On the road to Whistler
Dec
05
2014
Not being fans of crummy weather, the advantage of living in a house with wheels is that you can relocate to drier climates as it takes your fancy.
Not being fans of crummy weather, the advantage of living in a house with wheels is that you can relocate to drier climates as it takes your fancy.
I suspect it is considered a crime to visit British Columbia or Alberta and not pay a visit to Jasper and Banff. Not wanting the Canadian Mounties to angrily chase us out of the country we made the detour to check out these two stunning but expensive highlights of Southwestern Canada.
Emma had spent the entire trip through Canada peering hopefully into all the lakes and rivers trying to spot a beaver. Justin Beaver was not keen on making an appearance however. These elusive ‘Justins’ (as they soon became known on the trip) seemed to be hiding from us.
As we’ve mentioned, we quite enjoyed Alaska, we didn’t want to miss our last opportunity for a visit, so we made the detour to Stewart and Hyder.
The Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake started in 1942 when Private Carl K. Lindley placed a sign pointing to his hometown of Danville, Illinois. The idea caught on, the ‘forest’ has grown and when we added our little sign (12,681 km to Christchurch, New Zealand) they numbered close to 80,000.
Alaska and the Yukon, the two places are intertwined in history and location. Visit one and you will likely find it hard to resist visiting the other. A shared history of the Klondike gold rush, of wild, adventurous folk pioneering the last frontier of North America, of traditional peoples linked through trade and culture back to a time when the modern borders of the USA and Canada had no meaning. It is easy for the absent-minded traveller to forget which country they are visiting—are you in the USA or Canada? Until you try to buy something.
Let’s face it. Alaska is pretty darn amazing. We couldn’t resist returning. Our budget didn’t quite stretch to a long ferry journey, so on some local advice we opted to check out Haines and then take the short ferry trip to Skagway.
Our time in Whitehorse proved to be quite busy, catching up on odds and ends, making good use of the wi-fi, doing oil changes, buying the ingredients for Ben’s shower project, that sort of thing. But we also found time to take in a few of the local sights.
Not satisfied with one trip above the Arctic Circle. Who would be? We decided it was time to investigate the Canadian Arctic and find out the Northwest Territories had to offer (or at least the small part of it that we could afford to visit—both financially and in terms of time). It seemed like the logical thing to do while we were in the neighbourhood at any rate.
Visiting Dawson City is like travelling back in time to the gold rush era. The dirt streets are lined with wooden boardwalks all leading to buildings that cause you to believe you have accidentally hit 88mph and travelled back to the wild west.