The "place" for the last continent

In October we will travel to Ireland to cycle .........and probably drink some Guinness. This will complete the quest to travel some place new on each continent for our celebration of 150 years. 

THEN......we will fly from Ireland to Morocco to explore its magic landscape and exotic medinas. 

Last Day in the Yukon

Before driving to the airport, we stopped to tour the SS Klondike, an 1898 Steamwheeler. In its day it  ran a route on the Yukon River from Whitehorse to Dawson City. 

The kitchen was spectacular. As was the dining room for the first class guests.

 Nothing left to do, but wait for the flight home!

Camping and Hiking

 It was great to be back in our little tent. The last night that we spent in it was backpacking Torres del Paine in Chile. 

We brought enough camping gear for comfort......cause it is not about roughing it!

The hiking options were plentiful. The bugs were bad at trailhead scandal the first 15 minutes of a hike, but then disappeared. We were happy to have our bug jackets and made good use of them for a part of each hiking day.

We spent our last three full days camping at Kathleen Lake and doing day hikes. The flowers were spectacular.

The three day hikes we did were: Decoeli (2330 m) 

Bullion Plateau (1620m) and

The King's Throne Summit (1990 m)

We found a long snow slope for our descent ......yah....easy on the knees!!!

Carcross to Haines Alaska

From Timberpoint we drove to Carcross and visited local sites that included a NWMP Museum, Wildlife Museum with a huge polar bear (1700 lbs/ 11'7" nose to tail) and an even larger Wooly Mammoth that weighed 7000 kg.  

One afternoon we hiked in the desert and the next found snow on our hike to Montana Ridge.

After enjoying the the quiet solitude of Montana Ridge, we continued on to Skagway, Alaska.  Skagway can see up to 12,000 tourist in a day on Wednesdays when there are 4 cruise ships and the once week ferry from Haines. We were relieved to discover that we were in Skagway for the two slowest days. Saturday's have 4500 cruise ship visitors while Sunday a mere 1500 cruise ship visitors. At the height of the gold rush, the population of Skagway was 10,000. They talk about tourism, which is primarily from cruise ship visitors,  as the modern gold rush. With the number of jewelry shops in town, there does seem to be a lot of cash flowing. 

We were in Skagway for the summer solstice. The  Rotary Club hosted a solstice party by the river. We had blackened wild salmon for dinner and then stayed to listen to some local music. We enjoyed the music of two local bands Hillbilly Jean and Krowd Kontrol.   It was 9:00 pm by the time we drove back to town, so decided that a half hour drive to Dyea to camp wasn't that appealing.   Instead, we checked into the Skagway Historic Inn, which is a former brothel. Each of the rooms is named after a local "girl". We stayed in Cleo's room. 

That night we strolled the deserted streets of Skagway and had a drink at another former brothel, the Red Onion. 

The next morning we took a ride on the train to White Pass, the alternate route to the Chilkoot Trail during the gold rush. 

The ride was very scenic with many points of interest including the Gold Rush cemetery where local gangster Soapy Smith is buried and the NWMP post where stampeders were checked to ensure that they had the required one year supply of goods before being permitted to carry on their journey to Dawson City. 

Next was the ferry from Skagway to Haines. The scenery was beautiful and reminded us of the Chilean fjords. 

After a quick stop in Haines for a homebaked cinammon bun and coffee, we carried onto to find a camping spot for the night

We camped a beautiful campground by the Chilkoot River. 

That night we went for a walk and watched an eagle stealing fish from a fisherman. I didn't get an shot of the action, but did get a photo of the eagle on his perch in the tree.

NORTH AMERICA The Yukon and Alaska

After being home for 5 months and feeling well integrated into Canmore life, we were ready to continue our travels.  Having travelled to 5 continents on the first trip, only 2 continents remain: North America and Europe. We chose the Yukon and Alaska as the new places for North America.  The Yukon is the only province/territory in Canada that neither of us has visited. It has been on our bucket list for years, but we had always envisioned it as a driving trip for which we would want a minimum of a month. We decided that instead of waiting, we would fly and do 9 day  "Yukon/Alaska Teaser" . 

We started our trip with a visit with Auntie Min and Uncle Jim at their Timberpoint property. Their land is stunning and their hospitality warm and welcoming.  

We were keen to camp at the  campground on their land, but couldn't turn down the offer to stay in a beautiful little cabin instead.  It was reminiscent of a brand new warden cabin. Auntie Min's friend bought, moved it to their property and stays there when she visits. 

We were treated to moose stew and baked salmon for suppers. Uncle Jim was our tour guide showing us the sites of Teslin and taking us on a hike to a summit with 360 degree scenic views. 

Both Auntie Min and Uncle Jim have a wealth of knowledge about the Teslin area and its history. We thoroughly  enjoyed hearing their stories about the area and life in the Yukon.