Whitehorse Yukon Territory

2019 September 20

by Greg & Lyn

Our trip through the Yukon took us to Whitehorse, a fairly large city both in population (about 25,000) and size along the Yukon River. It’s also the capital of the Yukon Territory. The name apparently comes from the rapids on the river that supposedly look like the mane of a horse.

We saw amazing wildlife throughout the trip. This was a red fox with a white-tipped tail, found primarily out west. Different from the red foxes we have in Maryland.

Spectacular views of the Yukon River where the gold rushers traveled up to the craziness of the gold fields.

Fox Lake Campground.

The common eating area in the campground. Complete with a wood stove that someone was using both to cook and for heat.

Another of the many beautiful campsites we discovered along our journey. We are totally and completely spoiled by the natural beauty of all the many places we camped.

Note that we often used our external propane tank. We found that the nights were cold enough by this time that we needed the heat in the camper. The furnace puts out a lot of heat, but it uses a fair bit of propane to do it. So we carried an external grill sized propane tank to make sure we didn’t run out. The big concern actually was that the fridge runs off propane and we didn’t want to chance running out and losing the food.

Of course, no matter where we are, we seem to gravitate towards the water and the boats that ply it. In this case, another of the great riverboats.

The cargo hold with lots of room for stores.

But not much room for people. One of the interesting things is the vast gulf between 1st and 2nd class accommodations. Guess some things haven’t changed…

2nd class dining…

1st class dining…

The great paddlewheel that drove the riverboat. Seems like a pretty fragile mechanism for traveling on such a dangerous river journey.

The meat locker on the top deck. It was cold enough to just hang the meat outside in the weather. No need for extra ice!

Close quarters!

Reindeer milk – what a delicacy!

The boiler – where it all starts.

The wheel – where all that steam from the boiler turns into motion.

One of the cool spots in Whitehorse was the transportation museum. Just trying to picture the conditions back in the gold rush days is hard enough. Then trying to imagine getting around and hauling cargo.

Looks pretty precarious, although it was probably very well built.

A fascinating story about a 67 year old man going in to a restaurant to apply for a job as a cook in the Yukon. He was also a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. He was also a veteran of both the civil and the Spanish-American Wars. Talk about an interesting life! And starting a new chapter of his life in the Yukon at the age of 67!!