8. Day 3 – Haines Junction to Whitehorse and almost to Watson Lake

Wednesday 10 May 2006

A magnificent morning beside Lake Kluane and we moved our watches forward an hour. Dick was up at 8am and went walking to the airstrip and along the Lake shore. We departed at 9.05am and called in at the Kluane Lake Research Station. This is sponsored by the Arctic Institute of North America/University of Calgary and is presently managed by Andy William’s daughter and son-in-law, Lance. We had a cup of coffee and discussed flying and adventuring including our common friends Mike McDowell, Martin Williams and Pat Morrow.

Back on the road at 9.30 we had magnificent views of the St Elias Range to the south.

The road construction is much better now, as good as the US section of the Highway.

Just after Haines Junction we saw two young hitch-hikers. Our vehicle is a crew cab with two extra seats in the back. Dick reckoned he wanted such a vehicle so we could pick up locals and learn all about the area. No such luck – the young couple were Tom Clark and Tamara Maggenti both from Victoria, who knew as much about the local area as we did – about nil. They were young 23 year olds who had been backpacking for 6 months. We entertained them with Australia All Over songs on the iPod while we zoomed to Whitehorse where we dropped them off.

**We dropped off our hitch hikers in the main street of Whitehorse**

Parking in the main street, Dick bought a book on the Telegraph Line that was built at the turn of the century to connect Vancouver with Whitehorse and Dawson City. A quick cup of coffee but nothing to eat because the food looked a bit gross with the sandwiches two inches thick. We are so lucky to have our own food supply with our refrigerator, sink and stove on board.

Whitehorse is a thriving town on the banks of the Yukon River. It was the gateway to the Klondike goldfields in 1899 with thousands of stampeders making their way north. The Yukon is 2,300 feet above sea level at Whitehorse, so if flows swiftly. It is amazing that paddle steamers could make their way from the Yukon entrance in the Bering Sea to the city. We were passing Dick’s Solo Helicopter route again. He spent a night in Whitehorse in 1983 and we stopped for a meal in 1995 during the Sikorsky flight. We also spend a few days here three years ago on our Cessna Caravan flight to Greenland.

On the road again, we dropped down at the Lewes Dam on the Yukon River.

**Lewes Dam on the Yukon River and Dick operating the boat lock**

This is part of a series of dams both to generate electricity and to tame the rapids. There is even a small boat lock (or should I say canoe lock) which is used on a do it yourself basis. Gradually as we move south the frozen lakes have more blue water around their edges. The Yukon is flowing at this point, ‘break up’ was only a few weeks before.

We continued along the Highway through Jakes Corner and Teslin where the weather changed very quickly. We were socked in with mist and rain, 37 degrees F outside.

**Glad we aren’t flying – Mt White ahead**

**A sign we don’t see in Australia – moose could be in the road**

**Rain and mist over the still frozen Teslin Lake**

At this point we were remembering our friend Laurie McIver. Dick had taken a photo of Laurie in the helicopter, very close to here during the Sikorsky world flight and this was published in our book Above The World. By using the GPS we tried to locate the area, however we found the photo position was well away from the road.

We stopped at Morley River rest area for a cup of tea and Vegemite on Ryvita biscuits.

**Looking back to the metal bridge over Nisutlin Bay to Teslin**

Dick was delighted, the XM satellite radio started working with over 100 channels including, believe it or not, channels dedicated to the 40’s, 50’s or 60’s…Dick loves the ‘old’ music!! Dick is complaining however, because the 198 channel satellite television doesn’t work this far north – he says this is a very primitive trip!!

The sun is out as we cross the Continental Divide at 3,355 feet.

**We crossed the Continental Divide and are now in British Columbia**

At 7.15pm we stopped in another gravel pit just 51 kilometers before Watson Lake, having done 1,635 kms since we left Anchorage.

Chicken in mushroom sauce with rice and fresh asparagus for dinner – Dick reckoned it was one of the best meals he had ever had!!! We lay in the king size bed, really comfortable watching the DVD of the movie Casanova.

611kms for the day – 1,635km total.

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