Category: History

Late-Fall exploring along the Top of the World Highway

Friday, September 23rd, was mostly a day of wandering along the Top of the World Highway back to Dawson City, exploring some side roads along the way. The world didn’t look the way I had expected it would in the morning. Despite heavy rain, strong, dry winds from the...
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Back in Dawson City again – never bored

My first stop in Dawson City when I arrived at noon on Wednesday (September 21st) was the Visitor Reception Centre. I had decided that the ghost towns of Forty Mile and Clinton Creek would be the first destinations, and I wanted to find out if they had any information...
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Fall colours and Yukon history – by floatplane

Yesterday morning I was cooking up a storm, getting some chili and meatloaf in stock for an RV trip that was to start today. Then I got a call about some historic sites along Lake Bennett. That led to an invitation to go flying to check the sites out,...
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Driving the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse to Muncho Lake

I’m back on the Alaska Highway headed south again. This time, I’m alone, helping friends move by driving their U-Haul from Whitehorse to Kelowna, a 2,440-kilometer trip (1,516 miles). I left Whitehorse just before 10:00 am yesterday (Sunday), with weather forecasts showing mostly sun all the way. After the...
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Fall at Kluane Lake – Dall sheep and more colours

Last weekend was the Discovery Day long weekend, which celebrates the discovery of gold in the Klondike, and is the start of the end of the tourist season. The Alaska Highway isn’t quite a one-way road leading south but the vast majority of RVs are headed that way. We...
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Hiking the Canada/USA Border in the White Pass

For the third day showing hikers from Haines and Anchorage the wonders of the White Pass, following the Canada/USA border along the granite ridge from the South Klondike Highway to the WP&YR railway was my hope if the weather cooperated. This Google Earth image shows the area and the...
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Mud, dust, and history at Kluane Lake

After a somewhat disappointing couple of days down the Haines Highway due to weather, our four days at Kluane Lake were wonderful. I’ve already told you about our flight to Mount Logan and our discovery of Cultus Lake, but we had a lot of fun on the other days...
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Gnat Pass: Exploring BC Rail’s Northern Extension

The plan for Day 53 of the trip – Wednesday, June 15th – was fairly vague. We’d simply leave our beautiful campsite at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park and just drive north on the Stewart-Cassiar until I didn’t feel like going any further. We ended up going 309 km (192...
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Back to the fur trading days at Fort St. James

Day 48 of the trip – Friday, June 10th – was fun, spending a few hours at a Hudson’s Bay Company fur trading fort, and then making a fairly short drive to another lakeide campground. Cottonwood Park on Stuart Lake at Fort St. James was a lovely spot to...
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