Monday, June 26th: The Yukon at Last!

Well unfortunately (I feel like I start way too may sentences like that this trip), our plans to make it to the border of Yukon last night to eliminate some of the driving for today, did not work out.  We pulled into the last gas station on the Cassiar before the border (the next one is marked as “unreliable”) and the people we’ve been sort of traveling with (on these remote trips you run into the same 3 people at the gas and rest stops along the way and you strike up a bit of a “let’s help each other get there” mentality), Tanya, informed us “Cash only, it’s closed for the night, we’re all camping down the road until this place opens at 7am”.

We contemplated continuing with our plan - this was just a refuel because there was fuel. But… it was already 8:30pm, the border was still 150 miles out and our fuel range said we could make it 160. That was just cutting it too close with nothing but the “unreliable” station between here and there. And, there was the possibility that the places we planned to stay that night would not allow overnight camping. 

That has been a bit tricky. Rest areas in the US allow for overnight stays but these in CA have been hit or miss.  It’s ok to stay there if there isn’t an “absolutely no overnight parking or camping” sign, but there have been quite a few rest areas marked just so.  We reluctantly made the responsible “we do have 7 children to think about” decision and pulled into the last campground in the area - Water’s Edge Campground.  A whopping $35 for dry camping on a gravel pad - no showers, no water, no electricity, and if you’d like Wi-fi you’re going to have to fork over a few extra bucks (we passed on that).  It was a little hard to swallow after all the beautiful free places we’ve stayed but we really didn’t have much choice. But grateful for a full night of sleep and a safe place to stop.

We made sure we were at the gas station right at 7am this morning.  Poor Abbey and Hannah are still not feeling well and I really feel for them on these rough roads.  It has not been a pleasant experience for them and I feel so bad.  Elias and Moriah are feeling better.  I think it started with Zippy way back in the Midwest somewhere, hit Micah at the Redwoods and I’m really hoping it doesn’t rear it’s ugly head again on us parents and Malachi.  If we’re going to get it I really hope it’s during this stretch of driving and not during any attempted sightseeing.

Anyway, super thankful the ATM worked since we had NO CAN money and the gas station only accepted cash.  When we tried to get cash out at the last ATM way back in Prince George it wouldn’t accept our card so we were a little worried we’d have to make through CAN without cash, which could be a little tricky since some of these stations and campgrounds only take cash.  I was praying while he used it, trying not to imagine what no cash would look like… what on earth would we do?  But, it worked :).  So another crisis averted, the Lord is good, and we are on our way.

We’ve never taken the Cassiar before and I can see why. It’s 3 hours shorter than the Alaska Highway, but the ruggedness is kind of crazy.  There is just really NOTHING out here for 450 miles except for lakes and mountains.  A few campgrounds in the middle, one gas station, a scattered lodge or two, and that’s IT. And it seems that most travelers must choose the Alaska highway as well because we have run into very few other travelers either coming or going.  There are also these little tiny red, diamond shaped “SLOW” signs punched into the roadside at ground level at various points. 

They usually indicate frost heaves which are impossible to see until you are suddenly upon them and your vehicle slams harshly up and down. They have done a number on the things in the camper and we’ve really had to be more careful about making sure everything is secure before we drive.

We just passed the ONLY community on the Cassiar (I can’t believe there’s even one)  Good Hope Lake (the location of the “unreliable” gas station which was closed, so thankful we didn’t take a chance on that).  The lake was beautiful, there were a few scattered homes, a fire station, a community center, church and there must have been a school bc where else would they go?  There was a dirt road with a children crossing sign.  Again I am amazed at where people will live.  Most of the land out here is tribal land and it is obvious when we do stop that the locals mostly consist of Native Canadians.  Based on some of the communities we saw last year in the Navajo nation area of the Southwest, if I had to choose, this would be the better option by far!

At last, we have reached the Alaska Highway! 

We are in a new province, Yukon Territory.  The little bits of information offered in the Milepost or on various plaques here and there about all the gold rushes in the area have been really interesting and I learned that there were actually many, many small “gold rushes” throughout that time period of the late 1800’s to early 1900’s.  Various creeks and lakes where gold was discovered that spurred on a rush of more “stampeders” and communities that sprung up overnight.  Most of these communities disappeared once the gold dwindled and as roads and railroads went in people moved closer to areas that had better access.

One stop on the gold rush route is now a large city, Whitehorse, YT.  We stopped here with the kids 11 years ago on our move down and we decided to stop again and camp tonight.  Our favorite attraction is the S.S. Klondike, a well-preserved steamboat that you can visit on the shores of the Yukon River.

Unfortunately all but the bottom deck was closed for restoration, but we walked around the remainder of the boat and enjoyed the history. 

Then we found the road to Miles Canyon - the tightest spot that the S.S. Klondike had to navigate - at one point you could reach your arm out and touch the canyon on either side of the boat!  Also, the current could be so strong that the boat would be winched through with ropes and bolts attached to the rocks! 

There used to be a series of extremely dangerous rapids following the canyon but they were blasted out years ago when the power company put in a dam and created a lake there instead.  We stumbled upon the suspension bridge that we had heard about but couldn’t find a sign and we were excited to find it because it was impressive! 

The canyon edge really contrasted with the gorgeous blue of the river and it was such a striking spot.  Again wishing we had more time to explore, but we walked the bridge and a bit of the trail to admire the views before heading back. It was beginning to rain and Abbey, who was still not feeling great, had stayed behind in the van.

I’ll be thankful to get out of Canada.  It’s just different enough that it makes it take that much longer to do anything and gas is OUTRAGEOUS.  We paid $10 a gallon in one place today!! We tend to scope out a Walmart bc we can snag a few moments of wi-fi and hunt through a store that was vaguely familiar. This time I made sure to have a “looney” on me so I could get a cart but realized once I got in that I had actually grabbed the “tooney”.  We stood there with the little ones in the door way trying to decide if we should run back to the van in the rain to locate the looney or wait in line at customer service to break a $50. I was about to head back to the van when this sweet lady offered me her coin and ran back out herself for another looney.  Grateful for her kindness and the cart, we wandered around the strange Walmart trying to find what we needed for the next few meals until I realized I couldn’t find the produce section which seemed odd - usually it’s forefront of any grocery store.  Come to find out that they didn’t have anything fresh in the entire store!  So we had to run to another store for a few veggies and ground beef.  Strangeness.  I’ll be happy to put Canada’s loooong highways and expensive gas and groceries behind us ($12 for a box of Cheerios!!).

A good nights sleep and a shower at the last campsite available in the very expensive campground in town.  But campgrounds with amenities are scarce around here so we enjoyed the luxury for the night :). Tomorrow we will be back in Alaska.