Yukon Fall colours tour
As colourful as our property is right now, yesterday was a good opportunity for a Fall Colours Tour. We decided to head west along the Alaska Highway for a change, and Burwash Landing would make a good turn-around location. It was a long day – we put just over 600km on the Outback – but a very good one.
The variation in the leaf colours is quite dramatic this year, with very bright yellows, oranges and reds in some areas but very dull browns in others. Right around Whitehorse is the best area, which surprised us. Click on the photos below to enlarge them.
Below, colour in the front garden at our house, with long-lasting Icelandic poppies in the foreground. As you can see, it’s pretty much a “natural” garden – while we did some planting, a lot of what comes up is wildflowers (though many of those seem to have been planted by the previous owners).
Fireweed leaves.
This bridge over Canyon Creek was one of the first bridges built in the Yukon. Though rebuilt a few times, of course, it first served the wagon road from Whitehorse to Kluane Lake during the gold rush there, and later was used as the Alaska Highway crossing.
Cathy with Monty and Kayla at Canyon Creek.
Approaching Haines Junction.
Just east of Haines Junction, with one of the Kluane Range glaciers in the background.
One of the reasons I wanted to drive so far was to see how the re-build of the Alaska Highway at Sheep Mountain was progressing. I used to say that there was no way they could widen the highway here, given the cliff they had to deal with. As you can see, when money is no problem neither are cliffs.
Another reason for the long day was to visit Burwash Landing Resort after a long absence. I’ve spent many nights there, and many of my best memories of my early days in the Yukon happened here. It was great to even meet a couple of the people who I worked with in those days. Burwash is still old-time Yukon at its best.
On the way home, I made a short stop at Mendenhall to capture this colourful reflection.
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