Going back in time

Because life got a little crazy this summer, I never had a chance to post photos of our trip to the Yukon and because this blog is really our family photo album, I want them on here. So this post is now going to go back in time to the beginning of summer 2011.

I already posted about our trip to Juneau, our ferry ride up the Inside Passage and stay in Skagway.

After leaving Skagway, Alaska, we continued to follow the trail of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898 and traveled north to Whitehorse and then to Dawson City.

Dawson is an awesome little city of about 2,000 people built next to the Yukon River.  With the dirt roads, wooden sidewalks and old buildings, it was easy to imagine the way it looked here about 113 years ago when 100,000  or so people came here to make their fortune. 

We all loved Dawson City! The area is beautiful and the town has friendly people, good restaurants and a fantastic playground.

These abandoned buildings were left intact to demonstrate what happens when heated buildings are placed directly on permafrost.

One of the most amazing things about visiting the far north in the summer is the light, we never saw darkness during our 7 week stay.  It looked like sunrise or sunset around midnight for a bit, that was as dark as it got.  That caused some problems for us, like when Levi cried and cried at 11:30pm one night, because he wanted to play at the playground!  We all stayed up much to late most nights too.

The best part of the Yukon, in my opinion, is the vast wilderness.  Huge stretches of undeveloped land, it was so wonderful to see, but hard to photograph.  We did a lot of driving while we were there and a hundred miles can easily pass where you don't see any signs of other humans besides the pavement, telephone poles and occasionally other drivers.  Every so often, we'd find a funky roadhouse like the one pictured above and we'd stop for lunch.

The Yukon River.

After Dawson City, we went to Faro, where Mark works and works and works.  We were in Faro for 4.5 weeks and Mark worked every day during that time, except for the 2 days he took off so we could drive the 224 miles to Whitehorse to buy more food.  Luckily, Faro is a nice little town with very friendly people, so the boys and I were able to keep somewhat busy.

We did a little bit of hiking, but admittedly not much, as I was intimidated by the thought of hiking with three little ones in grizzly territory.

We did a LOT of reading (and wrestling - you can kind of see in this picture how those two things are often comined in our home).  The local librarian was very friendly and helpful; her name is Michelle and her husband's name is Mark, when people ask Silas what his favorite part of the Yukon was, he usually tells them about about this coincidence.

We didn't have phone or internet access unless we went to Mark's office, but we did get one TV channel - the CBC.  We watched a lot of TV.  We also watched a lot of Northern Exposure and cheered on the Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals. 

Silas & Levi worked on learning to spell. 

The boys did some fishing with a couple of locals, Sanni & Ted.

Fisheye Lake.

Faro is a very family-friendly place.  More than once, people stopped by the Airstream to introduce themselves, having heard there was a family staying there.  We were invited to local playgroups and the boys attended a free week long gymnastics camp, they had a blast.

We were in Faro for Canada Day, which we celebrated with the locals at the Recreation Center after the parade.  I only saw one other spectator at the parade, I think the entire town was in it!

One of the highlights was seeing wildlife, especially bears.  We saw 3 grizzlies and 5 black bears, luckily all viewed from the safety of the truck.

While refilling our refrigerator in Whitehorse, we visited the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Center, it was very cool.

Silas learned to throw a spear using an atl-atl and brought home plans for building his own.

Before returning to Maine, Mark took a break from work and we went on one last adventure, first to Kluane National Park in Haines Junction, YT.

Silas outside the only store in Haines Junction.

 
While in Kluane, we fished at Lake Kathleen, climbed a rock glacier, went gold panning (an found a flake) and picked up a dog.

Mark stopped his truck for a dog standing in the middle of the road.  The dog jumped in the truck, then into the backseat and curled up in Levi's lap.  She spent a few weeks with Mark until her owner was found.  We called her Klu.

After Kluane National Park, we headed to my new favorite place, Haines, Alaska.

This was our camp site, they are open all year, winters here are milder than in Maine.

Mark was so excited to visit The Hammer Museum, which was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

I think these hammers would come in handy today.

Chilkoot Lake State Park.  In the fall, you can fish for salmon alongside grizzly bears here.

Haines is home to the largest bald eagle population in the world, we saw them everywhere and learned a lot about them at the American Bald Eagle Foundation.  I look forward to someday visiting in the fall, when the local eagle population swells to over 3,000 as they feed on a late run of salmon.

At Chilkat State Park.  Mark is armed & ready with bear spray.

I love Haines, I don't think our pictures were able to capture the true beauty of the area, it is breath-taking.  I can't wait to return, the boys & I are saving our pennies for our next trip to Alaska!

 

 

 

Comments

[Michelle]

We did so much... smuggling our highway dog into and then out of the US. Eating the best cakes at Canada Day. Learning about giant ice-aged man eating beavers. Visiting the hammer museum in Haines was incredible, if you like hammers. And the all the work too. Thanks for visiting me and posting all this on the puter Michelle.

[Heidi Thomas]

What an amazing trip that must have been! Awesome pictures...