Day 3 (August 25, 2021): Whitehorse and its environs - "a lot of meat on them thar bones!"

>>> I HAVE TO BE UP AT 4AM, SO I WILL HAVE TO FINISH THIS ENTRY TOMORROW - SORRY! <<<

We spent today exploring Whitehorse's greatest charms, and then drove south to the indigenous community of Carcross.

Tomorrow is an early rise to get a flight to Dawson City.

The oldest building in Whitehorse is the telegraph office.

The MacBride Museum has an incredible collection of mounted animals - every one of the Yukon's animals can be found in this life-size collection.

The MacBride Museum.

At the MacBride Museum, a prospector's tent has been recreated with antiques from the turn of the 20th century.

Indigenous artwork at the MacBride Museum -- made from push-pins!

Sealskin art at the MacBride Museum.  The shades of grey are made by cutting the seal pelts to different depths.

The SS Klondike from 1929 is Whitehorse's star attraction.  It is one of just two remaining riverboats remaining in the Yukon.

Interior scenes from the SS Klondike, including the kitchen, engine room and freight area, as well as the upper deck.

Yukon Legislature

Stained glass panels inside the entrance to the Legislature depict cultural and historical scenes from Yukon's past.

Log church in Whitehorse, built in two months in 1900.

Lunch was a sausage chowder and a famous elk sausage roll from Deli Yukon.  We ate it in nearby Rotary Peace Park, where this totem pole promotes unity.

The Whitehorse Horse was created from a plethora of contributed articles from Yukoners.  It overlooks the town from Two-Mile Hill.

Just upriver from Whitehorse, Schwatka Lake is harnessed for electricity.  The power utility has built an amazing fish ladder to help chinook salmon on their way.  And it works!  They identified 180 returning chinook salmon this summer through the ladded.

After exploring Whitehorse, we hit the Alaska Highway and took it south to Route 2, which we then took to Carcross.

Miles Canyon had incredibly steep riverbanks.  The current is such that, falling in would mean certain death.



The drive down Route 2 toward Carcross was marked by one mountain range after another.  So impressive!

Emerald Lake, just north of Carcross.

The Carcross Desert, at 2.6 square kilometers, is the world's smallest desert.

Like the Whitehorse Horse (see above), the Carcross Caribou is also made from miscellaneous bits and pieces.

The seven totems at the Carcross Band Office.

More totems in the Carcross Commons.

The Yukon's oldest general store, located in Carcross.

"Retirement home" in Carcross.

Tiny Carcross has three churches, each of which is tiny, tiny, tiny!