Day 5

Written on August 17th, 2012 on Kluane Lake (in Burwash Landing)

Can you believe that it is already the end of day 5? That is crazy! This trip has gone very quickly. It is possible we will end up in Fairbanks tomorrow. It is a little sad to think just because this road trip has been fun and I really do enjoy just sitting in cars for long periods of time. Since it isn't a very green thing to do, there isn't much other chance than a road trip like this. However I'm also eager to see where we end up living, see what Fairbanks looks like and I'm really excited for snow and the Aurora Borealis. So at least the end of this trip isn't the end of the entire trip!

Back to our regular scheduled programming. I'm going to start with some really, really sad news. We saw no animals today. Not one. Well, if you don't count chipmunks, squirrels and cravens (not sure if they're crows or ravens... or what the difference between those two is). Compare this to yesterday where we saw 2 bears, two herds of bison (plus one solitary), a dozen goats and a moose... it is a little disappointing. No matter how hard you look for animals, you will only see them if they are there. Deep, I know.

Anywho, Rancheria River (right near to where we stayed) has a falls, so we decided to start our day off by doing a short walk over to that.

In my mind the boardwalk helped protect us from all the scary animals!

See water falling? Water + falling = waterfall. Whoddathunk?

 Then we continued on our drive over to Teslin Lake. They have some nice information on local history and legends.There was a legend about a woman who saw into the future and knew bad things would come based on three omens, but another woman ignored her. Then there was a battle. That was why it was named its name. The story didn't completely explain why it was named this - Fox River, I believe. There was a fox in the story, so I assume that is the reason. Most of the history given matched other history we have learned about - about what brought people to the area - trapping, and the construction of the road (in 1942 and 1943) and the people who lived here and the towns they created, etc.

 We continued on the road again until we came across yet another lake. First, we did the most important thing:

 Then we continued on to look at the water. See? Beautiful water:

I can't remember the name of this lake...

 This lake was so large that it reminded us both of the Puget Sound. The distance to far off islands, the waves, the sand and the color of the water (grey because of the clouds). The terrain is still similar, as well.

Anyways, once again we continued on our drive, this time stopping off just before Whitehorse to see Miles Canyon. It is a beautiful little canyon with extremely fast gushing water. Before a local dam was built, it created two whirlpools I believe. I'm not surprised because even with the dam in place there are still near whirlpools created in the flurry of water.

This bridge shook when we walked across it... it was a tad scary.

There was a completely circular area with narrow channels on either side. I could imagine this is where a large whirlpool used to be. The water would swirl and bubble all around.

 We continued on our drive some more. We didn't stop in Whitehorse even though it is a pretty large city... well, that is really why we didn't stop. We're not really city people. Every time we choose a city to stay in, we end up driving past it and staying in the middle of no where. Even when I really need to use the rest room, we skip past the grocery stores and gas stations in favor of a rest area in the middle of no where with a pit toilet. We both just prefer the nature!

Every time that I say we continued on our drive, this is what we see:

Obviously the terrain changes just a bit, and the road is sometimes unmarked, however that is a very average picture of what we see in front of us. Just in case you were curious!

This is Old Man Mountain. Can you guess why?

We  planned on staying in Haines Junction, however it was only 5 pm and we were only an hour away from Kluane Lake. We have heard good things about Kluane Lake, so we decided to continue on and try to find somewhere along the lake. The lake is the largest in the Yukon, I believe, so it is quite difficult to get photos of it all. Here are some....

We found a small old little lodge to stay in. It was started in 1944 and still looks like it could be from that era. Obviously they have fitted some things up, but the layout and door handle, locks, etc all look old.

Once again we have a view of the water from where we are staying. Have we had a water view every night? I think so...
 

The sun just recently set (it is well after 10) and it was so beautiful. Laura tried to take a picture of it but it just couldn't capture it. Red, orange and then the rest of the sky was yellow. It refelcted off of the water (which our room faces). Before sunset, there was a double rainbow over the water that didn't just look like it landed on the ground - it curved in under and started to come back towards us again.

So I would say that this place is small, old and very homey - and absolutely gorgeous! Also, the internet may just be the fastest yet! However that said, it is time to get off the internet because Laura is already asleep and I am very tired as well. Goodnight!

PS. I just tried to post this and the internet is gone! This isn't the first time that they've seemed to unconnect the wifi at night! So this shall go up in the morning, I suppose.