Meziadin Lake - Smithers

The Homestretch is now on. One more night in the trailer tonight and then we will be sleeping in our bed at home again. 

What an incredible trip this has been though, one where we have made so many amazing memories and we will happily think of all the awesome sights we have had. 

We will most definitely take another trip to that beautiful part of the world and we both can not wait til the time is here again. 

On the bright side. We made it to Smithers and we are finally in cell range again. That is crazy. Over 800 km with no signal whatsoever. Better hope you don't break down on the Cassiar highway if you ever drive it...

Time for a beer! cheers!

Gnat Lakes - Meziadin Lake

Look what we woke up to!! We got up pretty quickly and after a quick breakfast, we hit the road to get off the mountains. 

    

After a few hours drive, we ended up at Meziadin Lake on the junction to Stewart. What a beautiful spot. Sam did a bit of fly-fishing and I got dinner organized. 

We took a little sidetrip to Stewart and found these treasures right next to the highway. Glaciers!!

Stewart itself was nothing to write home about but it had a nice estuary and boardwalk out to it. Other than that it is just a pass-through to Hyder, AK. Most of the town was already shut down by 3pm. So disapointing!! 

And still no cell service. Wow, why??

Watson Lake - Gnat Lakes

In the morning we had to do one final thing before leaving Watson Lake. We had to make our mark at the Sign Forest, so we hit up the local Home Hardware store for a board and went straight to the Visitor Information Center to get some markers, hammer and nail. 

       

Then it was time to say Good bye to the fabulous Yukon and make our way back to BC. Dear Government of BC! The flag is shredded and needs to be replaced. Pronto!!! 

    

       

We made it as far as Gnat Lakes just south of Dease Lake and called it a night there. We were the only ones at this little campground and set up camp by the lake. 

After a steak dinner, and a couple of drinks, we called it a night because we wanted to get going early in the morning. 

No cell service since Watson Lake. Boy were we spoilt in the Yukon in that regard...

Whitehorse to Watson Lake

We arrived in Whitehorse for the last time on this trip. 

We headed to the RV park for the night. What a lovely place. Finally some showers again. It's been a few days and we were also able to do some laundry here. First time on this trip, so we did well, we think. 

The next morning we went to grab some coffees and take in a couple more sights of Whitehorse before we headed out again.

Check out the worlds largest weather vane! A DC-3!!! It was so cool how it pointed in a different direction compared to last time we were here. 

And I am not sure this place would pass building inspections at home. This was right downtown. So funny! Definitely not built by the Timber Kings...

Next stop was Carcross, the smalled desert in the world. Funny how it just appeared on the side of the highway.

Keeping on with our travels we made it to Watson Lake and wanted to visit the Northern lights Center to take in an Aurora Screening, but due to the late Season, they had cut the last show of the day. Too bad, but I guess we'll have to see it next time that we are here. 

Off to Kluane National Park Sept 11-13

Trying to make it to Kluane National Park for a few days. Hoping to get some paddling in there.

The scenery is still all about the colours here. Breathtaking really. 

Kluane Lake is a humungous lake. There were big white caps on it when we got there and we found a campsite at Destruction Bay's Congdon Territorial Campground. The first night we decided to get a site tucked into the trees, sheltered from the wind, but the next morning we moved closer to the lake, 

Sunday morning we headed to one of the places that offer scenic flights to the worlds largest non-polar icefields and it was just phenomenal. Wow! The views were spectacular. Judge for yourself. 

Our pilot was just incredible at explaining where we were going to turn next etc. I was able to keep the door open during the whole flight, for some amazing photo opps. 

These are just iphone pics, as my camera pics will have to wai til we get home, but wow. What an experience. We highly recommend Icefield Discovery Tours south of Destruction Bay for any Glacier tours you would like to do in the area. 

Keno to Frenchman Lake sept 10-11

arrived at Frenchman Lake via a backroad that was recommended to us by one of the many information centers along the way. Huge lake and a bit windy now but we just finished setting up camp. Getting dinner going while Sam is starting a fire. Great little campground.

Soon it started to rain, so we turned in quite early to rest up for the day ahead. Trying to make it to Kluane National Park for a few days. Hoping to get some paddling in there. 

Dawson to Keno sept 9-10

Before leaving Dawson we wanted to see the big Dredge #4 that is so famous, so we went on a tour. What a humungous structure. 

As soon as we turned off the main highway to head to Keno we had a rock puncture in one of our trailer tires. Not a difficult fix and as soon as we got to the town of Mayo, we asked a local lady for a tire shop to get it fixed. She recommended a guy that had a tire machine, so he was able to help us out on a whim.

Pretty soon we were on our way to Keno.

Keno: Wow, we accidentally took a wrong turn and went the old road to Keno. What a rough ride, but we finally arrived at the campground by the river and set up camp. When we got into Keno it looked like just a bunch of old shacks that some people were still living in. I was so disappointed at how run down it all was because somehow I had pictured it quite differently.  11 Full time residents and we must have met half of them. We figured to meet locals we need to end up at one of the two bars for a beer or two, so we went to the Keno Hotel Bar after dinner. Met an old miner that used to live here and is here to visit his brother, two young guys that usually mine in Dawson but where on the look out for more land to mine and the owner and his wife of the Hotel. What a bunch of characters! the stories they told all night long were just fascinating. Two rounds were paid by the others and it was a really great and interesting evening. 

The Bottle House built with beer bottles! Recycling at its best!

When we were about to leave, the Aurora started making an appearance and after watching for a while from the Hotel, we walked back to the campsite and the lights just kept putting on a show. it was just amazing. 

Watched for probably another hour or so and went to bed to rest up for the next day. 

In the morning, after breakfast, we went to see the Museum that was recommended to us and then said our good-byes at the Hotel. He showed us all kinds of treasures he had and one of his huge projects that he has started several years ago. Digging out the ground under the hotel by 10 - 12 feet!!!! All by himself. This is going to take him years, and I am not exactly sure why he is doing it; but hey, what else is an old eccentric guy going to do with his time. ha!