THE YUKON
When
I first started planning our Alaska trip, including Canada in the itinerary
didn’t cross my mind. However, while
looking at a map of the Skagway area, I noticed a road heading north across
White Pass to Whitehorse, in the Yukon Territory. We’d never been to The Yukon, so that was
tempting. West of Whitehorse are the St. Elias Mountains.
A large portion of the range is included in Kluane
National Park. Kluane
includes Mount Logan (19,551’), the highest mountain in Canada. That park borders Wrangell / St. Elias
National Park, in Alaska. It also
borders Tatshenshini - Alsek Provincial Park in
British Columbia, which borders Glacier Bay National Park, in Alaska. The combined area, which covers more than 32
million acres, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The site contains the largest non-polar icefield
in the world and includes some of the world’s longest and most spectacular
glaciers.
From
Kluane National Park it is possible to drive south
back into Alaska at Haines. From Haines,
it is easy to return to Skagway via a short ferry ride.
While
studying the hiking options in the Yukon, I was reminded of an article I read
years ago in Backpacker magazine about the Tombstone Mountains in the
Klondike. At the time I was fascinated
by that park. It is very remote, being
several hundred miles north of Whitehorse and only a short distance south of
the Arctic Circle. The mountains there
are a beautiful black granite. Could we include them in the trip, too? If we did, we’d have to visit Dawson City,
which is only a short distance away. It
would be fitting, since we were hiking the Chilkoot
Trail, following in the footsteps of the prospectors during the gold rush of
1898. Dawson City and the Klondike was
their destination. It seemed appropriate
to end our trip up there.
The
Yukon was appealing for another reason.
After three weeks in the rain forests of southeastern Alaska, we’d
probably be weary of the rain. The
summer climate in the Yukon is warmer and drier.
Ultimately
we decided to rent a car (expensive!) and drive from Skagway to
Whitehorse. From there we’d continue on
to Dawson City and the Tombstone Mountains.
After a couple of days of backpacking in the Tombstones, we’d
double-back to Whitehorse and then drive west to Haines Junction. We’d spend a couple of days hiking in Kluane National Park before driving south to Haines. From Haines we’d catch the ferry back to
Skagway. After returning the rental car,
we’d take the ferry back to Juneau and fly home.
SOURTOE
The
drive from Skagway to White Pass featured some nice scenery despite marginal
weather. We made it through Canadian
Customs quickly. We passed through a
small sliver of British Columbia and entered the Yukon Territory for the first
time. We headed for Whitehorse and
passed some beautiful alpine lakes.
Unfortunately we drove through a monster thunderstorm and passed right by
Emerald Lake during the deluge. Emerald
Lake is considered the biggest highlight of this drive, and we completely
missed it.
We
made it through the storm and into Whitehorse.
Whitehorse, with a population of 23K, is easily the largest city in the
Yukon Territory. I’d made a reservation
at the Robert Service Campground earlier that afternoon, and we headed straight
there. The place was busy, so it’s good
that I made the reservation, even though it was at the last minute. The campground is pretty nice, as it is
situated right on the Yukon River on the edge of town. All of the campsites are walk-in, but they
are spacious and comfortable. The only
drawback to the campground is that everything other than the campsite (showers,
WIFI, etc.) cost extra.
So
far that day we’d backpacked 7 miles, taken a 2 ½ hour train ride, and driven
from Skagway to Whitehorse. We were
pretty exhausted. I managed to take a
short walk down to the river, but that was the end of my energy. We went to bed shortly after dark.
We
slept in a bit on Sunday. We woke to a
surprisingly warm, sunny morning on my birthday. We cooked and ate breakfast at the campground
and then drove around Whitehorse. There
wasn’t a lot happening on Sunday morning.
We picked up more groceries and hit Starbucks for a second round of
coffee and free WIFI. Then we started
the marathon drive up the Klondike Highway to Dawson City.
The
drive was actually pretty boring. Early
on there were some nice lakes, and we were close to the Yukon River at
times. Mostly it was just rolling hills
and scrubby trees for miles and miles.
