Solo to the Yukon
I’m off to the Yukon by myself on Aug 23 2024. I’ll be carrying a satellite message device that will also track me. I will be without cell coverage for most of the trip. Alan will be sharing my satellite texts here, please follow along! This web page can only be accessed by the link I emailed to you. You cannot reach it from the menus on my website though. Please don’t share this link as I want to keep it private for just a few people.
What the heck am I doing ? Now that’s a good question. I felt the urge to try harder for better photographs and I was drawn to the north. I’m going solo, traveling by car, and will be tent camping along the way. I expect the trip to take about three weeks and Alan will meet me in Whitehorse on September 15th. We plan to drive south together.
The route plan. I will take the Alaska Ferry from Bellingham to Haines AK. The car will be aboard too. The ferry travels the Inside Passage and doesn’t stop until it reaches American waters north of Prince Rupert. Once off the ferry I will take several days on the Haines Highway, which will largely be in Canada. Then I head west, crossing again into Alaska. I will trace a letter C as I go west, then north, then east until I get to Dawson City, back in Canada. I hope I have guess the timing correctly to get the brief but incredible fall colours of the Yukon. I will head even further north to the Arctic Circle along the Dempster gravel highway. In all of this travel, my objective is to go very slowly in order to indulge in as much photography as possible. That is why you may notice that I drive quite small distances each day. And it will take me a long time to go out the Dempster and then to Whitehorse.
Updates will be posted below. The most recent will be at the top, oldest at the bottom. Effective August 27, photos will be directly below their day’s update, I may get a chance to add some iPhone photos when I do get into cell coverage which will be infrequent! Thanks for following.
September 15th and we finally reached the cottage on Shuswap. On the drive we saw a moose once and black bears twice. Coming through the Cariboo, hay fields had been cut for the last time. Many of them were filled with over a hundred Sandhill Cranes. They were resting up and chowing down on their migration south. They will eventually reach Texas for the winter, then fly all the way back to the Yukon next summer. And here I was whining about traveling by car 1,500 kms.
Thanks for following along everyone!
Please follow me on Instagram as I will start to post more photos of the trip there. But, first, is a bit of a rest. My Instagram account is @gapyearish
September 12 Boya Lake
September 11. Teslin Lake Morning Tea
September 10 No idea where we were, but it was cold in the morning
September 10 Dezadeash Lake
I never got dressed without putting my bear spray holster and Garmin tracker onto my belt. The Garmin allowed me to reach others when I was without cell service. And, that was for a lot of the trip. And I could be tracked as I went along. I think it is a great safety device. You can see both in the photo below.
September 9&10. The Amazing Haines Highway
September 6 & 7 Fox Lake Campground.
It was a long day of driving from Dawson City to the Fox Lake campground. And, it was a bit of a dull drive after I had been spoiled by the fall colours and scenery of the Top of the World. Fox Lake thought was a treat. I made a campfire and my site was right at the beach. I had delightful neighbours in the campground too. Having a second day in the same place gave me time to indulge in making both videos and photos. I got up in the middle of the night and I was treated to a brief show of the aurora until clouds snuffed it out. I did get some photos, but not on my phone, so I will share those later.
Waking in the morning, I had high hopes for a pretty sunrise. And it was a winner. I think I’ve captured a time lapse of it, but, I’ll show you later once I’ve processed them off my “big” camera. I also cooked up an entire package of bacon on the camp fire. Please don’t judge me. There really is something about a crisp fall morning, the smell of bacon laced with wood smoke.
Your Questions on Camping
Both the Yukon and BC have excellent campgrounds these days. They all have outhouses that are clean and the newer ones have clear acetate roofs so they are bright in the day.
Each camp site has a metal fire ring with a grill. The daily fee includes firewood. I use fire starter cubes so that I don’t need to carry an axe to make kindling.
The nightly site charge is $20 which stacks up well against the $200 a night for a very modest motel room in the Yukon.
Good camping gear matters. I’m fortunate to have a warm tent, not all tents are warm. When your body is the only heat source, it is matters at this time of the year if the tent keeps as much warmth as possible. I also travel solo with two down sleeping bags. On cold nights, I “double bag”. I use Alan’s larger bag over my smaller bag. My sturdy little tent is good for windy nights and fairly reliable for rainy nights. The tape that seals the seams is starting to fail so I must repair it when I’m home.
