Golden Horn – the extinct volcano in our back yard
Although I used the word “volcano” in the title, Golden Horn isn’t technically a volcano, as the lava that oozed out of it wasn’t an eruption.
I fairly often post photos of Golden Horn as we see it from our property, but tonight I’d like to show you how different she looks from town. The mountain is part of a series of volcanoes that last erupted some 2.4 million years, so I’m fairly certain that we’re safe here – that “extinct” describes the mountain better than “dormant”. The lava flows from Golden Horn about 8.4 million years ago can be seen in the basalt walls of Miles Canyon today.
Here is our view of Golden Horn yesterday at noon.
And here’s the view from the SS Klondike historic site in downtown Whitehorse this afternoon. This is certainly my favourite view of Golden Horn, looking very volcano-ish. The striped mountain to the right is the Mt. Sima ski hill.
This broader view from the same spot shows the mostly-frozen Yukon River.
Here’s a topographical map showing Golden Horn in the lower right.
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