Roadtrip to Whitehorse and Dawson City

Our roadtrip began in the afternoon of July 27th.

Driving on the infamous Dempster Highway.

Taking the ferry to cross the Arctic Red River. On the other side of the river is a community called Tsiigehtchic.

On the sheltered part of the ferry, several Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) nests were found and the parents were flying back and forth from the moving ferry trying to feed their nestlings.

Stopping on the highway to stretch our legs and a quick photo session.

Arriving at the NWT/Yukon border.

Eagle Plains, Yukon, is "a large, rolling region of hills nestled between the Ogilvie and Richardson mountain ranges."

And to think I thought it was named after the Eagle Plains Hotel, where we stayed for our first night (on the campground site).

Beautiful scenery along the highway.

Arriving at Tombstone Territorial Park, the only hike we did was the Goldensides hike. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular (although much more difficult and higher in elevation than the hills at Sheep Creek). I hope I will get a chance to come back in the future and do more hikes in the park.

One of the flowers found on the hike. I believe this is a Pale Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja caudata).

The sceneries from the mountain top.

Climbing up the mountain, only I saw a large round mammal in the distance. At first, I thought it was a Wolverine or something. But climbing down, everybody saw the animal again and it was a Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata)! Such a cool find!

Stopping at the Interpretive Centre to look around and cooking our lunch in the parking lot.

Views from the parking lot.

Stopping at Braeburn Lodge to buy its famous cinnamon buns ($9 each).

And look at the size of it!

We pushed throughout the whole day and arrived at Whitehorse on the second night. Along the way, we spotted a rainbow and at the end of it, a small patch of the mountain was golden! This was the only photo I managed to get through the car window.

On the third day (July 29th), we hanged around and ran errands in Whitehorse, as well as visited the Yukon Brewing Company. Good beer, but not so good tour of the brewery.

Walking around in downtown Whitehorse.

We left Whitehorse on the 30th and started our way back up north (to Dawson City).

Stopping at the Five Finger Rapids, another place I hope to visit more thoroughly in the future.

Beautiful place.

Finding a longhorn beetle in the parking lot.

Then we made it to Dawson City in the evening. The first thing we did after getting pizza for dinner was setting up camp at West Dawson. West Dawson is separated from the main city by the Yukon River, thankfully, the Yukon government set up free ferries to transport people and vehicles back and forth.

Dawson City

Golden evening

Welcome to Dawson City. We had the famous Sourtoe Cocktail (yep, I did a shot with a dead person's toe in it) and then checked out the Diamond Tooth Gerties. Only in Dawson City!

Heading back to our camps.

Delicious breakfast (my Eggs Benedict with shrimp and crab meat) at Klondike Kates. Another must-try place in Dawson City.

The Spell of Yukon by Robert W. Service

Then it was time to drive back to Inuvik, where I will leave on the following day. Near Two Moose Lake at Tombstone, we spotted a moose in the roadside pond!

She doesn't seem particularly happy to see us watching her from the roadside.

Munching away.

Then we realized that there was a baby moose watching us from the shrubs.

So cute!

Back at the NWT/Yukon border.

Saw a couple more rainbows towards the end of the roadtrip, and one where we were able to cross under it. What an amazing experience and time I had the last couple of days (and months)!