A sunny drive to Dyea
We have a long list of projects that need to be taken care, but with this amazing weather, we’re mostly just goofing off for the 4-day weekend instead 🙂 Yesterday, we went on a swan hunt and ended up in Dyea.
We drove the Tagish loop to go by all the best swan viewing areas, but got skunked. There wasn’t a single swan to be seen. A friend in Tagish said there were some much further up the Tagish River, but in a spot with no public access. So, with lots of day left, we headed south, stopping briefly to get a shot of the Nares River at Carcross. The whole river had been a mirror when I drove across, but by the time I walked back for the shot, a breeze from the south had rippled much of it.
We spotted the first pussy-willow of the year at a pullout on Tutshi Lake. I tried to get close, but went up to my thighs in soft snow and decided that a telephoto shot would do just fine!
Looking way up to the high country on the west side of Tutshi Lake.
We knew that the White Pass area would be crazy-busy, and this shot of the parking lot at Log Cabin will give you an idea of just how busy. Anyone with a snowmobile lives for a weekend like this, and there were lots of skiers, snowboarders, snowshoers and just campers as well.
The White Pass summit. We’ve discussed getting a snowmobile or two many times and have always decided not to, but on a day like this, I’d sure like to see where some of those tracks lead…
Blastin’!!
Some of those lines would take serious horsepower to achieve!
I do understand the thrill of going into places like that, but when the avalanche danger is as high as it is right now…
A 15-minute wait at the US border???? We went for lunch at The Station, and then continued on to Dyea to run the dogs in a place with no snow.
We found four swans in an unexpected place, the Taiya estuary.
The view down Taiya Inlet.
This field appeared to be home to a large population of mice (or some other little rodent). We initially drove out towards the main beach at Dyea, but the wind was too strong and too cold so we went back into the forest for some shelter. The temperature was +9°C (48°F) but the wind chill dropped it to below freezing, I’m quite sure.
My happy family – Cathy and the huskies, Monty and Kayla.
Heading north, I stopped to get a shot of the major expansion of the Yukon Suspension Bridge facility. It’s great to see that they’ve done so well.
I made a stop for one last photo when I saw this in my rear-view mirror – Lime Mountain, just south of Carcross.
I was up before 04:00 am today for no good reason, and decided that the blog needed a new design. The last one was looking dated because of the narrow layout – this one may not stay but I like it so far and it might just need a bit of tweaking. The photos have been 430×287 pixels, now they’re 640×427. The 2 screenshots below show the before and after.
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