I got a call from a guy I met the last time I was in Alaska and he lives in Whitehorse. We had planned on heading to Haines, then catch the ferry to Juneau/Gustavus/skagway for a few days. After looking at the ferry routes, considering the pups on this, and the extra costs, wedecided to reroute a to visit and catch up instead. We got to Whitehorse and tried to meet up. We waited at the local Canadian Tyre parking lot, I walked 3+ miles through the old town, visited a farmers market, and saw some sites. Unfortunately for some reason the meet up did not work out, so we got a sub at Quiznos, drove out of town and found camp just above the Yukon River outside of town and settled down for the night.
One of the things I love about Alaska and Northern Canada is the boreal forests. They have small to medium trees and an always beautiful carpet of moss, lichens, bushes, etc on the forest floor. Wher I grew up in Arizona, the forests are ponderosa pines, some scrub oak, and maybe junipers trees, but the forest floor is generally covered in pine needles or scarce grasses. They don’t have the diversity of life I see here. It is absolutely due to the difference in moisture, and I really enjoy that here. Well, we camped in the boreal forest and it’s so beautiful.
Ok, still not hearing a single response from the guy from the past, we headed towards Skagway. Along the way we stopped at a historic site called Conrad along a glacial valley and lake. Conrad was an old mining village in the early 1900s. A couple of the cabins were being restored, but most had been moved and repurposed to the nearby town of Carnack. I was excited to hike the trails as there were reports of a black bear in the area, but Kathy was not too keen on it.
The drive through this area I believe is more beautiful than the one found to Valdez along the Richardson Highway. In this area there are mirror surfaced lakes, pools, glacial rivers and streams, along a glacier cut mountain top valley. This is berry season and tons of folks are out with their buckets scouring the roadside.
We crossed into the USA and were inspected by US customs who wanted to go through our fridge. We had purchased everything in Fairbanks so the contraband Canadian eggs, meats, or dog food was not present. The last US entry did not seem to care. It may be because we can catch a boat to the lower 48 here, but it seemed odd. Anyway, we continued down the beautiful valley into Skagway.
The valley is famous for the White trail (and the Kilkoot trail in the adjacent valley) during the Klondike Gold rush. In two years over 100,000 people from all over the world traveled through here to get to Dawson City to stake claims. Most turned around once they got there and went home due to finding nothing or not even being able to dig on a claim. These people from 125 years ago were much harder than people from today. I can’t imagine anyone trekking this far in this day and age.
We arrived in Skagway and walked the pups then browsed around town with the cruise ship tourists. They get up to 4 ships a day here and it is crowded. We had a nice dinner at the Red Onion Saloon and Brothel and then headed over tho the Dyea area to camp. I balked at the one lane bridge at the first pass because it showed a 11’5” limit and we are about that. But after testing, it was this at the sides, so we drove right through. We found a campsite and set up quickly. I set out on a hike to the ocean and found lots of salmon, dead and alive, along the stream. It was a warmer evening than recent places.
We don’t seem to be taking as many photos as when we first started. Anyway, we may stay a couple of nights here.
https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20250821-22-whitehorse-and-skagway