Alaskan Highway – Watson Lake- (Days Five & Six)

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June 11 Monday We had to spend one more day in Watson Lake, Yukon. We were notified by the RCMP, they came right to our campground and announced that the road north would be opening Monday evening, but the deployment process would be that all supply trucks would leave first, then people with immediate needs and then RVs. They asked that we wait until Tuesday to being departure. I think we were all just relieved to know that the road was open. We had driven around Watson Lake during the day and counted RVs & trucks and the grand total we came up with was 400 although we probably missed many that were tucked away. The people of Watson Lake were great while we were all stranded.

Just to give you an idea of how far from New York we are, we found this sign on the department store in town.  We have calculated the actual miles we have driven to date at 4,370.

 

Pioneer Road-  washed out road to the left

 June 12 Tuesday Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning ready to leave Watson Lake and head to Whitehorse! The drive was scenic and the roads were good...they did a great job cleaning them up and even the pioneer road was short, single lane and secure. This was the only single lane we encountered.

One of many beautiful scenes on our drive to Whitehorse

Alaskan Highway – Whitehorse 

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We reached Whitehorse about 1:30pm, parked the RV and drove into the city to stop at the Visitor's Information Center and then take a tour of the SS Klondike. The Klondike was a steamship built in Whitehorse in 1929 to bring the world (supplies, mail etc.) to the Yukon. It was 210 ft. long, 42 ft. wide and has a draft of 40 inches (the depth of water needed to float it). The cargo capacity was 270 tons. It traveled from Whitehorse to Dawson 

City- approximately 450 river miles.

A cord of wood (pictured here) was burned every 1/2 hour to power the ship.  Note size of  hand loaded logs.

 

 

 

Another interesting sight today was of this plane which is actually a weather vane rotating from its' center of gravity flying into the wind, noting the wind direction. This is located outside of the Yukon Transportation Museum.

 

 This picture's for you Brooklyn!

 

We had a great meal at the Klondike Rib and Salmon Barbeque...delicious halibut chowder!