Another 12 hour drive planned today.   Between the dreadful roads, scenery veiled by fog, rain and mud, it was not the memorable journey that we experienced when leaving Whitehorse for Alaska but we arrived safely without anything else falling down, or off, LilyPad.

Along our painstakingly slow passage we saw pieces of trailers, parts of RV’s, car wheels and rims all strewn along the road, even a fairly new purple bicycle that must have fallen off unseen and no one returned to collect.   John kept a close eye out for spare parts that we may need but no luck.  A trailer passing by could score a jack crank, new looking ice chest and some nice wood chalks.

Alaska is now in the proverbial rear view mirror and we are settled into the land of loonies, toonies, pretty paper money, no one-cent coins, fee lending shopping baskets, pay showers, penguin cheddar crackers, 90 km being the new 60 mph, our GPS instructing us in meters instead of yards/feet and “yes” is “You betcha”.

Re-visiting the fish ladder now that it has opened was first on our list.  Again, we are early for the salmon as they will  not appear until later in August but we were able to see how it worked with the Graylings that were using the ladder.  The ladder came into being when the Northern Canada Power Commission built the Whitehorse Rapids hydroelectric dam.

Recognizing that something had to be done to insure the continuation of the salmon run, a year later they built the Whitehorse Fishway.  It is an amazing network of water and wood that helps the salmon make their long journey back to the streams where they began.   The wood walkways guide you through the fishway and avail a bird’s eye view of the ladder.  Information about the salmon and the history of the Fishway is posted along the walkway and in the information center.

Tonight John got tickets for Frantic Follies, a turn-of-the-century vaudeville revue with amusing readings of Robert William Service, a poet and writer.  Robert was often called “the Bard of the Yukon” and was best known for his poems “The Shooting of Dan McGrew” and “The Cremation of Sam McGee”, from his first book, Songs of a Sourdough.  John has an original 1907 leather bound copy of the book handed down from his grandfather who often traveled in Canada so he was excited about seeing the show.  It was a fun comical evening and included entertainment that would have been seen by the pioneers of the Great Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1800’s.   As with most shows in hotels that cater to major cruise lines, audience participation was included and they carefully picked those that could laugh at themselves to play the dupes.  We didn’t think pictures would be welcome, so we left the camera and ended up taking some with John’s phone.  It doesn’t like action and the show was a whirl of movement.

Planning for another long day of driving in the rain but this time with only a few hours of gravel areas, repaired bumpy areas and winding mountain roads.   As usual “planned” does not necessarily result in action.   John tried to hook up Ribbit and the poor thing remained lifeless through all of his efforts to start the engine.  The jump from LilyPad backfired and he fried the master and all of the other fuses but luckily, only on the car.  We called our road service and they arrived to tow Ribbit to the Toyota dealership.  Now we wait.  Possible chance of leaving Saturday if the part gets shipped today.  As it is “always something”, this might as well be the something.

Morning arrived and my list of things to keep us busy while we wait for car repair went into full swing.  MacBride Museum of Yukon History is up first.  The non-profit museum houses several collections, the first being a captivating film about the Klondike Gold Rush and Dawson City in its hay day.

I was amazed at the tenacity and stamina of the 100,000 prospectors that set out on a journey, some as far as two thousand miles from home, to stake claims in north-western Canada, the Yukon.  The Klondike Gold Rush, 1896 through 1899, brought many but only 30 or 40 thousand managed to arrive in Dawson City.  Some became wealthy although the majority went in vain and a mere 4,000 struck gold.

The hardships that they endured were unthinkable and the Mounted Police of the Yukon required each prospector, most being white collar workers with no prospecting experience, to tote one years supply up the steep icy Chilkoot or White Pass trails before they were allowed to enter the territory and build their boats to sail down the Yukon River to the Klondike. The journey up the mountain had to be made over and over to accumulate the years supply, weighing nearly a ton, collected at the top.  Snow would cover everything and they would have to dig it out before continuing on their way.  Although gold was discovered in the Yukon in 1896, it took a year for news to reach Seattle and San Francisco and trigger the stampede of would-be prospectors.  It is hard to imagine the suffering that those first Sourdoughs underwent to reach the Yukon.  Sadly, most went through frozen hell only to find that several rich men with crews and supplies had already arrived 18 months prior and had staked most of the good claims.   The Rush ended in 1899 after gold was discovered in Nome Alaska and resulted in an exodus from the Klondike.

