Eventually got away at about 9.30 am, and headed south on
the Klondike Highway towards Whitehorse.
Janet is booked to fly out of Calgary on the 30th June, so we
have decided to head down that way, following the Alaska Highway and then
spending a couple of days through Jasper and Banff.
With the trees all now in full “leaf”, views are getting
more and more restricted, because you often find your views of lakes and
mountains blocked by the trees. But when
you do get views, they are, as ever, stunning. As always, the beautiful flowers beside the road, and some amazing cloud formations to keep us interested !!
By about 11 am we were a bit peckish, and Janet noted in the route directory that just ahead was the Moose Creek Lodge, famous for its Pasties !! Sounded perfect, and I began to salivate for a fresh pastie long before we got there. Pulled in to this interesting place with lots of artifacts and old bits and pieces lying around - And went inside and
asked for two pasties. "Beg your pardon ?" said the lady. "Pasties - You have Pasties ?" said Janet again. "No", came the reply "But we have fresh pastries". !!! Hmmmmm. NOT amused !! I did take a sausage roll, which helped, but was not what I wanted !! When we got back in the car, sure enough, the guide book said "pastries" !!! Much ribbing ensued, as you can imagine !!!
Anyway, on our way again, and later we stopped for a quick lunch in a layby overlooking Pelly Crossing. A couple of other people were stopped admiring the view, when we saw a black bear on the road behind us. We had seen it cross from left to right, and then a stupid woman on the road did a U turn and went back to get closer, really spooking the bear - When she drove past us again, everyone waved at her for being so dumb. 2 minutes later, the bear crossed back from right to left, and then, 10 seconds later, a little black cub scampered back across chasing his mama ! Then through binoculars we noticed a second cub in the grass with them - Mama bear was trying to get two cubs across the road, but when that stupid woman went back up for a closer look, she spooked the second cub, and then mama had to go back to get it, but the first cub that had already crossed over had run back after her ! Poor mama eventually got both cubs across, probably very agitated, but what was amazing was that the other one of her cubs was brown !! You get brown black bears, and she had one of each !! So that was quite a sight to see !
Driving on south, the roadside was absolutely awash with flowers - At one stage it was almost like they had been planted, they were so plentiful - Like driving down a corridor of purple !! More and more wild roses too - They are so pretty - No wonder they are Alberta's national flower.
We then came to Five Finger Rapids, where the old sternwheelers in 1900 had so much trouble getting through they often had to winch them through by hand. Amazing hardships they had to endure on their way to search for gold !!http://sightsandsites.ca/central/site/five-finger-rapid
After that it was a run down into Whitehorse beside the enormous Lake Laberge. This is in fact a widening of the Yukon River, and is 50 kms long, and from 2-5 kms wide. Its water is always cold, and this causes the local weather to change very rapidly. A fine and dramatic ending to the Alcan Highway, of which Whitehorse is officially Mile 0 - But more of that tomorrow. Found a nice little campsite where I also stayed 2 years ago and after a nice hot shower and doing laundry and some wifi, we settled in for the night.
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