June 14th, 2012, A long Day but We made it to Whitehorse!

June 14^th, 2012, A long Day but We made it to Whitehorse!

The Highway was running parallel to the Cassier mountains and far in the distance one could see the Teton shaped pyramid of a mountain scuplted by the headwalls of three alpine glaciers. They were long gone but the cirques, bowl shaped depression’s were obvious, along with the u-shaped valleys. There the ice once had spilled out its snout with towering seracs, again long since melted. I imagined the deep blue glacial ice that had filled them, a color of ice only seen in the high places.

We left early this morning, hoping we could get past the road work and make it at least to Telsin or maybe even Whitehorse. Imagine our surprise when we had practically no delay and quickly passed the main break in the road.

It was pretty obvious that the road had had a flash flood and that logs had jammed the bridge, sending the river roaring over the highway until the bridge and road collapsed into the torrent. The Canadian road crews have done a magnificent repair and are to be commended for opening the road so fast!

It was important to go as far as we could as there is a threat for more rain and more flooding. Hopefully the Destruction Bay area, near Kluane Lake, will not have a repeat and the road there will remain open. Regardless, the drive turned into an uneventful drive on pretty good roads.

Renita spotted a great grey owl, one of the largest northern owls,  but that was pretty much it for the day. None the less it was a beautiful drive as we crossed the continental divide that where the  water falls and flows  to the Arctic Ocean or to the Pacific. We did get to see the start of the Yukon and it’s huge as it pours out of its source, Marsh Lake. Let me repeat the rivers here are large, wild, and beautiful.

Renita told me of a canoe race, down to Dawson City. It’s a distance of over four hundred miles and open to novice and expert paddlers. Having no death wish we decided to pass on entering such madness, at least not this year…..

Driving in the Tioga is itself a treat as the trees form a massive skyline of firs, birch, aspen, and lodgepole pine. There is a lot of beetle kill but also a lot of forest that seems to be in excellent health. We did pass a recent burn that is crowded with morel mushroom hunters, and an information person at the visitor center told us a good picker could make twenty thousand in a few weeks.

However that sounds too  like work, even though we both do love eating morels. They are the only wild mushroom we will pick as we feel confident in identifying them. Besides we would rather pick rocks and weigh down our fifth wheel.  Clear skies