Spring along the South Klondike Highway
As is often the case, the southern Yukon has had a dramatic heating-up the past week or so. May is probably the month with the most extreme shifts in average weather during the month. The temperature in Whitehorse officially reached 25.6°C on Thursday, May 18, demolishing the old record for the day, 21.7°C, set in 1968. I spent much of the day on the South Klondike Highway, going as far as International Falls in the White Pass.
I’m a bit manic about not staying at home right now – the weather and visibility are both superb, and given the wildfire situation to the east of us, the visibility in particular could degrade quickly.
When I pulled away from home at 09:00 I had only a vague idea of what might happen. I was going to head down the South Klondike Highway and just see what happened, though I had brought snowshoes and my passport to allow great flexibility. I had to go back home twice to get things I’d forgotten, though.
The day started off well, with a couple of moose browsing the willows around Rat Lake, 3 km south of the Robinson Roadhouse. They were such a surprise that I had to make a U-turn to go back for a few photos.
Conditions at Emerald Lake were near perfect for some photos. Four days earlier, the lake had been almost completely iced over still.
I made a detour into Carcross – the next photo is a super-panorama of Lake Bennett created with three 24mm images.
Walking across the footbridge, I noticed a little memorial plaque for George and Edna Cooper screwed to the railing. Carcross old-timers will know that when you raise your eyes from the plaque you’re looking at the site of a cabin they owned for about 30 years starting in the 1940s. For about 20 years, I owned the cabin, and I lived there year-round from 2000 until 2007. I never met George but Edna came to visit me a couple of times when I lived there.
The east shore of Lake Bennett, with the WP&YR railway running along it. Across the middle of the photo you can see a section of the WWII Canol pipeline – the pipe above the high-water level was removed about 20 years ago.
The railway bridge as seen in many historic photos of Carcross.
The old BYN (British Yukon Navigation Company) sternwheeler dock is long past being restorable. The BYN warehouse at the far end was completely rebuilt in the late 1990s and for a few years was used as a daily craft fair site for local artisans.
The view seen in the next photo has changed little in the past 113 years since downtown Carcross was rebuilt following a major fire on Christmas Eve 1909 which destroyed the Caribou Hotel, 2 stores, the White Pass railway depot, and the Customs House. My timing was perfect – the O’Connor family was just arriving to open the Matthew Watson General Store, and we had a very nice visit. Ron reminded me that I used to work for them occasionally, mostly scooping ice cream 🙂
My next stop was at the Bove Island viewpoint. This part of Tagish Lake is still almost completely locked in ice.
Pooley Canyon was my next stop – within a few hundred feet I was able to get photos of four historically significant mining sites. First, the 1906 Venus silver mine. I hike up to that mine at least once most summers, and that was on my list of possible activities for this day. I forgot my bear spray so deleted that possibility.
The 1901 Venus mine cabin seen right in the centre of the next photo has pretty much collapsed due to the extreme snow levels of the winters of 2020-21 and 2021-22, and can effectively be called “history” now 🙁
There were a few mountain goats wandering the slopes, and one was close to one of the towers for the 1906 aerial tramway to the Venus silver mine.
The fourth historic site was the mill for the Venus silver mine.
The reflections on Windy Arm right at the Yukon/BC border were perfect, and most vehicles were stopping for a photo.
Tutshi Lake, from the main viewing area.
I pulled into the beach access and boat launch at Tutshi Lake but didn’t see any good photos. Back on the highway, though, I shot the highway northbound there, and the beach access area itself.
The day was progressing well, and International Falls became my planned turn-around spot. I expected to be able to get some waterfall photos, and wanted to update friends about snow conditions there. The next photo was shot at one of my common photo-stops, with Shallow Lake below and Ptarmigan Point on the railway ahead.
Summit Lake, still thickly frozen and with a thick layer of snow, can be seen to the left of the tour bus. There were three cruise ships in Skagway, including the massive 3,660-passenger Discovery Princess, and there were fewer tour buses than I would have expected. Norwegian has three ships sailing until almost November, with last ship into Skagway on October 25th. That’s absurd – that’s winter, and nothing will be open. Holland America is the last other line to arrive, 22 days before that.
The view across Summit Lake to the Sawtooth Range as I climbed toward the summit.
This Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus) in flamboyant courtship plumage along the road was cooperative enough for me to get a couple of photos 🙂
I had a good look at International Falls. Hiking is a few weeks away, but the snowshoeing should be excellent.
The day was magnificent and I decided to go snowshoeing at Summit Lake, parking where I have been parking the motorhome the past couple of years. This choice was made mostly because I know the terrain well and know a route down to the lake. With the temperature probably near 24°C/75°F, shorts were all that was needed, and they only stayed on for a few minutes.
Most of Summit Creek was ice-free but the lake was solid right to the shore.
The view down Summit Creek, looking north.
The joys of a Yukon Spring – naturist snowshoeing! 🙂 I wandered around the lake perimeter for about 45 minutes like this. I would have liked to stay out much longer but I was getting pretty tired. Early on, one snowshoe slipped into a crack between a couple of rocks hidden by the snow and it took me a few minutes to dig myself free.
On the way north, I stopped at Yukon Heliski’s growing village. There must be some amazing skiing on the peaks in this area.
One final photo.
The day had turned out to be amazing – a 12/10 sort of day. As I finish writing this post on Sunday, May 21st, we have a couple of days of rain ahead, then back to sunshine. The rain is very welcome so we stay safe from wildfires, and I think I’ll be back down to the White Pass when the sun returns on Wednesday.
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Murray,
I’m so pleased for you, your health and range of energy to pursue the breathtaking nature of the north. Some sunning photos here, you’re getting your A game back !
Thanks, Bill. I have a long way to go yet, but I’m feeling quite positive at this point.
as always appreciate your eye and photo skills… like the Venus mine pic, the one of the ptarmigan and some of the jagged peak shots… take my breath away gorgeous! Makes me wish for a small RV and a few weeks to boondock your neck of the woods. Or the same with an ADV bike and a larger RV with a hot water shower for post riding warm ups. Great to see your enthusiasm and energy. (I did have to chuckle at the bare butt snowshoeing… but I know from years of reading you the enthusiasm you have for nature hikes. thinking about getting into and out of snowshoes…and no pack of clothes to weigh you down – some cool breezes for sure!) Wonderful.
Thank you. It’s -3C at the moment but Summer is forecast to return in the next couple of days so I may get out for some good snowshoeing again 🙂
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Hi Murray, I’m finally getting a chance to start following your blog again. I found your website in 2020 just after the pandemic began. My husband and I were planning on traveling up through the Yukon and down into Skagway at the time. I’ve got a lot of reading catch up to do and looking forward to it. We have not made it there yet, but its still a goal. Appreciate your writing/photos. Hope you are well.
Welcome back, Karen. The pandemic certainly changed many people’s plans – I hope you’re able to make that trip now. I’m pleased that what I post is helping with the planning. My health is still severely limiting my travel, but I’m still out as much as possible – I’m heading back down to the White Pass today to look at some different areas.
i admire your adventurous spirit Murray. I’m much too Leary of going alone “into the wild”. So many possibilities. I’m glad you got your snow shoe out of the hole. I’ve been alone and fallen through the ice before while attempting to rescue a dog. It was very scary. Be careful. I look forward to tagging along with you on a hike or two this summer. Naturist snowshoeing on a warm spring day ….How fun!…good for you. Glad you are feeling well enough to be exploring again.
I’ll try to make sure we get out again this year, Greg! As you know, almost all of my travel is solo, mostly because I don’t like planning – my trips, and stops during those trips, are usually spontaneous. As in “Squirrel!!” 🙂 We have 66F and sun forecast in Whitehorse today but Skagway is cloudy and 55 so I may be on the snowshoes again today depending on where the clouds begin as I drive south. If not, I have a couple of possible hikes in mind.
Awesome pictures and tour. Thanks for showing things we will never see. Glad you’re once again enjoying being out.
Thanks, Barb. At this point I can’t even dream about driving down to see you and Dave again, but at least I can get out locally for a bit.
As always, another interesting read. Is your cabin still there? I would have loved to see a photo of it. I remember many many years ago reading your posts and seeing photos when you lived there. Stay healthy!
Thank you, Patsy – as always, it’s really nice to have you along 🙂 The folks who bought my property bulldozed the cabin soon after, and built a small new cabin.