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Sunday, November 13, 2005
Whitehorse and a Bunch of Firsts
This last weekend was a weekend of many firsts for me. On Friday morning we woke up nice and early, around 5:30, and headed North to Whitehorse. Never in my live would I have thought we would be traveling to Whitehorse for the weekend. Chad, our neighbor, friend, and Lyndsay's co-worker came along - or maybe we went with him? It was our idea to go, but we took his truck, as our car would have been far too small for the three of us and all the junk we were bound to buy.
On the way up, shortly after crossing the 'welcome to the Yukon' sign, we stopped at a small cafe at Junction 67, right at the Alaska Highway, and had one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time. Great food, great people - I am still trying to get used to how friendly everyone in the North really is. It was a nice break from the drive, but we still had several hours left. We saw, and tragically killed, some wildlife on our way up. The deaths included 4 small birds stopped on the road for gravel, and one larger bird off the windshield. Five birds in a 3 hour span - must be some kind of record. We did manage to see an Elk, unfortunately it was laying on the side of the road - no live elk this trip, however, along the way there and back, we did see some live animals, including 4 owl's, 2 moose, and a fox. This was my first time seeing a moose, as well as a fox. The road was long and snowy, but there was a great deal of beautiful scenery, and some incredible mountains - and lots of snow. The snow was quite different than the west coast snow I am used to. On Vancouver Island the snow is very wet and heavy, here, because of the cold, the snow is dry and light. In Whitehorse it was almost like cotton. You could see the individual snow flakes and make out their exact shape. The snow didn't stick to anything, and simply blew off the car without any trouble. Whitehorse is a small, beautiful city. I hear around a population of 60,000, but do not have any exact figures on that. During our stay we drove up to Takhini Hot Springs, about 30 km north of town. For me this was my first time to any hot springs in the winter. I had visited Radium, but that was in August - no -15C weather that trip. Here at Takhini, it was interesting to have such cold weather and be swimming out side, but certainly something I would do regularly if it were easily accessible to Dease Lake. The main goal for this trip was shopping, and did we ever do a lot of that. We mostly bought food, and most of it came from the Walmart. Prices in Dease Lake are very expensive, so whenever possible we stock up when out of town. Between the three of us we managed to practically fill the back of Chad's truck. While most of it was food there were office supplies, clothing, and a bunch of miscellaneous junk. This trip included a number of firsts for me. Saw my first Moose, and fox (and elk, even though it wasn't moving much). First time in the Yukon (and obviously Whitehorse), first time in the hot springs in the winter, and also the first time experiencing -15 degree weather. (While I do expect to far exceed that in the coming months.) It was also the first time I had seen this cotton like snow. Overall it was a great trip, and I am sure we will make it again - in the late spring after the snow starts to melt. << Return to Blog << Return to DeaseLake.net |
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