But there are bears, and they must be respected. I store all “smellies” in the car whenever I am away from the campsite or when I’m sleeping. The bears still can smell them though. “Smellies” include the obvious food, but also are anything you have in a cosmetics bag, a camp stove, a dish towel and any dishes that humans consider to be clean.
I never lock the car at night. I always pitch my tent very close to the car. If an animal were to become aggressive, the car is my only refuge. I sleep with bear spray in the tent and I carry it in a holster on my belt all day. I also put glow in the dark tape on both my bear spray cannisters in case I need them in the night.
I don’t listen to every sound, but I don’t ever use ear plugs. On this trip I have not been aware of any large animals near me while I was in bed.
“When you hear something, it’s nothing. When you hear nothing, them’s bears”
September 4: Dawson City. I Had a Shower
With gas running low in the Babe, I descended to Dawson City. The only way ther’re from thee Top of the World road is across the Yukon River by ferry. Below is a photo of it coming to pick up the cars waiting. I can take monster RVs like the one in the photo.
In Dawson, I had a hotel room booked and waiting. It was pretty deluxe after my little tent that I’d been using for the last eight nights. Job one was a shower. Oh the joy of running water! And it was hot. And yes, it had been over a week since I had been clean. Luckily I travelled alone.
The second photo is what I’m guessing is seasonal housing for people working in Dawson. Each is basically a tent, fabric walls on a plywood floor supported by 2x4s. The “roof” gets the extra layer of a green tarp. It looks inspired by the miners of the Yukon Gold Rush.
September 2 & 3: Top of the World !
The guide book says to allow seven hours for this drive. I stretched it to the better part of three days. And, I’ve started talking to myself. Mostly it’s been “holy smokes, that’s incredible”. This drive requires it to be said out loud even if I’m alone. Unlike most roads that are built in a valley bottom, Top of the World winds across the mountain tops.
In my experience, renowned drives earned their reputations for maybe twenty miles. ToW is start to finish spectacular. Fall is when it is at its absolute best. Because of its high altitude, Fall comes early. There was a particular pinkish red that was unusual. At first, I thought it was red rocks like in Arizona. But it was low bushes that were glowing.
There really isn’t a way to describe this drive. The vistas stretch out until the earth’s curve hides the rest.
At the top is the border into Canada. The fellow there said he thought the road would close in a few days. They had snow in the morning.
I too had felt the chill. I woke to a tent that was frozen. I needed my big down jacket. Water took longer to boil. I really appreciated the Bronze Babe’s heated seats. The blue picture below shows the ice on the inside of my tent fly. It is one sure way to know the temperature was below zero overnight. I was warm all night and woke to a frosted world.
September 1: Baby Doll Dawn, a Lion and Chicken
After a solid rain (and no night sky shooting) I got a perfect dawn at the lake. The mist is rising off the lake. There are fish jumping. And the sky is a pale baby doll pink. There are weird ass birds down by the lake at dawn. It sounds like a jungle with their strange cries and shrieks.
The big thing is the distant range of glaciers and peaks. In the still water, twin lines appeared. Something was swimming. I think it must have been two Musk Rats.
Today I went west to Tok then North on the Taylor Highway aka The Top of the World road. It closes September 15th for the winter. I hadn’t had breakfast. Last night’s hope of a Milky Way or the Aurora was snuffed out with rain the started the moment I zipped up my sleeping bag and stopped an hour before dawn. How perfect is that? Nothing worse than rain when making or breaking camp. I was hungry. Like big breakfast hungry. Hungry enough to forego another bowl of mush. Hungry enough to drive 100kms for a bacon and egg with hotcakes breakfast. With dodging potholes that could eat the Bronze Babe, the drive took nearly two hours. Fast Eddy’s diner looked like the place to go. I had a coffee that tasted like they had brewed all the cig butts from the bar. But the breakfast was wonderful.
Off I went fueled in every way by Tok to see the Top of the World.
