Yukon Adventure: Seattle to Whitehorse

Day 1 - Seattle to Prince George - approx. 500 miles.
The highlight was our trip up the Fraser Canyon.

Day 2 - We arrived at Smithers BC, where we enjoyed a very pleasant stay at "Chez Josette" B&B. In addition to having a great view of the Hudson Bay Range and Glacier, the B&B was a short walk from the Malkow Fire Lookout trailhead. The peak provided a 360-degree view of the valley and surrounding mountains.

We had made multiple calls to GrizzLee's wife trying to find out where he and Yukon Johann were. Well, we spotted them in a gas station, and snuck up behind them and blew our horn very loud.


From Smithers we headed west toward the Cassiar Highway. Lots of native culture along the way.

We stayed two nights in Stewart, BC. Right next to Stewart is the very small town of Hyder, Alaska. There's actually a Canadian border crossing, but no American one. The weather was quite drippy, so we stayed in a B and B. Glaciers abound in the area. We went up a very high road (in Alaska) and looked down on a glacier. The glacier pictured below was right next to the road on the way to Stewart.

This bear along the Cassiar Highway attracted alot of attention. I guess the driver of this bus-like motor home turned his head a little too long. There are not shoulders along most of the Cassiar, and some of it is gravel.


We took another side trip to Telegraph Creek. What a road!!! Beautiful scenery and 70 miles of muddy road, up to 20% grade. Dawson Dan handled the trusty van very well, but we did have some traction issues up the steep hills.

This is the Anglican church at Telegraph Creek. Still in use today.

This was a particularly dramatic spot where two rivers converged. We are standing on a precipice between the two rivers. It was about 50 feet wide.


This is the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River.
After parting ways at Dease Lake, Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate drove furiously through the rain to the Alaska Highway and further to a small campground (where it wasn't raining), a mere 200 miles from Whitehorse. We did take a few photos on the way.

The next day,July 1, we took a short hike through the boreal forest. The trees are so small here, and the undergrowth is very low. Much of the flora is similar to what we have in Washington.

We're getting close now... this is Marsh Lake.

Finally Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate arrived at Whitehorse and had our first view of the Yukon River! It is a beautiful green color, very clear and fast moving. We can hardly wait to head downriver.

Our trusty van got us there without any problems. We were thankful we didn't have to get there by this sled...transportation around the Yukon used to be quite a challenge.

Flasher??? Mountain man??? No, Dawson Dan is wearing a winter Canadian Mountie outfit. Made of about 40 pounds of bison fur, with a wolverine hat. Cute, huh?
Below is the Klondike riverboat, which went up and down the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City.
IF they could do it, so can we!