The Alcan is 1382 long miles. My dad will tell you it feels long- I love it!! I would do it over again and am already thinking about the next drive!
I say that now, but we haven't went back the other way yet- in two weeks that statment could change (doubt it!). There is so much beauty everywhere you look on this drive. We are surrounded by more mountains, more lakes, more views, and more hidden animals (hidden because we didn't see many today!) around every bend.
We left Watson Lake and headed to Whitehorse, capital city of the Yukon. Whitehorse is a larger city that has all amenities and even an airport, so it was very busy- cities are few and far between across the Yukon!
We saw the Whitehorse horse statue that welcomes you into town, stopped at Yukon Brewery, Miles Canyon, and the Whitehorse Fishladder.
It has rained a bit while we have been driving and of course it started to sprinkle when we started our hike thru Miles Canyon to the pedestrian bridge. We didn't hike much further past the bridge into the canyon as it was starting to rain harder.
One of the coolest things we saw while in Whitehorse was the fishladder. We learned all about the Chinook Salmon and their spawning path. The Chinook Salmon are born here in the freshwater Yukon river and live most of their 2-5 years eating and swimming in the Bering Sea. When it is time to spawn, they make their way upstream 'back home' about 3000km or 1875 miles!
They don't eat while migrating and use all of their energy going upstream. They turn the dark red color on the way back, lay their eggs in a gravel nest at the bottom of the river until the male covers them with sperm.
They spend the first 3 months as a fry very near where they were born and smolt while adjusting from fresh to saltwater on the way to the sea. The Fishladder in Whitehorse takes the spawning Salmon upstream past two dams in a series of 'ladder' boxes to allow them to make the journey back to spawn. The Salmon were in Dawson City- on their way home, but about 2 weeks away from their final spawning area in the Yukon river, Whitehorse.
My dad was super interested in the presentation and facility. He has told me stories of the Salmon spawning up the Ausable river and fishing for them in Lake Huron. He remembered a smaller fishladder up north near the Foote dam.
We continued to Haines Junction, Yukon for the night and happened to catch the local farmer's market. We bought lemon bars that tasted just like my Grandma's!
We learned a lot about the Inuit people at the visitors center and got some information about Kluane National Park and Icefields which we will be travelling through as we continue to Alaska.
Our day ended at the Stardust Motel. We were treated to the most amazing views as we were grilling Brats on the porch, but when we went in, no TV or heat- it was 35 last night so we needed it! Probably wouldn't stay here again, it needed to be updated- but was clean and looked like the new owners were working on it...... great sunset and woke to amazing views so maybe...... ❤️
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