It was on the morning of Thursday, 10th May, that I left Watson Lake. This section of the Alaska Highway was not new to me, and I planned to cruise my way to Whitehorse. The one thing which stands out is the Bald Eagle. It flew across the front of my van. Seemed to be flying ever so slowly, and although I appreciated getting a really good look at it, I prayed it would not hit the van. (So far I have had two larger birds fly into my van... no damage to the van, but the birds would have come of second best.)

Whitehorse is a lovely city, easy to get around and all the services you would get in a larger city. It also has the best camping store I have come across north of the Canadian border. It is here that I bought myself a small camping stove and accessories. Went to a camera store to see if they could help me retrieve the photos off the camera. No luck! They sent me to another place; who referred me to yet another; and they referred me again; until I started being referred back to the places I had already been. Still, no one was able to help me. My best photo - the one of the bear across the road - was stuck on the camera, and it looked like I would not be able to get it off.

Once again I stayed at the RV park where I had stayed before. It is a Good Sam park, and although it has the typical shop / office up front, it is very pleasant out in the park. Well spaced out and most sites covered with trees, very good and clean facilities and good wifi. What more could you want?

At this point my driving days since leaving Joplin had averaged 288 miles. A very pleasant and comfortable pace.

On Sat morning I left Whitehorse, backtracked along the Alcan to the Klondike Highway and headed for Skagway, via Carcross. Last time I went to Carcross (2004), it was a more hurried trip, and I did not get time to stop for very long at the sights along the way. This time I hoped to have more time, but since there was only one ferry that day, in the afternoon, and not another till Monday, I did not want to take the chance of missing it.

Still, I cannot bring myself to rush through this wonderful scenery.


The first turn-out is at Emerald Lake - a magnificent sight. One of the most beautiful lakes in the YT. It is the limestone gravel carved from the surrounding mountains and deposited by glaciers, some 14000 years ago, which gives the lake its bright green colour. What a magnificent spot to build that home overlooking the lake.


Note the house on the hill, with the green roof.

Emerald Lake is one of a large system of 'Southern Lakes' formed by glaciers. The Alcan skirts the east side of Teslin Lake - one of the largest in the system - for some 50 miles.


Only a few miles further on one comes across the smallest desert in the world - Carcross Desert - a real surprise along this road amid the snow peaked mountains and glacial lakes still partly covered with ice.






A mere 260 hectares, it is the remains of the sandy bottom of a glacial lake, from the last ice age.

From the desert it is walking distance to the tiny settlement of Carcross.


It was mid morning, and the place looked almost like a ghost town. Not a soul to be seen, and only a couple of visiting cars driving around.




Since there did not appear to be a visitor centre, to get some more information, I moved on. Little was I to know what lay ahead. Sections of this road were gravel, but that did not detract from the magnificent drive it was.


Stopped at several scenic points along the Tutshi River and Lake.




Just before the Canadian / US border is Fraser Rest Area, with its magnificent view of Fraser Lake. I am really glad I read this somewhere, as I would never have known. All I could see was snow.... and information signs which I could not read from a distance, and which I was unable to approach.


Up until this point the weather had been fine, but that was to end as the road climbed up towards White Pass.




By now it was snowing.



Once over the Pass the weather deteriorated rapidly. The road was now quite steep and in places narrow, the snow had turned to rain and visibility was limited. On a fine day, I am sure this would be a spectacular drive, but for me it was best over and done with as quickly as possible. So was the border crossing. No one wanted to get drenched.

Lifey