Whitehorse

 August 5, 2012  Whitehorse, YT

Another cold Yukon day with rain off and on did not deter us from going to see the sternwheeler Klondike in Whitehorse this morning.  Parks Canada does a wonderful job of restoring these historical relics and their guides are extremely knowledgeable and informative.  It was an excellent tour of the largest sternwheeler in the Yukon fleet; Keno that we saw in Dawson City was the smallest.  These are the only two of these wonderful vessels left, and both are now National Monuments.  Well done, Parks Canada.

S.S. Klondike,  Whitehorse, YT

Fish ladder beginning

After lunch, we went to the Visitor's Center and gathered information and watched a movie about the Yukon.  Then we went to see the longest wooden fish ladder in the world.  When they built the hydroelectric dam on the Yukon River, they constructed the ladder so that the salmon returning to their home stream to spawn would have a way to get upstream past the dam.  The salmon are pooling near the ladder now and will start leaping up it any day.  Who knew the life of a salmon was so fraught with danger and hardship!

Fish ladder top

Whitehorse Hydroelectric Dam

                 








On the way to the fish ladder, we saw a strange sight.  On the tiny lawn of a suburban home was a huge dome made of bicycle rims wired together!  There was even a tree growing inside.  Why?   I haven't a clue.

Yard art made of bicycle tire rims!

We drove up to Miles Canyon and hiked across the suspension bridge there.  The gold rushers would build rafts and try to carry their equipment through the rapids and many of them were lost in the raging waters.  Today the water is much calmer because of the dam that has been built upstream.  Miles Canyon is beautiful and has many enticing hiking trails to explore.

Miles Canyon from the overlook

Bridge over the Canyon

On the bridge.

On the way back to the RV we stopped at the Yukon Transportation Museum to see the world's largest weather vane. It was once a C47 cargo plane that has been converted to a DC3 passenger plane since its days of usefulness are done.  It always faces into the wind because it has been placed on a pivot.








To add to the amazing sights of the day, at  the museum we saw a crocheted truck.  Really.






Tomorrow we head back down the Alaska Highway towards Watson Lake before turning south on the Cassiar Highway.