by: Chris and Mary Pattison Rig #17
Today we started on the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake in the Yukon, then we went to BC, then to Yukon, then BC ………. finally we settled down in the Yukon (that’s what happens when boundaries are drawn on maps and the road has to bypass mountains!).
Our first stop was Rancheria Falls, the large parking area was soon filled with Adventure Caravan RV’s and it was worth the trip to see both the two sets of falls and also the boardwalk running up to them.
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| Boardwalk to Rancheria Falls |
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| Rancheria Falls |
Much of the highway is forested and there is evidence of the permafrost being close to the surface as the (mostly spruce) trees are short, scrawny and with very thin trunks. The first time I saw this I thought it was all new growth forest, nothing could be further from the truth, these are very old trees!
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| Marsh Lake |
The gem on this day for us was the small town of Teslin. Teslin comprises two gas stations on either side of the highway and three small but deceptively good museums along the highway. The first is a wildlife gallery and as we are seeing a lot of wildlife as we travel, we passed on this and started at the George Johnson Museum. George Johnson was a Tlingit (pronounced Kling-et) in the early 1900’s who recorded his (Tlingit) people’s lives with a camera. He also purchased the first car in Teslin and it did not seem to matter that there were no roads at the time; he, along with some helpers cleared a road in the bush and provided a local taxi service along this short section of road and also the frozen Yukon River during the winter. (An interesting aside is that he traded in his car to the original Dealership for a truck 42 years later and it was received ‘without a dent on it’). If you go to the museum, you must see the video, it is 55 minutes long and an excellent history and culture lesson.
The Tlingit Heritage Centre, a few kilometers further along the highway is also worth a visit and shows more of the Tlingit culture; very interesting and we could have spent more time there.
In terms of wildlife sightings, yesterday was a feast and today was certainly a famine. All we saw was a stump bear, a black log sheep, a green bush bison and finally a (real) deer.
The day ended with a Leader catered margarita and nachos feast. As the margarita refreshed my brain, I am sure that all those wildlife sightings were real ………. Life is good!
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| Mary is getting us Margaritas! |
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