It is 330 miles from Whitehorse to Dawson City. The speed limit is 90KPH, which equates to
56MPH. I kept it closer to 90MPH. I couldn’t think of a single reason not
to. There was nothing out there. We passed through a couple of villages
(typically consisting of a single gas station) along the way, but otherwise we
rarely passed another car. I suppose it
would’ve been ugly if we’d hit a moose at 90MPH, but it would’ve been ugly at
56MPH, too.
Near
the end of the drive we stopped at an overlook with a grand view of the
Tombstone Mountains. We would be hiking
in Tombstone Provincial Park the next day.
That view had me itching to get on the trail. First though, we needed to visit Dawson City.
Dawson
City is the second largest city in the Yukon Territory, with a population of
1,300. There is actually still quite a
bit of gold mining in the area. It’s a
neat little town, with lots of historic buildings. Before we explored it, we took the free ferry
across the Yukon River. It’s an
interesting ferry, as it only holds about 10 cars. On the far side we made the short drive
downstream to the Government Campground.
It looked nice, and at $12 per night, it was a lot cheaper than the
private campground close to the ferry.
After
setting up camp we walked back to the ferry and rode back across the river. We explored town on foot and had dinner at
Sourdough Joe’s. The meal was ok. Then we walked to the Downtown Hotel for
drinks. Our primary goal was to take the
Sour Toe Challenge.
To
complete the Sour Toe Challenge, you simply take a shot of liquor
(traditionally Yukon Jack) garnished with a mummified human toe. The only requirement is that the toe must
touch your lips. Yes, this is what
people do for fun in the Yukon in the winter.
You
can read all about the origin of the Sour Toe Challenge here: http://dawsoncity.ca/attraction/sourtoe-cocktail-club/
The
only other rule is that you can’t swallow the toe. They get really upset when people do
that. Yes, this has happened – more than
once:
In case you’re wondering, over 60K people have
done this. Here’s one more link just in
case you can’t get enough:
http://adventureswithben.com/adventure/drinking-sour-toe-cocktail-real-dead-toe-whiskey/
Afterwards
we walked over to The Pit for more drinks.
There was a local cover band performing, and they weren’t terrible. Then we walked back to the ferry and on to
the campground. It was a fun way to
spend my birthday, but we were starting a backpacking trip in the Tombstone
Mountains in the morning!
TOMBSTONE
Our
plan for the Tombstone Mountains was an overnight backpacking trip to Grizzly
Lake. It sounded like a scenic hike, as
the trail is almost entirely above treeline as it
follows a ridge to an alpine lake. From
the campground at Grizzly Lake, short side trips to a pair of overlooks are
possible. My plan was to do one of them
on the first evening and the other early the next morning. It is also possible to launch an extended
backpacking trip from Grizzly Lake, but we didn’t have enough time for a more
ambitious trip.
Unfortunately
Christy’s knee was sore and a little swollen following our backpacking trip on
the Chilkoot Trail.
She was reluctant to attempt the hike to Grizzly Lake, which the park
describes as extremely strenuous. What
if she hiked all the way there and her knee worsened? We decided to revise our plans. I would dayhike to Grizzly Lake while she
grabbed a site at the car campground and toured the park in the rental car. That would be a 14 mile round trip with about
3,500’ of elevation gain for me. I would
probably miss out on the side trips to the overlooks, but I would still get to
Grizzly Lake and see all of the views on the way there.
We
broke camp that morning, took the ferry back across the Yukon River, and headed
out of Dawson City. After 30 minutes or
so on the Klondike Highway we headed up the Dempster
Highway towards the Arctic Circle. At
one point we actually considered driving up there on a whim, but our research
indicated that it would take at least a full day for the round trip. I’d rather spend that time hiking!
Christy
dropped me off at the trailhead. Most of
the Tombstone Mountains are trailess, but the Grizzly
Creek Trail (which doesn’t follow Grizzly Creek) is an exception. In fact, it is possible to do a multi-day
backpacking trip on decent trail starting with the hike to Grizzly Lake.
My
hike started out in the woods near Grizzly Creek, but after 10 minutes I left
both. The rest of the hike was above treeline. It was
another warm, sunny day, which was startling after 3 rainy weeks in Alaska. I climbed steadily, and occasionally steeply,
through endless meadows on Grizzly Ridge.
