reflection was so perfect that I posted the photo upside-down 🙂

We got back to the cabin hours later than I’d planned on, but nobody, least of all Cathy, was surprised. By 7:00pm we were well into our picnic – and since the arrival of Cathy’s parents last week, the fur-kids have learned where the best odds of success are. Not that Charlie ever feeds them!

What an amazing day. I shot over 300 photos, and my niece has an even better understanding of what the Yukon can offer people like us.