Fish Ladder in Whitehorse, YT

July 15, 2007

Left our very nice campground and our grizzly and cub. I feel like I am leaving a member of the family!!! Doug says I developed a ‘bond’ with them!! Kind of silly, but I do get attached to animals!!!

Stopped in Haines Junction for gas and was able to get on the internet just long enough to post my journal, but not long enough to do pictures. Will try and do pics tonight and answer some emails.

No luck with the pics, will try again tomorrow. Went for a walk around the park. We are really impressed with the Yukon government parks. They have really large spaces and lots of trees, almost always on a creek or lake. There is a nice hiking trail we plan on taking tomorrow, then do a few things in Whitehorse and the next day take off for Carcross, toward Skagway.

July 16, 2007

So much for our plans to take a hike – it is another rainy, dreary, cold day. We will go into Whitehorse but don’t know exactly what we will do. Might have to spend another night here if we don’t get all done. Doug wants to see a fish ladder that was built by the power company. They built a plant of the river and interrupted the salmon run so they built the ladder for them to go past the plant. If the salmon are running it should be interesting, Doug is really interested in seeing them.

Since we could not do much sightseeing we went shopping!!! Caught up on our needs and browed some stores that we do not have in the lower 48.

It was raining too hard to even go to the fish ladders. Will try and do that tomorrow.

July 17, 2007

Well the start of the day is really nice. The sun is out, however, the temp when we got up was 43 degrees!!! I wonder if their summer is over!!!

We went to the fish ladder, it was really very interesting and we got some great pictures. The dam built an underwater diversion so the fish know to go up the ladder. Unfortunately we are too early and the fish have not gotten this far down the river. Guess we have to time our next trip differently!!!!

We stopped at a roadside area that had a trail to an old roadhouse. It was an abandoned town that was important in 1898 during the gold rush. The only thing that was alive were prairie dogs!! They call them actic ground squirrels up here, but they are prairie dogs to us!! They are so cute.

Got to Carcross this afternoon. It is a very small town with a lot of history. It was another important town during the 1998 gold mine rush. Most of the towns we have seen are from that era and are trying to rebuild for the tourists.

We were thinking of taking the train to Skagway and also driving because they travel two different routes. The trip is 66 miles and the fair on the train is $300 roundtrip!! We decided that the car would be the way for us to go!!! I just don’t understand how they can get that kind of fair for such a short trip!!!!

Also stopped at an area called “Carcross Desert”. It is referred to as the smallest desert in the world. The desert is composed of sandy lake-bottom material left behind by a large glacial lake. Strong winds off Lake Bennett make it difficult for vegetation to take hold here.

The only wildlife we saw today were MANY arctic ground squirrels.
Staying at a government campground again, Carcorss, tonight and tomorrow night. Very nice spaces, large, private and with fire pits.