Before long I reached the first overlook, which provides a view of
Monolith Mountain – a stunning peak of black granite. It is surrounded by other jagged peaks. Grizzly Lake isn’t visible from that overlook,
but it is from the second, higher vantage point. That overlook was a great place to stop for
lunch. The Grizzly Creek valley sprawled
out below me, while I enjoyed a straight-on view of Grizzly Lake and the
incredible peaks surrounding it.
The
climb to that point had been merciless, as I’d gained around 2,500’ in the
first 3 miles. From there the hiking was
much easier, although there were numerous talus fields to negotiate. That talus fields proved to be great places to
look for marmots, pikas, and ground squirrels. The views of Grizzly Lake and Mount Monolith
got better and better as I went. The
last part of the hike was a steady descent down into the alpine basin holding
Grizzly Lake.
I
reached the lake in a little less than 5 hours.
That doesn’t sound fast, but one guidebook I read suggested that the
hike would take 9 hours one-way! The
Grizzly Lake campground was a surprisingly busy place. I think there are 10 campsites there, and
most of them appeared to be occupied. It
was a bit startling seeing that many people in such a remote place. I shouldn’t have been surprised though. Grizzly Lake is the most popular hike in the
park. Although it is a scenic location,
the prospect of camping there didn’t excite me.
That took the sting out of not backpacking it.
I
hung out at the lake and debated doing one of the side trips. Ultimately I decided against it. The late afternoon sun was in a terrible
place for photos, and I still had the 7 mile hike with another 1,000’ elevation
gain for my return. Plus, Christy would
be waiting for me. I’d given her a wild
guess as to my return time. I instructed
her to look for me at the trailhead at 8.
If I wasn’t there, she could hang out at the campground and check on me
each hour.
My
return hike was faster and well-timed. I
reached the trailhead at 8 to find Christy waiting for me. She had snagged a campsite
that morning and then driven north on the Dempster
Highway. During the drive she
enjoyed some nice scenery and had spotted a moose and a bear. That evening we enjoyed a campfire and shared
a giant burrito before heading to bed.
GOLDENSIDES
We
were winging it on Tuesday due to our change in plans. Our original plan called for us to finish our
backpacking trip with the hike out from Grizzly Lake. Since we’d bailed on the backpacking, we had
the morning free. We didn’t have time
for a long hike though, as we were planning on driving back to Whitehorse that
afternoon. Our goal was to get to the
campground at Takhini Hot Springs before the springs
closed. Originally we’d planned to hit
the hot springs on my birthday, but they had been closed for a private wedding.
The
Goldensides hike seemed perfect. It is fairly easy, scenic, and just a couple
of miles each way. After a pancake
breakfast we drove a couple of miles up the Dempster
Highway. On the way we stopped at a pulloff with a great view up the North Klondike River
Valley all the way to Tombstone Mountain.
The
hike was delightful. It was another
sunny, warm day (our third in a row!) and the scenery was fantastic. We enjoyed wonderful views, scrambled around
on some rock outcrops, and took time to smell the wildflowers. The Goldensides
hike was the perfect compliment to my more ambitious
trek to Grizzly Lake the previous day.
The
drive back to Whitehorse seemed even longer, despite the fact that I was
driving even faster. Along the way we
noticed that some of the aspens along the highway were beginning to change
color. Apparently fall foliage starts in
the first week of August in the Klondike!
We
picked up groceries in Whitehorse and then drove out to Takhini
Hot Springs. We set up in the
campground, which is small but very pleasant, before heading over to the hot
springs. Although the springs are
natural, they are essentially confined within a swimming pool. Although they aren’t a thrilling wilderness
destination, the springs were still enjoyable.
The 104 degree water was soothing after several weeks of hiking and
kayaking. We also spotted a marmot
cavorting in an adjacent meadow while we were enjoying our soak.
We
had a late dinner that night, with grilled chicken, mac and cheese, and
salad. Our late night wasn’t ideal, as
the last big hike of our trip was scheduled for the next day.
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