Back to the White Pass for RV boondocking and hiking
I’d been watching for an opportunity to get away for a few days, preferably with some hiking, and on Wednesday, July 31st, a fairly good weather forecast showed up that held potential for a getaway in the White Pass.
I got my shopping done that afternoon, and the next morning, finished packing the motorhome with everything I’d need for a week or so of day-hiking.
I got away with the dogs and cat at about 10:30. Heading south on the South Klondike Highway, I was surprised by the amount of haze – still from wild fires in Alaska and further north in the Yukon, I assume.
The approaches to the new Nares River Bridge at Carcross are being worked on, and there was a short delay with traffic down to one lane.
The skies suddenly turned very dark south of Fraser as we entered the White Pass. I hadn’t expected this.
By 1:00 we were set up at my usual boondocking spot just south of Summit Creek. It’s a gravel pullout that gets few visitors, and has a spectacular 360-degree mountain view.
Once we were settled, I drove down to the area’s biggest man-made attraction, the William Moore Bridge, to see how construction of the new on was coming on. Getting close…
The next photo of Summit Lake makes it look like it was a beautiful day, but it wasn’t. The clouds to the south stopped pretty much right above us, so we were in the shade most of the day, and there was a screaming wind which made being outside not very pleasant.
I spent a bit of time out walking with the dogs, of course. The area where we were parked is great for that, with both spectacular broad views and lots of interesting closeups. I don’t know what this plant is, but the way it spreads across the granite is really cool, and even more so when it sends out these vertical shoots.
Cozy in the RV, I got lots of reading done while the wind howled and rattled.
The highway is effectively closed at night when the border posts close, and after 5:00 pm when the last of the tour buses head back to Skagway, it gets very quiet.
The view of the Sawtooth Range from my south-facing windows, at 5:30.
The view south along the quiet highway a few minutes later.
The wind howled all night, but had abated a bit Friday morning when I shot the next photo of dawn starting to break, at 06:05.
At 06:16, I decided to see what dawn might look like in black-and-white.
Home sweet home in the dawn light.
At 06:33, the sun was climbing and slowly burning off the fog layers.
There’s an initial rush of southbound traffic shortly after the Canadian border opens at 08:00, and a few minutes later the northbound traffic arrives from Skagway. The fuel tanker in the next photo was empty, going to the tank farm in Skagway for fuel to bring to the Yukon.
Inside the motorhome, though, breakfast was at 07:00 and there’s no morning rush after that 🙂
Just before 09:00 we went for a short drive, checking the weather to the south and thinking about what the hike for the day was. I decided that International Falls would be good. It’s too busy for my liking on weekends but should be good on a Friday.
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