Outside on museum property was equipment from the 1800’s and the cabin of the legendary Sam McGee.  Viewing the cabin, after knowing the name and poem, was the highlight for John.  The cabin of Sam McGee (of The Cremation of Sam McGee poem fame) complete with period furnishings along with actual mining equipment used by miners in the Klondike.

Across the way was a black smiths shed equipped with tools from the late 1800’s.

Engine No. 51, built in 1881 in New York, was shipped north in 1898 to help build the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

The exhibits were interesting, although they contained an enormous amount of reading.  They had a great wildlife exhibit with stuffed animals and birds local to the Yukon that filled a large room.

In the basement was an exhibit and paintings from Jim Robb’s Colorful Five Percent collection.  Local artist and historian, he has been photographing, collecting and painting the Yukon’s history for more than 50 years.  One of the pieces, an ornate wooden door from Dawson City, was painted with his interpretation of life in Dawson City. (another “no pictures please” room)

All in all, we enjoyed the 2 hours we spent poking through everything.  The tour guide was ahead of us so we listened but continued at a slower pace.

Lunch at a great little diner called Burnt Toast.  Eclectic Canadian foods including Poutine (French fries covered with cheese curd, pulled pork or other meat and gravy).  Guaranteed to add pounds, just from the aroma.

After lunch we picked up a few things at the local health food store and dropped them off, planning to visit another museum after walking KatieBug.  A quick call to the Toyota dealership let us know our trip would continue in the morning.  By the time I had put groceries away, the air outside was filled with thick smoke blown from the 122 active fires in Alaska so John hurried to pick up Ribbit, I pulled in slides, pulled up levels, John hooked up the car and we left for Rancheria Falls in the Yukon to overnight away from the smoke.

This was the part of our ride on the way up that I enjoyed the most.  Free roaming wild animal zoo.   We took a lunch break at Teslin Lake and learned that Canada stocks its glacier fed lakes because there isn’t enough food in the icy water to sustain fish.  It was a wonderfully peaceful break in the middle of our long drive.

To our disappointment, Canada’s roads were in “repair mode” so they were torn up and severely dusty for mile upon mile.  Intermittently, on the paved roads, we were able to spot a few of the wild things but, as usual, our big rig still scared off animals.  Moose totally freaked as soon as they heard us coming.  Bison, on the other hand, could care less!

Another “it’s always something” is our new sparkling star burst rock chip thrown up by a big rig on a dusty “repair mode” road.  Just after we finished “The Wave” and they passed us, a rock popped and we knew it chipped the window even before looking.   To clarify, “The Wave” is what motorhome owners do when they pass each other.  It involves exaggerated waves with the complete right arm, right arm because you can’t see the drivers left arm from the other motorhome.  Amazing how many participate…even some truckers do it without prompting!

Our first overnight was spent boondocking at Rancheria Recreation Area and falls.  We were parked with two other campers for the night.  In the morning, we walked the lovely cool path to the falls through the Boreal Forest.  Three rushing water falls, rocky terrain with a forest floor full of tiny pretty flowers and moss.  A few more brown egg shaped moose droppings along the path but no other signs.  Breakfast, then off for our next overnight in Fort Nelson.

On the way, paused to enjoy Muncho Lake, aka “Big Lake” one of the biggest natural lakes in the Canadian Rockies.

More “repair mode” dusty gravel and dirt roads on our journey to Fort Nelson.  Driving slow to spot the wild things which included a few black bear, a small herd of mountain sheep and several moose that took off like rockets as soon as we approached.  Our overnight is at Triple G in Fort Nelson, right at the edge of the highway and close to a small plane landing field.  Noisy semi sleep-deprived night.

Mountains surrounded us with splendid views in every direction.

Passing over steep grades up, then down, one mountain after another, through oil country with pick-em-ups and oil tanker truckers flying by all around until we drove into our gated, chain link fenced overnight, Ross H. Maclean Rotary RV Park in Charlie Lake, British Columbia, Canada.  The RV park boarders a nature preserve so they fence the humans in to keep the wild things from entering for food.  Again, next to the main highway with oil truckers dashing back and forth with their liquid haul so it’s going to be another intermittently disturbed shut-eye.