Today was a travel day, but first we decided to wash off the dust from the coach.
The high pressure wand did its job brilliantly, but there was a total lack of drainage, so I was paddling in mud while washing mud off the coach!
In my infinite wisdom as Captain Cautious, I saw that my muddy sandals, still on my feet, needed cleaning. If you have never pressure washed your feet, then don’t….it bloody hurts!!
Still, onwards and upwards, we left Dawson City limits ( wasn’t that a song by Tina Turner?) at 10 of the clock, and proceeded towards Whitehorse.
The pix you see are some of the road hazards we had to avoid!
The bear was just darling, he didn’t see us for a few seconds, then looked round, took fright, and jumped up as he ran into the bushes.
Mrs Moose and her mooselets did not even see us, and if they did, would probably have ambled just as slowly across the road as they did.
The fact that I was hitting the air brakes with my right foot and the engine brake with my left was of no concern to them.
We stopped at a place called Five Finger Rapids, ( John, behave yourself) because there is a wonderful part of the Yukon River Valley, with some amazing, erosion resistant rocks. These were a major navigation hazard 100 years ago, when paddle steamers were plying their trade up and down the river between Dawson City and Whitehorse.
So, to get to the best view, you have to go down 219 steps of a rickety wooden staircase, and then trek for one kilometer through bear infested woods, all the while shouting “Go Bear” ( see previous reports) to finally reach a viewing platform to look at……….rocks and water.
Despite all my pathetic attempts at belittling this, it was well worth the trip, but some people would not think so after the trek back!
Of course, being totally prepared, we had forgotten to take any water, and as the weather was once again unseasonably hot for this neck of the woods, (clever pun) we were knackered when we got back to the coach.
So, with our dashboard AC not having worked since we left Houston, we had to travel for the next 200 miles with the generator going full blast to run the roof AC units.
At the same time we watched with morbid fascination as a stone chip in the windshield developed into a crack, and proceeded at a leisurely pace upwards. Luckily for me, the crack is on Marlipops’ side, so my view will not be interrupted, and the Pops is too good a wife to complain!
The scenery improves as the road goes southwards, and there are lots of huge areas which are recovering from forest fires. First to take over the forest floor is the fireweed, the brilliant red plant which is everywhere. From a distance, whole mountainsides look red, a stunning contrast to the greens of the unburned areas. On our way up here several weeks ago, the fireweed was not blooming, but now it is, the views are totally different.
We got to Whitehorse around 5 this evening, filled up both vehicles with petroleum spiritus sanctus, did some grocery shopping, and wandered down the Alaska Highway for another 100 miles to Mukluk Annies. This is a place we stopped at 7 or 8 weeks ago, which is free overnight parking, a lovely view of Teslin Lake, and an all you can eat breakfast buffet in the morning to look forward to!
Wildlife watch today was the aforementioned bear, mooses and a bunch of crazy magpies.
Just a footnote, Marlipops has brought our travel maps up to date, and they are attached.