It iis perfectly named. If you go there, rent a vehicle. It would be rough on yours. I was dodging more potholes than I thought possible. It was worth it! And, the lion? I saw a full grown Mountain Lion aka Cougar. And before any wisecracks, the cougar I saw was not my reflection.
August 31: What’s Up Mr Eagle?
There a soundtrack to this trip. Through night it was crashing waves from the wind whipped Kluane Lake. By dinner time it was a faint honking of geese. I’m used to a powerful sound from them. This had a more delicate sound and I questioned if I was even hearing geese. Above me, the way you see a jet, was a strand of fifty birds. They were so high their shapes seemed to shimmer, mirage like. Flying due south, they were travelling ahead of the inevitable cold.
It was a day of birds. I turned into a rest stop at Pick Handle Lake. A float plane was tied up at the little landing. I walked towards it intent on capturing an iconic image of the Yukon. A full grown eagle was standing by the path. He stared at me as I stared at him. A staring match and he wasn’t going to lose it. This bird seemed ill, it was unnatural for it to remain on the ground with me so close. Another couple pulled in. The woman took pity on this possibly wounded bird and gave it a strip of raw steak her husband was planning to have. She walked right up to the eagle. It gobbled down the strip of meat, but remained on the ground. A call from another eagle came from out on the lake. And then our grounded bird just took to the air and was gone.
As I drove west, the colours showed more transition to yellow. The trees changed to gnome like trees. The branches barely extend out from the trunks. The trunks are contorted, old men rather than legions of stiff soldiers. Under them were billowing pink clouds. It is the fireweed gone to downy seed.
I’m loving this. There is so much to tempt me to stop. I am thinking that I’m trying to go to many places instead of seeing where I am. It is a lot to do in a day when every morning one tears down the house, only to rebuild it down the road at dinner time.
I’m now at the ominous sounding Deadman Lake campground, near Tok. And I’m back in Alaska.
I continue to hope for clear skies through night as I want to capture images of aurora and the Milky Way. The aurora is typically in the northern sky, the Milky Way is always in the SW sky. I’m going to bed with my clothes stacked in the tent in the right order to put them on.
Last night the skies were clear at 2:30am but the aurora was faint and the wind strong so I stayed snug in my tent.
I’ve been down to the lake this evening and scouted a spot that is easy to reach in total darkness and will give me a good composition for the photos. I am ever hopeful, but I felt a raindrop as I was getting into my down bag.
A huge thank you to Alan who is uploading these posts and encouraging this adventure. I send him photos if I pass through a village with cell service. Then in the evening I send him my text through a satellite message system that only allows 160 characters at a time. Thanks Alan!
August 30: A slow start to the day. I went to the shore at Kathleen Lake for morning light. What a show! The sun was quite hidden between clouds. The openings though let spotlights through to the mountains across the lake. These lights along with most rising from the lower slope and the clouds dancing across the peaks made an entrancing show.
I set up my camera to do several time lapse videos of the action. You’ll see these after I get home. I’m just seeing the results now. Pretty fun. Since a time lapse you guessed it, time, I made a simple breakfast. Tea and porridge today from boiling water out of the lake.
On the road at 10:30, I stopped for a short hike, yelling “Hey, hey” to advise any bear they should amble off. It must have worked. I got back to the car. Fine weather to walk.
I’m now in Kluane Park, a UNESCO Heritage site, with my tent up. This campground has extra security: an electric fence. It is a favourite trail for the grizzlies. To keep tenters protected we are behind some volts. The RV folks are out there in the wild.
August 29: By morning the car windows had fogged. Sadly outside was as white with fog. My peaks had vanished.
It had been a silent night. Not one car has gone by. The border doesn’t open until 8am so the road was unused. At least unused by cars, those bears were probably travelling by unheard.
I hung out in the fog all morning reading a book and brewing multiple cups of tea. But the fog made it feel colder than 5C. By noon I was shivering in the car. I revved up the Bronze Babe, cranked the seat warmers to max and roared off at 20km/hr into the mists.
I had parked up at the summit of the Haines highway. Now, descending the inland side, the mists opened to a massive scenery. Empty. Huge mountains pushed away from the glacial trough where I was driving. The traffic report was 2 cars an hour, one in each direction. Posted speed 90kms, my speed 50kms. Neck acquired frequent swivelling stress. In other words, perfect bliss. I pulled over not far from where I started to discover an aggressive bear, a grizzly, was in the area. Trails were closed, a trap was set.
