July 01-07 - Whitehorse, YT (cont'd)
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We drove out to Carcross on Sunday. On the way, we passed Emerald Lake. It gets its unique blue-green colour from the light reflecting off a layer of white marl on the bottom of the lake.
Carcross is the northern terminus of the White Pass and Yukon Railway which starts at Skagway (we rode this railway when we did an Alaskan cruise a few years back). This railway was used by gold-rush stampeders to get up to Carcross and then by water through Whitehorse to Dawson City and the Klondike goldfields.
One striking feature of the town is the number of old buildings as well as many buildings painted with traditional Tagish First Nation artwork.
On the way back to Whitehorse we stopped at Carcross Desert (billed as the "world's smallest desert") which comprises one square mile of rolling dunes. We also saw a black bear just off the road. We took a photo but he/she blended in very well with the dark forest.
We walked across the footbridge and chatted with a retired gentleman who was fishing for Arctic grayling and/or lake trout. You could see them, many feet down, in the clear water running under the bridge through the narrows from Bennett lake to Nares Lake; but then free coffee at the bakery called to us. We noshed on some pastries while we sat outside in the glorious sunshine. A perfect little spot on a perfect Sunday!
On our last day, we visited the Copper Belt Railway & Mining Museum and went on a train ride (10 hp Loke Diesel that had been used in the mines).
One morning we headed out to Canadian Tire and Walmart. We couldn't believe the number of RVs scattered around the Walmart parking lot. I know Walmart is kind enough to let RVs park overnight, but we both thought what we saw was pushing it –RVs, motorhomes, trailers all over the place. There was even one 5th wheel trailer with no truck in sight!
We hit the library a couple of times to catch up with some computer work and also sampled some good mid-morning coffee and snacks at The Claim, Java Expressions, and the Alpine Bakery. Mmmm good!
