Exploring the rest of the WP&YR railway at Mary Lake, Yukon

Posted On October 10, 2020

Having re-visited the long-unused WP&YR railway line at the south end of Mary Lake 10 days ago, I decided yesterday to walk the rest of the line along the lake. I didn’t take the dogs because the line is badly overgrown, and I wanted to quietly visit with the beaver living along the lake.

I left the house at 11:30, and 10 minutes later was at the road access to the line. I rarely bushwhack through this sort of growth on purpose, but really wanted another look at this section – the last time I walked it was 7 years ago, I think.

Less than 10 minutes of walking got me to Mary Lake. The water level is extremely high. A member of my Yukon History & Abandoned Places group said there’s a huge beaver dam at the north end – I need to check that out, though the bush to get to that area isn’t walk-friendly either.

Quite a few bird houses have been installed along the lake, reducing the mosquito population a bit, no doubt. The mosquitoes are long gone for this year – the temperature yesterday morning was a bit below freezing.

The rail line has been cut by water in many places, though stepping across was only a bit of a problem at one spot.

Mary Lake is really pretty but sees few visitors as it’s not people-friendly. There’s a boat launch, but no beaches.

At 12:25 I reached the first beaver lodge built on the rail line. This one was easy to walk around.

Most of the photos are shot looking towards my car, as that was the best light. It was nice to get brief breaks from the bushwhacking.

Putting this section back into operation would mean pretty much starting from scratch, starting with lowering the water levels of several lakes and ponds.

How old does trash have to be before it becomes a historical artifact? 🙂 I wonder how many people already don’t know what this thing along the rail line is? (it’s a film canister lid)

At 12:40 I got stopped by a huge beaver lodge built right across the rail line. Not a big deal as I’d only planned to walk another 50 meters/yards anyway – to meet the point I walked to from the other direction.

In the distance you can just make out the tiny washed-out bridge as the rail line crossed the lake.

After a few initial tail-slaps, two of the beaver got very curious and got closer and closer to me. You can see both of them in the next photo.

Looking south along the line.

The washed-out bridge.

I walked along a bench about 40 feet above the lake for a bit. I thought I’d found an old camp here on a previous visit, but couldn’t find it this time.

It’s odd to find wood left like this for decades – it took a lot of work to cut it.

Back at the beaver lodge at 1:10.

The beaver were very accommodating for photography and I got quite a few photos.

One final shot looking south along the rail line before starting back.

On the right in the next photo is the MP 99 sign – Mile Post 99 from Skagway, Alaska. The Whitehorse depot is 13 miles north.

There were a lot of ties replaced in the railway’s final days of using this section. Then the mines in the Yukon closed, and on October 8th in 1982, the White Pass & Yukon Route shut down, during a labour dispute.

There was a section of about 200 feet where the water was right up to the top of the ties and my feet got re-wetted. The next photo was shot just north of that.

It’s that time of year, so I’d had a can of bear spray in my right hand for the entire walk, always with a finger on the trigger guard. I saw no recent sign of bears, though.

This post used to support the MP 100 sign, but it was “collected” many years ago. I hope it’s in a safe spot and will eventually get donated to the Transportation Museum.

Back at the Tracker at 2:15, I decided to take a drie along a road that parallels the tracks to the north.

I was very surprised to find that major work had been done on the railway bridge across Wolf Creek, then someone had put plywood on it for bikes and foot traffic.

Just downstream from that bridge, there’s a ford of Wolf Creek for ATV traffic. I could have crossed but didn’t – it was about time for a nap.

Back from that outing, I had a nap and then got back into the current phase of my multi-year job of scanning slides, most of which then get discarded. Throwing them away is painful. 🙁

The temperature hit -10°C this morning – Father Winter is not far away. My e-bike still hasn’t arrived but I’m hoping to get it this coming week. There are flurries forecast over the next few days but no real snow yet, so my fingers are crossed that I can get the bike out for some good exploring soon.