Fall colour was teasing me. It was in hints and dabs of scarlet on one bush, a rogue yellow branch, but most was green. A pond still hosted a pair of white swans. They looked massive and a bit too elegant for this rugged land. Soon they swan off to the south for the winter. I picture them in Palm Springs, but probably not their thing.
I camped, in my tent at Kathleen Lake in Kluane (clue annie) National Park. I’m in the Yukon!
PS: There was a strange humming sound in the campground. It didn’t come from an obvious source. The campground was off the grid. I eventually concluded that it was thousands of small wasp-like insects. They seemed to be feeding from the Spruce trees.
August 28: After a deep sleep in the tent despite howling wind and heavy rain, I woke a new woman. At least for a couple of hours. I spent the morning on a beach watching the clouds hide and reveal massive peaks, waterfalls and a glacier across the inlet. At one point a large rainbow formed. But the wind was too chilling. I headed north on the lightly travelled Haines Highway.
I stopped by an emerald green pond to take pictures. I was carrying a large ziplock bag of bread dough. A friend had mentioned baking pizza. Last night I thought I would like English muffins in the morning. With some flour, salt, yeast and water I made the dough and left it safe from bears, to rise in the car. This morning had skies still full of rain and I left the dough. Now that I was in such a pretty spot, I baked out the dough. To keep things easy I made one big blob of bread. It was pretty good, especially eaten outdoors in Alaska. It vanished while hot. I continued North crossing back into Canada. The scenery grew ever more beautiful so I found a spot off the highway to camp for the night.
Along the edge of the road I had noticed chunky piles of bear scat. They were travelling the same highway. It seemed prudent to sleep in the car. Not comfortable, but safer. I was beside an amazing peak. In my dreams, I imagined pictures of the aurora weaving around the rock spires. Nope. Fog, mist, rain continued all night.
August 27: Just after midnight the ferry docked and I was the first car off. I circled to the back of the parking lot to park for the rest of the night. After scuffling for half an hour I felt I had carved out an area in the back to sleep. The big obstacle is the full sized spare tire I’m taking just in case. It is a bed hog. My new fan$y mattress was too big for my hollow. It bent in alarming ways that ultimately allowed me to curl onto a small portion. Morning eventually came and I sought solace via eggs Benedict and lots of hot tea.
I had heard the bears will be feasting on salmon. On the previous day 27,504 salmon went through the river. A good viewing spot was just ten miles away. The cluster of six peoplewith binoculars and cameras made me look. The bear was clambering over a weir. She was grand. Rolling fat under her heavy copper coat, wet from fishing, she was intent on the waterborne buffet. Once her ample bottom was supported by the water, she resumed dunking her head to retrieve more fish. I hope I have good video of her. She is just visible in my only phone picture shown below. Eventually she lumped off into the bush probably to digest perhaps to eat some grass to balance all that heavy fish.
I was then treated to a pair of Harbour Seals who had followed the salmon up river from the ocean. They would swim upstream the shoot downstream on the river current gobbling the bounty coming towards them. Further downstream more animals were hunting for salmon, they wore hip waders. There must have been two dozen humans fishing. I was tired and headed to my campground for the afternoon. I kept nodding in my camp chair and by 5:00, I was cooking up dinner. A friend had been talking about making pizza. It got me thinking. I mixed up some yeast, flour, salt and water. After an energetic bout of mixing, that dough is in a plastic bag waiting for a hot frypan tomorrow. It may be too cold for the yeast. We shall see. I was cosy stretched out in the tent by 6:30. Just ahead of the sky puking down rain in addition to the wind.
And the mattress is super comfortable.
August 26: Day 3 on the ferry and perhaps the best one yet. That’s hard to say though as each has been great. I was on the deck at 4:30am. We were in a very narrow channel. The shadowy shore slid by silently and the water was like glass. My eyes adjusted and the surrounding mountains were wearing shawls of fog. The clouds parted a little and one bright star and a half moon beamed down. The light that early is very blue, strangely saturated to a rich navy. Even the fog, though white, shared a tint of blue. I was taking photos that have a very abstract look due to the long exposure and the forward movement of the ferry. But I don’t have any way of sharing them with you yet. I sometimes have cell coverage, but such a small amount only text will transmit. Photos are out of the question. By 6:00am we were at the dock of Sitka. Because we were there for three hours, we could get off and walk. I headed down the road to a large creek at pouring into the ocean. The King salmon had just arrived and were stacked like commuters on the NYC subway as they tried to enter the creek to spawn. The eagles and gulls lined up for the all you can eat buffet. Sitka must be the wettest place I’ve ever been. It almost looked tropical the veg was so rich and dense. Tonight I will reach Haines Alaska which is my port. I’ll figure out some way of sleeping in the car for the rest of the night. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s update on how that works out Thanks for following along! Ferry Food: The food onboard is better than the ferries I’m familiar with. There are the usual burgers, fries and such. But for each meal there are specials. These are cooked aboard, not of the frozen nuggets in the deep fryer ilk. For example, last night was a chicken curry made by the Nepalese chef. She started in the afternoon preparing all the spices. The fans announced the fact across the outside decks. The previous night was a turkey dinner with roasted root veg, mashed spuds (real ones) and gravy. Breakfast: the specials include an omelette - different each day - and some form of eggs in a baked biscuit, croissant or bagel. While the portions are enough to feed two or three people, the food is tasty and real.
August 25: At 4am we entered US waters. This trip has been on calm waters. This morning I hope to capture photos of our docking in Ketchikan. I may even get off the ferry for a short walk while we are in port. The weather report says that yesterday’s sun will be replaced by clouds and rain. After seeing about twenty tents pitched on the decks the other night, only seven remained up by the next morning. I can only guess that it was noisy and people opted to sleep inside on the floor. It is chucking down rain here in Ketchikan I’m not getting off the ferry! I just watched a midsized SUV come off the ship. It had seven kayaks stacked and strapped on top!
August 24: Good morning from Johnson Straight off the east coast of Vancouver Island. After yesterday’s busy and way too exciting day, last night was utterly peaceful aboard the ferry. About 20 tents were being pitched on the deck of the ship. Heavy tape is used to adhere them, even so they could easily take flight if it were windy. I was up at 5:30 and on deck with my camera. Yesterday’s departure was in mist, this morning’s awaking was in clear skies. Fun fact: the ship stays on AK time regardless of port. I’ve gone from shorts to long pants and my heavy down jacket. But it is only the wind in the morning that makes it chilly. How does one describe this sort of beauty? I don’t know. But I’ve had a big grin on my face all morning as my eyes take it in. Everyone is casual, relaxed and friendly. As I’m writing this we are nearing Port Hardy on the northern end of Vancouver Island. People have binoculars scanning the waters. There are whales to be seen if we are lucky: Humpbacks, Orcas, and unusually a Sperm whale. And I just saw an Orca! I tried to capture them (at least two) on my camera. How magical is that?Wait, no way. A group of dolphins arching high out of the water. Pinch me! The ship is so sociable. I stopped for a glass of wine before dinner. Carol, who works there, greeted me with an enthusiasm that surprised me. Then she shook my hand and told me she was Carol. I reciprocated with “and I’m Anne”. Next I met Laddy, surely I heard her name incorrectly, and her newly wedded husband. See, it really is friendly. Soon we were exchanging stories and Neill was trying to scare me about bears. Then the bar closed for an hour between six and seven. I microwaved Chef Boyardee ravioli for dinner, borrowed a book from the take one, give one shelf. Here I am comfy in my berth watching the trees slide by the wi ndow. What a great day. If all goes to schedule the ship will leave Canadian waters during the night and should arrive Sunday morning in Ketchikan AK USA at 7am.
August 23: I’m on my way to Bellingham today! After months of planning, it is finally go day. I drive south to get on the “Alaska Marine Highway” to go north through the Inside Passage. The Marine Highway isn’t a road, it is a ferry route that follows the western edge of Canada north to Alaska. The ferry leaves Bellingham Washington at 6pm today. More updates to follow. Byeeeeee
